Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 15th September

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwCWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up. So how do business leaders cut through the noise and focus on what really matters? PwC takes you further with tech, from optimising the systems that put your data to work, to scaling AI from proof of concept to competitive edge. PwC helps you meet tomorrow's tech demands, so you can compete at a speed that rewrites the rules. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. Welcome to the Times Radio afternoon briefing on Tuesday, the 15th of September. A Chinese state-owned bank has been underwriting key British infrastructure companies.

0:45Times Radio's Cara Bentley reports. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China issued£1.26 billion in loans and borrowing options to UK companies up to July 2024. That's according to emails and financial records obtained from its London office. Borrowers included major offshore wind projects crucial for delivering the UK's net zero ambitions. With total assets of about$8 trillion, the ICBC is a cornerstone of the Chinese economy. The Times has been looking into them alongside the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Reform UK's cryptocurrency billionaire donors could be subjected to enhanced residency checks by the government.

1:26Ministers are preparing to tighten the law on donations from overseas. Nigel Farage, meanwhile, has hinted he could consider banning donations from the trade unions to Labour if reform won power. But the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has told Times Radio union donations should be seen differently. When we talk or people talk about union donations, that is not one entity. That is tens of thousands of ordinary people choosing to make that donation and it's banded up and given from the union. But it's very easy to opt out of that. There are rules governing political funds, political ballots.

1:58I I honestly think to take these kind of mega, ultra crypto reform donors and compare them to voluntary associations of working people choosing to give some money to the political system. I don't think the two things are comparable. Essex County Council, which is run by Reform UK, has begun to employ security guards in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford over concerns about asylum seekers who live in a camp in the county. They'll be patrolling seven days a week in a three month trial costing£100 ,000. pounds. Council leader Peter Harris has told Times Radio he's been to the holding facility. They're all men, all the ages between the ages of 18 and 40, in the camp and they informed me that they go on to a two-day induction training course.

2:41These migrant men who come from different cultures to ours where the perception and treatment of women and children is completely alien to us in Great Britain and they're asked and informed, you know, please don't rape our women, children or sexually assault or stand in the street staring at women, it's not appropriate to do so in this country. Bill Gates has told the Times Tech podcast that AI can be a force for good, but an international framework is needed to keep it safe. The Microsoft founder says many professions are being left behind by the speed of development of AI programmes. They're going to get far more powerful even before the end of the year.

3:21I do find myself a bit surprised that the segments of society outside the industry, universities, the think tanks, both in terms of their use and their sophistication about moderating downsides, they're really not in the conversation. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, but return on investment, not so much. So how do you get beyond the hype and deliver AI that powers reinvention and growth across your business? Strong foundations unlock AI's potential.

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