Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 25th August

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 25th August. The Prime Minister is hinting at tax rises in the autumn budget.

0:42When asked about public spending, he said people need to understand the economy is in a challenging position. The government's committed to not raise income tax, national insurance and VAT. The Times' political editor Stephen Swinford has suggested some alternatives. If you're looking for money, there's a couple of places that you could get it from. The bankers are obviously very concerned about it and they are raising alarm bells about a potential banking levy. Some of the biggest bankers in the world have been lobbying very hard on that. But then also we've seen energy companies secure huge profits recently off the back of the Iran wall.

1:13So there is a world in which you actually get a two-pronged approach. The Home Office has criticised an undercover British reporter who's become the first journalist to cross the Channel from France in a migrant dinghy. It's described Christian Drogon's actions as reckless. After spending eight days living in the camps of northern France, Drogon got a call from a people smuggler at 3am. I just had a rude awakening. The guys just rang me right, brother. Come, come, come. The next phase was making it to the beach alongside migrants, evading police capture by crawling through a forest.

1:49Absolutely mental. With many on the dinghy, others were hauled aboard.

1:59Hours later, the vessel was in British waters. Former Conservative Migration Minister Kevin Foster says the government's reaction to the investigation is overblown. I think the Home Office statement, I can't understand why they put out a statement like that, but in reality, one person infiltrating a gang to show how this process works is hardly going to have disrupted the Border Force operation, given the overall numbers coming in. A share of almost£10 billion has been allocated to councils and housing associations in England to build affordable homes. The government says 60 % will be for social rent.

2:34It's hoped 70 ,000 homes will be built. The money is the first wave of funding from a£39 billion programme launched last year. David O 'Leary, Executive Director of the Home Builders Federation, has told Times Radio that much is still to be decided. Well, we don't yet know how much of this will be going to local authorities, to councils. We don't know yet how much will be going to housing associations, as has been kind of more traditional and typical over the last 20 years or so. and then we don't know how much we'll be going to private providers to provide affordable housing as well. And millions of women are to be offered kits to screen for cervical cancer.

3:14At home swabs will be used to check for human papillomavirus. Athena, Lam Nussos is CEO of the cancer charity The Eve Appeal. HPV is a really commonly occurring virus and it's the highest risk factor in cervical cancer development. So that test is a really effective way of doing that screening in the first instance and making sure that we reach people who, for whatever reason, have found attending screening difficult. They might be affected by disability. There could be numerous reasons. 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.

3:58AI 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. That's why PwC takes you further with tech, strengthening the data quality, processes and workflows that shape how well AI performs. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk The Story Podcast brings you the best of the Times and the Sunday Times journalism with one story told in-depth every day.

4:43I met a good contact of mine and I saw a document which indicated what was happening. Someone came up and pressed a note into my hand, which I opened it and said, Dear friend, please tell the truth about what you see here. Join me, Manveen Rana. And me, Luke Jones, on The Story. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.