Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 28th July

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. Hello, this is your Times Radio afternoon briefing for Tuesday the 28th of July with me, James Kitchen. Andy Burnham says he's committed to bringing down the number of young people not in employment, education or training.

0:46But speaking this morning, the Prime Minister refused to say when the rate would begin to fall. Almost 1 million 16 to 24-year-olds were classed as NEETs at the end of 2025, with the number expected to rise. Under new proposals, teenagers will be encouraged into technical training in a shake-up of the traditional curriculum. Mr Burnham says he plans to prioritise vocational education as the first choice for children beginning their GCSEs. We've had a system built for too long around the university route, and it sends a message to some young people that they're some kind of second-class citizens, and it's just not right.

1:22They need an education system that works for them as well. The Prime Minister's called for cross-party talks on social care reform, warning the NHS in England will collapse without it being fixed. Andy Burnham claims other party leaders have already approached him, saying they're prepared to engage in discussions on changes. He's facing calls to legislate for a national care service before the next election. The former Liberal Democrat care minister, Norman Lamb, told Times Radio Society has to confront the challenge. This is something that affects pretty much every family in the country. And are we really willing as a society to continue to neglect the needs of older people?

2:01And it really continue with a system that is unreformed, it ends up with too many people falling into illness and into hospital at enormous cost to the NHS. It's a false economy not to confront this. Reform UK has reported Zach Polanski to police after he shared a photo of a man's t-shirt featuring a guillotine and the words, we're only making plans for Nigel. The Green Party leader has since removed the post, insisting he does not support the message. But speaking to Times Radio, Reform Board Member Gawain Tauler called it dangerous. If it had been one of our leading figures doing something like that about, say, him, there would have been all amounts of rage.

2:45In these heightened times, it is careless in the extreme to be reposting images like that. A mayor in France says the fire of the century is raging near Bordeaux as firefighters race to contain the flames ahead of another forecast heatwave. French and Spanish authorities have evacuated more than 330 ,000 people from their homes. The Times' David Chazan is in Bordeaux. He says the national government is facing criticism from local communities. People are very upset that France doesn't seem to have equipped itself properly for these fires. Now, there were terrible fires in this region four years ago.

3:25With climate change, people say, they're predictable. Why has France been forced to borrow water-bombing planes from neighbouring European countries? Why did the whole thing seem to have come as such a surprise? Iranian media has released a video which claims to show the best way to assassinate Melania Trump. An outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shared the clip appearing to detail the President and First Lady's Secret Service call signs. It also lists the various luxury shops in New York, which Melania apparently visits. Remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

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