Afternoon briefing Tuesday 2nd December

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. This is the Times afternoon briefing on Tuesday 2nd December. A Labour peer and barrister has criticised the Justice Secretary for using delays in rape cases to justify cutting the number of jury trials.

0:46David Lammy wants to make either way cases heard only by magistrates and argues it'll speed up the most serious cases like rape. But Helena Kennedy, who's also president of the think tank Justice, told Times Radio that would lead to the end of jury trials full stop. I mean, shame on him. The way to answer that is to make sure that cases involving sexual violence on women and And the trauma that goes with that should be absolutely given the highest priority in the earliest possible date. You don't have somebody waiting for three years for that. You know, that's a nonsense. The current Crown Court backlog in England and Wales is 77 ,000 cases compared to 310 ,000 from magistrates' courts.

1:24Barristers say the change would move about 50 ,000 cases a year from the Crown courts to magistrates. A new international report says tax hikes and spending cuts will put pressure on the UK economy and inflation will stay amongst the highest in the G7. The OECD, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, says the government's fiscal plans are a headwind to growth. The Chancellor points out the OECD's forecast for growth is up and inflation is down, which she says is due to her budget. Economist Linda Yu says it's hard to get both growth and low inflation. The current tax measures, partly to fund a reduction in the cost of living, will likely bring inflation down, even if it dampens growth, which, by the way, goes in the same direction.

2:07Where growth is slower, inflation does tend to come down with it in normal times. A former British soldier has been accused of spying for Russia and helping to assassinate Ukrainian politicians. Ross David Cutmore allegedly imported and distributed weapons for three killings. He was in Ukraine to train troops and also served as a border guard. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's special envoy and his son-in-law will hold Ukraine peace talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are at the Kremlin for the latest round of negotiations. Russia specialist Mark Gagliotti doesn't expect any breakthrough, though, without Ukrainians in the room.

2:43Essentially, when it comes down to it, we must remember that the Ukrainians, in effect, have a veto. Trump can make whatever deal he wants, but the most he can do is actually just simply throw his toys out of the pram and leave. When it comes down to it, it's Kiev that will decide whether it's willing to give the terms that Russia demands. Mr Wyckoff and Mr Kushner were both key parts of the US delegation which negotiated the Gaza peace plan between Israel and Hamas. Nationwide says annual house price growth softened last month. The Building Society says prices increased 1.8 % on the year before, down from 2.4 % in October.

3:21The average price was just shy of£273 ,000. And the former England cricketer Robin Smith has died at the age of 62. Born in South Africa, he was known as the judge because of his curly hair and he was considered one of the finest batters of his generation, particularly against pace bowlers. Robin Smith had spoken to the Sunday Times only over the weekend about his struggles with alcoholism He passed away overnight in Australia. Don't forget you can subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

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