Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 3rd March

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 3rd March. Donald Trump has suggested Sakhir Starmer failed to back the US on Iran because the Prime Minister is pandering to Muslim voters.

0:45The US president is also told The Sun the special relationship is not like it used to be and says a fracturing of the bond between the two nations is very sad. Trump says Starmer has not been helpful. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Prime Minister, was asked on Times Radio if Starmer is pandering to Muslim voters. Well, I mean, I obviously disagree with those sentiments. The Prime Minister was very clear yesterday in the House of Commons that we will only engage British assets or British forces where there is a legal basis to do so, a clear plan for why we're doing it. And if it is in the interests of our country, that's why we were not involved in the initial strikes in Iran.

1:25But it is also why we've consented to American air forces using our air bases and for British jets to be in the sky in order to defend British citizens who are currently in the region. Harry Cole from The Sun says Trump was keen to talk about Starmer. I mentioned his name and he kind of just went. He just went for him. It's quite astonishing. He is not a happy bunny. He lavished praise in a way that I have never heard him do on the French or the Germans, on NATO, all saying they're doing a great job, they're with us, but I just can't work out why Kir, he's being so different. And he said it's sad.

1:59It's a very sad situation. He said he never thought he'd live to see the day that Britain wouldn't be by America's side. And needless to say, he's not happy about it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it won't be an endless war. He's also told Fox News is up to the people of Iran to change the government. But he says Israel and America are creating the conditions in which that can happen. Netanyahu says airstrikes were necessary because Iran was building new bunkers which would have made its nuclear program immune to attack. If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future.

2:30And then they could target America, they could blackmail America, they could threaten us and threaten everyone in between. So action had to be taken, and you needed a resolute president like Donald J. Trump to take that action. And the Green Party has leapfrogged Labour and the Conservatives into second place in the polls behind Reform UK. A YouGov survey for the Times puts the Greens on 21 % with Reform on 23%. Both Labour and the Tories are on 16%. Reform's economic spokesperson Robert Jenrick says it's an important moment. I think we have to take it seriously. We've all got to see that the next general election, whenever it comes, is likely to be a straight fight between Nigel Farage and reform on the one hand and a scary coalition of the left on the other hand.

3:20The Greens claim that if the swing in the Gorton and Denton by-election last week was replicated nationally, they would win more than 100 seats. And 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. That's why PwC takes you further with tech, strengthening the data quality, processes and workflows that shape how well AI performs.

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