Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 4th 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, the 4th of August. The police force in which PC Andrew Harper served says the news that two of his killers will be released early is demoralising.

0:45Two men who were convicted of PC Harper's manslaughter in 2019 are eligible for the government's early release scheme. Andy Burnham says other criminals will not now be let go early. But Aileen O 'Connor from the Thames Valley Police Federation says it's a disappointing response. I don't think the Prime Minister has gone far enough. I do think there is more that can be done. I don't think it's acceptable that on one hand you can say rapists, child sexual offenders, grooming gangs, etc. Those really serious, heinous individuals should be held to do their full sentence. And on the other hand, two of Andrew Harper's killers are able to be released early.

1:26That, in my book, is unacceptable. One of Britain's leading experts on autism says so many people are being diagnosed with the condition, there's a risk it could become almost meaningless. Professor Dame Uta Frith says the autism spectrum needs to be split into groups to prevent misdiagnoses. She's told Times Radio a diagnosis has become the thing to have. It seems like autism has suddenly taken on a significance of something incredibly desirable. You know, we hear about superpower and, you know, we have all these interesting figures that we see on television who have wonderful logical minds, can solve criminal cases and that kind of thing.

2:06So it seems very desirable. BP has revealed a huge surge in profits from April to June, thanks to volatile prices because of the war in Iran. Its main profit measure went up 78 percent compared to the first three months of the year. is the oil giant's strongest quarterly performance in four years. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has hit out at oil companies which have increased their profits since the start of the war in Iran. Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much, too much money. When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they're going to give some of that back to the public.

2:42And they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. Too much money. You're surprised I'm saying it? I'll say it loud and clear. I'm not happy about it. And Andy Burnham's going on holiday two weeks after taking over as Prime Minister. The first Secretary of State, Louise Haig, will be the most senior minister working this week. But sources say she won't be deputising for the Prime Minister and he'll still be in contact with officials. Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has accused Burnham of bunking off. Here's Times Radio's Adam Bolton. They were obviously sensitive to this. They briefed journalists it was happening under an embargo yesterday.

3:17but they've not disclosed where he's going. That I think is a big mistake, not least because there'll be a chase to try and find out where he is and of course the public are ever vigilant as well but also because that does sound as if they're being a bit sheepish. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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