Afternoon briefing Tuesday 8th September

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 8th of September. Israel's finance minister is calling for the British ambassador to be expelled as Andy Burnham prepares to announce a trade ban on Israeli goods produced in the West Bank.

0:48Bezamel Smotrich says on social media that Israel will not be what he calls a doormat for an anti-Semitic government. The UK is concerned about plans to construct 1 ,200 settler homes in an area known as E1. Matthew Gould, a former British ambassador to Israel, has told Times Radio there are two kinds of settlements. You've got some big settlement blocks that effectively sit just the wrong side of the Green Line, which is the border between Israel proper and the West Bank. Those blocks are large. They're typically filled with not very ideological people who are there because of cheap houses or an easy commute to Tel Aviv.

1:24Then you've got a lot more ideological settlements that are deep in the West Bank and they're there precisely to assert Israeli ownership and control over the West Bank. and those are the ones that really cause damage for the prospects of a future peace. The MP for Dover, Mike Tapp, is calling on the Prime Minister to chair an emergency COBRA meeting about small boat crossings following recent anti-immigration protests. There have been demonstrations in both Dover and Portsmouth. Polling for The Times has found that 57 % of voters think migrants arriving on small boats should be detained while their asylum claims are being processed.

2:01Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden has told Stig Abel on Times Radio that that, though, would be difficult. Right now we probably don't have the physical capacity to do that. Some migrants pending further action can be detained. I'm pleased to say that the use of hotels has also declined sharply. It's less than half what it was at the peak. Do you understand how detention might be seen as a sensible move by some people? Yes, I do. We house asylum seekers around the country in different parts of the community. We've made a decision to bear down on the hotel use. I think that's what my constituents and the constituents of other MPs want.

2:41Hedge fund founder Chris Rocos has become the latest high net worth individual to leave the UK. The billionaire was ranked third in this year's Sunday Times tax list. He paid£330 million in tax last year. He's moving to Greece ahead of next month's budget. Times Radio's business correspondent, Dominic O 'Connell, has a theory about why he's going. One big change that most people miss is what's happened to inheritance tax, personal inheritance tax. The change that came in April last year, if you're a UK tax resident, you now have to be outside the UK, have a different residency than the UK for 10 years if you want to escape the long hand of the UK tax man.

3:19So for a lot of very wealthy individuals, this is motivating these moves offshore. or perhaps Rocos, he's 55, perhaps he's thinking it is time to start the clock ticking on those 10 years now. And drugs for diabetes and weight loss may also reduce asthma attacks, according to new research. There may be benefits for people with other breathing conditions too. The Times' health correspondent Poppy Karonka has been looking at the study. Researchers looked at the medical records of tens of thousands of people in the UK who are receiving different weight loss drugs. They say the strongest effect was with semaglutide, which is the active ingredient in treatments like Wugovi and Azempic.

3:55Those with the more pronounced asthma appear to have gotten the greatest benefit with a nearly 40 % reduction in asthma attacks. There was also a 20 % reduction in flare-ups of COPD, which includes conditions like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Researchers say the results are encouraging, but should not be used to change treatment decisions yet. 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?

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