Afternoon briefing Wednesday 15th October

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 your Times afternoon briefing for Wednesday 15th October. New polling suggests that Reform UK would win a general election if held right now, with a majority of 84.

0:45The survey puts Reform on 367 seats, and the Conservatives behind Labour and the Liberal Democrats on just 24. The figures from Electoral Calculus and PLMR of 7 ,400 people suggest that Nigel Farage would be Prime Minister without the need for a coalition. The poll also takes tactical voting into account and found that more than a third of Labour voters say they would vote Conservative to keep reform out. One of the bodies handed over to Israel by Hamas is not one of the hostages, according to Israeli military. Hamas gave back four bodies on Monday and another four yesterday, but only three of yesterdays have been identified with the fourth unknown.

1:23Once the remaining 20 hostage bodies are returned, Gaza will need to be rebuilt. Khalil Abu Shamala, a human rights activist, spoke to us from about 10 miles south of Gaza City. Gaza is 80 % completely destroyed by the Israel forces. The last three or four weeks before the ceasefire, Israel intensified the destruction, the mass destruction in Gaza City. So many people from Gaza City will not be able to go back. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, has told Times Radio that the government will help make people better off by controlling public spending. Mr Murray was responding to the International Monetary Fund, saying that the UK's inflation rate will be the highest in the G7 for the next two years.

2:12In terms of inflation and as well as borrowing costs as well, the most important thing we can do is keep a tight grip on public spending, which is why the Chancellor's fiscal rules are so important and are non-negotiable in a broader sense, making people feel better off. And that's about economic growth. That's about the increase in the national minimum wage. That's about making sure that we have decent jobs in every part of the country. The Chancellor's hinted that she'll have to look at taxes ahead of her autumn budget, but has promised to commit to her rule not to use borrowing to cover day-to-day spending.

2:47Royal Mail has been fined£21 million for failing to meet delivery targets. It's been fined every year since 2023, but this is the biggest. Reporter Divya Kohli has more. Ofcom says Royal Mail only delivered 77 % of its first-class post within one day, when the target is 93%. They said millions of important letters are arriving late and people aren't getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp. However, the fine was nearly bigger. They took 30 % off because Royal Mail accepted Libra. 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.

3:29So 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. The Home Secretary will say later that Britain's failure to control its borders is eroding trust in politicians and the credibility of the state. Shabana Mahmood will host Balkan politicians and say that countries will secure their borders only through international cooperation.

4:14Political correspondent Max Kendricks explains. She'll be hoping to use this summit to agree some kind of return hubs with these Western Balkan countries, perhaps Kosovo as well, who's previously said they're open to it, that that will involve basically paying for each failed asylum seeker to relocate to these overseas hubs. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.