Afternoon briefing Wednesday 1st July

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 Wednesday 1st July. Two police officers involved in the arrest of Henry Novak as he lay dying in Southampton late last year are being investigated over potential gross misconduct.

0:48More details from Times Radio's Cara Bentley. The officers were the first to arrive on the scene on 3 December. The Independent Office for Police Conduct says it's possible they breached professional behaviour standards, which covers duties and responsibilities and the use of force. The IOPC says the investigation will examine potential failures to recognise that Henry Novak needed urgent medical attention. It will also look at the failure to act immediately after he said he'd been stabbed and couldn't breathe, and to handcuff him rather than providing immediate first aid. The man who prosecuted a notorious Rochdale grooming gang leader says the Home Office must find a way to deport him.

1:27It's a moment that Shabir Ahmed, who's due to be released from prison this week, cannot be deported because of immigration laws dating from the 1970s. He was convicted in 2012 on several charges of rape and other sexual offences. The Conservatives' Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, says legislation must be overhauled. It seems clear to me the law needs to be changed to get rid of this loophole that dates back over 50 years. This loophole needs to be removed. I urge the government to immediately change the law. As it happens, they presented a new asylum and immigration law to Parliament yesterday, and I will be tabling an amendment to that bill as it passes through Parliament in the coming months to change the law, to get rid of the loophole you've just referred to, so this despicable man can be kicked out of the country.

2:13A minister has told Times Radio that defence is not being underfunded. It's emerged that Sir Keir Starmer's defence investment plan leaves the next prime minister with almost£5 billion to find. But Defence Minister Luke Pollard says a delay until the autumn budget is standard practice and was something also done by the Tories. The Times' political editor Stephen Swinford, though, says that's incorrect. So we were reading through it yesterday and we got to, well, how will it fund? A little annex to the document in the small print. And when you got to line 10, it said£4.7 billion to be decided at the next budget.

2:46And that is a highly unusual thing. Rachel Reeves has made her reputation on delivering fully funded pledges. What we have here is an unfunded pledge, a third of the uplift in defence spending. And the family of a three-year-old boy who was seriously injured in a crocodile enclosure have thanked staff at the zoo who rescued their son. He was seriously injured at Johnson's of Old Hurst near Huntingdon last month. He remains in hospital in a stable condition. His family say they are truly grateful for the public support and well wishes they have received. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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