Afternoon briefing Wednesday 21st October

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0:34This is your Times Radio News Briefing for the afternoon of Wednesday, the 21st of October. The government has approved the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea for gas production. The Energy Secretary says energy security was her main consideration. The Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Victoria Atkins, was asked on Times Radio whether she thought it was good news. Yes, I mean it's taken two years of delay and procrastination, but Labour have eventually got to the right place where frankly lots of people are saying that they should have got there quite a bit more quickly.

1:08This delay has had, I think, repercussions not just for people's energy bills, but also for our energy resilience. We know how dangerous the world is now. Shell has called it an important step, but climate groups say it will not provide reliable energy supplies for the future, but will merely help cook the climate while ordinary folk foot the bill. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition says the approval of Jackdaw will boost Shell's profits while doing nothing to lower bills. Inflation has reached its highest level in nearly a year at 3.5%. It's not as high as it was under the Conservatives when it peaked at 11.1%, but the target is two.

1:49Fuel and transport costs saw the biggest increases in a year. Meanwhile, the Energy Secretary has also been asked whether she supports her colleague Shabana Mahmood's plans on immigration. Miata Fanbulu had suggested she wouldn't want to extend the qualifying period for settlement in the UK to 15 years, which is the Home Secretary's plan. When asked if she supports Ms Mahmood's reforms, she said we need a system that's based on the principle of compassion and contribution. Labour MP and former Immigration Minister Mike Tapp told Times Radio he agrees with fellow critic Angela Rayner that care workers should be exempt from the extension.

2:24The other argument that they may leave the sector again, that's just not right. You don't keep people in a job by trapping them there. You keep people in the job by treating them well, by ensuring that their conditions are good, that they're paid well. Pope Leo has appeared before crowds in St Peter's Basilica for the first time since his lung surgery. He waved at people from his Popemobile before thanking them for their prayers and giving an address about marriage and family. Three senior Labour MPs have been accused of asking planted questions in Parliament after being lobbied by a former MI6 officer.

3:00Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant, Liam Byrne and Dame Anneliese Dodds allegedly raised concerns about individuals having secret ties to Russia. Several of their allegations were later found to be inaccurate. In some cases, the questions directly benefited paying clients of former intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who gave them the briefings. The Times' politics newsletter editor Stefan Boscher says there are serious questions to answer. They went and they defamed people in Parliament. They used parliamentary privilege to defame people falsely. So you have private lobbyists and private intelligent companies going and getting MPs to defame their competitors, which is, I think, outrageous.

3:40I think that Chris Bryant really needs to be called out and also needs to be called to see if he should resign over this because I think it is quite outrageous practice. A spokesman for Dodds said she had raised questions in the Commons based on information taken in good faith. Bryant, Byrne and Steele declined to comment. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

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