Afternoon briefing Wednesday 3rd June

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0:35This is your Times Radio News Briefing for the afternoon of Wednesday 3rd June. The head of Hampshire Police has said his officers should be judged by a fair and transparent process following accusations of anti-white racism in the case of the death of a teenager. Henry Novak was handcuffed after telling police he had been stabbed. His attacker's version of the story was believed that Novak had punched him and grabbed his turban, and Novak died at the scene. The police have been accused of prioritising the accusation of racism. The policing minister, Sarah Jones, told Times Radio most of the time the police judge things correctly.

1:12If you look at the thousands of incidents every day where the police respond to 100 ,999 calls, that in the vast majority of cases the police get this balance right. It is also right that wherever mistakes are made, we shine a light on those, we learn lessons from those and we take it forward. At protests over the case last night, 11 police officers and a dog were injured and two arrests were made in Southampton. Reform says it's been an example of two-tier policing. However, Danny Shaw, crime and policing commentator, told Times Radio he thought there could have been other factors at play, such as inexperience and officers not keeping an open mind.

1:54In terms of that anti-racism commitment, I know that is the issue that some people want to focus on and want to see this incident through that lens, that lens of race. We can have a discussion about the anti-racism commitment. I'm not sure that this incident is necessarily connected to that. More than 4 ,000 drivers who have accumulated 12 or more points for speeding are still being allowed to drive because they've pleaded that losing their licence would cause exceptional harm. One driver with 45 points is still on the roads. Rod Dennis from the RAC told Times Radio that the government needs to offer more than just speed awareness courses, but devices that limit speed.

2:38We do think technology has a role to play here. There's something called intervening intelligent speed assistance. We would like the government to take proper regard of this and consider it. A Royal Navy helicopter has crashed in Devon in a field near Dartmoor. Several road closures are in place. The UK economy is set for stronger growth than expected this year, but soar its forecast has been cut for 2027. Times Radio's business correspondent Dominic O 'Connell has more on the latest predictions by the think tank, the OECD. Straight after the war broke out in the Gulf, the OECD said that the UK economy would grow by 0.7 % this year.

3:15Now they say 0.9%. They've already seen the first quarter, which was 0.6%, so hardly rocket science. But next year they've downgraded from 1.3 % to 1.1%. They say this year unemployment will grow from 5 % to 5.5 % and inflation will peak at 3.7%. Russia says it will keep striking Ukraine systematically after a drone attack on St Petersburg, An oil export terminal in the Russian city caught fire as a result of a Ukrainian strike, hours before President Vladimir Putin's annual economic forum got underway. The governor of St. Petersburg said drones hit infrastructure in several districts of the city.

3:53For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio. 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? 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.

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