Afternoon Briefing Wednesday 3rd 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 Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday 3rd September. Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the budget will take place on November 26th.

0:42She said on social media that Britain's economy isn't broken, but she knows it's not working well enough for working people. The Times' political editor, Stephen Swinford, says it's an interesting date to choose. It is pretty late. It's as late as she could almost feasibly have gone. Like last year, for example, it was on about October the 31st. Now, why would she be going long? Why is she going late? It's because things are looking pretty bad out there. The gilt markets are in a really bad state and they need time. They need time to come up with these measures that are going to galvanise growth and try to reduce the amount of taxes she's going to need to raise.

1:18The health secretary has hinted to Times Radio that police may have gone too far in arresting the comedy writer Graham Linehan. Wes Treasing says officers should be policing streets rather than tweets. The creator of Father Ted said he was held by five armed officers as he got off a flight at Heathrow. It was over three tweets criticising trans activists. Scotland Yard said he was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. Linehan said he needed hospital treatment after having a panic attack. Toby Young from the Free Speech Union has told Times Radio that legal action is being considered. We're thinking quite seriously about suing the police for wrongful arrest and wrongful imprisonment or helping Graham do that.

1:58It was completely unnecessary to send five armed police officers to clap him in irons and then detain him for 16 hours. I mean, it was just completely over the top. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been joined by Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un at a massive military parade in Beijing. The trio watched as tanks, fighter jets and ballistic missiles rolled past. The event was held to commemorate 80 years since the surrender of Japan marked the end of World War II. Richard Spencer, The Times' China correspondent, was there. They are pretty extraordinary occasions, these, and this one really pulled the stops out.

2:36There's the spectacle of it. There's the absolutely extraordinary security and procedures all around it. I mean, this is not the mass crowds that you see at, for example, a jubilee celebration in London. I mean, there are hand-picked guests and the rest of the city is closed off. The government has confirmed there'll be a ban on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children. Major supermarkets have already stopped sales of the drinks to youngsters. But the Department of Health says research shows some smaller convenience stores are still allowing kids to buy them. Dr Kortha Hashem is head of research at Action on Sugar.

3:15She's told Times Radio it is a concern. We know children are not consuming only one can. They're consuming more than one can. And some of those cans come in a 500ml size. Caffeine should not be consumed by children. It has an impact on their mental health. Their brains are still developing. They shouldn't be having that level of caffeine in their system. And you can follow the Times 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.

3:53So 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. I thought, what if I've scaled businesses? What if I scaled my philanthropy? What if I did as much in one year as I've done in my whole life? See how your wealth could have even greater meaning at creativeplanning.com slash impact.