Afternoon Briefing Wednesday 8th 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. Welcome to the Times Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday 8th October. Sikir Sama is preparing to rip up the NHS's rules on value for money.

0:41Times Radio's Cara Bentley has more details. The Prime Minister wants to stop drug companies leaving Britain. To do that, he's preparing to hand more money to the pharmaceutical industry. So Keir is ready to increase the price at which medicines are deemed to be cost-effective. The Times understands the threshold could rise from between£20 ,000 and£30 ,000 for each year of good quality life a drug provides to between£25 ,000 and£35 ,000. But industry figures are calling for up to£50 ,000. A series of companies has paused or reversed projects in Britain in recent weeks, citing low NHS spending on new drugs.

1:16The move is also reportedly being made to steer Donald Trump away from threatened tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector. The UK steel industry is facing what one of its bosses is calling its biggest ever crisis. The EU has put 50 % tariffs on steel as part of a trade row between the EU and Asia. The UK exports 78 % of its steel to the EU, and Secur Starmer says he's seeking urgent clarification from Brussels. The Tees Valley has a 170-year history of steel making. Its Conservative mayor, Ben Houchin, has told Times Radio that these tariffs could be terminal for UK steel. You could tell the way that geopolitics, both of the US, Europe and the Far East, were moving, that this was coming down the line.

2:00And given the already perilous state that the steel industry in the UK is in and has been in for many years. It feels like it could, if we're not careful, be the death knell of UK steelmaking, given the amount of steel that is exported to the European Union. A senior Hamas official says negotiators from his group and Israel have exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages. They would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt. 63 % of Israeli citizens, meanwhile, say their confidence in the government has declined since the start of the war. Gabrielle Vinegar, the Times' Israel correspondent, went to an October 7th memorial event and says the remaining hostages are on many people's minds.

2:41It was so moving and it was so emotional and we watched that ceremony full of musicians and freed hostages and speaking and pleading for the hostages to come home. It just shows the heart of the Israelis are really with the hostages in Gaza and waiting for that war to end, particularly for that reason. And the Times understands that Kemi Betanoch's shadow cabinet is divided over her future. Some Tory ministers are so concerned they are considering the nuclear option of resigning to precipitate a leadership contest. Badenock's team is aware of a WhatsApp group containing 14 Tory MPs who want to oust her.

3:16Times Radio's political editor Anna Mihailova has been speaking to a senior ally of Kemi Badenock. They told me that Robert Jenrick could miss his window if he doesn't go soon. So they are actually aware, not only, of course, that Robert Jenner is perceived by a lot of people as a possible leader in the wings, but they actually suggested this scenario that if he almost doesn't go for it at a certain point, then other younger, newer MPs will start to come up. 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.

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