Daily Briefing Saturday 17th January

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. Hello, this is your Times Radio Daily Briefing for Saturday the 17th of January with me, James Kitchen. Sakir Starmer is facing growing calls from cabinet ministers to sack his health secretary for disloyalty.

0:45The Times reveals senior Labour figures are increasingly frustrated by West Streeting's public interventions. They're privately accusing him of putting his leadership ambitions before the party. One cabinet member warned the health secretary was repeatedly breaching collective responsibility, attacking No. 10 and undermining the government. The Prime Minister's former political director, Luke Sullivan, told Times Radio Downing Street will be frustrated by these latest demands. Sometimes the best thing is to do nothing and I don't understand why they thought this was a helpful intervention We've got the Tory party and Reform with this Tory right psychodrama And it is an absolutely astonishing lack of judgement to make this intervention Look he will brush it off but I'm sure what Keir Starmer was looking forward to this weekend Was probably a bit of time off and watching the Nottingham Forest v Arsenal game this afternoon Meanwhile, the deputy leader of Reform UK has denied his party is becoming a rest home for former Conservative MPs.

1:44It comes after Kemi Badenok said she's 100 % confident no other members of her Tory top team will follow Robert Jenrick in defecting. Speaking to Times Radio, Richard Tice revealed he's expecting a defection from Labour early next week and insisted the momentum is with reform. We are a turbocharged fast car in eighth gear moving forwards at great pace, gearing up for the May elections, where we're allowed to have elections under this authoritarian dictatorship that seems to cancel elections willy-nilly. The White House has confirmed Sir Tony Blair will sit on the executive committee of Donald Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza.

2:24The former British Prime Minister will be joined by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East Envoy Steve Wyckoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The board is designed to temporarily oversee the running of the region and manage its reconstruction. Speaking to Times Radio, the Jerusalem-based journalist Noga Tarnopolsky described its members as in exile. The Board of Peace is apparently being constituted with tremendous ambition as something that could actually take the place of the UN, an institution really hated by both the Trump administration and in Israel by the Netanyahu government.

3:02None of these people are anywhere near Gaza and to the best of my knowledge there's no prospect for them to be able to enter Gaza. Meanwhile a number of people have been arrested after several police officers were injured during a protest outside the Iranian embassy in London. Police say missiles were thrown and one protester was detained after climbing the building and removing a flag. It comes amid renewed international focus on repression in Iran, where thousands of people are reported to have died during recent demonstrations. Elsewhere, thousands of protesters are expected to join demonstrations outside the proposed location of a new Chinese mega-embassy in central London.

3:42Activists, dissidents and MPs are concerned the former Royal Mint headquarters could be used for espionage, including on Britain's financial centre. Its understood security services have backed the government approving Beijing's plans with a decision due by Tuesday. And remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

4:19on an 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. Do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one, for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization? Well, it's easier than you think.

5:02We're Acast, and we give you the platform to do it all yourself. Browse thousands of popular podcasts, choose the shows that match your perfect audience, set your budget and launch. And if you want a hand, our podcast specialists are there to help you launch with confidence. This is podcast advertising without barriers. Get started at acast.com slash advertise.