Daily briefing Saturday 31st 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. This is Times Radio's daily briefing on Saturday 31st January. Files released by the US Department of Justice claim Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor invited Jeffrey Epstein to Buckingham Palace a month after the paedophile financier had been released from house arrest following a conviction for sex offences involving a girl under 18.

0:54The exchanges are among more than 3 million documents to have been published. Among them, Epstein appears to have arranged for the former Duke of York to have dinner with a 26-year-old Russian woman in 2010, and that Andrew offered him an investment opportunity in Afghanistan. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Robert McWherter is a criminal defence lawyer who's worked closely with the US Department of Justice. I suppose within the 3.5 million release, there might be some victims who actually have validation with what gets released etc but there's a whole lot of other people who do not who knows if in the other half of the files that are being held back there isn't something there and not to mention the fact the redacted parts because this is way over the statute provides for certain redactions for certain purposes but this is way over redacted.

1:43Labour are expected to announce their candidates for next month's Gorton and Denton by-election it's after the The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was denied permission to stand. The final two contenders to represent Labour are thought to be the leader of Bury Council, Eamon O 'Brien, and the Manchester City Councillor, Angeliki Storgier. Alan Tolhurst is the chief reporter at Politics Home. Reports on the ground suggest that there is quite strong support for the Greens and obviously reform, but it's quite an interesting kind of seat because it is split between the Gorton side and the Denton side, So it might be quite indicative of future contests between Labour and reform.

2:20The UK could allow more EU citizens into the country under a proposed youth mobility scheme. The Times has learned that British negotiators are open to including a balancing mechanism that would give young people from the UK and EU the right to live and work in one another's countries for a limited period. J.K. Rowling, Mo Salah and Harry Styles were among the UK's 100 biggest taxpayers last year, according to the annual Sunday Times tax list. The rankings were topped for the first time by the billionaire brothers behind the gambling company Betfred. Fred and Peter Dunn contributed an estimated£400 million to the Treasury over the past financial year.

2:58The list was compiled by Robert Watts, who says it highlights many less celebrated heroes of the economy. Ever heard of Ross McMahon? Entrepreneur, Irish son of a farmer in the Lake District. He bought for£1 Heinz's old baby milk factory in Kendal. He's now turned it into a very successful business. Last year, that business paid£13.3 million worth of corporation tax and employers' national insurance. And there are others. And the British tennis player Neil Skipsky has won a fourth Grand Slam title by winning the men's doubles at the Australian Open with his American playing partner, Christian Harrison.

3:37There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:45This 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk.