Daily briefing Saturday 9th May

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0:35This is the Times Radio News Briefing for Saturday 9th May. The Prime Minister is facing calls from MPs and union leaders to set out a timetable for his departure as Labour leader following heavy losses across England, Scotland and Wales. But Sir Keir Starmer insists he won't walk away and will fight the next general election. Labour lost more than 1 ,300 seats and control of 37 councils in England. The party was also pushed into third place in Wales after dominating the country's politics for a century. Health Secretary Wes Streeting says there's no sugarcoating the result. Good Labour candidates have lost through no fault of their own.

1:11We have to take responsibility for that as a government. We have to show that we can still be the change that people voted for at the last general election and show that politics can be a force for good. Keir Star will be setting out on Monday as our leader and Prime Minister how he intends to do that. He'll have my support and I'll be putting my shoulders to the wheel as the country's health secretary. Reform UK were the big winners on the day, making significant gains. Taking more than 1 ,400 seats in England, as well as control of councils, including Sunderland and Barnsley, where it ended more than 50 years of Labour control.

1:42Leader Nigel Farage says the astonishing results show the era of traditional left and right politics is over. Delta Poll director Joe Twyman told Times Radio the major parties have a big task ahead. The two-party system had long been described as, if not dead, then certainly on its last legs. And this was simply another nail in that coffin. For some time, polls, national polls, had shown just how far the two main parties had fallen. And these election results backed that up. In Scotland, the SNP won a fifth successive term at Holyrood, but fell short of an outright majority. Labour and reform were tied in a distant second place with 17 seats each, while the Greens won a record 15.

2:26The Times' political correspondent John Boothman is in Edinburgh. The Tories had a very bad night. They're now in fifth place. They've won, what, a dozen seats. They are the biggest losers in yesterday's election in Scotland. But if you add up the reform seats with the Conservative seats, it actually adds up to not really far away to what the Conservatives themselves got the last time. In other news, officials have now confirmed six cases of Hantavirus as the cruise ship at the centre of the rodent-borne virus outbreak heads for the Canary Islands. Two further suspected cases have emerged, including a woman in Spain who sat near an infected cruise passenger on a flight.

3:05The World Health Organization says the risk to the wider public is low. Donald Trump says there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Starting today, he says it will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, as well as an exchange of a thousand prisoners from each side. Russia holds its Victory Day parade today, marking the end of the Second World War. You can follow The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

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4:27in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henri, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. At participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies last, all rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.