Daily Briefing Sunday 25th October

0:00This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Grainger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools, he counts on Grainger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly, no matter the shift. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

0:34Welcome to the Times Radio News Briefing on Sunday 25th October. The Duchess of Sussex told her father in a letter late last year he would never see his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet. Meghan also accused Thomas Markle of posing a risk to children, according to The Sun, on Sunday. And she told the 82-year-old it was the last time he would hear from her. Thomas Markle denies claims he had images of child sexual abuse. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed it did not inform other forces about a letter it sent to Meghan about her father in 2019. The Sunday Times' royal editor Roya Nikar says it's an astonishing decision.

1:12I think the feeling was that Harry and Meghan, who were sent this letter, thought that the relevant authorities would be dealing with it. We now know from the Met's statement yesterday that they didn't pass on to any authority anywhere in the world, not to the FBI, not anywhere else, and just sat on it and did nothing, which does seem rather extraordinary given how, A, the allegations in it for anyone normal, but B, also just how high-profiled this issue now is. Nigel Farage has criticised comments from Andy Burnham on re-adopting the European Union's rules on freedom of movement. The leader of Reform UK says it's a total betrayal of Brexit's Britain.

1:47The Prime Minister has told the Sunday Times he wants an honest discussion on the subject. The Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, has told Times Radio the PM simply wants a debate. We've seen significant red tape that is costing British business. So he's saying that we've got the EU summit coming up and he's doing a 10-year plan for the future. So he's not taking things off the table to say we need a pragmatic and honest conversation about the damage that was done, the promises that were said to the British people that never materialise, and what is achievable going into the future. And I think that is exactly right.

2:24Hundreds of public sector workers in Scotland are costing the taxpayer at least£27 million a year because their jobs no longer exist and the SNP refuses to make them redundant. 800 cases have been found of people who might normally be made redundant but remain on the public payroll. Harriet Cross is the Conservative's Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. The scale of this, I mean, we don't know is the honest answer what the scale is. I think we've seen from the reporting that this is a minimum of 27 million a year. It could be much more. Not all the evidence has been revealed yet. So it's important that the public and Holyrood have a fuller understanding of actually what the scale of this is and therefore what the benefit to the public purse could be if the S &P changed their ban on compulsory redundancies.

3:09And in recent weeks, HM Revenue and Customs has sent hundreds of letters to wealthy people asking for details on their properties, their trusts, their companies and other personal holdings. Experts describe this as intrusive and say it represents a sea change in how HMRC operates. Robert Watts, who compiles the Sunday Times Rich List, has written the story. The team that are sending out these letters keep terms on 850 ,000 people. So that's anyone with personal assets of more than£2 million, anyone who's earned north of£200 ,000 in the past three years. Amongst the advisors we spoke to, the accountants, the wealth managers, they were saying to us, well, I started right at the top with the billionaires, just how far down the value chain will these letters go?

3:58You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Grainger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools, he counts on Grainger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly no matter the shift. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. When it comes to managing money, forget the hype and look at results.

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