Daily briefing Sunday 2nd November

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 the Times Daily Briefing on Sunday 2nd November. A mass stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire last night has left multiple people fighting for their lives.

0:43As of 7 o 'clock on Sunday morning, nine people were being treated for life-threatening injuries. The attack started on an LNER train as it left Peterborough Station before armed police intercepted it at Huntingdon. Policing commentator Chris Hobbs says there is still very little information about the attack. Peterborough to Huntingdon takes about 14 minutes. A fair bit of those 14 minutes must have been absolutely terrifying for passengers. What's made even more difficult, especially for the Vita Tims, is we don't know the motivation, we don't know why this attack took place, and it's shocking.

1:18A man with a large knife is believed to have been shot with a taser. Two people have been arrested. The Huntingdon MP Ben Obsejecti told Times Radio the police should release more information when they can. I've seen a lot of speculation online already, around who the perpetrator was, what their background may have been, what their motivation may have been. And I don't think that speculation is particularly helpful. It would be useful to get information out there as soon as possible to maybe ensure that the misinformation isn't spread. The Prime Minister's calling it an appalling incident and the independence travel correspondent Simon Calder says it could have been even worse.

1:54Can I just say what an extraordinary performance it was on behalf of the train crew, particularly the driver, network rail signallers, the armed police, who in the course of 14 minutes, they managed to coordinate everything so that they actually got it to stop where armed police were waiting. LNER says there'll be disruption to the East Coast mainline until tomorrow and is advising passengers to defer their travel where possible. Elsewhere, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been accused of removing tributes to abuse survivors from past palace statements about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The King and Queen expressed their utmost sympathies for survivors of abuse in a statement which removed Andrew's title of Prince on Thursday.

2:39A friend of the King says whenever survivors have been referenced before, that wording has been deleted because it required Andrew's approval. The King's brother has always denied any wrongdoing. Rachel Reeves will use tax rises in her budget to safeguard tens of billions of pounds of funding for the NHS. The Chancellor has told aides her priorities at the end of this month will be to cut national debt and cut waiting lists. She's expected to break Labour's manifesto promise on tax to cover a real terms increase of£29 billion for the NHS's day-to-day budget, equivalent to a 2.8 % annual increase.

3:14The Sunday Times has revealed the former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond died virtually penniless after fighting two court cases. Lawyers have applied for a process which essentially declares his estate bankrupt. And in rugby union, Ireland have been well beaten by New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals. The All Blacks won 26-13 in the match played in Chicago, after Tygburn was sent off for 20 minutes for a high tackle in the third minute. Elsewhere, England beat Australia 25-7 at Twickenham, and Scotland thrashed the USA 85-0. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify, or listen live to Times Radio Online.

3:58This 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.