Evening briefing Friday 22nd May

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0:35This is the Times Radio Evening News Briefing on Friday the 22nd of May. Andy Burnham has launched his by-election campaign in Makerfield with a number of tax pledges. The Greater Manchester Mayor promises not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, but is calling for a new unused land tax if he wins in Makerfield. Patrick Hurley is the Labour MP for Southport. He was asked if Burnham was prepared for any backlash against his proposals. He's not like some wet behind the ears, naive politician who's only been in the game a few years. He was an MP first in 2001. He's been in the cabinet.

1:12He's run probably the most successful city region in the country over the last nine years. I think he's pretty well prepared for the backlash to come from vested interests who don't like being told that they're on the wrong track. Andy Barnum has also said he now backs updated guidance, which says single-sex spaces must be used on the basis of biological sex. Reform UK MP Sarah Pochins accused him of a U-turn. Andy Burnham said quite clearly that he was happy for biological men to use female toilets. Now he's U-turned, paying lip service on the Supreme Court ruling and saying that they will enact it as it is.

1:52The Lib Dems have confirmed Jack Austin will be their candidate in Makerfield. He says people there deserve better. It's the hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures got up to 26.9 degrees Celsius at Heathrow earlier. Forecasters think it could reach 33 degrees in southern England and the Midlands on Monday. Ross McLeod is from the RNLI and they're advising people not to go into open water to cool off. Although the water looks tempting at this time of year, it can still be dangerously cold, putting even the strongest swimmers at risk of cold water shock. A suspected Iranian intelligence operation is attempting to recruit people in Britain.

2:31A Times investigation has laid out the tactics used by a suspected Iranian agent who made contact with a reporter via the social media messaging app Telegram. Olly Cole has more from the Times newsroom. The agent, who went by the name Mahdi and said he was from Iran, claimed to be running a number of operatives in the UK, calling on them to organise street protests and put up posters intended to foment anti-Israel sentiment. They offered money in exchange for planning and organising an anti-Israel demonstration in London and asked our undercover reporter to try and recruit others. The Metropolitan Police is currently examining whether recent anti-Semitic arson attacks were the work of criminal proxies recruited by a foreign state.

3:10England manager Thomas Tuchel says he's chosen a very balanced England World Cup squad who are real team players. Everyone, like I said, is committed to buy into the idea as a team, is ready to be selfless and we have proof of that. Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Manchester City's Phil Foden have been left out of the line-up. Manchester City have confirmed that Pep Guardiola is leaving the club after a decade in charge. The Times reveal he made the decision to depart a year ago but was talked into staying another year by the club's chairman. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:53This 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.

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