Evening briefing Friday 23rd 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 Welcome to the Times Radio evening briefing on Friday the 23rd of January. Sir Keir Starmer's publicly criticised comments from Donald Trump about the willingness of European troops to support the United States.

0:45The US president has claimed that in Afghanistan, NATO troops stayed off the front lines. 457 British personnel were killed in Afghanistan. I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling. And I'm not surprised they've caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured, and, in fact, across the country. Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, says the sacrifices of British soldiers deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect. Her husband has admitted drugging and raping his now ex-wife over a 13-year period. 49-year-old Philip Young has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

1:27Sky News correspondent Tom Parmenter was in court. Joanne Young has waived her right to anonymity and was inside the courtroom here in Winchester today, listening to the hearing, just metres away from her former husband in the dock. He pleaded guilty to 11 rapes, 11 counts of drugging his former wife. Five other men have also appeared in court today, charged with sexual offences against Joanne Young. Before Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is to throw her weight behind Andy Burnham being allowed to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election, The Times understands that Rainer's likely to make comments to that effect at Labour's North West Regional Conference tomorrow.

2:08There are concerns that Labour's National Executive Committee could impose a candidate. But Joe White, who chairs the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, has told Times Radio it must be down to local party members. If we want to win this election and don't give space to reform or the Greens, this has to be a democratically selected candidate. As we all know, by-elections become media circuses, And the argument shouldn't be this is an NEC-imposed candidate. It has to be the choice of the members. And the government could be about to do a U-turn on plans to scrap half of all jury trials. The Justice Secretary is facing opposition from up to 60 Labour MPs plus lawyers and peers.

2:48David Lammy has told the BBC he's open to a conversation about other options as long as the backlog is reduced. Carl Turner is one of the Labour MPs opposing the plans. I texted him a couple of days ago and said let's get half an hour together to talk about how we get you out of this situation you've got yourself into, because that's what I think he's done. He's got himself into a situation where no egos have taken over. The reality is this policy can't work. And you can follow The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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