Evening briefing Friday 27th February

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 27th of February. British diplomatic staff have been withdrawn from Iran.

0:41The Foreign Office says it's a precautionary measure. The U.S. has sent a huge amount of military hardware to the region. It's been holding talks with Tehran, but Donald Trump has hinted he may order an attack. Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for the United States, has told Times Radio that things are looking ominous. Looks to me like military strikes are inevitable. When they occur, the extent of those strikes, that's unclear, as is, in my judgment, the objectives. of military action at this stage, which has not been presented clearly or at all, frankly, to the American public.

1:16The UK Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to Israel and Palestine. Greater Manchester Police has confirmed it's looking at reports of family voting in the Gorton and Denton by-election after Reform UK reported the issue. It's an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth at the same time. An independent group called Democracy Volunteers says it saw concerningly high levels of family voting. That was made illegal by the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023, which was authored by Conservative peer Lord Hayward. He's told Times Radio the observers are respected and should be listened to.

1:51Democracy Volunteers who produce the report are an independent organisation, a collection of volunteers who are very well respected. They are given access to polling stations for every by-election anywhere in the country and general elections and local elections, but they also do work in Holland and Sweden and other places. Sir Keir Starmer says the result of the Gorton and Denton by-election was very disappointing, but he will keep on fighting despite Labour becoming third behind the Greens in Reform UK. Labour MP Brian Leishman has called on the Prime Minister to resign, but Sir Ben Bradshaw, the former Labour Culture Secretary, has told Times Radio there's no need for a change at the top.

2:30Any kind of suggestion that this is going to rekindle or will rekindle or make more likely leadership challenge is off the mark. I don't think there's anything to be gained by changing your leader after 18 months of a five-year parliament. If you look at any objective measurement of how this government is doing, it's not doing too badly at the moment. Look at the economy growth, wages going up, waiting times coming down, interest rates and inflation coming down. The government's got a good story to tell. It's just going to get much better at telling it. And a group of private schools, pupils and parents has lost a legal challenge over the introduction of VAT on private school fees at the Court of Appeal.

3:03Three judges dismissed a High Court challenge last June. The schools then appealed on the basis that VAT makes some schools unviable. And you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This 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.

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