Evening Briefing Friday 6th March

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. Hello, this is your Times Radio evening briefing for Friday the 6th of March with me, James Kitchen. The former chief executive of BP has told Times Radio the U.S.-Israeli military action in Iran will likely be destabilizing for a generation.

0:47John Brown's intervention comes after Qatar warned the conflict could bring down the economies of the world as the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane remains closed. The country's energy minister suggested all Gulf energy exporters would shut down production for weeks and drive oil to$150 a barrel. Speaking to Times Radio, Lord Brown said the impact of Donald Trump's administration will be felt for years to come. I'd say just like almost anyone who's taking a clear view about the relationship with his country and another country and has the great power, then inevitably it is destabilising. Inevitably it is.

1:23And how destabilising this will be depends on the reaction of Iran. There are plenty of factions that will come to bear and come to play over the next period. It won't be whatever happens. This will be probably destabilizing for a generation. The US presidents appeared to rule out negotiations with Iran and called for its unconditional surrender. In a social media post, Mr Trump also suggests the country will have a great future after it's selected an acceptable leader. Earlier, the Iranian president said he's committed to lasting peace in the region, but has no hesitation in defending the nation's dignity and sovereignty.

2:03Meanwhile, Royal Air Force jets could strike Iranian missile sites being used to attack British interests in the Middle East. That's according to the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who says there's a legal basis for them to do so. The government's faced criticism over its reaction to the crisis after a UK military base on Cyprus was hit by a drone. The Times' defence editor, Larissa Brown, sets out the scenarios in which Britain could escalate its response. It's not necessarily that the UK is gearing up to this because they've had a change of heart or anything. It's that they're preparing for a situation in which either British troops or civilians are killed in an attack by the Iranians, or the intelligence agencies get some information that might tell them that the Iranians are plotting something and they're about to use a specific launch site to carry out that attack.

2:55The Home Secretary says security services won't hesitate to take action after four men were arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran's intelligence agency. It's alleged they spied on locations and individuals linked to London's Jewish community. Six other men were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Police investigating an alleged Chinese spy ring searched the home of a former aide to the ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson. James Robinson has revealed officers searched his house after three men with links to the party were arrested over suspected espionage. Mr Robinson, who's married to the former Labour MP Gloria De Piero, said he had not been questioned, arrested or detained.

3:35Police investigating a parcel bomb plot say they've identified 22 suspects who are likely to have been working for Russian military intelligence. British and European authorities have been conducting joint investigations following warehouse fires in the UK, Germany and Poland in 2024. One package caught fire at Leipzig Airport just before it was loaded onto an aircraft. And remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. PwC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, but return on investment, not so much.

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