Evening briefing Monday 11th May

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 evening briefing for Monday 11th May. At least 50 Labour MPs have said they do not have confidence in the Prime Minister.

0:43Backbencher Catherine West has written to Labour MPs to call for a leadership election by September. Angela Rayner has used a speech this afternoon to call for Andy Burnham's return to Parliament and College Secretary Lisa Nandy has restated her belief that the Greater Manchester Mayor would be an asset to Westminster. Here's the Times' political editor, Stephen Swinford. There's no guarantee that he would win the by-election. there's also no guarantee that Labour would win the mayorality that he vacated. So you're in a pretty tricky situation, which actually favours the Prime Minister to a degree.

1:15But it does mean that at the moment the problem is that the weight is such, 50 MPs and counting, everything he does now will lead to questions about, well, look, you've got all of these MPs. It's going to become crippling for him the longer it goes on. Keir Starmer has promised to be bolder as he pleads with Labour MPs and voters not to plunge the party into a leadership contest. In a major reset speech, the Prime Minister confirmed British Steel will be nationalised and took the blame for last week's election losses. He also took aim at political rivals on the left and right. This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation.

1:51We cannot win as a weaker version of reform or the Greens. We can only win as a stronger version of Labour, a mainstream party of power, not protest. Kemi Badenock said the prime minister was floundering and showed no vision for the future. His deputy leader of reform, Richard Tice. The only thing of any interest was the fact that the prime minister finally a year later has agreed with Nigel and I that actually British deals should come into public ownership so we can invest in the last furnaces. So his big policy is to copy reform. Well done, prime minister. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, speaking at the Oval Office, has claimed the ceasefire between the US and Iran is on massive life support, calling Iran's latest peace proposal stupid.

2:35He's likened the ceasefire to a loved one whom a doctor has given a 1 % chance to live. The suspected gunman who allegedly tried to assassinate President Trump at Washington Gala, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty to all four charges. 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen was charged with attempted assassination, assaulting a federal officer, and two firearms charges. The UK has sanctioned 12 people and groups with links to Iran. British officials have accused them of hostile activity, including plotting attacks or providing financial services. Last month, police say they were investigating possible links between Iran and attacks on Jewish targets in London.

3:10And a third of 16 to 25-year-olds have bought life-threatening performance-enhancing drugs that increase muscle and bone density. According to a survey by Censuswide for UK anti-doping, selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMS, are promoted on social media but can cause liver, heart and reproduction problems. They're banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. You can hear more of these stories throughout the evening on Times Radio.

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