Evening briefing Monday 14th September

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 Times Radio's evening briefing on Monday the 14th of September. The House of Lords is debating plans to tighten the rules on political donations following Reform UK's record£72m windfall.

0:46Nigel Farage insists the two's£36m donations are legal under current rules, but wouldn't say whether the donors were UK residents by the government's March cut-off. Ministers want to cap donations from British expats at£100 ,000 a year, with the changes applied retrospectively. The author of the Government-commissioned Review, Sir Philip Rycroft, told Times Radio the reform donations are a game-changer. This really takes it on to another level altogether. And it is time, I think, for us to think whether this is the way we want British politics to go. Do we want to go down the American route where money dominates the whole process?

1:24Of course, if reform is raising these sorts of sums of money, it puts huge pressure on the other parties to try and match them. SNP leader John Swinney says Andy Burnham will be the UK's last Prime Minister, after nationalist leaders signed a pact pledging closer cooperation on independence. The SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin say Westminster's time is coming to an end and are pushing for referendums on the future of the Union. Downing Street insists the Prime Minister remains committed to keeping the United Kingdom together. Sinn Féin President Mary Lou MacDonald told Times Radio she hopes John Swinney's prediction is right.

2:02I say that in a spirit of respect. I know that for English people, the same as Scottish and Irish and Welsh, all of us want a good future for ourselves and for our kids. I want that for everybody, but I will tell you that the only way forward that we can achieve our best opportunities and our best outcomes is for Ireland to be reunited. and that means an end to British jurisdiction. Donald Trump has accused critics of artificial intelligence of being part of what he calls a sick conspiracy against the technology. The US president says the only guardrails AI needs is a strong political leadership after anthropic boss Dario Amodi called for development to be slowed.

2:47His comments come as technology stocks have fallen amid growing concern about the risks posed by rapid advances in AI. A man has admitted to drugging and raping his wife without her knowledge over a period of two decades. The defendant, who's in his 60s and from Stockport in Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to offences dating between 2004 and 2025. He can't be named to protect the identity of his wife. A British soldier has died in Ukraine in a road traffic accident. The Ministry of Defence says a small number of service personnel are in operation in the country protecting diplomats. Earlier today, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed he narrowly missed being caught up in a Russian drone strike while he was visiting the country.

3:32Number 10 says Andy Burnham has cancelled all of his engagements until the end of tomorrow. It's after the death of his father Roy, who'd been suffering from Alzheimer's. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:49This 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 Early detection can change everything, but early stage colon cancer often shows no symptoms at all.

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