Evening briefing Thursday 10th July

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 Evening Briefing on Thursday the 10th of July. Sir Keir Starmer has announced a new migrant returns deal with France.

0:40For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order. In exchange for every return, a different individual will be allowed to come here via a safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally. The Prime Minister says it'll start in a matter of weeks but he didn't say how many migrants will be sent back. The PM has described it as a pilot with a report suggesting just 50 people a week will be returned. He's been speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a news conference in north-west London.

1:27Reform UK leader Nigel Farage doubts the scheme will work. I don't think this so-called deal will make any difference at all. If we even try to deport people across the Channel, we will run straight into the European Convention on Human Rights, as written into British law in the Human Rights Act. The lawyers will have a field day and find lots of reasons why people can't be deported. The threat of assassination and other violence from Iran is the same as that from Russia, according to Parliament's intelligence watchdog. The Intelligence and Security Committee says the Iranian regime poses a significant espionage threat to the UK.

2:04It says Iranian agents are extremely well-resourced and intent on wreaking havoc. Conservative MP Sir Jeremy Wright is the committee's deputy chair. He's been talking to Times Radio. Our security services have foiled Iranian attempts to kidnap, to harm or to kill those who have been critical of the Iranian regime or are dissidents in other ways. And so we know that the Iranians are prepared to do those things, and that's why we say that the Iranians pose that kind of threat just as the Russians do. Reform UK's Immigration and Justice spokesperson says it's not just former Tories the party wants to attract.

2:42Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry is the latest person to swap to Nigel Farage's party. But Anne Whittacombe has told Times Radio they want a range of defectors. We're not just about former Tories. No, we want to appeal to Labour as well. We want to appeal particularly to the blue-collar working man, what Nigel describes as people who have alarm clocks, that is workers. It would include any sensible person, any decent person. That's crucial to say. And the period between March and June has been England's driest since 1893. The Environment Agency says almost three quarters of reservoirs fell during June and are below average in all regions.

3:26Temperatures in some places have hit the 30s today at the start of a third heatwave of the summer. And you can follow The Times 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.

4:09PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech podcast wherever you get your podcasts.