Evening briefing Thursday 12th 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. This is the Times Radio evening briefing on Thursday 12th February. Number 10 has confirmed the head of the civil service is stepping down.

0:42Sir Chris Wormald has only been Cabinet Secretary for 14 months, the shortest time anyone has held the role. It's thought Sir Keir Starmer wants Dame Antonia Romeo to take over and become the first female Cabinet Secretary in order to combat accusations of a boys' club at the top of his government. Labour MP Antoniazzi is one of those who wants change. He needs to turn to his domestic affairs now, listen to the voices of the Labour women and make real change happen and not be tokenistic. Nobody wants to be tokenistic. We want to see real change happen and there's a belief that it can happen. I believe in him, but he has got to change and it's got to happen.

1:20New government guidance will allow children to change their gender at school. The Department for Education will tell teachers parents have to be consulted before their child's allowed to change their pronouns or wear a different uniform. Times Radio's political editor Anima Hyliver has been looking through the guidance. It has taken on board quite a few of the points from the Cast Review and from the Supreme Court ruling. So it says that single-sex spaces in schools must be protected. There shouldn't be any mixed-sex lavatories for children after the age of eight or mixed-sex sleeping arrangements on school trips.

1:55Manchester United says it is a welcoming and inclusive club after co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments about immigration. The INEOS founder has apologised for his choice of words in saying immigrants are colonising the UK, but he insists he's raising an important issue. John Barnes, who was born in Jamaica and went on to play 79 times for England, spoke to Times Radio. When you colonise someone, you economically and politically take over that country, and immigrants aren't doing that in this country. He then backtracked and said about immigration, which could be a conversation to be had. It wasn't much of an apology, but his original comment about England being colonised by immigrants is completely wrong and destructive.

2:30The FA is assessing whether to launch a formal investigation. A judge in Florida has refused to block Donald Trump's$10 billion lawsuit against the BBC. He's set the trial for next February, although the corporation is planning to file a motion by mid-March to dismiss the case. A paedophile has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for abusing children when working at a nursery in northwest London. Vincent Chan has admitted 56 offences. A 15-year-old boy who murdered a 12-year-old in a random knife attack in Birmingham has been named. He and Moulton would usually get anonymity because he's under the age of 18, but a judge says there's public interest in naming him.

3:08Moulton murdered Leo Ross, who was on his way home from school after pushing three pensioners to the ground. He's been sentenced to 13 years in prison, which Leo's mother has called a joke. The government has announced 1.4 million NHS workers will get a 3.3 % pay rise in April. Meanwhile, monthly figures show more patients than ever. 71 ,000 are waiting 12 hours or more in A &E in England. That's despite waiting lists going down overall in January. And Donald Trump's Bordesar says the president has agreed to end immigration raids in Minnesota, where two American citizens have been shot dead. Don't forget you can subscribe to The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

3:54News 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 This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast. Marketers, no matter what pitch you play on, a big win feels the same.

4:42Electric. It's that moment when you read the play before the trend even starts. Beat the clock on a campaign with a little help from AI. and connect with customers in real time like you've trained for it your whole career. That's Contentful. World-class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully. Create and launch personalized content in an instant across every channel your customers are watching. No chaos, no limits, just open field. Take your shot at contentful.com.