Evening briefing Thursday 14th 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 your Times evening briefing on Thursday the 14th of May. The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has said they'll throw absolutely everything at the Makerfield by-election.

0:45It comes as Andy Burnham announces he'll run in the North West constituency, which is split between Labour and reform. Earlier this evening, Josh Simons stepped down to pave the way for the Mayor of Greater Manchester to return to Parliament. Makerfield falls within the area of Wigan Borough Council, where reform won every seat contested in the May 7th local elections. Lara Spirit is the Sunday Times deputy political editor and says there's been a big reaction to the news. It is just striking that this is genuinely quite a brave move from Andy Burnham. Absolutely no guarantee that he is going to win this seat.

1:17And this is just the first step. I mean, actually, it's not even the first step. He has to be approved by the NEC, but we'll get to that. But the fact that he has embraced a contest that is going to be genuinely difficult against a well-resourced popular party in the form of form is, I think, a very, very interesting political development and not something that those of us in Westminster witness very commonly. All this follows a day of drama in Westminster as Wes Streeting resigned, saying it was clear Sir Keir Starmer would not lead the Labour Party into the next general election. The Prime Minister in response said he's truly sorry to see his former health secretary go.

1:50Times Radio's reporter in the newsroom, Olly Cole, explains what the mood is like for the PM. The one thing about Keir Starmer is he thinks he was elected on a mandate, he was elected as the Labour Party leader fairly and squarely, and he is a stubborn man when it comes to this sort of thing. He genuinely believes that he should be allowed to press on and deliver what he was voted to deliver. Whatever happens, there does feel to be an inevitability to this, which is that whatever happens, however long this takes, however many months this whole thing gets drawn out for, Keir Starmer, number 10, know that the backbenches aren't a fan of the prime minister.

2:25In other news, Donald Trump has hailed his initial talks with China's leader as great as he begins his two-state visit to Beijing. The pair expected to discuss trade, although there were concerns that Mr Trump could drop support for Taiwan. Richard Spencer is The Times' China correspondent. The obvious trade-off would be a softening of the US position on Taiwan in return for more pressure from China on Iran or, say, the release of Jimmy Lai, who is in prison in Hong Kong and President Trump has also said he wants to get out. The warnings from America was, you know, don't touch Taiwan policy. It's too dangerous for all involved.

3:02And so far, I think that's probably stuck. One of the people quarantined in hospital in England after returning from a Handa virus-hit cruise ship has been discharged. Officials say they'll now self-isolate at home for 45 days, similar to six others discharged yesterday. Meanwhile, a medic on Ascension Island who had contact with people from the ship has developed symptoms and will be medically evacuated to England. The King has been warmly welcomed by members of the Jewish community in North London. Charles visited two men who were stabbed last month in an anti-Semitic hate crime. And 100 jobs are being lost at Spaghetti House.

3:37It's shutting all of its restaurants, blaming Brexit, the pandemic and government budgets. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. That's your Times Evening Briefing on Thursday the 14th of May.

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