Evening briefing Thursday 21st 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 Radio evening news briefing on Thursday the 21st of May. It's claimed temporary measures aimed at helping families with the cost of living will only save them£10.

0:44The Institute for Fiscal Studies has been doing the maths after the Chancellor said supermarkets won't have to pay tariffs on some 100 products, while VAT for summer attractions is being cut from 20 to 5%. She's asked them to pass on the savings to customers. They'll also beat free bus travel for children in England during the summer holiday. The Tories have called the measures very minor, which Times Radio has put to Government Minister Louise Sander-Jones. I think to young people wanting to catch the bus to go and do something with friends, I think it's worth a great deal more than that. This is not supposed to be something that solves every problem.

1:18And I think when we look at the measures we've taken, I think it's clear that we've really thought it through. We've looked at, hey, if we can spend this money, where can we spend it that makes the biggest difference? The government's updated its guidance on single-sex spaces. It comes a year after the Supreme Court ruled the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex. Ministers say organizations now have clear and workable guidance to help them serve the needs of our society. There are fresh calls for a more measured debate about immigration. A study has found half of us think net migration has increased, despite figures showing it's nearly halved in a year.

1:55According to the Office for National Statistics, 171 ,000 more people arrived in the UK last year than left. That's down from 331 ,000 in 2024. The Times' Cindy Yu says with so much discourse about illegal migration, the government really needs to shout about this. Now is the time to kind of double down on this and really kind of bake in this more control on immigration because it's become such a politically toxic issue. And Ashubhani Mahmood is right to say that unless they get a grip on this, it's Nigel Farage that's going to win. A woman whose son was one of the three victims of the Nottingham stabbing says she was heartbroken when she found out their medical records had been accessed inappropriately.

2:36The Nottingham NHS Trust has apologised to Emma Weber and to the families of Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates after it was confirmed 11 people have been sacked. Trade Minister Chris Bryant says no more documents will be published about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as trade envoy. Earlier, Downing Street said more would be released at a later date. A series of memos has been released, including one that suggested the late Queen pushed for him to get the job. Royal correspondent at Newsweek Jack Royston has given us his assessments. What's really striking is there is no attempt made to warn the government in any way that this is a risky decision or that it could go badly wrong.

3:16And interestingly, as early in the timeline as April 2001, there was a piece in The Guardian saying that actually the King, Charles, back when he was the Prince of Wales, had expressed reservations about this appointment. There's absolutely nothing in this tranche of paperwork to reflect that. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing following claims of misconduct in public office. You can follow The Times Radio 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.

3:54So 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.

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