Evening briefing Thursday 2nd October

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0:36This is the Times evening briefing for Thursday 2nd October. Police are hailing the bravery of worshippers and a security guard after a synagogue attack in Manchester that's killed two people. They kept the suspect from getting inside the building before he was shot dead by armed officers. Scotland Yard have declared it an act of terrorism. Police in Manchester have arrested two people. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has warned Britain must defeat rising anti-Semitism. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day for the Jewish community, a vile individual committed a terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews and attacked Britain because of our values.

1:18But to every Jewish person in this country, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve. Many British Jews feared an attack like this was coming. Vandalism at synagogues and anti-Semitic abuse spiked after October 7, 2023. Rabbi Jonathan Romain told Times Radio it's often a part of daily life. There are a lot of Jews who perhaps would have worn the head covering, kippah as it's called, in public and who now do not do so. They either just wear an ordinary flat cap or a baseball cap instead. Because it is a visual sign, this person is Jewish.

1:55and although 99 % of the population are peaceful, it's that 1 % who can throw a brick at you that you really want to avoid. In other news, a former Conservative environment minister has warned that Margaret Thatcher would be appalled by Kemi Baden-Ock's plans to scrap the Climate Change Act. The Conservative leader says ending legally binding carbon targets will aid economic growth and reduce energy costs. Baron Deben, John Gummer, was Environment Secretary in the 1990s. He told Times Radio, Baden-Ock is making a mistake. She should remember that the Climate Change Act was invented by the Conservatives.

2:30This was a Conservative bill written by the Conservatives. We would be left behind and we won't be able to get the new green jobs or the investment. And it's really rather like the same people who argued 200 years ago against the railways. The technology firm Palantir has told Times Radio it won't work with the government on digital ID cards. It comes amid a cabinet backlash and plunging public support for the idea. Louis Moseley is the company's UK CEO. Palantir have long had a policy that we will help democratically elected governments to implement the policies they've been elected to deliver.

3:08And that does mean that often we are involved in the implementation of very controversial measures. However, digital ID is not one that was tested at the last election. It wasn't in the manifesto. And new research suggests the human brain reaches its peak after the age of 55. A paper in the journal Intelligence concludes that gains in knowledge and experience outweigh losses in memory and speed between the ages of 55 and 60. Don't forget you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

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