Evening briefing Thursday 6th November

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 6th November. The Justice Secretary David Lammy says he was not equipped with all the facts about a mistaken prisoner release when he appeared at Prime Minister's questions yesterday.

0:45He's also admitted the government has a huge task in tackling the prison's crisis. The rate of release by error is too high. It has to come down. This is a paper-based system that obviously involves human error. We had 800 errors under the last government. This has now gone on for a generation. Our prison system is in crisis, so we have to bear down on this, but we have a mountain to climb. Surrey police says one of two men mistakenly released from jail has handed himself in. Billy Smith was wrongly let go from Wandsworth prison earlier this week, sparking a three-day manhunt. The search for sex offender Brahim Qadar Sharif continues.

1:25The Bank of England's held the base rate of interest at 4%. Experts think there could be a cut before the end of the year once the impact of the forthcoming budget is clearer. Governor Andrew Bailey has set out his economic forecast. Headline inflation was 3.8 % in August and in September. We expect this to be the peak. Underlying price and wage pressures have continued to ease. We expect headline inflation to fall to close to 3 % by early next year before gradually returning to the 2 % target. West Midlands police have revealed why they and officials banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from travelling to Birmingham for tonight's match against Aston Villa.

2:02We have intelligence and information that says that there is a section of Maccabi fans, not all Maccabi fans, but a section of them who engage in quite significant levels of hooliganism. What is probably quite unique in these circumstances is where as often hooligans will clash with other hooligans and it will be contained within the football fan base. We've had examples where a section of Maccabi fans were targeting people not involved in football matches. Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce, MPs on the Home Affairs Committee, asked this week for police to explain the decision following accusations of anti-Semitism.

2:35Maccabi Tel Aviv's chief executive says blatant falsehoods have been spread about clashes in Amsterdam last year. And the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency says it will take action after Times Radio revealed that people wanting to take a driving test are being targeted by scammers. Prospective drivers are being charged more than£500 for tests that don't exist. Scammers are even claiming they can guarantee that people will pass. Carly Brookfield from the Driving Instructors Association says a lack of tests was initially a hangover from the Covid lockdowns but has since got even worse. We're now facing you know five years on and waiting times of more than 24 weeks nationally to get a driving test whereas immediately post-pandemic you were looking at 14 weeks being a poor you know waiting time test.

3:23We've now gone up 10 weeks longer than that and we're five years post that. 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.

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