Evening briefing Tuesday 24th 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 your Times Radio news briefing on Tuesday the 24th of February. The Defence Secretary John Healy has told Times Radio he wants to be the Defence Secretary that deploys UK troops into Ukraine as it'll mean the country has peace in place.

0:50On the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there's a promise of€90 billion loan from the EU to Kiev. Meanwhile, Russia is accusing Kiev of trying to sabotage ongoing peace negotiations. Asked whether he thinks peace talks are now little more than a charade, John Healy was clear. I don't accept that, nor would the Ukrainians and nor would the US. We're backing President Trump because President Trump is doing what only President Trump can do, which is to bring the parties together. This is a combination of keeping Ukraine strong, capable of withstanding this full-scale invasion, which means stepping up our military aid, including our training of Ukrainian troops, as well as our weaponry and air defence systems, which we've recently stepped up.

1:36Trade Minister Chris Bryant has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as rude, arrogant and entitled. Addressing the Commons, he criticised the former Duke as MPs demanded the release of files relating to his time as trade envoy. The government has said it's committed to release the files, but the minister didn't hold back. A man on a constant self-aggrandising and self-enriching hustle. A rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest which he said he served and his own private interest. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing. Times Radio's political editor Anna Mihailova explains the significance of the trade minister's comments.

2:15Chris Bryant was a very good minister to comment on this. He, back years ago, while Andrew was trade envoy, raised concerns about this. Indeed, he tried to raise concerns about it in Parliament and was slapped down by, you know, references to this convention of effectively not criticising the royals. He reminded everybody that all of these things were known, that he was slapped down for even mentioning them. An inquiry into the Nottingham attack has heard there's been a warrant out for Valdo Calacane's arrest when he killed three people. It had been flagged as a low priority. Students Barnaby Webber and Grace Amali Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates were killed by Calacane in June 2023.

2:57A fall in UK birth rates will allow parents to have more choice when it comes to school places, according to the Education Secretary. Last summer, Bridget Philipson said she was concerned about the drop and that she wanted more young people to have children. But speaking to Times Radio Breakfast, she said the issue is easing pressure on people places. Because of the changes we're seeing around demographics and the fall in the birth rate, parents are going to have more choices in the years to come because there are just fewer children who are approaching school age and we've been making that transition into secondary school.

3:29Some of the pressures that we saw in the past was because of the big increase we'd seen in the birth rate and then the pressure on school places in the local area, but that's not where we are at the moment. BBC bosses say one racial slur was edited out of the BAFTA ceremony broadcast but have reiterated their apology for another being aired in error. Tourette's campaigner John Davidson shouted the slur when black actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage. The shout could be heard in Sunday night's broadcast and on iPlayer until around half past 11 the following morning. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

4:04That's your Times Radio News Briefing on Tuesday 24th February.

4:13This 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk Do you keep hearing podcast ads, like this one for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization?

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