Evening briefing Wednesday 11th June

0:00Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

0:29This is your Times Evening Briefing on Wednesday the 11th of June. Rachel Reeves has announced billions of pounds in budget boosts, saying she's investing in the renewal of Britain. The Chancellor Spending Review will see the health service, defence and transport all allocated more money. The NHS gets£29 billion for daily day-to-day spending, while defence spending will rise to 2.6 % by 2027. That's an£11 billion uplift. The use of hotels to house asylum seekers will end by 2029. Total budgets will grow by 2.3 % per year in real terms. Rachel Reeves said her driving purpose is to see the country succeed.

1:08We are renewing Britain. But I know that too many people in too many parts of our country are yet to feel it. This government's task, my chance, a task as Chancellor, and the purpose of this spending review is to change that. The Conservatives have called the plans a fantasy with Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride saying it's spend now, tax later. DEFRA, the Foreign and Development Office, the Cabinet Office and the Home Office are some of the departments to lose out in the spending review. For the Cabinet Office the same figure is 2.2%, the Home Office is 2.2 % and the Foreign and Development Office is 5 % mostly because of the cuts to the foreign aid budget to fund defence spending.

1:52Joe Hill is former head of Home Office spending at the Treasury. What the Treasury and the Home Office has done is effectively cut down a lot of the core Home Office budget that gets given to the police and are relying more and more on council tax precept rises. This is going to be a real challenge if they want to also maintain that it's this government that's growing the police workforce when they're relying on council taxpayers locally to be the ones funding it. Six people have been arrested and one charged after two nights of writing in Ballymena. The police requested 80 extra officers from the rest of the UK to maintain their operation against disorder as they prepare for more riots tonight.

2:32Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson had this warning for any would-be rioters. Let me say in the clearest possible terms, this senseless violence is utterly unacceptable. And as I say, it serves only to endanger your lives and destroy our local area, our local communities. And I want to appeal directly to those involved or considering becoming involved in the disorder to stop and think. Ask yourselves, is the hatred something you want to be associated with? Is this worth being prosecuted for? Is it worth your future being put under threat? The European Union and Britain have reached an agreement on the status of Gibraltar.

3:09The status and how to police the border with Spain have been points of contention since Britain voted in 2016 to leave the EU. The British Foreign Office said in a statement the agreement would protect UK sovereignty and its military autonomy, as well as Gibraltar's economic future. It added, among other benefits, it would provide a practical solution to avoid the need for what it described as onerous checks and long delays at the border. Donald Trump has said a deal with China is done following two days of talks between top officials in London. Posting on his True Social platform, he said that subject to final approval from President Xi Jinping and himself, The US will get the rare earth metals it needs, while Chinese students can take up their places at American colleges.

3:51You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. That's your Times Evening Briefing on Wednesday the 11th of June. Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from The Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in paid partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

4:29Russell Brand is currently standing trial on charges of rape and other sexual offences he has pleaded not guilty to them. Reporters from The Times and The Sunday Times will be in the courtroom every single day to watch what happens Then they'll join me, Luke Jones in the podcast studio to unpack everything they have heard Search for The Trial of Russell Brand wherever you get your podcasts