Evening briefing Wednesday 15th October

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 evening briefing on Wednesday the 15th of October. Dominic Cummings claims China has compromised the government's system for transferring classified information and has stolen vast amounts of secret material over many years.

0:47Boris Johnson's former advisor says the breach came to light in 2020 and includes the highest level of classified information. He's spoken exclusively to The Times' political editor Stephen Swinford. The point he was making is clearly China is a threat to our national security and look, there is this absolutely extraordinary case which he contends was covered up by the government. He said he was essentially threatened with criminal charges if he disclosed some aspects of it afterwards. And he's decided to go public with it because he wants to articulate just how big the threat is. The government is yet to comment.

1:22Separately, the Prime Minister has announced the government will publish the evidence it submitted to the China spy case in full. Both Labour and the Conservatives accuse each other of being responsible for a position on the threat of China, which meant prosecutions against two men were not taken to court. Sakhir Starmer told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions that Kemi Badenok was one of those responsible. Mr Speaker, it doesn't end there, Mr Speaker. In September 2024, the leader of the opposition said this, I quote, I have shied away from calling China a threat.

1:59She is playing politics with national security. The leader of the opposition says the Prime Minister misconstrued her words. A former funeral director in Hull has denied 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial of a body. 47-year-old Robert Bush has admitted 35 counts of fraud and one charge of fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans is due to go on trial next year. Israel says it will not compromise on the return of dead hostages from Gaza after saying Hamas has returned a body which is not one of the Israeli captives. The Israeli government says the terror group should have released all 28 bodies on Monday, but 21 are still in Gaza.

2:41Hamas says it needs more time. Gershon Baskin is a former Israeli hostage negotiator. He told Times Radio he doesn't think Hamas is deliberately trying to scupper the deal. I believe that the Hamas side wants very much for this war not to be renewed. A lot of the emphasis in the negotiations that I was part of, at least, was about the guarantees that Israel would not renew the war once the living hostages are released. I know that the Israeli army does not want to renew this war. They thought it should have ended a long time ago. The Israeli government is a different case. Israel has cut some aid deliveries to Gaza in response to the delays.

3:17The UK government has announced a raft of new sanctions against Russian oil. The new measures target the two biggest Russian oil producers, as well as companies which help deliver Russian oil to the global market. And Angela Rayner has accepted nearly£17 ,000 in severance payments despite voting to ban them. New rules will ban ministers from claiming an exit payment if they commit a serious breach of the ministerial code. The former Deputy Prime Minister's spokesperson says underpaying stamp duty was not considered to be a serious breach. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

3:58This 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.