Morning briefing Friday 20th June

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1:22This is the Times Morning Briefing for Friday 20th June. The Foreign Secretary David Lamy will meet his Iranian counterpart in Geneva later as the UK presses for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran. Foreign ministers from France, Germany and other European allies will also be in Geneva for talks with Abbas Arachie. Last night, Mr Lamy met the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House to discuss the conflict. Dr Nick Westcott is a former British ambassador. Speaking to Times Radio, he suggested the Foreign Secretary should adopt a direct approach. He should be saying, keep talking about a nuclear deal, we're pushing the Americans also to agree one.

2:06A third party intermediary is good. Whether the UK is the right one, the UK has history in Iran. I think the Iranians would quite like to bring in what they see as one of their friends, China. That said, China hasn't been sending any weapons to Iran, for example, to help its defence. President Trump last night said a decision on whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran would be made within the next two weeks. A former Conservative MP says today's historic vote on the assisted dying bill is too close to call. Its supporters say if it doesn't pass, it could be at least another 10 years before the debate returns to Parliament.

2:42Speaking to Times Radio, Julie Kirkbride said the vote count will be extremely tight. This is something like this. The people who feel really strongly against it really, really lobby hard. And we're all human and we're all swayed by the arguments that we hear. And I fear that parliamentarians will have heard much, much more from the people who oppose this on principle than the people who think it's a good idea. A Labour MP has resigned as a government whip over the party's welfare proposals. In her letter to the Prime Minister, Vicky Foxcroft said she could not vote for reforms that include cuts to disabled people's finances.

3:20Measures are being introduced to tackle sexual offences against women and girls at concerts in London. 51 large-scale music events are planned for the capital this summer, with more than 3 million people expected to attend shows at Wembley Stadium alone. The Metropolitan Police has introduced new patrols alongside the V100 project, a new data-driven approach to identify serious sexual offenders. Ben Russell is the Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner. One of the things we're doing is what we call the V100, which is our approach to identifying those men who are at the top end of carrying out the most serious and harmful attacks against women and girls in London.

4:01Thankfully, there are a relatively small number of offenders who we believe are behind the most serious crime. And the government has pledged to spend£900 million on major sporting events and grassroots facilities. More than half of that budget will be dedicated to supporting the delivery of several major international events, including the Euro 2028 finals in the UK and Ireland. The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said such financial backing for world-class events would drive economic growth across the country. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.