Morning briefing Friday 24th 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 Morning Briefing for Friday 24th October. Plaid Cymru have won the Caefilly by-election, claiming a seat in the Welsh Parliament that was previously held by Labour.

0:45The Plaid candidate, Lindsay Whittle, secured 15 ,961 votes, almost 4 ,000 more than his reformed UK rival, Hyrpal. I hope that this will be now an exciting time for politics in Wales. I've been absolutely heartened by the number of young people who've been involved in this campaign across the entire constituency. Listen now Cardiff and listen Westminster. This is Cald Fili and Wales telling you we want a better deal for every corner of Wales. The Welsh Labour candidate Richard Tunnicliffe was third with just 3 ,713 votes. Labour had held the seat since the Senate was established in 1999. Survivors of grooming gangs may have to wait until next year for the government's national inquiry to begin after ministers were forced to restart the process to appoint a chair.

1:40The Times has learned it could take months to find someone to oversee an inquiry that's descended into chaos after survivors walked away from their liaison panel. They said they would only rejoin if the safeguarding minister Jess Phillips stepped down. She had denied claims by one victim that the scope of the inquiry could be widened to include other cases of child sexual abuse. John McTiernan was a political secretary to the former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair. It is going to be a process with divided views, with conflict, because this is a very deeply held issue, it's a very personal issue for survivors.

2:15We see that the survivors who have been involved in this process so far differ in their views, but in the end the inquiry has to be held, it's a commitment, and the inquiry has to be done properly. China and India have suspended imports of significant amounts of Russian oil after President Trump announced sanctions aimed at Moscow's main source of income. Both nations have been the biggest customers of Russian oil since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and have provided a key source of revenue for Vladimir Putin's war machine. Harry Broadman was an assistant trade representative under President Clinton.

2:51Speaking to Times Radio, he said Trump's sanctions have economic teeth and could force Russia to the negotiating table. It seems, if Mr Trump sticks to the agenda, that he's corralled other countries to join in this effort to ban purchases of oil from Russia. That could be a very effective strategy, again, if all other countries are on board. It does seem to be designed in the right way. The government is to lift the misconduct bar for police officers who use lethal force, A proposal to change the guidelines would make officers subject to the criminal law test rather than the more easily met civil law threshold that's currently in place.

3:33It follows recommendations from a review carried out after Sergeant Martin Blake was acquitted last year of the murder of Chris Cabber in South London. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:51This 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. While every other channel is fighting for your customers' attention, podcasts are where they've already given it.

4:37No one accidentally listens to a podcast for 45 minutes. They choose to be here. They trust the voice in their ears. And when that voice talks about your brand, it doesn't sound like advertising. It sounds like a recommendation from a friend. ACAST gives you that trust at scale. Digital precision, post-read authenticity, and performance data that proves it worked. Don't fight for attention. Buy it with ACAST. Learn more by visiting acast.com slash advertise.