Morning Briefing Friday 6th November

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1:16This is the Times Morning Briefing for Friday 6th November. Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assault and is now expected to face a substantial prison sentence which will take place on Monday. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the investigation remains ongoing with further rape allegations made by two women being revealed to the public. Dr Maria Garner is a gender-based violence expert at London Metropolitan University. I hope this sends a message to rapists and abusers and men that harm. I hope it sends a message that fame, power, money is not a shield, that you're not above the law.

1:50And what we know about violence against women is so often they are enabled, protected, through complicity of individuals, of systems. Russell Brand, like so many high-profile celebrities, got away with it in plain sight. The US Defence Secretary has taken to social media to defend his record. Donald Trump has said that the Middle East conflict was largely the reason that the Republican Party made significant losses. Pete Hegseth defended his actions in Iran. Just like the President, we don't back down, and that especially applies now. The next few months and years are critical for our department and our republic.

2:31The Bank of England has raised interest rates from 3.75 % to 4%. It's the first time that rates have risen in more than three years. Joe Michelle is Professor of Economics at the University of the West of England. The rise was very much expected. Perhaps what was less expected was the degree to which the forecasts the bank published today showed inflation forecast to be higher than previously thought. But the single biggest factor driving this is the war in Iran. What's going on is the closure of the Straits of Hormuz and the ongoing problems of getting energy out of the Gulf region, means that oil prices have been extremely high and that's feeding through into petrol prices.

3:15A British doctor who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been flown back to the United Kingdom. The man who hasn't been identified landed at RAF Northolt before being transported to a specialist infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London, being told that the risk to the public is low because of robust infection control measures. Live Golf has announced that it intends to transition to an orderly wind-down of its operations, ending the controversial breakaway tour. The move follows the collapse of a financing deal that would have been worth more than$200 million.

3:52It was hoping to have a second lease of life as Live 2.0. And there's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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