Morning briefing Monday 10th August

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0:35Welcome to the Times Radio News Briefing on Monday 10th August. Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a 15-point roadmap to peace plan for Gaza put forward by Donald Trump's administration. The Israeli Prime Minister says troops won't be withdrawn from the enclave until Hamas fighters are fully disarmed. Meanwhile, the militant group says Israel need to halt attacks before they will implement the agreement on their weapons. Netanyahu, who's running for re-election this year, wants to take a hard line against Hamas, with their disarmament being viewed as essential. Professor Yossi Mecklberg is a senior consulting fellow at the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, and told us that now there may well be a delay to the peace process.

1:17The most optimistic thing is to say that for now it's suspended, and there is not going to be any progress until the election. Downing Street officials say Andy Burnham will be in what they call listening mode as he starts a national tour to meet members of the public. The Prime Minister is planning on spending most of this month travelling around the country, asking people how his government can improve their lives. Jo Elvin, host of Royals Uncensored, says she's surprised he doesn't already know the issues. Is it not the case that he was sort of like slid into power because he was supposed to be the best person who understood the issues of the day and how to sort them out?

1:55I don't understand and what else he needs to know about the policies of his own party. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham's efforts to bring a top economist into government has hit a dead end. Lord Jim O 'Neill's appointment was seen as one key part of attempting to reassure the financial markets before Burnham became Prime Minister. While strict rules requiring ministers to place business assets into blind trusts presented a major hurdle, a clash over tax policy is said to be proving a potential deal-breaker. Stephen Swinford is the political editor at The Times and told us that there's more to this rejection.

2:27The second is perhaps more significant. He's really worried about potential wealth tax. Now, Andy Burnham is trying to raise money ahead of the budget on October 28th. He's got lots of public spending commitments and capital gains tax is seen as one way of potentially doing that. Lord O 'Neill is flatly opposed. He thinks it would be a disaster because it would drive away entrepreneurs and he actually contests whether it would raise much money at all in the process. So he sees it as very damaging. Daniel Kinahan has been remanded in custody after appearing before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, charged with directing an organised crime group after he was extradited from Dubai.

3:02Kinahan's activities have been linked to international drug trafficking and firearms offences. Stephen Breen, co-author of Kinahan Assassins and crime editor of the Irish Sun, explains the background. Most people would probably know him because of the Regency Hotel incident which happened in Dublin in February 2016 in which armed men, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, stormed into the hotel where there was a boxing way in taking place and they opened fire and they killed Daniel Kinnaghan's best friend, a guy called David Byrne. He then moved to the UAE where he's been ever since. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen to Times Radio online.

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