Morning Briefing on Tuesday 4th November

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 You're listening to The Times Morning Briefing on Tuesday the 4th of November. Police are facing questions after the Huntington train attack suspect was linked to a number of knife incidents in the 24 hours before the stabbings.

0:4732-year-old Anthony Williams has been charged with 11 attempted murders in relation to the train attack and a separate incident in London hours before. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for further action to tackle knife crime in the UK. Victor Olisa is a former senior officer in the Metropolitan Police and says it's a huge problem to solve. Sadly, knife crime has been a scourge on society for many, many years. And I go back to my time working in London in the mid-90s. It was prolific then. The difference is actually we need to be really careful that we're specific in the way that we respond to knife crime.

1:24And I've heard some conversations around, can we have knife arches, metal detectors at railway stations? And the practicalities of doing that are enormous. The Chancellor is promising fairness in the autumn budget as speculation mounts of a hike in income tax to plug a hole in the public finances. Rachel Reeves will speak from Downing Street this morning and is expected to lay out three key priorities of cutting national debt, easing the cost of living and protecting the NHS. Number 10 has repeatedly refused to recommit to Labour's manifesto pledges, fuelling speculation its promise to avoid raising taxes could be broken.

2:01President Trump has said if the Democratic nominee wins the New York mayoral election, he'll reduce funding for what he described as his beloved first home. The race is entering its final day, with Donald Trump taking to Truth Social to say if Zoran Mandani wins, it can only get worse with a communist at the helm, and he won't send good money after bad. The Times New York correspondent Will Pavia says the question over whether Mamdani can govern is a big one. He has some past positions on things like, you know, defund the police, which he's sort of very much rode back. And there was also this sort of sense that, you know, all the millionaires and billionaires were all going to flee the city if he came in.

2:38He's sort of done a bit to try to speak to business leaders and to try to kind of show that he's a reasonable fellow and that he knows how the city works. Can he govern the city is really an open question though because he hasn't been in charge of anything like this before. Eight out of 13 reform-run authorities have signalled they'll raise council tax despite promises to bring down bills. More than two million households could face tax rises of£127 million next year. Before the local elections, the party promised to bring bills down by cutting wasteful spending. A worker who spent 11 hours trapped under the rubble of a collapsed medieval tower in Rome has died.

3:18Crowds had cheered when crews freed the 66-year-old and stretched him into an ambulance. The 13th century building near the Coliseum collapsed during renovation work. And John Lewis's highly anticipated Christmas ad this year features a father and son bonding over a 90s club hit. The department store's festive campaign shows a teenager gifting his dad a vinyl of Alison Limerick's Where Love Lives, with the pair sharing a hug and a laugh. Fellow British artist Labyrinth also takes part in the adverse new version of the track. That's your Times Morning Briefing on Tuesday the 4th of November.

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. Do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one, for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization?

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