Morning briefing Thursday 19th June

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0:33This is the Times Morning Briefing for Thursday the 19th of June. MPs have expressed their concern at the prospects of the UK's involvement in any American attack on Iran. The US military is prepared to carry out bombing raids on Iran's nuclear facilities, along with other targets, and Sakhir Starmer has discussed with ministers the UK's best response should Washington request assistance. British military sources believe the US may want to use UK bases in the region as a staging post for any such operation. The Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin is a former Army Reserve officer. Speaking to Times Radio, he said there is the possibility of the UK being drawn more widely into the conflict.

1:15What if the US says, actually, we'd like you to provide some military assets for this fight? If that is what the US is thinking of doing, it's not beyond President Trump to say, hang on a minute, I've just given you a good trade deal, or I know you guys want a lower steel tariff, so therefore you've got to provide some... He's very, very transactional, President Trump. One American newspaper is reporting the approval of a plan by President Trump for the United States to attack Iran. The Wall Street Journal says Trump told senior aides of his approval late on Tuesday, but that he was holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran will abandon its nuclear program.

1:53These people in California say they are hoping for an alternative outcome. I just think it's two unpredictable regimes and it's their war. It's not our war. It's going to probably cause a recession. So if Trump is concerned about business, then he's playing with fire. I'd say anyone who says they don't have a stake in this is just not paying enough attention to how war works and how things escalate. The Israeli military says it fired further missiles at targets in western Iran last night, having earlier focused on around 20 military and security sites in the capital Tehran. The health spending watchdog is standing by an earlier decision to reject the use of two breakthrough Alzheimer's drugs on the NHS.

2:37The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says the drugs are too expensive and the benefits are too small to justify the cost. The First Minister of Wales says the country is getting the funding it's needed from Westminster to keep communities safe from at-risk coal tips. The UK government's recent spending review included£118 million of additional funding for such measures. Ellen Ed Morgan also said the Welsh government had asked for as much as we can spend. We asked the Conservatives for years to take responsibility and they didn't. Labour came in, they've given us extra money, they've now given us more money into the future.

3:15They've recognised that it was these communities that powered the empire and it's not right that we're cleaning up after that legacy. And a site near Plymouth has been designated a strategic project under the EU's critical mineral strategy, prompting hopes that production will restart at the world's second largest tungsten mine. Tungsten is used in the manufacture of bullets, electrical components and even darts. And the mining company Tungsten West hopes to receive public funding to cover some of the£69 million they need to begin production. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

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