Morning briefing Thursday 23rd 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 Thursday 23rd October. The Home Secretary says the Home Office is not yet fit for purpose after a secret report found it was detached from reality and beset by a culture of defeatism on immigration.

0:50Shabana Mahmood has promised to radically overhaul its staff, structures and culture. The department had attempted for more than two years to keep secret the highly critical report written by the former Home Office Special Advisor Nick Timothy. It was released only after a legal challenge by the Times. Its investigations reporter George Greenwood says it identified a catalogue of failings which had exacerbated the small boats crisis. This explains part of the reason why we have such high spending on hotels for immigration assessments because the system is just set up to fail. But also what's extraordinary is the lengths that the Home Office has gone to try and avoid this report being public.

1:30The Home Secretary has also ordered officials to expedite the removal of a man who was deported to France under the one-in-one-out arrangement before he re-entered the UK last week. The Iranian national claims it was unsafe for him to stay in France. The United States has imposed further sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies. President Trump said it was in response to what he called Moscow's lack of serious commitment to a peace process in Ukraine. Jim Townsend is a former Assistant Secretary of State for NATO and Europe. Speaking to Times Radio, he said the measures are significant.

2:05I'm glad that we have finally focused on the energy side of the sanctions because that's what Putin really is hurt by that. He feels that. And it's also causing domestic gasoline problems for the Russian people. Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister responsible for the inquiry into grooming gangs, is facing calls to resign after she was accused of lying to MPs. Phillips had denied claims by one victim, Fiona Goddard, that the scope of the inquiry could be widened to include other forms of sexual abuse. Goddard then produced evidence which appeared to contradict this. Last night, the four women who resigned from the advisory panel said they would return to the inquiry if Philip stepped down.

2:49Alan Collins is a solicitor who represents survivors of grooming gangs who hope to come forward as part of the inquiry. If this inquiry is going to happen, trust is going to have to be restored and credibility instilled because credibility has gone through the floor and the trust is now lacking. and I think what these four survivors are saying actually makes sense. It might make uncomfortable reading for the government but what they are saying strikes me as sensible. And the King says he's proud that his state visit to the Vatican will stand as a symbol of what he calls the unifying journey being made by Anglicans and Catholics.

3:27In his role as the head of the Church of England, the King will today join the Pope at the Sistine Chapel for an historic joint prayer. It will mark the first time a British monarch and a pope have prayed together publicly since Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church almost 500 years ago. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This 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?

4:09Strong 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.