Morning briefing Tuesday 11th 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. This is the Times Morning Briefing on Tuesday the 11th of November. The BBC is considering its response after US President Donald Trump threatened it with$1 billion legal action.

0:45His lawyers have told the broadcaster to retract its Panorama programme by Friday after a clip made it look like President Trump had incited violence during a speech. The BBC chair has apologised for what he called the error of judgement, while the Director General and Head of News have announced they're stepping down. Robin Lustig used to present news programmes on BBC Radio and has told Times Radio the situation is grim. We've been through these sorts of crises before, but they are deeply damaging to the organisation. They're very unpleasant for everybody involved in them, everybody who's working there.

1:20My fear this time, actually, is that this one has the potential to do very real damage because it coincides with what very soon will be the opening of new negotiations over its next charter. The chancellors hinted the two-child benefit cap will be lifted at the budget later this month, saying children shouldn't be penalised for being in a bigger family. But Rachel Reeves has all but confirmed income tax will be going up. She says the alternative is deep cuts that would derail economic growth. Labour MP Graham Stringer isn't impressed. The electorates are getting more and more distrustful. They're turning from scepticism to cynicism.

1:57And I think breaking that manifesto commitment, quite frankly, is outrageous. It's difficult to see how any Chancellor of the Exchequer could survive such a deep breach of trust. It's claimed human rights law is undermining the effectiveness of the armed forces. Nine of the army's most senior former officers claim decision-making is being paralysed, with troops worried choices they make, which are currently lawful, will be re-evaluated down the line. Ministers insist veterans are protected. The UN's climate chief has told countries at COP30 to cooperate rather than battle over priorities. It's day two of negotiations in Brazil on efforts to limit global warming, but the US hasn't sent any top officials to Belém, while President Trump and China's Xi Jinping were absent from last week's Leaders' Summit.

2:48George Monbiot is an environmental campaigner. The great cruelty of climate breakdown is that it's largely driven by the rich world, but it's the poor world that suffers most from it. And what we now see are rich nations effectively turning their backs and walking away. And that's a massive moral failure, a massive political failure, and it should be intolerable to anyone who believes in a fair world. Booker Prize judges say this year's winner, Flesh, is dark but a joy to read. Its author, David Soloy, has become the first Hungarian-British writer to pick up the award. Flesh is described as a rags-to-riches tale exploring class and power.

3:34You 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? 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.

4:17Discover more at pwc.co.uk. When I found out I was going to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to BetterHelp to try to look for a therapist to help me with that. My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot. Really getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life-changing. Discover what BetterHelp Online Therapy can do for you. Visit BetterHelp.com today. Thank you.