Morning briefing Wednesday 17th June

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 your Times Radio morning briefing for Wednesday 17th June. Sir Keir Starmer's relationship with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has broken down due to a standoff over defence spending.

0:46That's according to senior government sources who claim Miliband declined to take calls from the Prime Minister. Relations between the two have apparently been going downhill since Miliband became the first Cabinet Minister to advise Starmer to set out a timeline for his departure. The Times' chief political commentator, Patrick Maguire, has more. Sources close to Ed Miliband deny that he rejected the Prime Minister's cause, that he declined to speak to him. They eventually did speak about the cuts to the net zero budget that were imposed on him to fund an increase in defence spending. But that hasn't stopped the rest of the Cabinet preparing for life after Keir Starmer.

1:29Staying on that topic, with voters going to the polls tomorrow in Makerfield, their decision may decide not just the area's MP, but potentially the position of Prime Minister as well. It's widely believed if Andy Burnham wins, he will challenge Zakir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party, whereas streeting also looks to be on manoeuvres. Ed Owens is head of political strategy for Think Labour. Friday is going to be very interesting, isn't it, if Andy wins, which I think on balance it looks like he will, not taking anything for granted of course, but that is going to create a great deal of questioning about what next.

2:10And I don't think anyone is in a position to really know what happens next. Two retirees who were sailing in the English Channel when a nearby Russian warship fired warning shots warding them away, have described the moment as a bit scary. It happened yesterday morning when 23 miles south of the Isle of Wight, Alan and Jane Kelvey, sailing in their 40-foot yacht Bright Future, got too close for the liking of the Russian crew manning the 400-foot Admiral Gregorovich. The MOD issued a statement bolstering the Russian explanation that it was because the crew feared a collision in the fog. John Leakey is former Director General of the European Military Staff.

2:53It doesn't sound to me, at least the facts aren't clear yet, that the yacht was breaching the collision regulations. On the other hand, warships don't like other ships, particularly small boats, being near them because it limits their manoeuvrability and warships may be on training, on exercises and it doesn't matter whether it's a Russian or any other warship. A warship needs freedom to move, freedom of action. Ahead of England's first World Cup game, there are still concerns over a lack of fan segregation due to tickets being widely available on resale sites. Some have accused FIFA of losing control over who sits where.

3:33There are concerns wider geopolitical tensions could turn into fan violence. I do think the point that FIFA has lost control of who is sitting where and can't be, you know, if there was a match that came up in the knockout stages of two countries that have tensions between them and they do need to separate fans, they might lose the ability to do that. And that's certainly a problem and something that should be of concern. That was TalkSports' Hugo Chambre. Don't forget, you can set the Times Radio News Briefing as your flash briefing on Alexa.

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