Morning briefing Wednesday 19th 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 for Wednesday 19th November. A former Deputy Director for Intelligence at GCHQ is warning that Chinese influence and information-gathering activity in the UK is occurring at a significant scale.

0:50China, however, has described as pure fabrication, claims by MI5 that MPs and peers are being targeted by Beijing agents. MI5 has warned those working in Parliament to understand how to best protect themselves from such approaches. Speaking to Times Radio, Brian Lord said he welcomed yesterday's warning and he questioned whether the UK's wider policy approach is keeping pace with the threat. Do I think the UK government are doing enough from that perspective? No, I don't. What we've seen in the raft of measures was doing a lot more around deterrence and disruption because treating the cause, China, suddenly becomes a lot more difficult to wrangle with.

1:31So the agencies themselves, their job is to stop these things happening while those wider policy decisions evolve. The Home Office has confirmed that children born in the UK to refugee parents will face deportation under the asylum reforms announced by the Home Secretary on Monday. The Times has learned the decision is to ensure there are no incentives for refugees to have children in the UK. Will Forster is the immigration and asylum spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats. It would be abhorrent if we were to detain and deport children, particularly those that have been born and grow up in this country.

2:11Scotland have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years after a dramatic defeat of Denmark. With their final Group C qualifier level at 2-all in the 93rd minute, Scotland had looked to be heading for the playoffs.

2:31McLean has launched the ball over the head of Kasper Spiegel. Scotland 4, Denmark 2. Kenny McLean's goal from his own half, five minutes after Kieran Cianney had restored Scotland's lead, secured their passage to next summer's finals in North America. The Scotland head coach is Steve Clarke. I said at the start of the campaign, I felt the pressure of the nation to try to get to the World Cup. Immediately that falls off your shoulders and you feel a little bit better, but I couldn't be happier for my players. I couldn't be happier. It's fantastic. It feels great. And the US Senate has unanimously fast-tracked a bill that will compel the Justice Department to release all of its files relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

3:13Donald Trump has tried to cover up for Jeffrey Epstein long enough. It's time that the Senate finish the job to finally compel the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files. The bill will now land on the desk of the Oval Office and President Trump is expected to sign it into legislation. Earlier this week, Trump reversed his position and urged Congress to vote to disclose the records following public pushback from many of his supporters. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:50This 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.

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