Morning briefing Wednesday 28th October

0:01This is Times Radio's morning briefing for Wednesday 28 October 28th. A former economic adviser to Rishi Sunak is warning that today's budget will ruin the Labour Party's environmental credentials. In his first budget since his appointment as Chancellor, John Healy is expected to reduce energy bills by scrapping green levies. The Times has also learned that Treasury calculations for the budget assume that Rosebank oil field will be approved, despite deep divisions within the Cabinet over its future. Speaking two times radio, the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Leunig, Tim Leunig, said that the Treasury is riding roughshod over the Energy Secretary, Miata Farnbulla.

0:44What I think she's learnt this week is that at the end of the day, the Chancellor calls the shots. If Andy Burnham wanted to go for growth, as some people see it, and go for Rosebank and not care about the environment, why on earth did he appoint Miata to the job? John Healy is saying to Miata Farnbulla, my tanks are bigger than your tanks. The two leading candidates in Israel's parliamentary elections are said to be preparing for a prolonged process of government formation, after both fell short of a majority. The country's first election since the October 7th attacks and the war in Gaza remains too close to call, with a group of opposition parties led by Gadi Eisenkot neck and neck with Benjamin Netanyahu's camp in two exit polls.

1:28A third puts the Prime Minister marginally ahead, although the exit polls also suggest Netanyahu's Likud party is set to be the biggest in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Aaron David Miller is a former Middle East negotiator. Speaking to Times Radio, he said Israel faces weeks of deadlock. It is pretty much evident, despite the fact that Mr Netanyahu's Likud party has 50 seats, it's a real come down, a slap down actually, from the 64 of the current coalition. and I think what it reflects is a degree of dissatisfaction on any number of issues by large numbers of Israelis. The king has begun his tour of the Caribbean by acknowledging what he says is the great suffering of the past and has confirmed that Commonwealth leaders will discuss the legacy of slavery at a summit that he will open.

2:20Charles was speaking at a youth parade in the Bahamas where he said some of the nation's culture was born out of darkness. His Majesty, however, stopped short of apologising for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade. The Premier League champions Arsenal have been knocked out of the EFL Cup by the Football League's strugglers Fleetwood Town. Fleetwood, who are 18th in League 2, won 5-3 in a penalty shootout to reach the quarterfinals and claim one of the biggest cup upsets ever. The Fleetwood manager Matt Lawler says it's a night that will never be forgotten by all those who live in the small seaside town in Lancashire.

2:57That's like stuff that we dream of. It's football. I love the feeling of football. Like I love that feel. We all love football and sometimes it's a bit clinical. Sometimes it's a little bit, I don't know, professionalised and a bit distant. But that shows you the feeling that football can create. And it maybe happened once a season or once every two seasons that David beats Goliath. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.