Morning briefing Wednesday 8th 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 Welcome to The Times Morning Briefing on Wednesday 8th October. The chief prosecutor has blamed the government for the collapse of the Chinese spying trial, saying it failed to provide crucial evidence despite many months of requests, a claim the Prime Minister has dismissed.

0:48Stephen Parkinson said the Crown Prosecution Service repeatedly tried to get witness statements from officials confirming China was a threat to national security. He says they were needed to secure convictions against Christopher Berry and Chris Cash, who were accused of passing secrets to Beijing. Sir Keir Starmers challenged the claims, saying officials couldn't have provided evidence as China hadn't been designated a threat to national security by the previous government when the alleged activity took place. Former special advisor to the conservative government, Giles Dilnot, said this could be used as a tool by China in future negotiations.

1:25What happens when we normally as a government have issues with China is privately China will look for an off-ramp that saves face. Now, if they know that you badly want to do trade with them, they will use an incident like this as leverage. Kemi Bajnok will promise to cut government spending to balance the books in a bid to restore her party's reputation for economic competence. In her main speech to the Conservative Party conference, Badeknoch will promise to prioritise reducing the deficit over cutting taxes. Under what she's set to call a new golden rule, the Tories will promise that at least half of anything saved through spending cuts will go towards reducing government borrowing.

2:09Political journalist Alicia Fitzgerald spoke to us about why the announcement may not go down so well. There is a chance that this will be met on deaf ears by a lot of people, given the way that the Conservatives finish their time in office. and given the state of the economy towards the end of that period. However, the goal here is definitely to try and pick up on where reform are lacking, I suppose, because the one place that reform are really not doing well in is the economy. The British steel industry faces the biggest crisis in its history after the European Union said it had no choice but to hit the UK with 50 % tariffs.

2:47The bloc says it's protecting its own industry from a glut of cheap Asian steel diverted to the continent by President Trump's tariffs. The UK exports 78 % of its steel to the EU. David Hennig is director of the UK Trade Policy Project. The European Union, like the UK, is worried about the future of its steel industry. It believes it needs to protect it mainly from Chinese production, but also what is known as overcapacity in general across the market. There is more steel being produced than the world is consuming. Millions of motorists could be in line for an average of£700 in compensation as the regulator presses ahead with a scheme to address the car loan misselling scandal.

3:34The Financial Conduct Authority says it expects the total bill for lenders would amount to around£11 billion,£8.2 billion given to drivers, and£2.8 billion to run the scheme. Robert Miller from the Times business team says payments could be made as early as next year, but there's still work to do. They've still got to set up the scheme, but it will be free to use. So anybody who thinks they might have been missold, as I say, between 2007 and 2024, can certainly have a look at whether they're entitled. And you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

4:16This 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 experiments to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk