Afternoon briefing Thursday 10th September

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up, so how the 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 concepts 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 News Briefing for the afternoon of Thursday, 10 September. The government has been accused of using delaying tactics, in response to figuring out why so many flights were affected by a technical issue on Tuesday. The shadow transport minister Greg Smith said he thought the timescale of figuring out what went wrong was too long. The aviation minister, Kiermey, said he will ask questions to the National Air Traffic Services

1:18and the Civil Aviation Authority about contingency planning. Experts are saying the NHS now faces twin crises of extremely hot summers and very challenging winters. Seven point two million patients were seen in A&Es in June, July and August this year, the highest ever total for summer. The former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has told Times Radio he approves of the government sanctions on Israeli businesses in the West Bank. The former Labour Cabinet Minister, Under Blair and Brown, was asked whether Andy Burnham made the right decision to sanction Israel for planning to build more on occupied territories. Yes, I do and I'm struck by the way that President Trump has been quite quite excellent on those sanctions and just to say that the idea of sanctioning Israel for in terms of trade for its illegal settlements was something that some colleagues looked at 20 years ago but to be blunt, Tony Blair would never have agreed to it. Meanwhile, ministers have been accused of ignoring official advice that the sanctioning of Israeli

2:21settlement businesses is unworkable. A source told the Times the advice from the Embassy in Tel Aviv was that it was not possible in the final weeks of Sir Kiermey's Dharma's administration. Kiermey Bates and Ox said she does not agree with the tourist tax due to be discussed later by government. The conservative leader says people are already overtaxed. It would be paid by visitors to popular towns and cities who are staying the night. The Times' newsroom reporter Olicole Hasmore. The fee will be charged as a percentage of the cost of an overnight stay, which the government argues will protect budget holidays, but the amount is expected to be uncapped, allowing mayors across England to set their own rate. Similar tourist levies already exist across Europe and in parts of Scotland and Wales, with the revenue used to fund local services. In England mayors would decide how to invest the money raised from the tax. But there is a warning from hospitality groups such as UK hospitality who say that uncapped and expensive holiday tax could price working families out of a British holiday. They point to analysis by Oxford economic, suggesting a 5% levy fully

3:21relies by 2030 could cost 33,000 jobs and increase tax for holiday makers by £1.6 billion. The John Lewis partnership has reported losses of £89 million in the six months to August. The chairman said the losses reflect a continued investment in transforming the company and more challenging trading environments and the increased costs of doing business. And Primark is going to do online home delivery ahead of planning to float on the London Stock Exchange. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day, two times radio. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PWC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, the return of 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.

4:24PWC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at PWC.co.uk Early detection can change everything, but early stage colon cancer often shows no symptoms at all. That's why screening mothers and ketis symptoms be. If you are 45 or older and at average risk, it's time to screen for colon cancer. Colourful plots make it simple. There is soon a forever non-invasive simple comparison that you can make at home in almost 15 minutes. This is something you can do on your own time. To properly rhythm, talk to your provider or pidele in line the same, have a lemon zilo canoesiavile, available by prescription only.