Legal and economic news updates

This episode of the Times Radio News briefing is sponsored by PWC. 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 optimizing 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 evening briefing on Tuesday, the seventh of July. Nigel Farage has resigned as an MP, forcing what he's calling a people versus the establishment by election in which he will stand. The reform UK leader has come under intense scrutiny over his personal finances after investigations by the Times and the Sunday Times. He says he's not broken the law in relation to parliamentary rules and expenses and investigations were being used to attack him. Speaking without any audience or journalists present, he spelt out his intentions. Today I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clackton on Sea, thereby forcing a by election This will be people versus the Establishment by election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment. and that is why I will be putting my name forward, to stand in this by election. I will fight to win, I will fight to continue the political revolution that reform has started. Our reporter in the Times newewsroom has been looking at the reaction to the announcement Sakir Starmer has said the triggering of a by election by Farage is a desperate stunt from a man up to his neck in slez. A spokesperson for the man looking to replace him in number ten Andy Burnham has called it a gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage's funders. Other party leaders have got a little more personal, LibDM leader Sirred Davy has described Farage as a TU Trump Whereas Kemmy Paidenock from the Conservatives has said Nigel Farage is having a hissy fit In other news, Prince Harry's final legal battle against the British press has ended in defeat. The Duke of Sussex has lost his claim against the publisher of The Daily Mail for alleged unlawful information gathering. A high court judge found he and his co claimants failed to prove their allegations against associated newspapers. A decision who paid legal costs in the case estimated to total fifty million pounds will begin with a hearing on july twenty ninth The Court of appeal in Paris has upheld Marine Le Pen' embezzlement conviction. She was also originally handed a five year ban from running for public office, which has been reduced today, meaning Le Pen can technically run for the French presidency next year. John Litchfield is a veteran foreign correspondent based in France and explains it's unclear what her plans are She has been given a three year jail sentence, including one to be served by wearing an electronic tag. But the five year ban on running for office has been reduced to the fifteen months, which is less than she's already served since the original trial. That has been removed, but she has said as recently as four days ago that she will not run If she has to run wearing the electronic tag and report to the authorities every day