The members of One Direction have paid tribute to their bandmate, Liam Payne. Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles say they are "completely devastated" and "the memories we shared with him will be treasured forever".

Plus, the wife of a Conservative councillor has been jailed for 31 months after calling for hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK to be set on fire. She posted the expletive-ridden message on X on the day three girls were killed in a stabbing incident in NW England.

And, several UK cabinet ministers have written to the prime minister two weeks ahead of the Budget, to voice concerns over the scale of cuts their departments may face. 

Steep spending cuts are forecast to plug a £40bn funding gap. In what’s an unusual move some ministers are “going over the head” of the chancellor, to address the prime minister directly.

LISTEN ABOVE

<p style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 10.6667px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; font-kerning: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">The members of One Direction have paid tribute to their bandmate, Liam Payne. Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles say they are "completely devastated" and "the memories we shared with him will be treasured forever".
<p style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 10.6667px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; font-kerning: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">Plus, the wife of a Conservative councillor has been jailed for 31 months after calling for hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK to be set on fire. She posted the expletive-ridden message on X on the day three girls were killed in a stabbing incident in NW England.
<p style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 10.6667px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; font-kerning: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; background-position: 0px 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-image: var(--urlContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2,); border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;">And, several UK cabinet ministers have written to the prime minister two weeks ahead of the Budget, to voice concerns over the scale of cuts their departments may face. 
<p style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 10.6667px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; font-kerning: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">Steep spending cuts are forecast to plug a £40bn funding gap. In what’s an unusual move some ministers are “going over the head” of the chancellor, to address the prime minister directly.
<p style="-webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 10.6667px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; vertical-align: baseline; font-kerning: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Gavin Grey: UK & Europe correspondent on members of One Direction paying tribute to bandmate Liam Payne, wife of Conservative councillor jailed for 31 months, UK cabinet ministers concerned over cuts to their departments

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/5287e363-d369-4279-beb7-b20d0066600e/transcript