this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. taxi for kalanick! uber‘s troubled chief executive travis kalanick quits the company after a revolt by major shareholders. live from london, that's our top story on wednesday 21stjune. kalanick has been underfire after the firm faced a series of scandals including complaints of sexual harassment. last week he said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence. also in the programme. britain's government gets ready to unveil its legislative plans for the coming year. but can it really force through economic reform without a parliamentary majority? here's how european markets have opened. they are all heading lower, will

explain who the winners and losers. and how sleep became big business. we'll meet the man behind a new generation of mattresses giving traditional bed makers nightmares. and as barbie‘s long—time boyfriend, ken, gets a makeover — he's got new hair styles, body types, new clothes and new skin colours — so today we want to know, what childhood favourite of yours should get a revival and makeover? let us know, just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. do get in touch about ken, plastic fantastic or not? also any thoughts you might have about the stories we have including this one about uber. travis kalanick, the chief executive of the ride hailing service uber has resigned following demands from five major investors.

last week he said he was taking indefinite leave of absence after a series of scandals hit the company. it's battling allegations of harassment, discrimination, and corporate misconduct. this is a story that has been getting more and more intense in recent weeks, recently published we re recent weeks, recently published were the findings of an internal investigation. in a few moments, will talk to our technology correspondent in north america. but let's have a look of the other big event of the day first. the british government sets out its legislative programme for the coming year in a few hours and the economy looks set to take centre stage. ancient custom means it's actually announced by queen elizabeth, hence the name of the occasion, the queen's speech. the governing conservative party does not have a parliamentary majority and that could limit how bold it can be in reforming the economy. so controversial plans

to reform pensions and social care for the elderly could be left off the government's wish list. with me is sue noffke, uk equities fund manager at schroders. thank you for coming in. sally touched on it there, normally at this point we would expect to hear in the queen's speech, how the government would interact their manifesto, they were elected on the basis of a manifesto and then they would tell us how they would put their plans into place. it's a bit different this time. it's more comforted because the government doesn't have a majority, they are reliant on others to support this legislative process. i think we will see a pruned legislative process put forward today. but will then get voted on by next tuesday. the difference is, we could be more interested in the things that are not included, rather than the things that are? indeed, so it is a bit

what's in and who's behind that. but also what strop from that conservative manifesto. i think —— what is dropped. i think quite of the a few of the more controversial aspects and the economic aspects, as well as brexit. there are of domestic issues like pensions and reforms to payments to older people, but let's talk about brexit. we heard the campaign, theresa may saying brexit means brexit, that's looking very different now. the type of brexit that we get will be as much what we're allowed to take from europe. but there's still an awful of debate to be had within the uk. and within the conservative party. and within the conservative party. and within the conservative party. and with the dup's support, how aligned are they? the real priorities are iran's brexit. we

keep being told —— are around brexit. we keep being told that the election says we should have a softer brexit, but there is still no detail about whether that means we stay in the customs union or whether there will be tariffs imposed on exports, are we going to get clarity? i don't think we will get clarity? i don't think we will get clarity today but maybe the tone and perhaps what brexit means as a softer brexit may still mean that we come out of the single market as we understand it. but it's not a cliff edge. it's a transition period. where a these rules and regulations come into the force overtime. let's talk about posterity as well. a lot of countries around the world are facing the same challenges over austerity, how to bring down costs, what happens next?|j austerity, how to bring down costs,

what happens next? i think we will see the tone softened, i don't think posterity is going way because we can't afford —— i don't think austerity is going away because we can austerity is going away because we ca n afford austerity is going away because we can afford not to deal with austerity. we've got huge government debt here in the uk and also around the world, so it's about trying to live more within our means and recognising perhaps where austerity has hit hardest and doing something to address that, perhaps sharing that rebalancing across the economy. that's not just in that rebalancing across the economy. that's notjust in the uk, if you look at what is happening in france with emanuel macron, she —— he says that austerity is part of the picture but we also have to reform labour laws. he's got a lot on his plate but he's got a mandate to do both. what i think we'll see from angela merkel support to relax some of the fiscal austerity issues, as long as he progresses that reform agenda. good stuff, fekir write

much. full coverage on the bbc of —— thank you very much. full coverage of the queen's speech data. let's return to our top story, the news that travis kalanick has quit in north america as chief of uber. what do you know, dave? it's been an extremely dratted evening here in san francisco. this is something which many people didn't think would would happen. travis kalanick had managed to remove some high profile members added uber, high—profile executives, he put in place this investigation that was seeking to get to the bottom of the so—called toxic culture at the company he created, but at some point earlier today, investors went to travis and said, this needs to be changed, you need to go because they did not have confidence in him to steer the company out of the mess that it has got himself in, which is squarely

being blamed at mr kalanick now. the company put out a positive statement saying he is doing it in the best interest of uber, this is something that they would not have taken lightly. a very joe that they would not have taken lightly. a veryjoe mattock evening here. we know that mr kalanick had already taken a leave of absence with no return date, some questioning whether he's made his fortune, he's delivered the firm he wa nted fortune, he's delivered the firm he wanted to do, he clearly had plans for the future but maybe he's better walking away? clearly that the equation they've made. at some point investors are weighing up, is it more risky to their investment? uber has had millions of dollars in investment, even in the last year, uber had more investment than the entire uk start—up industry combined. at some point they have said, is it more risky for their money to have him at the head of the

company or to remove him? they seem to have decided that removing him is a less risky option at this point. it's taken them some time to get there. there was a feeling that this is the company made in mystic kalanick's image, —— mr kalanick's image, it was his aggression and cut—throat impressions which got the business where it was today said it could harm them if he was amused. but they have —— if he was removed. but they have —— if he was removed. but they have taken the decision to remove him. we do not know who the new chief executive will be, there area number of new chief executive will be, there are a number of high—profile free agent at the moment in san francisco. so tricky times ahead. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. us stock index provider msci has agreed to include china's mainland domestic shares in its emerging markets index for the first time. the move is a big step for beijing as it attempts to open up its financial markets

and attract foreign capital. china's inclusion had been rejected for the past three years, amid worries about regulation and accessibility for global investors. tesla's software chief, working on the firm's self—driving technology, has quit the firm afterjust six months. chris lattner was hired from apple, where he led the development of the swift programming language. tesla says it has hired andrej karpathy as the new director of artificial intelligence. troubled electronics giant toshiba is back in the spotlight. reports say it's agreed a deal to sell its semiconductor business. toshiba needs the cash to cover billions of dollars of losses from its now—bankru pt us nuclear unit. rupert wingfield—hayes is in tokyo. what do we know about the buyers?

what's happened is that in the end, the japanese government has come up with a consortium that it's put together, which is backed by japanese government backed institutions, plus an american venture capital company, and that has now been chosen by toshiba the as preferred bidderfor its memory corporation, its flash memory division. for several months, there has been a stiff bidding, edition between two american bidders and one taiwanese bidder to get hold of tashi but‘s memory chip division. but that has caused deep disquiet here injapan, but that has caused deep disquiet here in japan, particularly but that has caused deep disquiet here injapan, particularly in the government who didn't want to see this very valuable technology going to an overseas bidder. so they've put together this consortium and

surprise surprise today, tashi but‘s board —— toshiba's board has gone for this. this is about pleasing the japanese government, not pleasing the shareholders. that was a very big story today in japan, so the nick a index is down, record highs for the american markets. let's look at europe, all losses across—the—board, markets. let's look at europe, all losses across—the—boa rd, france markets. let's look at europe, all losses across—the—board, france in particular. energy shares still under pressures of the price of oil should sliding, we have got a weak pound and a concern about the political instability here. let's have a look at the day on wall street. the recent strength of the us dollar has been a mixed blessing for the us economy, probably helped keep inflation down but it's not

helping exports. the corporate softwa re helping exports. the corporate software maker oracle will highlight the second of those effects when it reports earnings on wednesday, likely to show the first quarterly fall in profit in the yearjuly peak to the strength of the dollar. more than half of the revenue for the company comes from outside america. investors will be on alert on the housing market. existing data is out and they are going to see that the us is lacking houses for sale which keeps prices higher. joining us is tom stevenson, investment director at fidelity international. let's talk oil. we mentioned it there, it seems to be the shale picture as well, oversupply. it remains a problem. yes, and partly

to do with shale but not exclusively. we've got oversupply of round the world so you'll remember that the saudi arabian lead opec cartel cut production in order to put the price up, but a number of countries were left out of that deal, in particular libya and nigeria. both of those countries are coming back from strife, warfare, and they're all industries are pumping again. that's putting too much oil into the global market. so in commendation with the shale supply as well, we've simply got too much oil and the effect is obvious, the price is falling, m5 per at barrow. despite all of opec's effort. let's talk about china, and the main market their part of this msci index in the us, how important is this? the second biggest in the world domestic market is in china,

so world domestic market is in china, so it's a big opportunity for investors. but only 2% of those markets are held by foreign investors. now it's opening up, this isa investors. now it's opening up, this is a great opportunity for overseas investors and we'll see a lot of money flowing into the markets because now the msci index is using a lot of the chinese companies, overseas i nvesto i’s a lot of the chinese companies, overseas investors will be obliged to buy those. is it safe, though? safe is not the right word, i suppose. we have that period of time where chinese markets we re period of time where chinese markets were dreamily volatile. that has been an issue, there are a number of issues, one is corporate governance, the way that chinese authorities regulate those markets, but also, crucially, the access. what was all when there was that the turmoil in the chinese market, a lot of companies have their shares suspended, so investors need to feel they can get their money out. they can now. good stuff, tom. i know you will come and talk to us about

barbie and ken later. can't wait for that. how sleep became big business... we'll meet the man behind a new generation of mattresses — giving traditional bed makers nightmares... you're with business live from bbc news. house—builder berkeley says profits are up 53% for the year. but — in a familiar tale — it's warned that whilst the housing market is stabilising — there could be tough times ahead. andrew walker is in our business newsroom. andrew, it is a familiar tale. yes, it is, as you say, the bottom line was actually pretty good, a figure of £800 million in profits, well up from the year before. what was down was the value of forward sales, down from three and a quarter billion pounds to two and three quarters. these results for the year up to the

end of april, the company says there was quite a bit of disruption to the market around in the aftermath of the time of the referendum, but things have come back since then, the market, they say, has stabilised. in addition, particularly british by the let investors have been affected by the tax changes that have made the market less attractive to them, but that has been offset somewhat, is they say, by the decline in the value of sterling, which has made the market in london, their main focus, more attractive to international investors. looking forward , international investors. looking forward, they see some challenges from leaving the european union. about half the workforce they say on their site in london are from other parts of the eu, so clearly labour mobility will be an issue for them and they all so say there has been some effect from the decline in stirling, a negative effect, in this respect, in that it has affected the price of some building materials. and this is not something that will

go away any time soon, sterling below $1 26 for the first time in more than two months ahead of the queen's speech, and other day when sterling will be extremely absolutely. for berkely, i think the big issue is whether or not we can expect to see sterling being stable around this kind of level over a protracted period. they have taken a bit ofan protracted period. they have taken a bit of an impact from the decline in stirling after the referendum on their materials prices. the question is will that now affect fallout as time passes. thank you. full coverage of the queen's speech later on bbc news. while we have been talking about revivals of toys, barbie and ken, ken getting a makeover, we have had news from hornby this morning, cutting its losses from £13.5 million to £9.5 million. its shares up accordingly. full details of the website.

—— on the website. you're watching business live — our top story. travis kalanick has resigned as chief executive of uber after a series of scandals at the app—based taxi service. last week, he said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence. today the news is he has resigned. and he might be able to make use of oui’ and he might be able to make use of our next item, because we are talking about investing in good beds and good pairs of shoes. they say that you should always invest in a good bed and a good pair of shoes, as you're likely to spend most of your time in either one or the other. our next guest ticks one of these boxes. he's the boss and co—founder of new york based mattress retailer, casper. constantin eis launched casper in the us in 2014, two years later he expanded his business in europe, it now operates in germany, austria, switzerland, the uk and france. he hasn't done it alone, there is a

tea m he hasn't done it alone, there is a team of a few others with him. after a failed attempt to sell itself to us giant, target, casper ended up with target as a partner and investor. it means its mattresses will be sold at the retailer's stores. its latest round of funding values casper at around $750 million. with me is constantin eis, co—founder & european managing director for us mattress start—up, casper. nice to see you. good morning. talk to us about the business, because selling beds is not anything particularly revolutionary but you do it in particularly revolutionary but you do itina particularly revolutionary but you do it in a different way. yes, we believe that the traditional retail experience is not the one which the customer values highly. it is bright light stores, commission based sales next year, and you take ten minutes for a one third of your lifetime choice. so we put an amazing bed in a box at casper, and send it to the people at their home, give them a 100 day trial so they can try out the bed at their natural habitat, and then if they don't like it, they send it back, if they like it, they

keep it. how many have you had sent back? very few. it is built into our business model, and since three yea rs business model, and since three years we business model, and since three yea rs we have business model, and since three years we have been operating it has been a huge success. a logistical question, we are watching pictures of the mattress coming out of the box, if you don't like it, how do you get it back in the box? you will not get it back in the box, you just call us, so we will send two men to pick it up to you. thank you for clarifying. so that is basically the story. other businesses are doing this, there are other companies out there, is that the case? doing a bed ina box, there, is that the case? doing a bed in a box, it is a bit of a revolution but you're not the only ones. i think we are the ones that started the revolution three years ago. a lot of people are taking us asa ago. a lot of people are taking us as a role model. none of them have the product design capabilities, which we have. we have been announced as one of the most innovative companies in the world. our design lab innovative companies in the world. ourdesign lab in innovative companies in the world. our design lab in san francisco, with more than 30 designers, make sure that the casper products are designed to the needs of the

customers and that is coming first. this always has been our mantra so far. how do you get it in front of customers, because you said you don't like that idea of stores with salesmen, there you have this tie and now with target, so you will be selling in some stores, but i don't particularly know what type of bed i want, i go to a store, i buy it and i'd try it and it is comfortable. you are giving people that home trial but how do you get it in front of people? how do they know you exist? we were just looking at how the mattress unfold sometimes, we have more than 5000 videos on youtube of un—boxing, a lot of people have been advocates of the brand. we are an online consumer company so we do understand how to attract people in the online space. we also offer an amazing off—line experience, such as the sleep talk which we bring to the uk, where people can try the mattress in a very nice surrounding. do people not

need stores? do they notjust want to try it? the in-store experience is not one that lives up to the customer's needs, because ten minutes ina customer's needs, because ten minutes in a bright light shock, your assessment of being comfortable in that situation —— bright light shock. how can you keep this momentum up? you are valued by the high—profile investors, but once i have a mattress, i give it for many yea rs. have a mattress, i give it for many years. we have more than the mattress in our product assortment, we keep innovating, and that is bringing us to the forefront of everything. we will keep on doing so. everything. we will keep on doing so. this is also what we are going to do with the money. really good to see you. time is against us as a lwa ys see you. time is against us as always in this slot, i wish we could to talk more but thank you very much. this is how to stay in touch with us. business live pages where

you can stay ahead with all of the day's breaking business news. we will keep you up—to—date with all the latest details, with insight and analysis from the bbc‘s team of editors, right around the world. and we wa nt editors, right around the world. and we want to hear from you, too. editors, right around the world. and we want to hearfrom you, too. get involved on the bbc business live web page. business live on tv and online, whenever you need to know. and you are extremely vocal when it comes to some of the stories we discuss on this programme. tom is back. we want to bring up this story that is in the guardian, and in many places as well. it is here. the fact that ken has had a makeover, and as you can see, he is coming in many forms now, looks like a boy band to me, but it is supposed to reflect men, real men. what do we think? benn is just giggling. he has got a man bun. they should be banned, and sorry. he is

supposed to be a bit more weighty, less six—pack, more realistic. but look at that, really. tom, your take? great, cool, sunglasses, great. different shapes, sizes, colours, body types, skin colours, clothing. man bun? iam not colours, body types, skin colours, clothing. man bun? i am not keen on the man bun, i think the square glasses are very last year really. which toy would you have reinvented 01’ which toy would you have reinvented or made over? i always wanted a chopper bike and i was never allowed to have one because it wasn't deemed to have one because it wasn't deemed to bea to have one because it wasn't deemed to be a proper bike. i am probably a bit big. probably doesn't need a makeover, that is an iconic thing. monopoly, for me, but it has had many makeovers. tom, we are out of time. thank you for your company today, we will see you very soon. goodbye. todayis

today is set to be the hottestjune day since 1976, and of course today is also the summer solstice. one of our weather watchers was up at 4:15am, capturing the sunrise on what will be the longest day of the year. for many of us, the story is about the heat. it will be a hot one, but it is not the whole story because there will be some thunderstorms, particularly towards northern parts of the united kingdom. thunder remains pudding north and east would across scotland and northern ireland, heavy showers across parts of northern england, and it does continue on and off through the afternoon. further south, while there is a bit of club this morning there will be some further sunshine into the afternoon and it will be hot. getting up to about 3k celsius around the london area, but quite widely across southern england those temperatures will be up into the high 20s and the low 30s. there will be a bit more cloud across north wales, northern england and even by this stage in the afternoon, a few heavy thundery

showers across parts of north—west england, more heat compared to yesterday across northern england, into newcastle, southern scotland, northern ireland, where there will be temperatures about 23 degrees but though showers continue in the far north of scotland. overnight tonight, if you thunderstorms kicking off here and there, particularly across north—eastern england, into the south—eastern finland as well, but cooler air feeding into the west. despite that, still temperjust feeding into the west. despite that, still temper just getting feeding into the west. despite that, still temperjust getting down to about 1k still temperjust getting down to about 1a or 15 celsius, still quite warm in the south—east. once again fairly uncomfortable. during thursday morning, more storms breaking out, starting to break down this his way, —— heatwave. some sunshine into the afternoon but a much fresher feel, the sunshine into the afternoon but a much fresherfeel, the measures 17 to 20 but still quite hot i suspect in the far south—east, it could reach 29 for example in kent. thursday night and friday,

low—pressure, which will bring fresh conditions, the isobars back towards iceland, that is where the cooler air is coming in from and it will be fairly unsettled as we go into the weekend. plenty of dry weather around, some sunny weekend. plenty of dry weather around, some sunny spells but also the chance of some showers. but look at those temper just, the chance of some showers. but look at those temperjust, much fresher, 15 to about 23 celsius. that is it from me, but by —— look at those temperatures. hello, it's wednesday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm joanna gosling in for victoria, welcome to the programme. our top story. theresa may sets out her plans for the next two years of government in the queen's speech later, promising to work with humility and resolve following the snap general election. first secretary of state damian green insists mrs may has learnt lessons from the result. we are by a mile the largest single party in parliament and we won more votes, so we are presenting a queen's speech but yes, the prime minister will learn the lessons, has learned the lessons of what happened during the election. brexit—related legislation

is expected to dominate but there will also be bills on reducing motor insurance premiums and imposing tighter controls on claims management companies. shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell says labour's main concerns are austerity and public sector pay cuts.