economic growth recovered to a five—quarter high of 7.2% during october and december. the mashable website focusses on music streaming service, spotify, who plans to start trading its shares publicly on the new york stock exchange. the company filed paperwork on wednesday for a $1 billion initial public offering. the ft leads with reports more than 5,000 jobs are threatened in britain after the uk arm of toys r us collapsed into insolvency and electrical retailer maplin failed to reach their own rescue deal. and finally in the guardian, internet retail giant amazon has acquired home security camera maker ring in a deal reportedly worth more than $1bn. the acquisition signals amazon's intention on being able deliver packages inside shoppers‘ homes. even when you are not there! so let's begin... with me isjeremy cook

who's chief economist of the payments company world first. brett stegmaier... we must always start with brexit! we don't always, but today we are! —— brexit. today's story focuses on foreign secretary borisjohnson story focuses on foreign secretary boris johnson and his story focuses on foreign secretary borisjohnson and his reaction to a speech yesterday from former prime ministerjohn major and a speech thatis ministerjohn major and a speech that is expected tomorrow from tony blair. anotherformer prime minister and both of whom are talking about the concern of us leaving the eu. and talking about the prospects of a second referendum on this, on the terms of which the uk decides to leave the eu. this has come to a head as a result of the ongoing questions and lack of answers around what happens with the irish border. and whether it will be visible, whether hard infrastructure or

anything as large as border posts and customs checking areas, or cameras need to be put in place to ensure that if northern ireland as pa rt ensure that if northern ireland as part of the uk but not the eu, that things are put in place to ensure that trade is free and easy. john major and tony blair have been talking about the possibility of a second referendum. most sitting politicians are saying no, that is not where we are going. the public voted, they made a decision and the decision has been made so we need to work with that decision. from your perspective, working in london, as an economist, what impact does all of this have on the uk, if at all? it is having a profound impact on investment. investment in the uk, coming from outside? yes, but also

from uk businesses themselves. they are not prepared to invest in additional capital, we're not seeing wages rise because businesses that have weathered the recession that came after the global financial crisis, they keep money in their back pocket because they don't know what to do with it, they are not splurging it on more money for me and you, alla splurging it on more money for me and you, all a new factory or a new site. they are keeping it in their back pockets. many arsene wenger business, like former treasury ministerjim 0'neil, thank goodness the global economy is doing well. —— many are saying. there have been three orfour many are saying. there have been three or four courses of very strong growth. let's talk about holly

hicks... hope hicks. i keep on calling her holly! apologies, if she is watching! there have been many communication directors in that position? yes, her faith. since she came to office, she has been so integral to him and his campaign —— the fifth. almost apolitical daughter, part of the family for a long time. she seems to have had a lot more influence behind the scenes and not been seen with so much ridicule like anthony scaramucci or sean spicer, big, loud and brash and flamed up very quickly. she seems to have been powerful behind—the—scenes. have been powerful behind-the-scenes. that is a concern to him and his administration that there is concern over what she said oi’ there is concern over what she said ordid there is concern over what she said or did not say in the grilling she

got the day before, where it is reported she told some white lies. 0n reported she told some white lies. on behalf of president trump, it's a case as to who this white lies were told to. it's interesting she resigned so quickly after the testimony. if you work in the media oi’ testimony. if you work in the media or in pr, or if you work in any form of relations business, we always use the phrase, what is the impact as opposed to the internet? for her to resign after 2a hours, something isn't quite right. why did she leave ita isn't quite right. why did she leave it a week or so? and india celebrating the fact that it is regaining its status as the fastest—growing economy. there's been a lot of excitement over india for some time but they had a tricky period. a bit of a wobble. you can understand why, they removed a lot

of banknotes suddenly and that caused chaos and they have changed the tax system radically. it is bound to have a short—term impact. it did fora bound to have a short—term impact. it did for a couple of quarters. they took 82% of banknotes in circulation out of the economy over the course of a couple of weeks. do that to any economy, which is largely cash —based, and you will see a falloff in spending. and they pick up in general sales taxes, in vat, that will impinge on growth as well. china is slowing a little as well. china is slowing a little as well. that kind of overtaking manoeuvre, but it is good to see india growing. you want diverse growth will. they had a bumper budget which promised a lot of spending. and we have spoken a bit about spotify. interesting to hear the viewers take on this. there is a

hot debate surrounding streaming, whether it is good for the music industry or not, some high—profile pop stars have said no to spotify, famously, in the years that have gone by. smaller artists are struggling, famous ones make money anyway. yes, taylor swift withdrew her music and then brought it back last year. she went to apple music because she would get more money. she could hold down for that as she is one of the top stars. it is the stars to be that really baffling? yes, they have to put themselves out there the spotify will continue to represent that this isn't just you putting your own music out on your blog or on my space as you used to be able to do that this will take you worldwide and we can give you money for that. unfortunately,

you worldwide and we can give you money forthat. unfortunately, in the short—term, it is likely to be a pittance. in the uk, thousands of jobs are at risk. mappin called in administrators, and toys "r" us, prezzo are said to be in trouble. amazon is marching on though. a billion—dollar deal to buy a video doorbell company. they are part of the reason as to why maplin and toys "r" us have called in administrators? it is a mix of e—commerce. amazon are the company that do anything. they are deeper human —— a ibrahim afellay with the high street at the moment that they are changing how we shop. black friday has spread throughout most of november now. people are looking for those deals on the websites. but how

does toys "r" us compete with the likes of amazon. they can't. when two are cheaper online and they are delivered to you within a day. the movement we need to see in retail is either that you are cheap and quick, oi’ either that you are cheap and quick, or that you are very, very high service. you always get, for example, luxury goods that will be sold in stores. people want to wear them and take photos and put them on instagram rather than just a them and take photos and put them on instagram rather thanjust a box in the mail. is great to have you today. thank you for all of your thoughts and thank you for your company. hello there. as far as meteorologists are concerned, the first of march is the first day of spring. but what we have to contend with through the day ahead is a continuation of this spell of severe disruptive wintry weather. still that met office red warning, still in force through central portions of scotland

and west towards glasgow. a larger area of northern eastern scotland, covered by an amberwarning. in all these areas, snow showers will continue to feed in relentlessly as we head through the early hours. some showers further west and south as well, and here the winds will be picking up, so it will feel bitingly cold up there. but of most concern is the weather across northeastern scotland into northeast england, 10—20 cm of snow falling here, perhaps even a little more than that through the central belt of scotland. that will continue to cause some significant issues. as we look further afield and run the weather through the day, you can see some of the showers will fade, parts of east anglia and lincolnshire will have a slightly drier day. down south, an area of low pressure is spinning its way up, that will bring some snow into the channel islands and likely set in in parts across southwestern wales. 0n the thermometer, your temperature

will struggle to get above freezing. it will feel like —11 degrees in birmingham and in cardiff through the middle parts of the afternoon with that biting wind. now this area of low pressure continues to push northwards as we head into thursday evening, and that brings the likelihood of a spell of really significant snow across southwest england and wales. the met office has an amber warning in force here, because the snow will pile up, 10—20 cm, maybe more in southwest england. very strong winds. there'll be blizzard conditions out there, as we head through thursday night into friday, some of that snow perhaps fringing into northern ireland, and as we go through the day on friday, snow will come across some other southern areas today. showers will feed into the northern and eastern scotland. temperatures for most of us are still disappointing, a bit milder towards the southwest. however, if any snow turns back to rain, it could hit very cold surfaces and turn immediately into ice, which would give some really slippery conditions. into the weekend, we continue to see frontal systems up from the south, and slowly but surely, something a little bit less cold,

so temperatures will slowly lift throughout the weekend. there will still be showers, and some of those will still be wintry. hello this is breakfast, with louise minchin and charlie stayt. a red weather warning for scotland. forecasters say snow and freezing temperatures pose a risk to life. people are told to stay indoors and there could be worse on the way for the rest of the uk with storm emma due to hit later today. the red warning issued by the met office is valid until ten o'clock this morning and covers the central lowlands, tayside and fife. it is the top level warning that the met office issues. further snow also across northern and eastern scotland, southern scotland,

northern england, and then later snow comes in across southern counties. ice will be a hazard and it will be bitterly cold. more in 15 minutes.