you're in the industry.” think 27%, you're in the industry.” am, it is nota think 27%, you're in the industry.” am, it is not a figure i recognise. i was reading some information about the report and the data that was used was from the local data company and i'm assuming that is the data theyissue and i'm assuming that is the data they issue some time and excepted at they issue some time and excepted at the time that i didn't recognise the va ca ncy the time that i didn't recognise the vacancy report in the report the company produced. part of the empty shops that they're talking about are in buildings that will scheduled for demolition as part of a regeneration project. there would be no advantage to anybody to let those shops, if in a short period it is devolcanoished to make —— demolished. we need to ta ke to make —— demolished. we need to take the report with a pinch of salt. thank you very much. now it's time for newswatch. this week samira ahmed puts the bbc‘s economics coverage under the spotlight. hello and welcome to news watch. is

bbc news objective in its coverage of economics or does it often put a negative spin on the data? we speak to the corporations outgoing economics editor and ask him about his new role. up with of hazards broadcasting live from outside the studio is the danger of members of public distracting the audience by appearing in the background. interviews on college green by the houses of parliament have fallen prey to this risk. as vicki young found on monday. watch the demonstrator change his position according to the camera. iain duncan smith suggested restoring the

working allowances and you get even if you're in work. that is another way of ensuring that money does go to the right people at the right time. i expect we will hear something from the chancellor about universal credit. do you think he should go further or pause the roll out? or do you think that in principle it is the right thing to do? anti—brexit campaigners have been active around camera crews for the past few months and some feel more should be done to prevent them from getting their message on screen and one asked: we put that to bbc news and they

told us: when it came to that afternoon's budget the bbc‘s live coverage and analysis was extensive, with economics editor kamal ahmed crunching the numbers for the news. philip hammond tried to change the economic story of this government. away from cuts and controlling the nation's debts, and towards spending and tax cuts. the ending of austerity, he said. next year he said the government would spend £2.3 billion on public services. that figure would rise to 30.6 billion by 2024. but some viewers have taken exception to the bbc‘s reporting of

economics. one wrote: this week's budget was the last for kamal ahmed as the bbc‘s economics editor. on thursday he started a new job as editorial director for bbc news and he is with me now. let's start with the criticism, are you offering opinion rather than facts when you're covering economics and being too negative. no, we don't offer opinion. my opinion doesn't matter. we look at what the data say and try and explain to our audience what is the figures are showing, what is the figures are showing,

what the government is attempting to do. i said in the news at ten that the public finances were in a lot better shape than expected that borrowing was lower. so we were showing what the good parts of the government's economic story was. but i think it is important for us to set out the risks, set out some of the criticisms. as economics editor, my opinion doesn't matter, but i do makejudgments my opinion doesn't matter, but i do make judgments on what the data is telling us about how the economy is performing. what is interesting is unlike most science, where there is a consensus, unlike most science, where there is a consensus, economists often disagree or as in the 2008 crash, didn't seem to know what was going on, is it fair to say viewers are right to feel wary of the experts the bbc wheem on. it is important to understand what economics is and what a forecast is. it is a spread of possibilities and there is a central possibility, but there are

outlying possibilities. it is not like a pure science, not like gravity, if you drop a ball it goes down. it doesn't mean the viewer should think i shouldn't listen to experts. these people look at how economies work and respond to interest rate rises. there are ideologies too in how they approach economics? there could be political effects on how some people approach it. that is now how we approach the fa cts it. that is now how we approach the facts and figures. we look at the models put together by the bank of england and the international monetary fund and try and explain what the models are saying to our viewers and our audiences. and tell them that this is a possible path. it is not a definite and that is the issue around forecasts. politicians did try and use some forecasts to say this will definitely happen. that is not what forecasts are for. often you're dealing with macro economics and the big numbers and

viewers feel the coverage doesn't focus enough on the human impact? when we did the tenth anniversary of the financial crisis, we started it off with a young single father from manchester and what happened to his income over the last ten years. and so we do very deliberately try and tell a lot of those big macro stories about how our incomes have been affected through individual stories. you're right we need to get out there and talk to real people about their experiences. we have pushed ourselves to do that. more generally, you spoke about areas of bbc news coverage that might benefit from a fresh approach and you said of confrontational debate, studio ding—dongs don't explain the news. that wasn't a direct criticism of the bbc, i said some coverage in general can be driven by the controversy, by a versus b and the

idea there are two sides in battle. sometimes it will be the role of journalist and the bbc to explain there are nuances to the arguments and not everything is a controversy and not everything is a controversy and part of my newjob will be about promoting the idea of explaining journalism, so the bbc reports the news and also explains the news and gives context and background and depth and that is an important part of the news reporting. because we get a lot of evidence from our audience research that the news makes people feel anxious and that is all it make them feel. everything is all it make them feel. everything isa is all it make them feel. everything is a row. we want to change some of that. you have started a new managerialjob. given there are other editorial manager, viewers may wonder what you will be doing. they might! my new job wonder what you will be doing. they might! my newjob is going to be about two or three things. first,

the big challenge for the bbc — the bbc is an organisation built around the big, great news programmes such as news at ten, the today programme, all those things. but they are appointment to view moments. you have to tune in at ten o'clock. how does the bbc change in three to five yea rs does the bbc change in three to five years when our audiences want the news on their phone, on their tablet, want it when they want it on the go. that is a big change for this organisation. i'm going to be looking at the challenges of that. there is the day—to—day role of helping us choose the type of stories that engage our audiences and avoid the complaints you get on this programme, that will be part of myjob. also there is an internal bit of it about the culture of the bbc, are we the best place to work and promoting the best talent through the organisation, the next generation who will run the bbc when i'm long gone. it does feel like the

bbc news decision—making is co nsta ntly bbc news decision—making is constantly under attack, such as how the bbc reports brexit. how should the bbc reports brexit. how should the bbc reports brexit. how should the bbc deal with that. we are more than ever before, i think a function of that is there are more platforms to attack the bbc. the fact is we have a huge amount of output and we have a huge amount of output and we have thousands ofjournalists and loads of great products and of course people don't like everything we to. that is absolutely reasonable and we will listen and react when its of substance, but we won't be overwhelmed by it. we produce news and current affairs a and myjob is to help us think about the future, new audiences, younger audiences in particular. but also to help us make the right decisions day—by—day. thank you. as anyone with small

children will know, wednesday night was hallowe'en. an event marked by some item on bbc news. not to everyone's liking. that morning carol kirkwood presented the weather from an unusual location — a cemetery in london. good morning, it is the first time in 20 years in brea kfast is the first time in 20 years in breakfast i have been in a cemetery on hallowe'en. but it has undergone a four—year restoration. on hallowe'en. but it has undergone a four-year restoration. julia said this: finally evan davis has been presenting newsnight for four years. but now he is going off to present the pm programme and he signed off like this. if your one of people who have written to me to say you would prefer me to wear a tie. you can watch me on the pm programme on

radio four, where of course i shall be wearing a tux! as he dusts after his tux, he can enjoy these words: thank you for all your comments. if you want to share your opinions with us, you can call us: that is all from us. we will be back to hear your thoughts about the bbc

next week. goodbye. a cold start led into a bright day for many of us. a lot of sunshine, some changes to come for the weekend. it will be a lot milder and will be windy and we will see some rain. as we go through tonight that wet weather piles in to scotland scotla nd wet weather piles in to scotland scotland and northern ireland and it will turn breezy but there are some clear spells in the south—east. there could be a up the of frost. for many a much milder night. and we get into tomorrow. a soggy start for scotla nd get into tomorrow. a soggy start for scotland and northern ireland. windy wherever you are. particularly in the north west with gusts up to 65mph for western scotland. for north—east scotland and eastern england, some sunshine and mild. still a bit of rain in places on

sunday. but many will be dry and still it will be mild. this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8.00pm: a stark warning from the met office — the uk has faced more extremes of hot weather and downpours over the last decade due to global warming. a paraplegic man sues luton airport after claims that he was forced to drag himself through the terminal building after staff failed to provide him with a self—propelling wheelchair. police launch a criminal inquiry into allegations of anti—semitic hate crimes within the labour party. brexit secretary dominic raab holds talks with the dup in belfast. unionists say they hope a deal is close, but sinn fein accuse mr raab of behaving like a "thief in the night". as investigators remove the wreckage of the helicopter in which the leicester city owner died — the players vow to do their best in his honour at tomorrow's match against cardiff.