this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and sally bundock. a cautious welcome from business for the draft brexit deal — but will it ever get through parliament? live from london, that's our top story on thursday 15 november. our top story, brexit. theresa may will launch a high—sta kes battle to sell her brexit deal to parliament on thursday, after clinching the support of her deeply—divided cabinet during a fraught five—hour meeting in downing street. plus — the teenage vaping craze — why flavoured e—cigarettes are leaving a bad taste in the mouth for us regulators. on the markets, the ftse 100 up half of on the markets, the ftse100 up half of 1% at the moment. so we're going

to be getting the inside track on cardboard boxes and packaging in this programme. also we would like to know what you make of the brexit deal, but we know so far. are you optimistic or concerned about what is happening in the very near future? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. when the catholic church selects a new pope, white smoke puffs out of the vatican chimney. when news broke that britain had a draft agreement with the eu for brexit — word spread via a volley of tweets. the prime minister theresa may has positioned the draft as "her deal, no—deal or no brexit." but she still needs to get it voted through by parliament. philippa thomas is at westminster for us. what's happening now?

a great deal, but yes, in the next few arm as she needs to speak to parliament. this isn't the day that parliament. this isn't the day that parliament will vote on the deal, there will be quite a lead up to that but there will be indicators of the kind of atmosphere in the house of commons and it could be quite rowdy, quite difficult for theresa may, not least because those ministers sitting around her on the front bench of government, we know that many of them are still very unhappy with the deal that she has put together. so we will be watching for signs of dissent, watching to see whether she gets any critical questioning from your own party, the governing conservative party, and we are still on, you might say resignation watch, we've had a junior northern ireland minister going, saying that this deal doesn't give us some feedback but we are also watching for senior ministers

like the work and pensions secretary, the international development secretary, even the brexit secretary himself dominic raab, will they be content to stay in theresa may's government? there's also the possibility that she could be challenged, her leadership itself could be challenged. she is not even secure yet, let alone out of the woods on the brexit deal. it is all to play for, thank you very much, philippa in westminster. so what's actually in these 585 pages? the document calls for a free trade area for goods between the eu and uk — with zero tariffs and quotas. but the uk will also be able to do its own trade deals with other parts of the world. free movement of people between the uk and the eu will end. but there will still be visa—free travel for tourism and short business trips. the rights of 3 million eu citizens in the uk — and 1 million uk citizens in the eu — will be protected. so says this draft document.

an air transport agreement will keep planes flying between britain and the eu — and a deal on energy will allow electricity and gas to continue to flow. the text also covers the so—called "backstop" for northern ireland. what do we mean by that? it's essentially a guarantee there will be no return to a hard border with the republic of ireland if the two sides fail to do a deal. if that did happen — the uk as a whole would stay aligned with the eu customs union. there would also be a 21—month transition period. that gives businesses time to prepare — so although britain leaves the eu on 29 march 2019, nothing will change until the end of 2020. britain has also agreed it will pay a financial settlement — or divorce bill — of as much as £39 billion. that's $51 billion. joining us now is allie renison, head of europe and trade policy at

the institute of directors. good morning, you have a very intense 2a hours, give us your take on the withdrawal deal that has been proposed. progress is later than most companies would have wanted because some of them have already triggered contingency plans, but the important thing is that the withdrawal agreement is the only currently guaranteed way of getting into that transition period, guaranteeing the rights of eu nationals, so we want to see more details on that future relationship but it is only a few pages, but in terms of having that certainty and bringing onto the next stage in having an orderly brexit, this is the critical first step. as a (bi says it is a step away from the no—del nightmare, but there is so much still to overcome between now and even the eu summit towards the end of this month. are you concerned about the process, giving what many politicians have said about the steel? there are parts of the

process we are deeply worried about, the summit is probably at the lesser end of the spectrum, we will worry more about what happens when it comes back to parliament, because there are a range of politicians saying that they are looking at voting down the deal so we will wait to see the final deal that has that real detail, but there is an inherent risk when it comes to taking that deal and potentially leaving without a deal so we want to see that insulated from a potential risk. what do you remember stink about where we are, and terms of the withdrawal agreement? because many business leaders have been saying, some of them have been saying, they prepared for the worse case scenario a nyway prepared for the worse case scenario anyway but there is frustration about this model in the middle, that is not a good dealfor businesses, 01’ is not a good dealfor businesses, orfor is not a good dealfor businesses, or for those who voted for brexit either. it depends. if it ends up that we are into that lesser of two evils territory anything that gets us evils territory anything that gets us away from the deal has to be

preferable. we would wait to see what happens when the deal comes back to parliament but we hope that mps take that perspective about what is the way to reduce uncertainty and risk of leaving without an agreement. thank you for coming in and giving us your take on the withdrawal agreement. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. profits at aston martin nearly doubled after strong sales rises in china and the uk. these are the group's first set of results since going public. the group is in the process of opening a second plant in wales, which will double its potential total capacity. ride sharing firm uber lost more than a billion dollars in the three months to the end of september. that was 27% less though than the record loss it made in the same period last year. it's spending heavily to expand into freight hauling, food delivery and electric bikes and scooters — as growth in its taxi business slows. uber is planning a stock market flotation next year that could value it at some $76 billion.

the price of bitcoin has fallen below $6,000 to its lowest level in more than a year. the cyptocurrency has lost more than 70% of its value since its record high of almost $20,000 in december. japan's cybersecurity minister says he doesn't use a computer! yoshita ka sa kurada made the statement in parliament yesterday. he's in charge of cyber security policy for the country, so as a resut — many have found the revelation surprising. sarah toms in singapore has more on this story. the phrase cannot compute, system overload springs to mind with this one. yoshitaka sakurada is the deputy head of the government computer security strategy unit. as you said, the 68—year—old in a parliamentary session yesterday acknowledged that since he was 25 he

had always relied on secretaries and employees so he had never actually used a computer. as you can imagine this provoked much laughter and astonishment, especially from the opposition and that only got worse when he seemed a little bit lost when he seemed a little bit lost when he seemed a little bit lost when he was asked about usb keyboards. the opposition is astonished by this —— key fobs. there have been postings on social media, once said that if the hackers target the minister he cannot steal any information so this is the best information, the best security policy after all. so yoshitaka sakurada has policy after all. so yoshitaka sa kurada has been policy after all. so yoshitaka sakurada has been in office about a month. he is also ministerfor the olympic and paralympic games tokyo is hosting in 2020 so let's hope he knows a little bit more about sport

than he does about computers. let's have a look at the markets. equities benchmarks were broadly lower on thursday following the sixth straight drop on wall street for the s&p 500, which closed out the wednesday session 0.8% lower. it not stop his longest losing strea k it not stop his longest losing streak in three weeks, financial and technology stocks leading the market lower in the us. the australian dollar jumped on thursday after data showed the number of full—time hires in october had more than doubled from the previous month. let's see how europe has opened up, the ftse100 up half of 1%, the dax in germany a little bit better, and the cac taloubet better still. and samira hussain has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. while they talk about the retailer might of amazon, walmart continues to be the words largest retailer,

but given that america's economy depends heavily on consumer spending, wall street will be keeping a close eye on what walmart has to say. it has been seeing an increase in the number of people coming into their stores which will help sales, but higher transportation costs and other factors will mean that their profit margins will shrink and it continues to invest money into its online business. so, investors will be looking forward and want to hear what walmart has to say about the upcoming holiday season. that is some era as saying upcoming holiday season. that is some era as saying that the new haircut, looking great! chrisjustham from seven investment management is with us. talking about the markets, talking about walmart, markets having to digester certainly in europe, london, this withdrawal deal, what it means. the ftse100 as per usual,

doesn't reflect the uk domestic economy, so doesn't reflect the uk domestic economy, so obviously disregarding toa economy, so obviously disregarding to a degree what is going on with regard to brexit with those global companies concentrating on what is going on in the glow, so a holding pattern for equities with specifically regards brexit and everything that has been going on. the currency, the pound sterling, that tends to be quite volatile in terms of the brexit news. it tends to trade up and down and is trading in quitea to trade up and down and is trading in quite a narrow range at the moment. the pound is the lightning rod for all of this, with regards to brexit and older developments. the way here, the pound was firm against the dollar and the euro, then we saw an immediate reaction yesterday after the got the result from the cabinet meeting but at the same time a five—hour meeting hardly screams harmony. we know that theresa may is

going to have to go through parliament and try to seek approval, she doesn't have a commons majority, so she doesn't have a commons majority, so there are question marks were about what will happen, and if you go through to any website or newspaper today there is diverges between those who think this is u nsatisfa ctory between those who think this is unsatisfactory and those you think it isa unsatisfactory and those you think it is a step back from the cliff edge. that lack of clarity will cap any gains with regard to the pound and any weakness, flip—flopping back and any weakness, flip—flopping back and forward to try to get some kind of news on what happens now. we will be back later. talking about some of the other stories out there. now, have you bought anything online? i bet you have. spare a thought for the people making the boxes. we will be speaking to people in the business of packaging and cardboard boxes. you watching

business live with bbc news. let's get reaction now from the city of london to the draft brexit deal. ben thompson has been gauging reaction. welcome to the city of london, the chancellor last night, business leaders and wanted to thank them for highlighting the risks of no—deal brexit, he called that an horrific scenario, but they could have been instrumental in persuading some cabinet ministers last night to accepting the deal that is on the table, but what does business make of this? good morning to you both. nicol, there is a lot to get through to make this work, what are your initial reactions? there is a lot to get through but ceos will be happy there was progress around transition

arrangements. that is the most important thing, compared with no—del what they were so worried about but there are still much to get through on which illustrate, regulation, so much negotiation still did you. businesses just want to get on with it now. jeremy, it strikes me that we are not much clearer on much of the fundamental day to day things, markets are taking this in their stride. taking it in their stride, still some hurdles to get over, it has to go back to you then go through a full parliamentary vote and that is the main sticking point everyone is looking at. the majority goes up and down with every cabinet minister who voted against it so we will see what happens with that vote in parliament. it is still kind of on the table because they could come out with an extension, another referendum, and traders will say

that we have not answered any of the questions any time soon, so those questions any time soon, so those questions will still remain. thank you both very much. that is where we currently are. in some respects no further forward, and in currently are. in some respects no furtherforward, and in others, a significant milestone has been passed, so the next 24—48 hours will be very instrumental indeed. the business live pages dominated by brexit as you would expect. including a very useful guide to where we are, as we try to demystify this latest episode. you're watching business live. the top story, theresa may will lodge a high—stakes battle to sell her brexit deal to parliament after clinching the support of a pretty divided cabinet last night. let's talk about boxes,

let's change the subject. now, if you've ever bought something online chances are you've used a box made by a company called ds smith. the company is uk's biggest manufacturer of cardboard boxes and a leading provider of cardboard and plastic packaging worldwide. we all know the way we shop is radically changing, with more and more being bought online and the effects of those changing shopping habits on the high street are massive for the packaging industry. ds smith are developing an innovative way to solve one of deliveries biggest problems — driving fresh air around in delivery vans. as online deliveries continue to grow massively, the company estimates 50% of most packages are thin air. with us now is the chief executive of ds smith, miles roberts. welcome. you have a couple of boxes

here one of which has got fresh flowers in it. delivered through the door. just tell us about how radically changing this whole industry is and when it comes to packaging, the first thing that comes to mind is the environment. absolutely, we have seen an explosion in the number of different shopping channels. we have moved from buying through traditional supermarkets to convenience stores and to discount stores and of course there has been a massive growth in there has been a massive growth in the internet when most things go through a box, so that has driven the demand, not just for the through a box, so that has driven the demand, notjust for the volume of packaging but for the types and specialisation. i've got some exa m ples specialisation. i've got some examples here of how you deliver flowers through the postal system. we are starting to be able to really do that with lots of different products, enabling the consumer to

have the product they want at the time they want. looking in the uk at 1596 time they want. looking in the uk at 15% of goods bought through the internet. that is growing strongly. internet. that is growing strongly. in china, it is about 25%. so we can see what we think consumers will increasingly turn to the internet and that is more packaging, but we have to get the packaging right. there's lots of work to do, how you can right size the packaging, and do we have the solutions? going for very small solutions with individual shops, they can buy packaging from us shops, they can buy packaging from us at boards exactly round the product through the very large, automated systems that we are now selling that will pack 600—700 boxes and our, reducing the amount of traffic and the number of deliveries that have to take place. so what are you doing? there has been a logistics event for the uk last week. one of the issues, there has

been a huge growth in vans on roads across the uk, happening across europe, these are not all, and the boxes are full of air, so it is incredibly inefficient, the system as it currently is, and it's generating huge amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrous dioxide and huge amounts of pollution, and lots of the packaging cannot be recycled, either. we recognise that problem, we concede the general growth in traffic, but our packaging is fully recycla ble, traffic, but our packaging is fully recyclable, we recycle it, you can recycle it, it is 100% made of recycled paper. europe's largest recycler of fibre, be gone and collect it across europe and bring it back to the uk, so you can really demonstrate the environmental credentials of five days packaging. when it comes to the lloris and phehlukwayo when it comes to the lloris and phehlu kwayo —— when it comes to the lloris and phehlukwayo —— delivery vehicles, there is too much void space, you

can see that, and it's up to us as the leading internet packaging group to solve its problems and now we have those solutions and we are rolling them out. that should mean less void space, fewer vehicles on the road, less carbon dioxide. your big business with huge clients, like an online retailer that we don't wa nt to an online retailer that we don't want to mention, and nestle. turnover has grown rapidly in eight yea rs. turnover has grown rapidly in eight years. down the road in london brexit is a big dealfor your company. how are you preparing for it? brexit is a big deal for any company that has a substantial presence in the uk. you have substantial operations with boxes going across europe, the whole time. you are absolutely right, what has been successful for us growing the business has been frictionless trade with europe. now we want to develop

further. but business has grown enormously and we see lots of opportunities through that. the way that government has been recently listening to the importance of frictionless trade, and as we understand it from yesterday's announcement, it is a further recognition of that importance, so that we can continue to invest in the uk, having the frictionless trade with our largest market. we are very pleased to see that, enabling us to get back on the front foot, get over the uncertainty and get back to building a stronger economy in the uk. we started in the uk, we are a uk business, we have headquarters of the road. uk, we are a uk business, we have headquarters of the roadm uk, we are a uk business, we have headquarters of the road. it has been great to talk to you. —— up the road. we will keep an eye on that for sure. let's go to singapore now where leaders of the association of south east asian nations are gathered for a summit. they have been hosting russian president vladimir putin — as well as us vice president mike

pence. canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau is also there. he's spoken to us and been been defending free trade. there are two choices in politics, you can amplify those beers with the politics of populism and division or you can try and allay those fears with concrete, sometimes complex and reasonable solutions. i am very much in the latter camp, and there is no question that, no matter what citizens of whichever country, canada's citizens of whichever country, ca nada's example but citizens of whichever country, canada's example but not the only one, but if you come to people with a thoughtful, reasonable, positive vision, they will respond. justin trudeau, the canadian prime minister, talking to us earlier. chris is back, as promised. this is an interesting story. an interesting couple of days in the us, the fda

cracking down on flavoured vapes, and we have seen some stocks on the move, falling a lot as a consequence. british and american tobacco this week, actually. give us your take on what is coming on. e—cigarettes are the alternative for people who don't want to smoke, the "healthy alternative". the lost all question marks over what happens to your health if you use them on a regular basis, we don't know that yet, but children in particular have started to use these a lot more, 75% increase in high school kids in america using vapes so that is a huge increase, so we need to take a look at how these things are being marketed because children are using them, rather than as an alternative to smoking, getting people away from tobacco. what is it ultimately that they are seeing and why is it appealing to them? is this necessarily something that people

should be doing straight off the bat? it is meant to be an alternative. there are somebody is online showing you how did it, that is how kids are talking to each other, and how these trends are firm. children want to do things that are called, that the friends do, naturally, that is why smoking was popular amongst children and e—cigarettes are no different, we have seen such an exponential rise that they are right to ask these questions about whether there will bea questions about whether there will be a long—term impact. questions about whether there will be a long-term impact. one of the big players in this in the us has cracked down on a social media marketing for fear that it has been marketing for fear that it has been marketing to kids. thank you to joining us, chris, it has been a jam—packed programme. plenty more business news coming up. we will see you soon. goodbye. hello, temperatures this week have

been above the average for the time of year, but that will change as we go through into the weekend and next week. more about that in a moment. this morning we start on a rather misty, milder note, eventually later there will be sunny spells developing and the best of those would be across wales, northern england, into southern and eastern areas of scotland. a bit of rain at times for northern ireland and scotland, moving east through this afternoon. across southern areas, some mist, it will remain cloudy across the south. you may get some brighter skies and it will feel warmer well you get those sunny spells breaking through, temperatures around 15 celsius in the north—east of scotland. otherwise temperatures good for the time of year at between 11 and 1a celsius. tonight that rain across scotla nd celsius. tonight that rain across scotland and northern ireland will clear, then we have cloud moving in

overnight tonight, again, quite misty and murky with patches of fog around, temperatures holding up at around, temperatures holding up at around seven — 11 degrees, and more chilly in the north—west under clearer skies. a big area of high pressure sitting across russia at the moment, extends its way across europe and towards the uk, blocking this weather system from coming in through friday, so it is a settled day, we call it, not really any ring around but lots of cloud, quite misty in the morning, the mist and fog will then kill it and it will remain cloudy. some brighter skies developing across the north of scotla nd developing across the north of scotland and through western areas as well during friday. those temperatures coming down a little bit about 13, 1a degrees. going into the weekend, that area of high pressure still blocking any weather systems, rain bearing systems from coming in, so it will be largely dry, but that south—easterly wind.

to import some drier air, breaking up to import some drier air, breaking up the cloud, so more sunshine over the weekend, a fine drive again for many, but those temperatures are coming down, 11, 12 celsius on saturday and sunday and into next week, it is going to get even colder, that cold air coming in from the east. we can see the blues on the east. we can see the blues on the map taking over across the uk. temperatures getting below the average for the end of november. that's all from me. bye line. —— bye— bye. you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh, here at westminster. breaking news. in the last few moments, the brexit secretary, dominic raab, has just moments, the brexit secretary, dominic raab, hasjust resigned as theresa may prepares to address the commons over her brexit agreement. in brussels, eu leaders confirm they'll meet on 25th november to finalise terms for britain's departure. let me say this to

our british friends. as much as i am sad to see you leave, i will do everything to make this farewell the least painful possible both for you and for us. we'll be bringing you all the developments on this story here at westminster.