this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. under pressure — boeing and us regulators face tough questions over the 737 max, as they explain how the jet was certified. you're watching bbc live from london, that's our top news at nine with me, annita mcveigh — the headlines: plan b for brexit... story on wednesday 27th march. mps are taking control of the commons today to vote on alternatives to the prime minister's deal. it's an important opportunity for the house to show its voice and to say what it will accept, rather than constantly saying what it won't accept. so i think it will be the planes have been an important moment. grounded after two fatal crashes since october. the prime minister will meet now boeing and the federal conservative backbenchers aviation authority have in an effort to win their support to testify before lawmakers. for her deal as she faces growing pressure to name a date to resign also in the programme — let battle commence. elon musk has a court date in his latest clash with us financial regulators. meanwhile, strong words at the european parliament brexit debate this morning, and ahead of more votes as the president of the european on the uk's departure commission suggested the uk's from the eu, markets —

and all of us — are waiting position still remained unclear. for a sign of what happens next. translation: if i were to compare many different options are still great britain to a sphinx, the on the table, we'll explain the different possible outcomes. sphinx would be an open bringing up baby. we'll get the inside track on the billion—dollar childcare industry helping to raise your kids. today we want to know, how would you feel about a speed limiter device in your car? all new vehicles in europe could soon be fitted with them. the "nanny state" or an important safety measure? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. the pressure is on aviation giant boeing today. company bosses and officials from america's aviation regulator are due to testify before the us senate in washington. they'll discuss how the federal aviation administration

certified the boeing 737 max. there have been two fatal crashes involving the aircraft since october. questions will focus on why the regulator, the faa, agreed to certify the max planes in 2017 without requiring extensive additional pilot training. meanwhile, the us department of transportation is to establish a "special committee" to examine the close relationship between boeing and the regulator. boeing will brief airlines and international aviation officials today on changes to 737 max software which controls an automatic system designed to prevent a mid—flight stall. the meeting is being held in renton, washington, where the plane is built. any fixes to the max software must still get approvalfrom the us faa and eventually from governments around the world. to make matters worse for boeing, a 737 max aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in florida after experiencing an engine problem.

the southwest airlines plane — which was carrying no passengers — was on its way to a storage site. the 737 max is boeing's best—selling plane, with global orders now worth more than $500 billion. we're joined by sally gethin, aviation analyst and editor of gethin‘s inflight news. good morning. you are listening there, it's been a really tricky time for boeing. what will be fined out today in terms of their grilling in the senate? this is their day of reckoning. it's the first formal official step in bringing boeing and the safety regulator the faa to account. they will face a grilling later on today in the senate over aviation safety. it's being led by

senator ted cruz. as well as that there is a special committee been set up by the department of transportation in the usa looking specifically at these issues and whether possibly there was some inappropriate interactions between the faa and boeing in terms of its the faa and boeing in terms of its the relationship to close. is it too cosy? that's what they are going to be looking at. there are lots of concerns about how the faa validates and satisfies boeing equipment. it basically leaves that job to and satisfies boeing equipment. it basically leaves thatjob to boeing and many people say this is because the faa doesn't have the resources. so, we could be learning later today that the faa may be getting additionalfunding so that the faa may be getting additional funding so it that the faa may be getting additionalfunding so it can retain that oversight. how will this play out in the long term for boeing? the order book for this type of plane is huge, it's a massive cash cow for

boeing, at least it was. as well as all of this which is going on which is obviously damaging the brand, the customers seem to be split. many say they believe in boeing. ethiopian, for one, that suffered that catastrophe recently, saying it believes in boeing. 0ther catastrophe recently, saying it believes in boeing. other airlines are stepping back and have made their cancellations. 0bviously, that will put a dent in their finances as well. it is going to roll out and we have to see whether this aircraft will sustain the orders it promised. boeing is also bringing together a lot of its operators, operators of the max to go to safety issues. i just want to add that i've reached out to the department ofjustice in the usa and there are rumours that the usa and there are rumours that the department ofjustice will conduct its own investigation into boeing and the faa and that would

therefore look at allegations of criminality, real liability if you like. the department ofjustice couldn't confirm. they said we will neither confirm nor deny it, that is interesting and something definitely to watch. thank you. we will keep across that senate grilling later today. moves to fit speed limiters to all new vehicles in europe from 2022 have been provisionally agreed by the european union. they use gps data and sign recognition technology to restrict acceleration to within the legal limit but can be overridden. the move is part of a wider european initiative to reduce road deaths to zero by 2050. a us government panel has issued split decisions in the long—running patent disputes between iphone maker apple and the chip supplier qualcomm. in one ruling, the international trade commission decided in apple's favour, but it supported

qualcomm in another. a court date of the 4th april has been set to consider whether the tesla founder, elon musk, should be found in contempt of court. the us securities and exchange commission claims musk last month violated an earlier agreement not to post any further market moving tweets. on february 19th, he tweeted that "tesla would make 500,000 vehicles this year". cathay pacific has announced its buying low—cost carrier hong kong express for $628 million. cathay has been looking to increase its presence in asia's budget travel market, which is currently dominated by low—cost chinese airlines. christine hah is in singapore. tell us more about the rationale for this. it's quite a big change in strategy because over the past decade, as every other airline in

the region has invested into low—cost subsidiaries, cathay has said it went into that market and focus on the premium segment. that has proved to be a costly choice for cathay pacific so far. it was losing a lot of business to low—cost airlines. chinese and middle eastern airlines. chinese and middle eastern airlines like emirates began taking away premium market share and as chinese airlines started to offer more direct long haul routes, people didn't have to use cathay anymore to reach global destinations. so, this is the next logical step. now hong kong express is hong kong's only budget airline and cathay will get a new revenue stream from budget airline and cathay will get a new revenue stream from the booming budget travel sector in asia. thank you. it's interesting to see the way this consolidation changes the way that we travel. stocks on wall street were higher

on tuesday and asian markets had a pretty mixed session with investors unable to shake off those ongoing worries over the state of the global economy. china stocks closed higher after two straight sessions of losses. in europe, the pound is lower ahead of another set of votes in the house of commons this afternoon — which might — or might not — give us some direction as far as the brexit negotiations are concerned. anything from cancelling brexit to no—deal brexit are still potentially on the table. also big question marks over the future of prime minister theresa may. ijust want i just want to show the viewers, brexit next steps. 0n the bbc home page you will see this story about

what's happening today. it's easy to be confused, look at this. it tells you exactly what could or could not happen ina you exactly what could or could not happen in a nice easy diagram which is perfect for people like me. happen in a nice easy diagram which is perfect for people like melj like the look of that. in terms of the day ahead what you're thinking? if you look at the ftse 100, it's barely if you look at the ftse100, it's barely up. the pound is barely down against the euro and the dollar. financial markets are saying this is interesting but is it going to really make any difference? you've got the meaningful vote so far which has made no particular difference, these are indicative votes. they don't seem to be binding on the prime minister so will they really make any difference? parliament can do two things. it can sack theresa may or it could in theory revoke article 50 but i'm not sure that's going to be... when you say they

could sack theresa may. the conservative party could stop like they had a vote of no confidence on her leadership which she won. she could choose to resign, though. they could choose to resign, though. they could force her out. neville chamberlain was forced out in 1940. theresa may has got a minority. but she's still in the job. in the end, these are indicative votes. i'm not sure they can bring too much pressure to bear on the prime minister and the eu are still giving us minister and the eu are still giving us the option of no deal, get on with it by may the 22nd or agreed to vote in the european parliament and then go for a long extension. within then go for a long extension. within the last half an hour we heard from donald tusk and jean—claude juncker, based talking about not only the uncertainty but donald tusk said, look, if you don't feel in the uk you are represented, and he's talking about the 1 million on the march and the 5 million who signed

the petition to revoke 50, he said if you don't feel represented by your leaders feel represented by us. it's stirring the pot quite effectively. to counteract to that is 17 million people voted to leave. the petition still isn't representative of the vote three yea rs representative of the vote three years ago. ultimately, the default position is no deal which is the one thing financial markets are still convincing themselves isn't going to happen but it could still happen by default, which i gatherfrom the newspapers this morning jacob rees—mogg and boris johnson newspapers this morning jacob rees—mogg and borisjohnson are talking about possibly refining their position and maybe even voting for theresa may's deal on the grounds that some form of organised departure is better than it is organised departure. confused? we probably all will be. go back to that diagram! needless to say on bbc

news we will be across the events as they unfold in parliament. still to come. childcare is big business — we'll get the lowdown on the industry looking after your most precious assets you're with business live from bbc news. the battle for control of debenhams took another twist this morning. sports direct has now offered 5p a share offer for the remainder of the shares it doesn't already own. but the offer would come with conditions including installing sports direct‘s boss, mike ashley, as chief executive. laith khalaf is a senior analyst for hargreaves la nsdown. good morning. when we say 5p a share it doesn't sound like a lot but it's

actually a premium on its current price. it's more than double the price. it's more than double the price before this offer was muted, that's what mike ashley has put on the table. it's still not a firm offer, just a potential offer and he's not obliged to make a firm offer at the moment. he's still trying to get strings attached to the board discussing and considering his proposals. chief amongst those is that they would make him ceo of debenhams, handing him an effective control of the company. if they were to do that, which is asking for with immediate effect, then there is nothing really binding sports direct actually making that 5p off a firm stop it seems to be a man on a mission. he seems extremely determined to win debenhams in the end. yes. the situation is that sports direct, which mike ashley is the majority share owner of, is 30% invested in debenhams. they have 30%

of the shares, almost. he's obviously looking to protect that. debenhams is looking to refinance its debt and as part of that deal is handing greater control to the lenders of the company. not the share owners, the lenders. he's in a tussle with those lenders for control of the company. what is sadly lacking from the conversation from the debenhams board and sports direct is some planning for the long—term future. even today we still don't have that. thank you so much for your analysis. if you're wondering how many fingers in how many pies mike ashley has, he's also got a stake in soccer centre. mike ashley the single largest investor with 19% of that

firm. you're watching business live — our top story. officials from boeing and the us aviation regulator will testify before lawmakers about the 737 max aircraft. the jets have been grounded after two fatal crashes since october. a quick look at how the markets are faring. trading in europe has been going for just over 45 minutes and as you can see, pretty flat. the attention in the uk is focused on what happens in parliament today. now, let's get the inside track on childcare, a multi—billion—dollar industry and a massive outlay for many working parents with young kids. sorry, i was laughing because i've got three and it's costing me an arm and a leg! a recent survey puts the average cost of 25 hours of weekly childcare for a toddler in the uk at $8,700 or £6,600 a year.

but prices vary across the country with a part—time nursery place in central london costing almost $12,000 a year. that compares with $7,400 in yorkshire and humberside, in the north of england. 0ne leading provider of early years care is bright horizons, established in 1986 in the us, which moved into the uk market in 2005. it currently operates more than 300 community and workplace nurseries in the uk, with corporate clients including goldman sachs, morgan stanley and bp. with us is james tugendhat, managing director international at bright horizons. good morning, james. for those he was in the uk who say why can't you say these numbers in pounds, well, we have an international audience and that's why. james, it sounds so expensive but it is a reality for all pa rents expensive but it is a reality for all parents where both the mum and dad are working. it is expensive

indeed. in the uk for instance, we have one of the best curriculum is for early years. have one of the best curriculum is for early yea rs. we have one of the best curriculum is for early years. we had some of the best teacher to practitioner and child ratios. all of that places a lot of burden back on the parents in terms of cost, which is why at bright horizons we are trying to get employers more involved in sponsoring childcare to make it more accessible. how does the market differ? you were founded in the us, moved to the uk in 2005. how did the two markets differ? the big difference is the level of employer involvement. in the uk, we've got a long tradition of state support and we enjoy 30 hours of funded childcare. the uk does provide less state support than many other 0ecd

countries but obviously much more than the us. in the us, employers have realised they've had to get much more involved if they are able to attract the right parents to their workforces stop light going forward , their workforces stop light going forward, is that what you feel needs to be key in other countries? you say the government provides 30 hours of childcare so families get those 30 hours for free of childcare so families get those 30 hours forfree but of childcare so families get those 30 hours for free but for the nurseries themselves, providing that care, the money they get from the government is hardly anything compared to their costs. given the costs a nd compared to their costs. given the costs and levels of funding, getting more employer sponsorship is key. the great thing is it's really good for the employer, the family and the taxpayer. we know that families struggle to balance work and life. you have three children, i have three children, these are difficult things. we want to be there for our children and we want to be there as colleagues. so, supporting employers

and early years find that they will keep more primary carers in the workforce. the point at which people have children that primary carers, more often than not women, will leave the workforce and the gender pay gap opens up and employers lose some of their best people. pay gap opens up and employers lose some of their best peoplelj pay gap opens up and employers lose some of their best people. i wonder about the gender gap. to primarily we talk about the primary carer being the woman but in many cases that's changing. in the city that is still so male dominated, does that have a big bearing? we are saying that. when you talk to millennial fathers, it's interesting how interested they are in the availability of benefits that will help them, long before they even contemplate being parents. there is a big uptake in shared paternity leave. you have more great businesses promoting it. the more we normalise leave and take gender out of it, the better the choice for pa rents. of it, the better the choice for parents. does this have to become a

standard offer? it can't be seen as an additional benefit or a bonus, it has to be a standard part of the package of people will work elsewhere. for more and more employers it is standard, and it's one that pays for itself. if you provide back—up care so that there is an emergency back—up in case your childcare. three, you will save on average eight days. it pays for itself in terms of absenteeism and pa rents itself in terms of absenteeism and parents really benefit and encourages them to stay in the workplace. thank you. how old are yours? 11, nine and seven. similar to mine. thank you for coming in. lloyd's of london has announced a plan to tackle sexual harassment after reports that female employees face an "entrenched" culture of sexism at the insurance market. the firm was run by inga beale until recently, and lloyds chairman

bruce carnegie—brown told us she led the charge to change the culture at the firm. so, inga certainly led the charge for trying to make lloyds a much more diverse and inclusive workplace over her five years in the marketplace. itjust shows how deep—rooted some of these issues are that we still haven't got on top of them. so, i think the action we'vetaken yesterday is about reinforcing two things, really. trying to provide a safe harbour for women and anybody else who is the subject of harassment or predatory behaviour in the workplace to come forward so we know about it. secondly, to be very clear that in addition to the sanctions that the companies that these individuals work for should be imposing on anybody found guilty, lloyd's itself will impose sanctions including banning people from the market. that was the chairman of lloyds of london.

russ mould, investment director at aj bell is back with us. 0ne story dominating the papers is the news that in three years' time in europe, in all new cars there could be this device that tells us what speed we are going and in some cases could enforce us to lower our speed. and it could have potentially automatic braking. i had that in my car already and i find that quite confusing. i don't find it that safe because i'm not expecting it. it's pa rt because i'm not expecting it. it's part of this ongoing trend towards self driving cars. there are several considerations. if it's a european law, will it apply in the uk? uk authorities said they would put it in place. we have very good at obeying laws when it's presented to us. obeying laws when it's presented to us. be intrigued to know what the

german population think of it seeing as the auto barn doesn't have a speed limit. a viewer in germany says have the eu not noticed how well it runs in germany? the eu say it could cut road deaths to zero by 2050. everyone would welcome that but clearly there is a point, is this the nanny state? there is an override and clearly in some cases common sense will apply. the other implication is if these fantastic goals are achieved, what does it mean for the insurance industry? they will be looking at this with extreme interest because i would assume if you can prove that it means accidents collapse under your a safer driver, then your interference premiums will go down. quite a few reviewers have commented, does that mean you won't be selling lamborghinis and teslas

in europe in future? when it comes to tesla, 4th of april, elon musk, will he be listening or will he try and ignore it? he hasn't got to go to court. he doesn't. his counsel wasn't impressed. 0ne to court. he doesn't. his counsel wasn't impressed. one of his own collea g u es wasn't impressed. one of his own colleagues seems to think he's been tweeting inappropriately. ithink that creates the impression she was appointed to be chairman to let him get on with it. i think his use of twitter, i think it's very, very borderline. i don't think twitter is the right medium for releasing financially sensitive information at all. if he is found in contempt of court he will probably face another fine but he a multimillionaire maverick. i don't think people care. if anything, at tesla you know what

you're getting into. thank you. that's it from business live today. we'll see you again tomorrow. it's been a chilly start across wales. a touch of frost here this morning. that's where you've got the clearest skies but elsewhere if its quite cloudy, there will be some sunny spells developing and dry for most of us. high—pressure centre down towards the south—west where you've got the clearest skies. elsewhere, a bit more cloud around, thickest across the north and north—west of scotland. elsewhere, the cloud breaking up and some sunshine trying to break through across england and wales. temperatures may be a degree higher than yesterday. getting up to 13—14,

maybe even 15. three tonight, some cloud but actually lengthier clear spells than the nights just gone. for many more of us spells than the nights just gone. for many more of us across spells than the nights just gone. for many more of us across england and wales, northern ireland and southern scotland there could be a touch of frost into thursday morning. with that cloud hanging on in the far north—west, temperatures in the far north—west, temperatures in the outer hebrides about nine degrees. there's that area of high pressure, not needing during their stay. edging a bit further north and east. that's going to break up the cloud a bit more. there might be patchy mist and fog first thing on thursday with a touch of frost, plenty of bright weather and sunshine across many parts of the uk. still a bit sunshine across many parts of the uk. stilla bit of sunshine across many parts of the uk. still a bit of cloud hanging on in the far north—west. temperatures even higher tomorrow. typical values about 14—16. friday morning starts off in about 14—16. friday morning starts offina about 14—16. friday morning starts off in a similarfashion. a about 14—16. friday morning starts off in a similar fashion. a touch about 14—16. friday morning starts off in a similarfashion. a touch of frost, mist and fog clearing away.

lots of sunshine again during friday but for scotland and northern ireland a bit more persistent rain moving south and east. temperature about 9—12. another warm day for england and wales without sunshine. going into the weekend, that rain all linked into this cold front. gradually during saturday pushing south and eastward. behind it, they are starting to come in from the north and the police are taking over. temperatures will drop over the next few days —— the blues are taking over. the risk of some wintry 00:28:39,983 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 showers next week. bye—bye.