‘ in the government camp. we firmly in the government camp. we will find out more before 9:153m. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. this is business live from bbc news with jamie robertson and sally bundock. bracing for brexit — the political drama increases in westminster, but are businesses prepared for leaving the eu? live from london, that's our top story on tuesday 3rd september. parliament returns today and the clash over brexit gets bigger, but what are the implications for business? also in the programme... hong kong leader carrie lam has denied ever offering to resign, after audio was leaked of her saying

she would if she could. this is where the markets are starting the day. and we'll be getting the inside track on pizza. what's your favourite topping? four cheeses or a classic marguerita? and when did you last go to pizza hut? we'll hear from the boss of the uk and europe part of the company later in the programme. and, with the prospect of a no—deal brexit still on the table, today we want to know what preparations, if any, are you making for brexit. let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start in the uk, where the clash over brexit is coming to a head.

yet again, you might say! prime minister borisjohnson faces a showdown in parliament later after officials in downing street warned he would call for a snap general election on m october if rebel tories and labour mps try to stop the uk leaving the eu without a deal at the end of october. meanwhile scotland's highest court is set to hear arguments on whether mrjohnson‘s move to suspend parliament next week is legal. there are less than two months to go until britain's scheduled departure from the eu, so how prepared is business? the uk is due to leave the eu on the 31st of october, regardless of whether an exit deal has been agreed. over the past six months, the pound has fallen against the us dollar to lows not seen for some 35 years as investors see the chances of a no—deal exit rise. so far, the uk government has put aside more than $7 billion to prepare for a no—deal scenario,

for extra border staff, stockpiling medicine and ad campaigns. and a lot more besides. eu countries have also been investing heavily, hiring thousands of new border officials. around 1000 in france — it's a similar story in ireland and the netherlands. ben wright is our political correspondent in westminster. let's go through the agenda if you can call it that, because we don't know exactly what will happen but give us an idea. mps come back after the long summer break today and there will be some business in the house of commons before we get to the main event but then the speaker of the house of commons will decide whether or not to accept the application effectively for an emergency debate, taking control of the order paper. we expect he will and there will be a three—hour debate followed by a critical vote. that is the moment that we expect

ten, 15, even 20 tory mps to join with opposition parties and vote to approve this process of taking control of the order paper and trying to shut down in a debate tomorrow and a subsequent vote the possibility of a no—deal brexit. it will happen fast, the numbers will be tight but phillip hammond, the former chancellor, who is spearheading the tory rebellion, has just been on the radio sounding confident they have the numbers and he sounded incandescent about the way nab ten has got about this. it is extraordinary drama. -- number 10. thank you. with us now is ann francke, the chief executive of the chartered management institute. nice to see you. we have talked a lot in the last year and we say the same thing, that we don't know where we are going and we are in that place but it seems that in the next few days we will have a sense of what will happen soon. maybe we will and maybe we won't. even if the

notion to ask for an eu extension goes through, there has been talk of calling a general election, nobody knows the outcome of that. for businesses it is just, knows the outcome of that. for businesses it isjust, again, more brexit uncertainty. what i mean is that this week we will get a sense of what mps will decide, whether they are going to ask parliament to stop a no deal, if there is a call for a general election. instead of this constant not knowing, at least if there is a general election you feel things will be happening imminent. you do, but i think, there is the saying to hope for the best but prepare for the worst and for businesses, we need to continue to prepare for a no—deal brexit which of course never an outcome that business wanted and still does not want. the government has started its get ready campaign and there is a website dedicated to brexit that you can go to. i have had a look, i have

invented my own company and it comes up invented my own company and it comes up with a lot of things you have to do. it does, but what i would say is that it do. it does, but what i would say is thatitis do. it does, but what i would say is that it is a lot better today than it was a week ago. a week ago, when you signed up to that website, you just got dumped everything that had to do with brexit. there was no way of filtering the information and was in regulatory speak. what they have tried to do is break it down so it is from the user perspective. they ask you a series of questions, if you're travelling, if you have eu staff, a business that exports to europe and based on your answers to those questions, they serve up releva nt those questions, they serve up relevant advice which is a step forward. the information from the government is improving that there isa government is improving that there is a real concern that small and medium—sized companies are not ready. they are not prepared and there is research that demonstrates that. we know that most large businesses, and later you are talking to pizza hut, they had

prepared because they have anticipated this. the ones that are most vulnerable are smaller businesses, particularly those exposed to eu exports, and most of those businesses are in wales, northern ireland, the north—east, and those are poorer parts of the country and most at risk and really need to get ready. you would advise people to go to the website and have a look and see what you've got to do, however daunting it may be. yes, and you will get contradictory advice still from government which isa advice still from government which is a concern, and i think the government needs to be very clear, speak with one voice, which of course in the current climate is almost impossible! it might be wishful thinking. good to see you and we will talk about this again i'm sure. we can escape brexitjust for a second. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. saudi arabia has replaced its energy minister as chairman of saudi aramco with the head of the country's sovereign wealth fund, yasir al—rumayyan. it comes ahead of aramco's planned

stock market listing, expected to be the world's biggest ipo, which could value the oil giant as high as $2 trillion. rupert murdoch's fox empire is taking a bet in the us, launching sports gambling platform fox bet. the sector has predicted revenues of $9 billion over the next few years. media firms, from disney to warner media, are mulling entering the us betting sector, but are wary it could damage their brand. tensions at the global auto alliance renault nissan deepen as a top manager has quit, blaming the boss of the french carmaker, thierry bollore. arnaud deboeuf, the most senior alliance executive after carlos ghosn before he left, said he was forced to leave by renault‘s chief executive, according to the financial times. hong kong's embattled leader, carrie lam, has said that she has never offered to resign. her comments come a day after an audio recording emerged

of her saying she would quit if she had "a choice". stephen mcdonelljoins us from hong kong with an update. this is embarrassing, to say the least? absolutely we are here at yet another pro—democracy rally in hong kong, all very peaceful at the moment. people have been paying attention to the remarks from the hong kong leader, carrie lam. it follows the leaking of a recording ofa follows the leaking of a recording of a little speech she gave to a small group of business leaders. reuters got hold of this recording and in it it says that she blames herself for creating what she described as unforgivable havoc in hong kong, bite her administration's bungling of that response to the proposal which would have allowed people to be sent to mainland chinese courts controlled by the

communist party. in that business meeting, she also said to those figures that beijing was prepared to ride this out, despite the potential damage to the economy here. she said she would resign if she could. but today she said in a press conference that she had never offered any such resignation and never contemplated resigning. make of that what you will. it is hard to know whether beijing is really calling the shots 01’ beijing is really calling the shots or she is, if she could resign if she wanted to and according to her, it was her decision not to. thank you. let's have a quick look at the markets to see what we have got appear. —— got up here. bearing in mind the political fallout in hong kong, actually it is not a bad performance, down a third of a percent.

the asian markets really quite quiet but there is a lot of uncertainty with the trade war problems and the relationship between china and the us. joining us is emma—lou montgomery, associate director for personal investing at fidelity international. good morning. give us your take on what you are watching. your eyes are firmly on westminster. quite quiet elsewhere because wall street was shut yesterday and asia is treading water. it was, all eyes are on the fallout from the political uncertainty on going here. it is whether the threat of a no—deal brexit is looming and what markets make of that and also, watching the pound closely. it went below $1.20 the first time in 2017 —— since 2017 and that will hurt more if we think we are getting no deal. and £1 is

110w we are getting no deal. and £1 is now worth less than 1 euro ten so it is falling as well as people try to weigh up what will happen. i hate to use the old cliche about perfect storms, but particularly yesterday when we looked at manufacturing figures which were really bad coming out of the uk, and you have the pound which is a problem and brexit which is a problem but the bigger problem of the global trade war. all those things together, why invest? and that is the worry but of course you need to invest for the longer term. markets go up and down and if you stay invested, you will iron out the lumps and bumps and you have to think about your long term future, past the short—term uncertainty. this is quite short term, the ftse 100 year to date is up around 7%. that was because of the pound. the american market have had a turbulent august but they are up quite significantly this year. i would still say all of the reasons the

ftse100 is doing so well is because of the fall in the pound and we have so of the fall in the pound and we have so many international companies. exactly, and it is not really from reflective of the uk economy, you would be better looking at the ftse 250. we are looking at investment saying it is a good thing but you have to think longer term. if you are out of the market, the upside is still potentially there and there are bargains to be had especially in the uk market. you would be losing out if you stay out. cash is not king for you! invest! still to come... we'll be getting the inside track on pizza. what's your favourite topping? cani can i be controversial? i like pineapple! i know it is not italian but it's out there now! we are going to get e—mails! and when did you last

go to pizza hut? we'll hear from the boss of the uk and europe later in the programme. you're with business live from bbc news. retail sales dropped to a "new low" during august, according to the latest industry figures. this was in spite of a leap in food and drink purchases thanks to good summer weather. let's find out more from paul martin, head of retail at kpmg. if the weather was not the problem, what was it? is it blindingly obvious? the b word? it's down to a multiple of different factors. as you highlighted, the weather was better in august but if we look over the last couple of months, it still has been a disappointing summer. we are also experiencing structural changes to the retail sector, increased costs and also changing

consumer behaviours. people are buying at leicester products, spending more money on services and leisure activities. —— buying less products. when you're spending on leisure activities, it does not show through in retail? not directly, but if we look at the overall consumer expenditure, expenditure is being diverted away from retail sales. of course the political and macroeconomic uncertainty are also playing out here. what about the shift to online, the split between bricks and clicks as it were? that has been an ongoing trend for the last few years but if you look at the latest data from the brc, kpmg monthly retail is honoured to come online sales have also declined quite significantly over the last couple of months and even though penetration now stands at about 20%, growth was only at 2.2% over the

course of august. what needs to happen to change this trend in your view? i think we are experiencing, asi view? i think we are experiencing, as i highlighted, and overall structural change to the industry, but we should not forget that retail it's still growing. it is growing at 0.4% in the uk and there are winners and losers in that context, but there is urgent action needed across a number of different questions for the industry. paul, rank you very much. —— thank you. this is another story top of the agenda. more detail on the full in the value of the pound as investors try to get their head round what might happen today and the following daysin might happen today and the following days in westminster. you're watching business live. our top story, borisjohnson faces a showdown in parliament later after number 10 officials warned

he would call for a snap general election on 1a october if mps succeed in seizing control of commons business. a quick look at how the markets are faring. as you can see, a mixed picture in europe. old stories swelling around market is the impact the trade war is having on global manufacturing with germany very exposed in its last growth figures were negative. you get the impression that people don't know which way to jump. the miners are doing well. stuff outside the uk. what is your favourite topping? margarito, i'm so boring! at least it's not pineapple! it's not allowed! however you like to eat them, the worldwide pizza market was worth over $140 billion last year. in the uk alone, the average brit consumes a whopping

5,847 slices annually. but some of the big names in pizza have seen a dip in sales recently, including pizza hut. the us firm is owned by food giant yum brands and has been regrowing its business using mobile ordering and delivery services. its europe and uk managing director, regina borda, joins us now. it is interesting, we hear a lot at the moment about big structural changes going on in retail. how do you face up to it and what you think changes are? we are seeing it as an industry changing very fast indeed, customers want more convenience and flexible tea and they are looking for a frictionless experience. —— flexibility. when it comes to ordering food online, people want to be able to find and pay for their

pizza easily, order it and they wa nted pizza easily, order it and they wanted to show up at the time they wa nt wanted to show up at the time they want it and with what they ordered. what is key for us, the way we are responding is to invest heavily in technology only for the e—commerce platform which we brought in—house, but also in our restaurants so we can track our riders, which is what oui’ can track our riders, which is what our customers want to see, they want that certainty when things arrive. but we stay focused on what has made us but we stay focused on what has made us great in the past which is having the most tasty pizza. that has been your saving grace, your attention to tech and delivery of what the consumer wants because so many strong chains and groups in the uk have closed. for us, this has always been big, to listen to what customers want. that was a big insight. we are grounded in restau ra nt insight. we are grounded in restaurant and have always been proud of our restaurant quality food but the insight that we have to be not just a better but the insight that we have to be notjust a better product but easier for customers to access is what has fuelled growth. the problem i'm seeing completely with big

companies, is you as a company within the uk, how can you say what somebody wants in newcastle and somebody wants in newcastle and somebody once in wales or kent? they all have a different feeling, those places so how can you cater to all of those places from a central area? i would argue that is a reason why big restaurant change had been having problems because they cannot adapt to different localities. it's interesting you say that i take it a step beyond because i look after not just the uk but all of europe and we are finding that, surprisingly, customers are more similar than different. what people are looking for is an experience that is easy for is an experience that is easy for them and that flexibility. price, making sure we offer great value to people, that will be important everywhere you go. making sure we deliver on what we promise and that predictability, if you order your pizza, it will arrive on time. i think you have a one size

fits all attitude i don't think that's the way that retail and the way the big restaurant should be going. it is the small questions that can adapt quickly and change to adapt whereas i don't think big companies can do that. we can adapt quite quickly. if you think about a lot of our business come in the uk 80% is online and we can adapt. we are working very actively how to make that even better in the future in terms of predictability of data. let's say the weather changes and people want ice cream, we can react to that quickly because so many others come to the online platform. you will have to react quickly if there is a no—deal brexit. how will that impact you ? there is a no—deal brexit. how will that impact you? we have been working on that for quite some time, nobody knows exactly what will happen but we are as prepared as possible. it is a pan—european business so the issue of supply chain both going from the uk into europe and also the other way, what

we have done in the last few years is to try to develop alternative suppliers wherever we can. for example we have a supplier of dough in the uk and also in europe. your contingency plan is to not have to get stuff like tomatoes from spain to the uk? wherever possible, there are some ingredients where it will be hard so we have been stockpiling what we can. you can't stop out fresh ingredients. correct, so there will be still some disruptions but we are doing whatever we can to be ready but who knows. when you still be able to get pineapples?! deathly silence! this is actually my favourite as well! oh no! i don't feel so ashamed now!|j favourite as well! oh no! i don't feel so ashamed now! i didn't know it was controversial until i moved here! italy... but we are american pizza and not italian! quieten down, everybody! i'm more worried about

the mozzarella. thank you. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. london, singapore, shanghai, new york. our correspondents have your business will covered, on air, online and on the bbc‘s news. check out bbc.com/business for their insight and analysis. the bbc‘s business live page has the latest breaking business news. we want your views as well. get in touch via the business live page, tweet us @bbcbusiness, or find us on facebook at bbc money. join the bbc‘s business conversation. emma lou montgomery isjoining us again to discuss. we are talking about various stories and we want to squeeze in about if you have been preparing for a no deal or not. talking about this story in the financial times, which people are hoarding cash, wealth

managers are getting frustrated and we felt that when you were talking about markets, why not invest now but people are not because they're worried. cash is king when you're worried, it's in a tin, under the bed, i know i'm exaggerated... and you work for fidelity so you want them to invest! took us through this story. it is interesting, these people have a lot of money, high net worth individuals with at least $1 million of investable asset and they are plumping for cash or even bonds where they know they will get a negative return but they say that is prefera ble negative return but they say that is preferable to not knowing what will happen. or gold, that is the other big one. it does go down in value but it is something you can touch... it is tangible. i know it doesn't have an income but it's a nice thing to have under their bed. and it is a lwa ys to have under their bed. and it is always a safe haven, when people panic, which i think people are potentially doing, they go for other

options. which markets are you advising people to go for or are you talking about a broad spectrum?” think at the moment a broad approach. you have got to look across the world globally, you cannot say where it will be better so cannot say where it will be better so ate a first portfolio plays out better. that's so ate a first portfolio plays out better. that‘s mega— so ate a first portfolio plays out better. that's mega— diverse portfolio. would you go near house—builders? portfolio. would you go near house-builders? maybe not specific sectors... this is a personal meeting going on! jamie is getting all the tips! thank you so much for being on the programme. just wanted to mention some of your comments about getting ready for brexit for the suit says, businesses have had three years to prepare for this, they should have had plans to cope with no deal as it was always a possibility, especially with the euro state leaders in brussels. that's it from business live today. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live webpage and on world business

report. where are you going now? home! i thought you were getting a pineapple pizza! we'll see you again tomorrow. it isa it is a milder start with a lot more cloud around today, a brisk south—westerly wind but not quite as strong as yesterday. rain in the north—west, drier and brighter the further south and east you are. this morning we have a weather front pushing into north—western areas of scotland, northern ireland and north—west which is moving eastward but still some brightness in sheltered parts of eastern scotland until this afternoon. western coasts have poor visibility with a lot of cloud and drizzle and rain by the end of the day. dry and bright in the south—east and east anglia with some sunny spells and still warm with temperatures up to 23 degrees. some of the best sunshine in

shetland and the channel islands. overnight, but more organised band of rain will push south—eastwards with some welcome rain for parts of the south—east and east anglia. cooler air behind it so quite a chilly night for much of northern england and scotland as well. some showers pushing into north—western parts of scotland, some heavy, and look at the squeeze on the isobars here. there will be some strong gusts of wind on western coast of scotland, up to 50—60 mph with windy conditions across the whole of the north of the british isles and they will strengthen and pushed eastwards into the north sea by the evening. plenty of sunshine around tomorrow as well. rather cool in exposure to that wind, it will feel quite brisk wherever you are but particularly in the north. the best of the sunshine, top temperatures of 19—21d in the south—east, just 12 or 13 in much of scotla nd south—east, just 12 or 13 in much of scotland underneath the heavy showers. looking at wednesday and

thursday, you can see the squeeze on the isobars, not so bad which means less windy conditions on thursday, much calmer we still have rain moving into north—western areas of scotla nd moving into north—western areas of scotland and north—west england but there be some sunshine, the best in there be some sunshine, the best in the south and east but temperatures are still not up to much for this time of year, generally the mid to high teens but at least not quite so windy. similar conditions on friday, plenty of cloud, particularly in the north—west, drier and brighter the further south and east you are and a northerly wind developing into the weekend.

you're watching bbc news at nine with me, joanna gosling. the headlines: a momentous day as westminster prepares for a showdown — the prime minister says nothing will make him delay brexit and he could trigger a snap election. tory rebels havejoined opposition parties to bring forward a bill designed to stop a no—deal brexit. i think revo have the numbers. many collea g u es i think revo have the numbers. many colleagues have been incensed by some of the actions over the last week or so —— i think we will have the numbers. jeremy corbyn says labour is ready for a general election, but the party may block going to the polls before october the 31st in order to stop a no—deal brexit: please pray for us. hurricane dorian claims at least five lives in the bahamas and causes widespread damage —