this is the business briefing. lam ben i am ben bland. dramatic events in british politics but heightened uncertainty pushes the pound to its lowest level in three years. us factories are churning out less, fuelling fears about the health of the global economy. dramatic events in british politics are giving markets the jitters. prime minister borisjohnson lost a key brexit vote last night,

giving mps more clout to prevent a no—deal exit from the eu, that bill will be voted on later today. that's led the pm to push for a snap election — all this uncertainty hitting global investors and currency traders. let me talk you through some of the impact it has had. yesterday, the pound fell to below $1.20 against the dollar, its lowest level in three years. as you can see here, the pound was trading at about $1.50 before the eu referendum in june 2016. sterling has lost nearly 20% of its value since britain voted to leave the referendum. data from the office for national statistics show the uk economy shrank by 0.2% between april and june for the first time since 2012.and uncertainty over how britain will trade with europe is affecting

uk business, as many adopt a wait—and—see approach. the society of motor manufacturers and traders says investment in the car industry is down by almost 75% to just $108m in the first six months of the year. uncertainties surrounding britain's chaotic exit from the european union is vexing investors, but markets are nervous after news that us manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in three years, the latest sign the us—china trade war is denting industry. rico hizon is in singapore. then! —— ben! then! -- ben! can you sum up how this news is reacting in the us? we've seen stock markets bounce

higher in midday — wednesday trading led by hong kong and the chinese markets after a report showed growth in the mainland service sector exhilarating the broader economic headwinds. the development in the uk and also in the us, not having much ofan impact and also in the us, not having much of an impact on asian stock market sentiment at this hour. you have the likes of singapore, the philippines and thailand following the key regional forces and thailand following the key regionalforces higher and thailand following the key regional forces higher with president trump's recent press warnings debating over the trading stand—off having little impact so far. 0verall, stand—off having little impact so far. overall, though, sentiment in the wider region remains subdued. you have the likes of australia in negative territory, japan lightly in the red amid worries about a global recession and trump's continued china tariff threats. also the

bigger regional gains right now, you mentioned about the poor us economic data overnight which revealed the manufacturing sector contracted in the month of august for the first time since 2016 due to worries about a weakening global economy and rising trade tensions. so, basically, the sentiment is still quite negative overall, but that investors are buying bits and pieces of various sectors, particularly in the defensive industries such as telecommunications, utilities, as a lot of these stocks here in the region have been oversold. so they are trying to buy them back at more cheaper levels. rico, it's interesting because the region is facing multiple challenges. investors have a lot to be worried about aside from the us—china trade war, there's the tension between japan and south korea and the

ongoing protests in hong kong. all of this must contributing to a sort of this must contributing to a sort of scene where investors must be avoiding risk as much as possible? there is that risk as well between south korea and japan because of rising trade tensions as well on that front, and particularly these two countries are major manufacturing hubs for semiconductors and chips. and of course hong kong — yesterday was the end of a two day general strike which a lot of people said was quite subdued, it wasn't really that successful, that's why they've seen the hong kong stock market rebound today. and of course the chinese market due to the positive economic data. but also in focus today in the asian currency markets, ben, is the pound. it's been experiencing a bit

ofa pound. it's been experiencing a bit of a bounce back after the british cross— party of a bounce back after the british cross—party alliance defeated prime minister borisjohnson cross—party alliance defeated prime minister boris johnson in cross—party alliance defeated prime minister borisjohnson in an effort to block a no—deal brexit, leading the premier to push for a snap election, and according to some currency analysis, if there is an election, this could be a big positive for the pound, which is now above that 1.20 level. thank you rico hizon in singapore, good to see you. now let's brief you on some other business stories: walmart is to ban shoppers from carrying firearms in its outlets in response to two deadly shootings at its stores. it will also stop selling some bullets used handguns and in assault—style weapons and will stop selling handguns in alaska — the only state where it sells them. the nation's biggest retailer is often cited as america's largest firearms seller. singer ariana grande is asking for $10 million in damages from forever 21, saying the fashion retailer "stole her name" to promote its goods.

ms grande claimed the firm, which has stores in more than 50 countries, published at least 30 "unauthorised" images and videos suggesting she had endorsed the brand, and hired a model with an "uncanny" resemblance to herfor social media posts. france plans to offer iran a $15 billion credit line if tehran returns to the 2015 nuclear deal. the financing, which would be guaranteed by iranian oil revenues, would still need us approval. tensions between tehran and washington have risen since president trump pulled out of the deal. the shared office space pioneer wework plans to list its shares on the new york stock market later this year. it aims to raise up to $4 billion despite losing $1.9 billion last year. in india, its business is booming — it made a profit in just six months

of operations, with plans to expand rapidly. zoe thomas spoke to the head of wework‘s indian unit. i think ithink india i think india firstly, you know, is one of the largest democracies and the largest demographic in the world in the sense of millennial is. also, if you just look at india from its history, it has always been an extremely communal country. and that's why i think wework has caught on so that's why i think wework has caught on so well, because it was something they didn't need to be forced on the indian population. there are reports that wework is considering buying the group out of this joint—venture, how would that change the business model? that is something that has been reported in the newspapers, but it's not anything that, you know, where even close to coming to, signing an agreement. and the franchise model, a lot of the

overheads and a lot of the investment that wework global makes across technology, some of the new products and rnd across that, some of that, we don't have to spend on. that helps actually, make us —— our operation all more streamlined and we can focus on operation all more streamlined and we can focus on return on operation all more streamlined and we can focus on return on investment as well as the long—term return on investment. what is the biggest risk to india wework right now? the real estate market is very disorganised and we know the kind of assets you get, the kind of buildings you get area get, the kind of buildings you get are a lot more challenging than some other markets like europe or america where, you know, a lot of things function well. there is compliance and all live around bangalore and there are so many signs up for co— working space. yeah. the competition here seems to be particularly fierce. how do you handle that?”

think there is a low barrier to entry in this business but there is a very high barrier to entry for scale. we feel our competition isn't other co— working players, but traditional offices and the mindset that that is the way of working or that that is the way of working or thatis that that is the way of working or that is the only way of working, that is the only way of working, that we are trying to break. that was zoe thomas reporting on the fortu nes was zoe thomas reporting on the fortunes of wework, the shared office space company. let's take you back to those events out of westminster, of course stop the world of business is feeling the effects of that uncertainty. joining me is tamzen isacsson is chief executive of the management consultancies association. thank you very much forjoining us. in terms of what we saw last night in the uk parliament, what is the impact of that on businesses, do you

feel? a lot of noise, a lot of political activity, but no certainty for businesses whatsoever. really, businesses are in a holding position, as they have been for a while, having to be self—sufficient, flexible and planning. that is the most important thing at the moment. businesses need to start planning for a new deal scenario, that is what our leading consultancies are advising as the most probable, likely outcome at this stage. so, if they hadn't done any planning for they hadn't done any planning for the last deadline in march — april, they certainly need to start getting to work on it now. and given the various routes this could go from here, the possibility of mps passing legislation to prevent a no—deal brexit, the possibility of a general election, all of that, that'sjust to name two of them. which do you think businesses would welcome most anne wicks you think they would fear most? i think having spoken to a number of leading consultancies last night, i think what they want is

certainty now. we had three years of looking at all the different types of possibilities and types of scenarios, and this is really hindering business decision—making, business investment, we want to be talking with our clients about innovation, about digital transformation, not about crisis plans for if we file of a cliff of no deal. though, at this point what we need is certainty. we also know that a new deal would be extremely bad for the uk economy —— if a no—deal, nine out of ten consultants believe it would damage the uk economy. but what we really need right now, urgently, is some timing and security and certainty for businesses so that people can manage their staff, can communicate to their staff, can communicate to their supply chain and really say that we can triad encourage economic growth and investment back into the uk -- growth and investment back into the uk —— try and say.

growth and investment back into the uk -- try and say. the government has said they have set aside more than $100 million to help cope with the scenario of a no—deal brexit. does that give any comfort to your members? well, there is a lot of planning work going on. you can see government working relentlessly at the moment on need your planning. we know that departments working with some consultancies are extremely well prepared in advance for their plans. in terms of businesses, it really is very patchwork in terms of the level of reparation and work that has been done. we've seen some large multinational companies doing a lot of work, but even in the fs sector, that is quite tactical at the moment and we need to see some limitation of brexit planning already. we are also seeing a lot of brexit fatigue, so many of those brexit fatigue, so many of those brexit leads in big companies in my —— march— april time are finding difficulties in getting that level of plan for no deal this time. £100

million, any help would support and be welcome for businesses, but this isa be welcome for businesses, but this is a huge change to the way the uk operates with his global partners. and it will take a lot of time and a lot of planning to work through those. 0k, tamzen isacssonjoining us those. 0k, tamzen isacssonjoining us from westminster. you very much indeed. up next, newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global news media today. don't go away. love island contestants and people who's been on thejeremy kyle show will appear before a government committee today as part of its inquiry into reality tv. itv axed thejeremy kyle show in may following the death of one

of its guests. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, has more. the committee's decision to launch the enquiry into reality tv comes after the death of a guest following filming for thejeremy kyle show. steve dym e nt filming for thejeremy kyle show. steve dyment was found dead after reportedly taking and failing a lie detector on the programme. police believe he took his own life. an inquest to officially establish the full circumstances of his death is still ongoing. the committee of mps will hear from two people who have previously appeared on the show, robert gregory and dwayne davidson. both have said publicly in the past that the aft cake given to them was not robust and has had a serious negative impact on their lives. the mps are also examining issues including the support and duty of ca re including the support and duty of care programmes like love island.

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