and you are the perfect gas for this morning because it is all about the currency for many new paper is today. japan times has it on its front page. the straits times as well. what do you make of their coverage because they're sort of talking a lot about the fact that this is all about politics. it has nothing to do with technicalities and yet, this is a semi—annual report to congress which is supposed to bea report to congress which is supposed to be a technical report of our currencies. it is as you say, every six months we see the us way in on what they believe certain countries are doing with our currencies and for the first five reports of the trump administration, they didn't label china as a currency manipulator. and yet he said he would do it on day one in office. that was one of his pre—election promises. that is right. he said it was the first thing he would do but it took him over two years to do so and only really happen in august last year after we saw a big move

lower in the value of the chinese yuan. the chinese yuan x1 currency thatis yuan. the chinese yuan x1 currency that is actively managed by the government. it doesn't freely float like the pound of the japanese yen or the euro for example. they were saying that china now has got to a point where it is continuing to wea ken point where it is continuing to weaken its currency on the basis that that will help its exports. in the grand scheme of things now, the fa ct the grand scheme of things now, the fact that the us is now saying that china is no longer a currency manipulator. maybe because they've just agreed to what the us has asked them to on agricultural purchases or purchases of aeroplanes in the future as a result of this phase i trade deal, it begs the question, just how, just how sacrosanct are these technical... of whether they will be seen as legitimate going forward whether it is just a tool of the trump administration to get to their end goals. what do you think? it used to be, it used to be a lots more of a market mover, these

currency decisions but since the trump administration and as you said, since the campaigning, he said it was the first thing he would do when he gets into the oval office he would labour china a cheat. was it fairto would labour china a cheat. was it fair to say that china was ventilating its currency? not at that point. it is widely agreed that between two thousand and three. and 2014 that china was debating its currency “— 2014 that china was debating its currency —— 2003. the moves last year we re currency —— 2003. the moves last year were more a result of market forces. nine other countries are on their radar according to the report and on the list is germany. singapore is on there, ireland, italy, japan, south korea, malaysia, switzerland and vietnam. we are looking at the japanese press and the singapore press today. to say that the us has large trading relations of a lot of those countries. it is interesting that 3 euros zone countries are in the because obviously that don't have independent means. were not there. exactly but brexit has weakened the currency dramatically. it has indeed. good for some above others.

let's look at abc online, a story that was posted just an hour ago talking about trumpet launching a fresh attack on apple over privacy. this is a difficult ethical debate isn't it about when is a government isn't it about when is a government is allowed to access encrypted information about an individual and apple is in the middle. is interesting because we just talked about currency and what the government wants for doing something. this is very, it is almost like the quick pro quo of the trump administration writ large once again. donald trump has tweeted that obviously, given how well he is doing for apple and how well he's doing for apple and how well he's doing for apple and how well he's doing for us businesses, specifically on trade that therefore he should be able to and the government should be able to look into the phones of killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements and obviously this goes back to 2015 with the san bernardino terrorist attack and the fact that the government had to outsource the

cracking of said phone to be able to look into the private details of that. it is a difficult want to a nswer that. it is a difficult want to answer isn't it because on the 1—handed, you want governments to keep us safe and if that means they need information and they need intelligence but on the other hand, where is the line? where does the slow creep actually end. we are saying this, obviously talking about the us and china, so filters into the us and china, so filters into the argument about huawei as well and the ability of the chinese telecommunications industry to obviously pass details about what is going on with their cellular networks to the national government there. financial times looking at there. financial times looking at the deal to keep flybe in the air and obviously wonder that provides passengers all over the uk and it is a lifeline for some. people want to get to northern ireland quickly for example from the south of england.

this is their only means of doing that. what do you make of help for flybe, regional transport which in many countries is heavily subsidised because it is hard to make a profit. it is heavily subsidised. and flybe is one of the few internal operators in the uk aviation market that does serve certain areas which aren't particularly well served by the rail network for example. if you want to get from cornwall to newcastle for example which is a common this of the united states, not a particularly large distance but here in the uk it is obvious we are big move. it takes six or seven hours on a train and it is a very infrequent service. i was talking to a just earlier this week who said that to get to london, no problem but to get from harrogate to across the northern england via public transport takes forever. it is so expensive and there are real issues when it comes to getting around the uk. it was a manifesto pledge on the pa rt uk. it was a manifesto pledge on the part of the conservative government.

yes, absolutely. is this the job of government to bail out flybe?” think it is the job of government to ensure that local transport links are upheld and while flybe other people who are doing that, that should be done but there should be a better alternative and obviously from a green point of view, subsidising airlines, cutting air passenger duty, that actually happens as well. because that is seen as a green tax on passengers but maybe there is another way of supporting regional trouble without. .. supporting regional trouble without... labour was saying for example there may be a way to do it forfrequent example there may be a way to do it for frequent flyers but in the grand scheme of things, as long as the rail network is holding up that end of the bargain, the social contract of the bargain, the social contract of getting people from place a to place be, they flybe will do that. let's move onto the rutland macdonnell scandal. i knew it well. maybe over exaggerating a bit. donald has got rutland for brea kfast. donald has got rutland for breakfast. i grew up new here and i know it really well. it is a

beautiful country and 0akham is a lovely town so they will be a drive—through. the one day county that has never had the golden arches until now in england. they have held up until now in england. they have held upforso until now in england. they have held up for so long and now counsellors have given. the given end. there are two ways of looking at it, obviously there is the local element as you said. it is beautiful, unspoiled, there are loads of local businesses but the other side of things is that how manyjobs but the other side of things is that how many jobs is but the other side of things is that how manyjobs is going to create.‘ it says. but a huge number. 30 full—time and 35 part—time. the one thing about retail and obviously mcdonald's is a retail business, is a retail restaurant, is that the employees, 16 years old but also employees, 16 years old but also employ 60 —year—olds. certainly outside of cities, and large towns, you're starting to see unemployment for younger people and older people a lot higher. it is tricky though when you see your local town as you go around the community, you can't see your local independent coffee shop for the starbucks, mcdonald's, kfc, whatever it may be. because

obviously local independents find a really ha rd to obviously local independents find a really hard to compete. it is true. more expensive. i live in the part of south—east london that has seen quite a few independent businesses go out of business recently as a result of rent increases for example avenue business rates in things like that. 0nly avenue business rates in things like that. only the larger high—street chains can pay those rates that landlords are asking... huge american dollars in the case of mcdonald's. and this is obviously not what we want. we want a strong local vibrant economy. are you going to stump up some cash though big ben can strike midnight when the brexit happens. but things to spend my money on. what is it an ingenious idea from the prime minister to say on bbc exclusively, come on, if you want this to happen than crowd funded. that is what is it all about. i like the idea that it all about. i like the idea that it isn't coming out of taxpayers money and if people actually wanted and are happy to pay for it than fine. it is a bell ringing. i can't

really get that... is at a dead ringer? it will ring at 11pm on the 31st. it is midnight, midnight in brussels. so there some were saying that if it rings at 11pm, takes 50 seconds. that is £10,000 a second that it will cost to ring those bells which is twice as much as a cost to find the nhs per second. there you go. you have same i don't think. thank you very muchjeremy for being the briefing. and thank you also for your comments as well. many of you have been in touch with the guards to the story of mcdonald's and rutland. quite a view, a lot of you are for but some of you say it's not a good idea over and you don't like the presence of mcdonald's, starbucks, et cetera on your high—street. keep the comments coming. a really good day and i will see you soon. hello there. tuesday was another very windy

day across the board, particularly england and wales, which saw another area of low pressure move up from the south. early on wednesday it looks like the strongest of the winds, heaviest of the rain, becoming confined to the south—east corner of the country. elsewhere, clearer skies to start wednesday, but it will be another blustery one, very windy for scotland, with further heavy showers here, some snow on the hills. so wednesday looks like being a bright day for many. lots of sunshine around, but there will be plenty of showers, particularly across scotland, close to this area of low pressure. and you can see the isobars closer together here, so it will be another windy day for scotland. less so for england and wales, but we'll have this weather front, which will continue to bring some rain through the morning across east anglia and the south—east. so a bit of a wet start here, but then that should clear away into the afternoon. it should brighten up nicely, and there should be quite a bit of sunshine around across the country. but western areas see a few showers, most of these, though, though, across the north—west of scotland, where some will be heavy, with snow on the hills.

temperatures range from seven or so in the north, 8—9 in the south, so a little bit cooler across the south than what we had on tuesday. so it is a brief window of fine weather. the next area of low pressure comes hurtling in for thursday. you can see lots of isobars on the chart, but the strongest of the winds we think will tend to be further west once again, where we'll see some of the heaviest of the rain, too, here. elsewhere, a bit of early brightness, but then the clouds will tend to build in. could see a few showers across eastern areas, but generally speaking, it's going to be another windy day across the board, and i can mention the strongest of the winds perhaps around some irish sea coasts. 50 to maybe 60 mph in some of the worst affected areas, and some of that rain will be quite heavy and persistent too. the milder air returns with this wet and windy weather. 10—12 degrees for england and wales, single—figure digits in the north. that area of low pressure sweeps northwards. we see a tangle of weather fronts move in for friday, but friday is a transitional day to something cooler, and something that's gradually going to become more settled as we head on to the weekend. so we'll start to see some sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, turning colder here. england and wales, thanks

to those weather fronts, sunshine but also a scattering of showers, some of which will be quite heavy. but notice the temperatures. the single—figure values will even be across the south and the south—east too, so 5—9 degrees. that cooler air invades across the whole country, then, late on friday and into the weekend. but, with high pressure building in, it looks like conditions will settle down. so the weekend really will feel colder, but at least it'll be largely dry, thanks to high pressure, with light winds. some sunshine around, but also a return to some overnight frost.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with dan walker and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today: the duchess of sussex is seen in public for the first time since she and prince harry decided to step back from royal duties. flybe is saved for now, but environmentalists are criticising the government's pledge to review air passenger duty. big ben bongs will it bong for brexit? the campaign to get big ben ringing again is ramped up. the cost of borrowing goes up again. santander becomes the latest bank to announce its raising overdrafts charges and cutting interest on savings. i'll look at why banks are changing what they charge.