this is worklife from bbc news, with ben bland and lewis vaughan jones. taxing the tech titans — large technology companies often have small tax bills. we look at the latest efforts to get them to pay more. live from london, that's our top story on monday 17th february. as mark zuckerberg heads to a top level eu meeting saying facebook is willing to pay more tax, we look at how that might happen. also in the programme, as japan seeks to hold back the spread of the coronavirus, the country's economy hits the skids. and managing the age gap, we look at how to deal with having

a boss that's younger than you. we get the inside track on how to keep your threads up to date on a shoestring budget by renting the clothes you want. and today we want to know your thoughts on reclining your plane seat after a video of an angry passenger goes viral online. let us know what you think — use #bbcworklife. hello and welcome to worklife. that question, it's divided you already, plenty of strong opinions coming in. we'll have a look at that later. first we start with the tech giant facebook. its founder and chief executive mark zuckerberg will be in brussels today, where he will meet three european commissioners. while the meeting is not specifically about tax, don't be surprised if the question pops up.

mr zuckerberg is expected to back plans by think tank oecd to find a global solution to the problem. facebook and others have been accused of not paying their fair share of tax in countries where they operate. in the uk, facebook paid just $37.2 million, or £28.5 million, in corporation tax in 2018, despite generating a record $2.15 billion in british sales. how do we fix all this? with us now is suzanne rab, barrister at serle court chambers and a law professor at brunel university in london. easy question, how do we fix all of this? easy question to ask and difficult to solve, the real challenge for the oecd is to try and agree some minimal benchmark rules that will apply internationally. up to now it's been very difficult to agree that consensus. at one level

it seems pretty straightforward, a company makes loads of money in one area, we can track where the money is made, theyjust pay tax on that? those rules were appropriate in the days of bricks and mortar businesses, with digitisation, companies operating online, they will be achieving revenues, adding value injurisdictions will be achieving revenues, adding value in jurisdictions where they don't have their headquarters of the real question is what is the appropriate basis to tax them on?” was going to ask, but you can answer, what is the appropriate basis? a number of countries around the world, france, germany, have explored other options such as looking at sales. where are sales generated, in which country?m looking at sales. where are sales generated, in which country? ifi we re generated, in which country? ifi were a shareholder in one of these companies, surely i would be expecting them to maximise profits and pay as little tax as possible so are they actually doing anything

wrong? well, on the basis of the rules that stand right now, the issueis rules that stand right now, the issue is not whether these companies are evading tax or avoiding tax, the real question is whether the rules are rightand real question is whether the rules are right and fair. and the question of competition between countries to attract business to their shores, thatis attract business to their shores, that is really not what is at issue here, that is fair tax competition but the question is how should those rules be developed ? but the question is how should those rules be developed? we will see how the regulation and legislation develops, for now, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. general motors is axing the australian car brand holden, saying it was no longer competitive. the last australian—made holden left the production line in 2017. but holdens are still designed in australia and produced abroad for the australian and nz market. up to 600 australian jobs will be lost in design, sales and marketing.

amazon says it "regrets" that suspect child car seats have once again been found on sale on its uk store and says it has removed them. the products were discovered by bbc panorama as part of a wider—ranging programme. a case dating back to 2013 led to an investigation that confirmed one example would tear apart if involved in a 30mph crash. tesla has been ordered to temporarily halt preparations for a carfactory in germany after environmentalists won a court injunction on sunday. the electric car—maker had been clearing forest land near the capital, berlin, ahead of building its first european car and battery plant. protesters say the factory is a threat to local wildlife and water supplies. japan's economy shrinks at its fastest rate since 2014 last year and coronavirus is likely to add to the country's economic headaches this year. let's go to our asia business hub, where sarah toms is

following the story. some more bad news injapan? that's right. japan 's economy shrank by 6.3%, much worse than expected, that's because the country has been battered by a series of storms and tax increases. but these figures come before we've even seen what kind of impact the coronavirus is having on the economy, and the deadly virus, as you know, brought businesses in china to a virtual standstill. it's also led to a big drop in those lucrative chinese tourists visiting japan and it's no surprise, really, analysts are getting jittery that the world 's third largest economy could face recession soon in japan third largest economy could face recession soon injapan is particularly vulnerable as china is its largest trading partner and its biggest source of visitors who come over, many who come over to shop. another factor of course is the

spread of the coronavirus inside japan as well. that's a concern as japan as well. that's a concern as japan has more than 400 confirmed cases, the most outside china, including those from a cruise ship quarantined off the coast and there is also one death reported last week. thank you for that, sarah. now let's turn to the uk where the tourism industry is also noticing the impact from the coronavirus. there were nearly 400,000 visitors from china to the country in 2018 spending around of $840 million. but popular places visited by chinese tourists such as bicester village in 0xfordshire are starting to feel the pinch. our trade correspondent dharshini david went there to find out more. and we must warn you, there is some flash photography in her report. the birthplace of sir winston churchill, and a stunning example of baroque architecture. blenheim palace, just outside 0xford, would normally attract 50,000 visitors in february. but this time, demand is down as travel restrictions in china

hit. in the last two weeks it will be quite significant, this would have been a busy period for chinese new year tourists and we expect across february to lose 5000 chinese visits, about 10% of the natural february audience. it's a similar story in the historic university town a few miles away. the blend of heritage, culture and access to luxury shopping that makes this area so luxury shopping that makes this area so attractive to chinese tourists. 0ver so attractive to chinese tourists. over 400,000 visited the uk last year. but that's dropping sharply. 0ne property here told me it typically sees 50 customers a week from china for its walking tours, now it's not seeing any. nearby the plough inn, shot to globalfame now it's not seeing any. nearby the plough inn, shot to global fame when the chinese president and former prime minister david cameron stopped by for a pint in 2015. as the coach parties followed, the pub was bought bya parties followed, the pub was bought by a chinese investor, earning him a

slice of the £10 billion tourists spendin slice of the £10 billion tourists spend in the uk every year. a draw here is sitting at the same bar with a plate of fish and chips as their leader. that's what it is. they wanted to emulate the leader. they ta ke wanted to emulate the leader. they take all the selfies and it'sjust so take all the selfies and it'sjust soi take all the selfies and it'sjust so i suppose they can go back home and say, we've done it, we've been there. in recent weeks it's been, there. in recent weeks it's been, the last three weeks, zero. no chinese tourists at all. it's just one of those things. i hope this virus then gets sorted out pretty sharpish, we can get back to seeing more visitors. even bicester village, a shopping spot for tourists looking to avoid high import taxes on luxuries at home, feels unusually quiet. its owners refused to comment, retailers here confided sales are down sharply. with bad weather not helping. 2 million people across the uk rely on tourism for a living. the virus that

is exerting a high human cost thousands of miles away, is having a considerable financial side effect here. let's look at how the markets are doing. asian shares reversed earlier losses and moved back toward a three—week high as chinese efforts to cushion the blow from a coronavirus outbreak cheered investors. but japanese stocks faltered amid growing recession risks. iam hoping i am hoping we can show you the numbers there we go! japan's economy suffered its worst quarterly contraction in more than five years, shrinking 6.3% on an annualised basis in the last quarter of last year. trading is expected to be light as us markets will be shut on monday for a public holiday. the euro was on the back foot, as concerns mounted about weakening economic growth in europe, after germany reported zero growth in its economy at the end of 2019.

time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is allyson stewart—allen, chief executive of the marketing consultancy, international marketing partners. shall we start with the markets took a burger story we've been covering the top of the show? what do you make of it? it's attempting to be pre—emptive and it seems to me you can get the sense of nick clegg ‘s influenced now in some of the communication. the former deputy prime minister here. indeed, he is an adviser and a full—time member of staff on facebook ‘s leadership team. you are saying they are trying to get out in front of the issue, they know it's coming and they want to be seen to be doing their bit? they want to be seen to be shaping the thinking around the four key areas that mark zuckerberg has

written about in his financial times opinion piece. elections, data portability among them. each of those in itself is a gigantic undertaking. and it will take an awfully long time to clarify what does this look like and of course, there's going to be lots of consultation, all of your viewers have points of view on all of those areas. this is not easy. but really, the question is, how do you balance free speech with the potential harmful effects of free speech? and leaving it to an industry to interpret that, i'm not sure it is actually going to be the answer. interesting, at one point in there, he says we will fight these regulations that are coming down, they may not do us a great deal of goodin they may not do us a great deal of good in the short term, keenly aware that in the long term getting that swell of public support behind you is probably more important?m swell of public support behind you is probably more important? it is, and actually the literacy of the

users of facebook and every tech platform is consistently rising. so we are all much more aware of what a cookie is, what it does, spyware, all sorts of things that tech doors. we are now much more sophisticated i guess as users as well, we are also exerting pressure on this company similarly. let's talk about this other story that has emerged about samsung trying to deal with the possible impact of coronavirus on its supply chain. yes. two thirds of all phones that samsung makes are actually made in vietnam. and increasingly now samsung is shipping its components to vietnam because of the coronavirus because it's having an impact on the chinese supply chain, quite significantly. so there isa chain, quite significantly. so there is a commercial imperative years —— here for samsung. would samsung ever go back now that vietnam is doing

such a greatjob? it's also a question facing every company that relies heavily on chinese supply chains, once you leave and you find a new workaround, you might have bedded that in and you may not want to go back or economically it might not make a lot of sense so from china ‘s perspective, this is quite a costly event, the coronavirus, not just because of samsung but because of the swathes of other industries that are in fact changing their approaches. underlines the global nature of the supply chains in the world we now live in. absolutely right. it depends on the size of the company involved, samsung can afford to do this because it's a huge company, smaller companies, trickier to shift the supply chains. before we let you go, where do you stand on the seat reclining issue, recline or not? i do recline, i do ask if it's 0k before someone takes a drink, and it spills all over their laps but i think there's a bigger question for

any airline brand, whether it's delta or whoever. the density of the seats in economy. and that's really the bigger question that i am sure delta will be tackling. thank you, a point that some of the tweets have made and we will go through those later. thank you. still to come, we get the inside track on how to keep your threads up to date on a shoestring budget by renting the clothes you want. you're with worklife from bbc news. what do you do with your old computers and kettles? electronic or e—waste is now the fastest growing waste stream in the world, with 50 million tonnes generated every year and the number expected to double by 2050. the restart project is hoping to change all that by not only teaching people how to repair their broken devices but also to demand better and more sustainable electronics.

janet gunter is the co—founder of the restart project — your ethos is don't despair, just repair? if the problem that we don't bother to repair stuff any more? there is a problem with us forgetting that we can't repair things before we discard them but there is barriers, syste m discard them but there is barriers, system level above us that make it quite a hassle to repair.|j system level above us that make it quite a hassle to repair. i was going to say, hassle is putting it mildly. i wouldn't have a clue where to start, some of these devices are so to start, some of these devices are so complex. absolutely. the time was we had access to spare parts from the manufacturers and repair manuals and diagnostic tools and those have been taken away from those who like diy and professional repairs. given the tools have been taken away, what's the answer? we think there's a role for government to step in and to bring back some of these elements of the right to repair. it's access

to spare parts, its access to repair manuals but it's also designing for disassembly and repairand manuals but it's also designing for disassembly and repair and that's something europe passed a law for the first time last year. on appliances. but we hope it can be expanded to many other products including small electronics and mobiles. if it is, what kind of difference do you think it will make? it could make a huge difference, not just for diy enthusiast but it could repost small repair businesses. many struggle, they spend weeks trying to learn how to repaira new they spend weeks trying to learn how to repair a new device, new family of devices. this is time that they are essentially wasting they not repairing. it could make a huge impact. 0n the environment as well. when we recycle things, we are shredding them and not recouping of the materials and we are not keeping in line the carbon impact in manufacture of electronics which are huge. terribly complicated issue but thank you very much for your time,

janet. plenty more news whenever you want it on the business life page, whenever you want to check up on all the latest stories. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story. the boss of facebook, mark zuckerberg, is in brussels today to meet european commissioners to discuss regulation and taxation. now let's talk about fashion. we all love a bit of retail therapy, especially the joy that comes with owning a new garment. but how many of them end—up unworn in our wardrobes? roughly $40 billion in the uk alone according to recent statistics. well, my next guest, sacha newall, is trying to do something about this. she's set up a website, that offers those with over—stuffed wardrobes a chance to rent out items to others on a budget. with us now is sacha newall, founder and chief executive, my wardrobe hq.

thank you so much for coming in. what's the idea? we are a fully circular platform of sustainability at its heart. the idea is if you are at its heart. the idea is if you are a brand and an individual that has clothing stock that you would like to monetise, you can do it through out to monetise, you can do it through our platform. clothing stock to monetise means basically if i have an old suit in my wardrobe, that i don't wear anymore, i can put it and someone don't wear anymore, i can put it and someone will rent it, is that it? we don't do menswear yet but watch this space, but yes, it's exactly that. however, if lewis had an old suit andi however, if lewis had an old suit and i perhaps needed to borrow one, imight not and i perhaps needed to borrow one, i might not be too keen to wear one that i don't know the state of it, the cleanliness of it. perfectly clea n, the cleanliness of it. perfectly clean, perfectly manicured suits! we've identified there are three key areas that people are very concerned about when it comes to fashion rental. the obvious one is timeliness, if you rent it, it can be led, it has to get you on time, it has to be clean, and where it is

a luxury designer brand it has to be authentic so in order to manage this and ensure we deliver on the three objectives, manage absolutely everything, we hold all of the stock, we tag everything, we clean everything, we track everything, it's to ensure that every step of the way there is complete control of the way there is complete control of the process. if one of my suits is on here and ben rents it, i know for a start he will have one too many glasses of red wine and he will split over my beautiful suit, what happens then? we have insurance in place. then we also expect a degree of urgency on behalf of the renters, i have to say, we haven't had a single incident and we've been trading fully now for three months, not a single incident of damage, i think it's when you go on holiday, you look after your rental flat better than your home!|j you look after your rental flat better than your home! i wonder whether this is driven by i suppose, the social media factor? people not wanting to be seen wearing the same outfit twice and how much of an

impact do things like the oscars, saying to people do not go out and buy something new if you were walking the red carpet? do it in a sustainable way. do you think there isa sustainable way. do you think there is a shift away from that obsession with a new outfit for every photo, to be in longer term with your garments? we did a lot of research before launching the business and we found in the main, most people, be they on social media orjust everyday, going to events and so on come up with the same friendship group, they are unlikely to wear anything more than twice. as much as there is people we are trying to encourage people to re—wear and where more, it doesn't necessarily have to be you that where is it. keep your items with us, led them to somebody else and when you want to wear them yourself you can call them back and wear them. you are confident this is a growth area, this is actually something that will ta ke this is actually something that will take off in the uk and presumably around the world ? take off in the uk and presumably around the world? we've seen with re nt around the world? we've seen with rent the runway they've had incredible success with rental but it's much more of a retail model to the extent they buy all the stock.

what we've done is close the circle to make it fully circular so it has a much more, and we have a much more sustainable approach to what we are doing. interesting stuff, thank you very much. in a moment we'll run through some viewer responses to our twitter question. but first, have you ever had a situation at work where someone much younger than you has been put in charge of you? dougal shaw went to visit a company in bournemouth where two people have worked through the challange how would you feel if your boss was much younger than you? he's younger than my youngest son. i was working before he was born! i think it is important for me to recognise that i ama important for me to recognise that i am a young person in a senior role. i think it's important not to go round with a big ego. keeping a watchful eye over the office, business operations manager theo. he is 20 and newly promoted. fresh from his a—levels and an apprenticeship.

he chairs meetings and is the first point of contact for clients at this marketing agency in bournemouth. theo was brought into the business purely on the fact he had digital skills that i did not presently have. i still use a notebook and a pen, it's like my comfort blanket. lots of companies are hiring young people for the social media skills though not many get promoted as quickly as theo. 0ne though not many get promoted as quickly as theo. one of his jobs was to bring charlie up to speed on her social media skills which are needed for modern digital marketing. he has got skills that i don't have, it's learning to accept that. the pair have built a strong working relationship, they say the keys to crossing the age divide at work and mutual respect and a readiness to learn from one another. charlie has got lots of experience in many things, i'm always learning about tips and tricks from her, especially her work in the charity sector. you can be a just because someone is too

young or a just because someone is too old. more of the crossing divide series coming up in the coming days and weeks. at the top of the show, we asked you about the etiquette of reclining seats on flights after a video of an angry passenger emerged. delta's ceo says you should always ask before reclining. that's divided opinion. that is the problem, when the seat comes back, your table is down, your coffee goes everywhere. if you ask in the right way it's impossible for them you are backing your charm,

your smile on your charm, they a lwa ys your smile on your charm, they always say yes. the problem with that as the costs would go up as well. that is extraordinary! that is true, the seats only reclined by three inches. that is true, the seats only reclined by three inchesm that is true, the seats only reclined by three inches. if you can blag your way to the first row, your solution. that's it from worklife today.

we'll see you again tomorrow. good morning. storm dennis are still fairly close by across the uk, but not as wet or windy as it was over the weekend. we had a lot of rainfall, 116 millimetres of rain in south wales, that's about the average for the whole of the month of february. the reverse still responding to the rainfall, lots of flood warnings in force, five severe flood warnings in force, five severe flood warnings in force, five severe flood warnings currently in force. storm dennis moving towards scandinavia, still lots of isobars across the chart, still very windy, especially across northern areas of the uk, wind gusts of 60 possibly 70 miles an hour. quite gusty elsewhere, the wind starting to ease as we go through the afternoon.

there is more rainfall in the forecast. the form of showers, those showers quite heavy as they move their way south and east, frequent showers in scotland, northern ireland, snow over the higher ground of scotland. in between the showers, some dry and sunny spells, maximum temperatures 9—11d. through tonight, the showers continuing especially in scotland, more snow falling over higher ground. lengthy clear spells, temperatures dropping down to— three degrees for many. could be a bit colder than that in the countryside, close to freezing bought some of us perhaps, temperatures in major towns and cities or 5 degrees. throughout tuesday more showers in the forecast they could merge together to give lengthy spells of rain, particularly in the afternoon. this band of heavy rainfora time in the afternoon. this band of heavy rain for a time will move its way south and east, falling on areas already flooded. could just add to theissue already flooded. could just add to the issue in some parts but there will be sunny spells in between those areas of rain and showers.

during wednesday, this little nose of high pressure weaving its way in, a little bit quieter on wednesday before more weather systems move on from the west, try and find start for many, quite a chilly start on wednesday before the cloud increases, eventually seeing rain moving into the western areas by the end of the day. the wind picking up as well during wednesday, maximum temperatures 8—10d. it remains quite u nsettled temperatures 8—10d. it remains quite unsettled for the end of the week. strong winds once again, heavy rain at times. there was a temperatures round about 7—12dc, but well worth staying tuned to the forecast as we enter the week. goodbye for now.

you're watching bbc news at nine with me, carrie gracie. the headlines: hundreds of flood warnings remain in place across the uk — following a weekend of torrential rain brought by storm dennis. it's going underwater slowly — the kitchen, living room, so... but we got the three dogs out, so that is all that matters. lam iamjohn i am john maguire in the village of nantgarw in south wales, this road yesterday was a river, people are returning to their homes for the first time this morning to assess the damage. iam i am jayne mccubbin i amjayne mccubbin in i am jayne mccubbin in york, where there are 16 flood warnings in place, with water levels are still rising and expected to peak as

almost as high as the