would not lead to shop closes orjob with asda would not lead to shop closes or job losses with asdacloses orjob losses in stores. the deal would need approval from the condition and markets authority, or cma. in the commons, mps demanded assurances that the interests of consumers, employees, and suppliers would be redacted. given that in 2003 when the morrison merger occurred, the cmp insisted that 53 stores were offloaded, how can mr cooper ensure the minister in that way and what did he say about that. i think the honourable lady for that question. the reassurance as i was given this morning was that first of all they would be no store closures. secondly, they reassured me that both head offices of both sainsbury's and asda would remain open. i think these are both very positive things. please do not view this as a merger. it is not a merger. it is a takeover by sainsbury's in return for 42% of walmart stock. that is where it is. so let us stop using false terminology to describe what is actually happening. he will understand that this is a, he may not believe it is to be a merger

with asda. in prices but also the suppliers. the suppliers. yesterday that he is very keen to cut prices. cut prices. he told is that he wants to cut prices by 10%. to cut prices by 10%. let's take a quick listen to what he had to say. quick listen to what he had to say. and we are creating a dynamic new player. player. benefits to our customers through lowering prices. lowering prices. reduce the price of everyday items by 10%, by improving quality. by 10%, by improving quality. of that and paying the price of those cuts. those cuts. with me, jenny, you are the farmer. let me start with you. asda, you supply milk to asda, what do you think? do you think? hopefully it will mean good things. good things. and we hope it means the merger means we won't lose that contact. means we won't lose that contact. it's often the suppliers on the train who the pressure. train who the pressure. they often say, cut your price. say, cut your price. it's been a massive problem for producers. massive problem for p

asda have also done well and the.e have a record temperatures of bank holiday weather, a royal wedding, fa cup final, event television and people are happy to put spend on to higher ticket items like beer and burgers. put spend on to higher ticket items like beer and burgerslj put spend on to higher ticket items like beer and burgers. i was going to ask you about the type of products. we have pizzas displayed in the aisles here and i suppose those are the kind of products that people are posting they will be stopping up on a spending moron. absolutely. classic party foods like pizzas and soft drinks and burgers and alcohol doing well but different retailers have different strengths so retailers have different strengths so when you look at waitrose, we can see sparkling wine and possess good as well with them whereas another retailers it is more beer and wine and soft drinks. best not to dwell on sparkling wine too much, we do wa nt to on sparkling wine too much, we do want to end up with a reputation. when you look at

the proposed sainsbury‘s and asda merger is coming under increased scrutiny, as suppliers to both aree two grocery chains merge. bbc business presenter ben thompson travelled to a farm in gloucestershire to meet one of the farmers who might be affected by the deal. yes, welcome to gloucestershire. we're looking at that news yesterday, the boss of sainsbury‘s, of course, announcing they would cut prices pretty significantly after the merger with asda, but already concerned that it is suppliers who will be forced to bear the cost. suppliers like this place, a farm in gloucestershire. so let me introduce you tojenny, who's the farmer here. jenny, you supply asda and you've had a pretty good relationship with them up to now, but are you worried about what you've heard yesterday? i think any farmer would be worried. we've had, like you say, a very good relationship. they've been selling our free range dairy farmers' milk for a year now, which is going really well. i hope that the consumers will choose it and that won't happen, but it's always a worry that farmers will be the ones that bear

the chief executive of sainsbury‘s, mike coupe, said a deal to merge his supermarket chain with asdaead to shop closures orjob losses in stores. but the commons seemed sceptical. together, the two companies would have 2800 stores, and their combined share of the market would represent £1 pound in every £3 spent on groceries. the business minister said he'd been given assurances from both chief executives, but could they be trusted? this question was typical. although they say today there are no job losses, my concern is, once all this is forgotten about in a year or so's time, that then suddenly hundreds ofjobs will be lost, notjust in the stores but in logistics and distribution centres and so on. please do not view this as a merger. it is not a merger, is a takeover by sainsbury's. having got that off his chest, mark menzies lobbied for another type of employee. please focus, particularly on the jobs in distribution centres. many of them are in working areas of the country and it's the distribution centres that will be hammered a year or two years down the line, if this measure goe

so the coffee will be the same price in asda and sainsbury‘s?ers. many people will know you had quite an awkward moment when the announcement was made. let's have a look, for those who don't remember. # we're in the money. # we're in the money. # let's spend it, meant it, rolling along. # we're in the money. # we're in the money. # this guy is sony. # this guy is sony. # let's landed, splendid, send it rolling along. —— the sky is sony. luke let's lend it, spend it. that must be so embarrassing to mediate in to watch?” that must be so embarrassing to mediate in to watch? i have apologised, it is one of those things. you can imagine i had a fairly stressful 36 hours, doing 11 interviews in 30 minutes is quite stressful. i don't think anybody would mind you singing, it was the choice of song. i am the first to recognise it was unfortunate, but i get lots of e—mails from customers who think two things, one is that it was pretty unreasonable of itv to show it because it was clearly fair, and secondly that in the vast majority of cases, they think it

primark and asda. george in asda have got a really good range as well. what about motherca re? no. — because i'm older, obviously, mothercare was the first shop thatjust did baby things and it was very, very popular. i can remember getting a little book and looking at what i wanted and i loved it. mothercare used to run hundreds of stores. today it has 137. and it now wants to close 50 of them by next summer to cut costs. around 800 jobs could be lost. mothercare's problem is that it has too many underperforming stores. the uk business hasn't made a profit since 2012, and with tough conditions on the high street, its troubles have finally come to a head. "perilous" was how the company described its financial condition today, but mothercare is confident that its rescue plan will keep it out of hot water. will it be enough? the business is on a cliff edge at the moment. it's got a very strong brand name that does well internationally but it has to produce a compelling offer for the uk consumer and that's where its problem is and what is going to be the challenge in the future. and in

childrenswear which marks & spencer was the go to praise the childrenswear, now everybody is going to asdais competition in doing things better, better prices, compatible product quality, but also really focused on great marketing strategies. why don't they know their customers?” am afraid my aps hasjust don't they know their customers?” am afraid my aps has just fallen out. don't worry, we will get some technical assistance. while she is talking, i should just say that we have that interview that emma simpson conducted with the chief executive a little bit earlier today, and what he talked about was trying to change the whole culture in marks and spencer stores on the high streets, and that raised an interesting question about notjust the product choice but the way that m and it operates. it has a very traditional culture. it is an established high street favourites, and that is something that he is like to change, because he is also tried to persuade us to express 100 door closures. maria, canny him ain? door closures. maria, canny him again? i can. sorry about that. don't worry at all.

this was a trial. —— asda.ey stop you? you? accounts, they do not allow you to go overdrawn. go overdrawn. it prevents you from using a pre— authorisation system. using a pre— authorisation system. likely you are to access these automated systems. automated systems. excluded in the future is quite that —— that is very interesting. thank you. it shows how important trials are. thank you. about the problem of waste plastic. having for decades. the best in europe. they are so far ahead. they've reputation for recycling, and they're proud of it. it really wouldn't do to mix paper and plastic. even so, it's sometimes hard to know what waste goes where. and give them good advice. my aim is to tell people this could be fun. i don't wag the moralfinger. germans have been separating their rubbish since the late 1990s. what was originally enforced by law, now a national habit. is just how ingrained the recycling habit really is here. a pfand, a deposit, 15 cents in the case of this kind of bottle. they go off to be steri

uk supermarkets sainsbury‘s and asda will have to sell off at least 73 stores for their merger to geth. the new supermarket group would become the largest in the uk by market share. but the £15 billion deal is set to face huge scrutiny by britain's competition and markets authority. music streaming app tidal has been accused of inflating audience figures for albums by beyonce and kanye west, unfairly boosting their royalty payments. tidal denies the allegations in a norwegian—language newspaper, saying the data has been stolen and manipulated. tidal is part—owned by jay z, beyonce's husband and a long—term friend of kanye west. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. on business insider, saudi arabia is about to ramp up its oil production. that's in response to the expected decline in iranian crude oil for international markets following president trump's withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal. from wired, ‘who pays the most and least in silicon valley?‘ well, the median pay at facebook tops $240,000 a year, that's more than eight times the $28,000 median at amazon.

jennie, you supply asda and you have had a pretty good relationship with them up to now.the consumers will chooseit well. i hope that the consumers will choose it and that will not happen but it is always a worry that farmers will bear the brunt of it. do you worry about going up against the power of the supermarkets? they are so big now. there is one less play now with this deal goes ahead. you do not have much negotiating power. we do not have a lot of negotiating power but the consumer chooses and i think we are used to dealing with supermarkets now. we have had them for the last 20—30 yea rs. we have had them for the last 20—30 years. we hope they listen to what the consumer wants. it is about what the consumer wants. it is about what the customers want. we have always been asking for cheaper and cheaper prices. supermarkets are just delivering what we want, aren't they? you are right. the merged entity will be bigger than tesco and will have huge buying power but honestly, i don't know how easy it is to make money out of commanders said ——... the supermarkets will ma

as president trump's lawyer rudy giuliani suggested as recently asda errol barnett, cbs news, the white house. >>> the nomination of gina haskell to lead the cia remains on track. that's despite her offer to step aside. the confirmation hearing is scheduled for wednesday. she offered to withdraw over concerns about her involvement in the harsh interrogation program. she was a chief at a base in thailand where two terrorism suspects were subjected to waterboarding that simulates drowning. haskell would be the first woman to lead the cia. >>> president trump's deadline for making a decision on whether to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal is saturday. the british ambassador to the united states says he believes it's still possible to address mr. trump's concerns. they include iran's ballistic missile program and a clause allowing them to resume part of the nuclear program after 2025. britain's n y has talks scheduled was officials in washington this week. >>> a water pipe burst on a carnival cruise line ship in the caribbean flooded 50 state rooms and 100 passengers were affected. but th

based asda grocer with their or larger rival j. sansbury while warmer currently operates in twenty eight countries around the world more appear to be on the way as their strategy shifts to owning or at least partial ownership of additional global retail companies. and now we move to talk about the farm bill a huge eight hundred fifty six billion dollars piece of legislation the numbers matter here and while we don't talk about every bill time a bill passes the house or senate this one is different not only because it's huge and taxpayers foot the bill but because the farm bill impacts so very many people and a lot of people that you may be unaware about here discuss a fred kaufman author of bet the farm fred thanks as always for being with us this is the huge money program and it's paid for by taxpayers but what does the farm bill actually do why is it important. the farm bill has been a signature piece of legislation and bipartisan legislation since one thousand nine hundred thirty three bar every five years it has been passed int

said it was selling a sta ke because it said it was selling a stake in its uk—based supermarket chain asdanvestors will be looking for any further information about these international deals at what they say about the health of the company. many are worried that walmart has not transitioned to online shopping effectively enough. investors will be curious to see what walmart has to state when it reports these first—quarter earnings. there are also the earnings of two department store chains, nordstrom and jcpenney. like many retailers around the world, both companies had been struggling as of late, so investors will be keen to see any good news is suggesting that american shoppers are once more returning to their stores. joining us is trevor greetham from royal london asset management. what is catching your eye in the markets at the moment? you have seen a lot of stock market volatility so far this year and what we are beginning to see are signs that global growth is coming off the boil. 2017 was a strong, synchronise your with europe catching up with america and now europe is slowing down

based asda grocer with their are larger rival j. sansbury while warmer currently. operates in twenty eight countries around the world more appear to be on the way as their strategy shifts to owning or at least partial ownership of additional global retail companies. and now we move to talk about the farm bill a huge eight hundred fifty six billion dollars piece of legislation the numbers matter here and while we don't talk about every bill time a bill passes the house or senate this one is different not only because it's huge and taxpayers foot the bill but because the farm bill impacts so very many people and a lot of people that you may be unaware about here discuss a fred kaufman author of bet the farm fred thanks as always for being with us this is the huge money program and it's paid for by taxpayers but what does the farm bill actually do why is it important. the farm bill has been a signature piece of legislation and bipartisan legislation since one thousand nine hundred thirty three bar every five years it has been passed into last monday and there is parts

companies that supply products to sainsbury‘s and asda fear they could suffer if the two grocery chains cut prices on everyday products by around 10% after the deal but also said there would be no stores closures orjobs lost in store, suppliers now fear they will have to shoulder the cost of those savings. growth in the amount of money we borrow, including loans, credit cards and overdrafts, slowed sharply in march, according to figures published by the bank of england. along with slower that expected manufacturing growth figures many analysts now think the chances of a interest rate rise this month is slim. we've just been hearing those job cut and branch closure figures from royal bank of scotland, so, 162 branches across england and wales. and almost 800 staff will be offered voluntary redundancy. rbs have said, "we are no longer launching williams & glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; natwest and royal bank of scotland, in england & wales. "as a result we have had to review our overall branch footprint and we've

it is talking about asda and sainsbury‘s, the tie—up between the two.ounced this time last week. the competition and markets authority could scrutinise the proposed merger. speaking to the today programme on radio 4 about some of the regulatory hurdles that could be a problem for that. japanese pharmaceutical firm ta keda has reached a $62 billion takeover agreement with its rival shire. that is the story that broke one and a half hours ago. the deal is the biggest overseas acquisition ever by a japanese company, and the largest deal in the sector since 2000. first, katie silver is in singapore. katie, thanks for joining katie, thanks forjoining us. it is a huge deal and it has been in the making for some time? you're right. it has taken five offers from the japanese company ta keda it has taken five offers from the japanese company takeda in about as many weeks. during this time shares have taken a hit, investors were worried they could not afford the deal. today was the deadline that was set when the last offer was made in late april, irish company sh

based asda grocer with their or larger rival j. sansbury while warmer currently operates in twenty eight countries around the world more appear to be on the way as their strategy shifts to owning or at least partial ownership of additional global retail companies. and now we move to talk about the farm bill a huge eight hundred fifty six billion dollars piece of legislation the numbers matter here while we don't talk about every bill time a bill passes the house or senate this one is different not only because it's huge and taxpayers foot the bill but because the farm bill impacts so very many people and a lot of people that you may be unaware about here discuss a fred kaufman author of bet the farm fred thanks as always for being with us this is the huge money program and it's paid for by taxpayers but what does the farm bill actually do why is it important. the farm bill has been a signature piece of legislation and bipartisan legislation since one thousand nine hundred thirty three bar every five years it has been passed into la

. >> british grocer sainsbury has agreed takeover terms with asda, with walmart owning 42% of the combineder percentage in terms of voting. >> this is not a takeover. this is a combination of two great businesses. the management team has made the best of both businesses. we will run two separate head offices and a dual rant strategy -- brand strategy in the u.k. >> they have been saying there will be consolidation in retail. this was seen as a consolidation driver. but i think investors are thinking that this deal will go off well. but the big question is what does the regulators say? vonnie: a titanic merger in the u.s. oil industry. marathon has agreed to buy refiner endeavor for $23.3 billion. the new combined company would be the largest independent fuel maker in the u.s. what does it mean for the industry in general? >> you have two companies in different parts of the country, largely, and they are now the biggest refiner in the country. they have 15% of fuel making ability in the country. not only that, they both have large pipeline assets. so they are a real giant presence now. >> c

less than a week ago the headlines were full of the proposed sainsbury—asda merger, so why are morrisons rachel reeves, chair of the business, energy and industrial strategy committee saying this merger threatens customer choice, hands more power to mighty supermarket players and puts more pressure on small and medium suppliers. the chair of the environment, food and rural affairs committee said the grocery code adjudicators 2017 survey said that asda was the worst grocery retailer in the eyes of its suppliers. very strong words from the cma, giving hope to tesco and morrisons. tesla are spending a lot of money, no sign of any profit yet. they had their worst quarterly loss from january down to march. bloomberg estimate they are burning through £5,000 a minute. why behind production schedule. shares felljust over 7% in new york so far this morning. we'll get more in a minute but back in the uk i want to mention pmi figures. it was the turn of services to date. any figure above 50 is seen as growth and the figure came in at 52.8 for april. but it was slower than expected. here to tell us

. >> if walmart wins, this may go down the same road as asda in the uk metro in germany walmart brazilnd japan >> i think this would help them in their on line business in india. we saw for a brief period of time walmart getting more akin to an on line business that couldn't happen in india. >> the street's response to walmart's moves notwithstanding, walmart is a store and am is a marketplace. and e-commerce is a play on marketplace, not on store. and though walmart is rapidly acquiring more and more products with which to sell, they are decades behind in aggregating what amazon has today. i just don't see the logic or the strategy behind what they are doing. and i would include jet in that conversation. >> professor, great to have you with us. mark, glad the see you mark cohen, columbia business school. >> a trend in real estate. high end buyers don't want your furniture or your gadgets. you need to strip it down before you flip it? >> absolutely. i'm going to take you to a $58 million west hollywood pend house. ytu i'm not going to show yo anhing in it i will explain why coming up n

you used to be fantastic at asda and save a lot of money but that was a cost reduction programme —— heot a good reason. it used to be a good reason because it was dependable and you knew what you were buying and it was good value. we were in a different country then. moving upper class hierarchy becoming middle—class was a big thing for your grandparents generation. that was important. marks was the end point and the aspiration. they got britain to be middle class. it is that important in our social history. now an awful lot of people in the middle are middle—class and they want to be much more interesting. they want about personality, they want a brand with personality. they want to produce things that people want to buy. but why do they want to buy it? that is the question. because you have an image of yourself, and identity. and that shop will help you. if you want to be quirky, not you personally... i get myself in enough trouble as it is! that you could go to ted baker. that has eight clear picture. it does not cover everyone but there is a small group of people and they go to ted

sainsury and asda may have to sell 73 supermarkets if their proposed merger is to get the go—ahead.out a million people. the companies says this is down mainly to a rise in wholesale prices. this comes on the heels of other price rises from the likes of british gas and scottishpower so the pressure really going on. you mention the huge fine for the boss of barclays bank. yes, he has been fine £642,000 and the bank itself is going to dock his bonus by about half a million. it is about the way he handled a whistle—blowing incident. in 2016 he instructed the head of security to find out who had written an anonymous whistle—blowing letter, not his smartest move, witchy has admitted. —— which he has. before we feel too sorry for him paying this fine, he earned about £2 million in wages in 2016 and £1 million in bonuses so he can afford the fine. he still has a few quid. joining us now is laura lambie, senior investment director at investec wealth and investment. some people say he has got off lightly? investors in barclays were pleased that a line has been drawn under it, the fine repres