no merger — what next for asda?events against the same period last year. is that a fair assessment of the reasons why they have seen this slight fall in profits? yes, they have seen this fall, but when we look at the likes of tesco and sainsbury is they are also experiencing these declines, it is competing against a very difficult year last year, not enough good weather this year, so far asda it presents a real challenge. he also discussed falling consumer confidence and that has a lot to do with brexit on the horizon, still not really any closer to working out what will happen and supermarkets have to deal with that uncertainty. soafair have to deal with that uncertainty. so a fair assessment from the boss of asda. we heard earlier in the year that they will not be a merger between asda and sainsbury‘s, so what next for asda and its owner, walmart? as it were pretty quick after the merger was announced it wouldn't happen that their plans wouldn't happen that their plans would be to launch an initial public offering

government figures suggest the seven biggest retailers, including asda and sainsbury‘s, sold 90% fewern in 2015. in the last year alone there has been a 47% decrease in single—use bags. that means the average person uses bags. that means the average person uses just ten bags. that means the average person usesjust ten single—use bags. that means the average person uses just ten single—use bags per year compared to 145 years ago. let's talk to catherine conway, campaignerand let's talk to catherine conway, campaigner and founder of on packaged, easier always to consultancy. she advises supermarkets and other businesses on reducing plastic waste. a 90% drop, what is your reaction? campaigners like me expected this to happen. we knew the british public was happy to use the plastic bags they have at home and none of us thought it would bea home and none of us thought it would be a problem. wejust needed home and none of us thought it would be a problem. we just needed the little tax to get people to change their behaviour. why has it taken so long for that change of behaviour to ta ke long

government figures suggest that the seven biggest retailers, including asda, sainsbury‘s, and waitroseons of plastic bags used globally every year. now new data for england shows that single plastic bag use has dropped significantly since 2015. the information relates to england's seven major retailers — asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. they've recorded a staggering reduction of 90% since the 5p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there's been a 47% decrease in single—bag use. that means the average person now buysjust ten single—use plastic bags a year, compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with a deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means shifting plastic bags means switching to heavy—duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue that campaigners will probably feel has been

government figures suggest that the seven biggest retailers, including asda, sainsbury‘s, and waitrosed globally every year. now new data for england shows that single plastic bag use has dropped significantly since 2015. the information relates to england's seven major retailers — asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. they've recorded a staggering reduction of 90% since the 5p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there's been a 47% decrease in single—bag use. that means the average person now buysjust ten single—use plastic bags a year, compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with a deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means switching to heavy—duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue that campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. john mcmanus, bbc news. joining me

government figures suggest that the seven biggest retailers including asda, sainsbury‘s and waitroseastic bags used globally every year. now new data for england shows that single plastic bag use has dropped significantly since 2015. the information relates to england‘s seven major retailers — asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. they‘ve recorded a staggering reduction of 90% since the 5p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there‘s been a 47% decrease in single—bag use. that means the average person now buysjust ten single—use plastic bags a year, compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with a deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means switching to heavy—duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue that campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. whether time. floodi

asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose.p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there's been a 47% decrease in single bag use. that means the average person now buysjust in single bag use. that means the average person now buys just ten single—use plastic bags a year compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotla nd plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with the deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means shifting to heavy duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. john mcmanus, bbc news. those are the main stories for you. one other story for you. the first three contestants for this year's series of strictly come dancing have been revealed. the england football star david james, the comedian chris ramsey a

asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means shifting to heavy duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. john mcmanus, bbc news. many primary school children say they‘ve never visited traditional high street shops like a butchers or a greengrocers. the research among five to 11—year—olds found nearly a third of them had never been to a butchers, and almost a quarter had not been to a greengrocer. it also found more than half had never been to a launderette. we went out to ask families whether they shop local or not, and this is what they told us. i don‘t often take my children to high street shops, we do a lot of shopping online, maybe for something specific or a treat. my friends dad isa specific or a treat. my friends dad is a butcher. have you ever been? no stop we always try and shop locally, loca

bosses of more than 50 retailers including asda and boots have written to the chancellor urging him tohe group says it wants him to fix the "broken business rates system" that they say has soared by 50% since the 19905 and has caused some retailers to go bust. if you want to hear someone get passionate or angry about something, ask a business owner about business rates. it is the tax on properties that are used for commercial purposes and it is paid by tenants or owners of pubs, shops, offices. the rates are collected by the local council set by government. it varies across the nations. some big high street in names are calling for a change. we see it as calling some firms to go bust. kaya, what did he mean it is broken? i have the price is too much they do not want to pay them? it is an exceptionally hard time for retail at the moment. retail sales are growing slowly and fitful is down. business rates represent the biggest cost for retailers. imagine 50% of the last five years. what we are asking for, we had 15 executives getting together and asked the government to reform this broken

in other business news — walmart, which owns asda in the uk, is under pressure to use its corporate powers in the us. the country's biggest retailer, has faced criticism before over arms sales. but after a multiple shooting at a texas store, and the death of two staff at a mississippi branch, critics say walmart has a responsibility to act. in a surprise to analysts, british house prices fell last month, according to numbers from mortgage lender halifax. house prices fell by 0.2% injuly, below forecasts for a 0.3% rise. that dragged the annual growth rate down to 4.1%, its lowest level since march. disney says it will remake home alone for its new streaming service. the studio's chief exec bob iger said there will also be "reimaginations" of other popular films it now owns the rights to, after buying the film studio 20th century fox. it comes as profits at the entertainment giant fell 51% to $1.abn in the last three months, despite revenues rising 33%. london's ftse 100 is up — but that's after a run of six losing sessions triggered by worries over the us—china trade dispute. however, poo

bosses of more than 50 retailers including asda and boots have written to the chancellor urging him tocellor, co—ordinated by the trade body the british retail consortium, the group pointed out that retail accounted for 5% of the economy but paid 25% of all business rates, a property based tax. richard walker is the managing director of iceland — he wants a level playing field with the big online retailers like amazon we don't want to pay any less tax. we paid almost 1.5 billion over the last 15 years and i'm proud of that fact but what i would like is a level playing field whereby the biggest online giants, some of the biggest companies in the world, don't hitch a free ride. the tax they hope to bring in, they hope to raise about 400 million so in context we've paid almost 10% of that at the moment in our business rates bill alone. so nowhere near enough to level the playing field and secondly, to give relief to small businesses is a welcome move, a good move but that will generally help kebab shops, corner shops, the like, it's not going to help the volume of jobs, the volume ofjob l

research by kantar shows that sales at tesco, sainsbury‘s, asda have all dropped over the past threeers say that lidl in particular has succeeded in persuading shoppers to do their big shop at its stores. twitter and facebook say they've tried to block what they describe as a "state—backed chinese misinformation campaign" against the protests in hong kong. twitter said that accounts from mainland china were part of a coordinated attempt to undermine the "legitimacy of the protest movement". but twitter has also been criticised for accepting money from the chinese state news agency to promote its stories about the democracy protest. sales have slowed and profits have been hit at persimmon, britain's second largest house—builder. it's been trying to improve the quality of its homes following criticism over the standard and safety of its houses. the company said additional investment in customer service had driven a 1.4% drop in pre—tax profit to £5095 million for the six months ending june 30. the company lost nearly a third of its value last year and appointed company insider dave jen

customers at the biggest seven retailers — including tesco, sainsbury‘s and asda — used 90% fewer thanngle plastic bag use has dropped significantly since 2015. the information relates to england's seven major retailers — asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. they've recorded a staggering reduction of 90% since the 5p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there's been a 47% decrease in single—bag use. that means the average person now buysjust ten single—use plastic bags a year, compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with a deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means shifting to heavy duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue that campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. the first three contestants for this year's series of strictly come dancing have been revealed.

government figures suggest that the seven biggest retailers — including asda, sainsbury‘s, and waitrosee has dropped significantly since 2015. the information relates to england's seven major retailers — asda, marks & spencer, morrisons, sainsbury‘s, the co—op, tesco and waitrose. they've recorded a staggering reduction of 90% since the 5p charge was introduced. and in the last year alone, there's been a 47% decrease in single—bag use. that means the average person now buysjust ten single—use plastic bags a year, compared to 140 five years ago. plastic bag use has also dropped in scotland and the holyrood government is now pushing ahead with a deposit return scheme for some plastic and glass bottles and cans. some critics say ditching single—use plastic bags means shifting to heavy—duty bags for life, which can often contain more plastic. but at a time when consumers are being urged to go green, this is one issue that campaigners will probably feel has been all wrapped up. john mcmanus, bbc news. a painting believed for more than a 150 years to have been by the minor italian artist ales

bosses of more than 50 retailers, including asda and boots, have written to the chancellor urging himontributed to some retailers going out of business. the treasury said it had announced a £3.6 billion fund last month to support our high streets and town centres. here with me now is business presenter dominic o'connell. the high street is really struggling? retailers about 596 of gdp, but retailers pay 25% of all business rates, £8 billion a year. for a long time may have lobbied the government to change it, they say it is not fair, online retailers do not have to pay the same level of tax, its nest rates are typically about 8% of the turnover of a physical retailer, for an online retailer it is about 2%, so it is another thing pushing the high street out of business. we spoke to the boss of harrods, the biggest single business ratepayer in the uk, 18.5 billion p a year. they say their competition, house of fraser, has gone into administration. another query they have with the system is a take so long to change, the rate has barely changed, they will not benefit from that for another

bosses of more than 50 retailers including asda and boots have written to the chancellor urging him to were talking about how many empty shops there are on the high street in some parts of the country, and retailers think they might have some kind of help with the situation? yes, that is exactly why they wrote to the chancellor. it is all to do with business rates and if you want to hear someone speak very passionately and angrily, ask a business owner about those rates. now, the reason this is the tax on properties for commercial properties and it is paid by te na nts commercial properties and it is paid by tenants or owners of shops, restau ra nts, by tenants or owners of shops, restaurants, offices, warehouses, and the way it works and is collected by the local council, but set by central government and the rates vary across england, scotland, wales and northern ireland. some big high street names have been calling for the system to be overhauled because they say it is killing retail, and forcing some firms to go bust. in their letter to the chancellor which was all put together by

bosses are more than 50 retailers, including asda and bits, have written to the chancellor asking him good morning. let's get more on thosejob figures bust. good morning. let's get more on those job figures that were released earlier, showing earnings and employment rose in the last quarter of the last year. average earnings rising by 3.9%. that is the red line. slow and steady growth over the last couple of years. it doesn't mean that those wages are rising more quickly. that is inflation. that is running at 2%. what you have here is a gap. a real terms pay increase for all of us. we should have more money in our pockets and feel better off. wage growth is at an 11 year high now. the overall unemployment rate, that came in at 3.9%. that is lower than 1 year before. it is up 0.1% in the 3 months that came before this quarter. let's talk about what it means with the global economist. good to see you this morning. i hope ican good to see you this morning. i hope i can see you. janet is there. let's talk about these numbers. an interesting 1. the unemployment rate holding steady. it is t

research by kantar shows that sales at tesco, sainsbury‘s, asda have all dropped over the past threeland china were part of a coordinated attempt to undermine the "legitimacy of the protest movement". but twitter has also been criticised for accepting money from the chinese state news agency to promote its stories about the democracy protest. if you were among the millions who suffered a powercutjust over 10 days ago or one of those whose travel plans were disrupted as a result, then you‘ll be interested to hear that lightning was to blame. it was just before 5pm on friday, august the 9th, when two separate but almost simultaneous lightning strikes shut down two generators. one at hornsea and the other at little ba rford. the blackouts extended across large parts of england and wales and while it didn‘t last very long, it caused serious disruption particularly on the railways. the investigators interim report has found out what went wrong but is still working out if any company is to blame for the fallout. professor keith bell is professor of electrical engineering at the university

walmart, which owns asda in the uk, is under pressure to use its corporate power to help crack down on british house prices fell last month, according to numbers from mortgage lender halifax. house prices fell by 0.2% injuly, below forecasts for a 0.3% rise. that dragged the annual growth rate down to 4.1%, its lowest level since march. disney says it will remake home alone for its new streaming service. the studio's chief exec bob iger said there will also be "reimaginations" of other popular films it now owns the rights to, after buying the film studio 20th century fox. it comes as profits at the entertainment giant fell 51% to $1.4 billion in the last three months, despite revenues rising 33%. don't touch it, it is a classic, don't remake it, that is my plea. iam sure don't remake it, that is my plea. i am sure they are listening. that's all the business news. scientists have been looking into how to stop pesky sea gulls from swooping down to steal your food. the answer is — eye contact and a steely gaze. researchers from the university of exeter discovered that by staring at the bi

research by kantar shows that sales at tesco, sainsbury‘s, asda have all dropped over the past threeng. it is committed to stealing the crown from netflix and amazon prime which are really dominant in this sector. michelle fleury is at the new york stock exchange. as well as spending 6 billion, what sort of team they getting together to create this content? people keep talking about this as the golden age of ten for television. much of this has been driven by the explosion in streaming. apple, when it is making its debut, sometime later this year, they have lined up some top talent. you have familiar household names and they have launched a trailer that you can see online now for a show about a morning breakfast tv show. the drama behind—the—scenes between the anchors. all of this is this battle for our eyeballs when it comes to this growing market which is streaming television. there will be further competition for apple and netflix because there are lots of media companies wanting their own streaming services. yes, we are talking about apple today but of course the other big giant

let's talk about specific companies, because walmart own asda and they have come up with figures for start crying and begging me to say, grabbing my uncle like last time, that‘s embarrassing, simon. but i will film it and put it online —— grabbing my ankle. simon. but i will film it and put it online -- grabbing my ankle. good luck, wherever you are going. 50 years ago this month two of the world‘s most iconic music festivals took place. while hundreds of thousands of people gathered in woodstock in new york state, its most famous resident, bob dylan, wasn‘t there — he was instead performing in a field on the isle of wight — as part of one of the biggest music festivals britain had ever seen. david sillito looks back: newsreel: here come the hippies, the advanced guard of an invasion force expected to number between 100,000 and 200,000 from all over britain and the continent. 1969, the isle of wight and one of the moments of the ‘605. on stage, dylan. in the audience, john lennon, george harrison and ringo starr, and at the press conference that launched it all, sitting here on the r