thank you for now, ben thompson.prise to you given the troubles backdrop?” is at risk, is it a surprise to you given the troubles backdrop? i am so sorry for all of those retail workers, significant numbers again. today we heard we might be looking at you hundreds 5000 job losses by the end of the year from the high street. we know e—commerce has been buoyant and we have seen lots ofjob opportunities there, but very different roles and opportunities. i prayed for debenhams, i was aware of their challenges years ago, i wasn't bolted challenging at the time the chair, en cheshire, in terms of what i saw as chair, en cheshire, in terms of what isaw as a chair, en cheshire, in terms of what i saw as a slippage approach to change, they definitely needed investment. the stores out very baconjust investment. the stores out very bacon just like investment. the stores out very baconjust like we had investment. the stores out very bacon just like we had from department store giantjohn lewis, they are seeing store closures as t

ben thompson, thank you for that. 0ur ben thompson, thank you for that. our business presenter.or exiting lorry drivers, sent teams down the lorry drivers, sent teams down the lorry cues, testing to lorry registration numbers. we will have much more are you coming up in a couple of moments. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood hello again. it's been a pretty wet started the day for england and wales, that whether pushing northwards and eastwards, getting into southern scotland and northern ireland. in the north and west, showers merging to give longer spells of rain and this afternoon about 400 metres it could be wintry across the hills and mountains in scotland. behind the ring, a of cloud, gusty winds, highs of 15 degrees in the south—east. tonight, we continue with cloud and rain in southern areas, the wind easing, strengthening across the far north of scotland, we hang onto some showers, it will be cold enough locally for a touch of frost in the north but still very mild in the south. , once again, we have some cloud and outbreaks of rain across southe

business correspondence ben thompson, there.ich is growing faster in some parts of england. so far, 1,000 confirmed cases have been identified in the uk. they're predominantly in the south of england, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas, with numbers increasing rapidly. in the commons yesterday, the health secretary said this new strain of the virus was "highly unlikely" to be resistant to vaccines. joining me now is dr muhammed munir, a virologist from lancaster university. good morning. how worried should we be about this new mutation of the virus? yes, well, thank you very much for having me on the show. since the government announced there isa since the government announced there is a new variant circulating in the uk, particularly in the london region, we have been looking into the data that is already available publicly, anyone can access that. 0ver publicly, anyone can access that. over the 50 sequences are available and out of those, we are looking at one mutation in the spike

welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and sally nugent. our headlines today: talks through the night to try to break the brexit trade deal deadlock. the uk calls the eu's current offer "unacceptable". health leaders urge "extreme caution" in easing coronavirus restrictions, warning it could lead to a third wave of infections. good morning. he's still the champion — anthony joshua knocks out kubrat pulev to defend his world titles and set up a potential super fight with tyson fury. good morning to you. it's looking more and settle down for the foreseeable future. low pressure sweeping in today, stronger winds and outbreaks of rain but it will also produce milder air as well. joined me laterfor all of also produce milder air as well. joined me later for all of the details. —— join. good morning. it's sunday, december 13th. our top story: last—ditch talks are continuing in brussels this morning as uk and eu officials attempt to break the deadlock over a post—brexit trade deal. borisjohnson and the president of the european commission will dec

now ben thompson reflects on how the uk economy, businesses and jobs suffered throughout the coronavirusc, and how things changed — from the ways we work and travel to how we shop — in review 2020: the business year. i've struggled getting out of bed some days, because what do you do with yourself when your whole world is turned upside down? we lost 90% of our revenue overnight. 2020 was the year that changed just about everything. the coronavirus pandemic affected how we live and how we work. it upended our social lives, changed our shopping habits and impacted how and where we could travel. i think this is by far the biggest crisis we have ever faced and clearly requires us to take very quick and deep action. for the country, it led to the biggest economic slump in a generation causing thousands of people to lose their jobs across the uk. and so, as we grapple with its impacts on our lives and our livelihoods, we will assess how long it could take for the country to recover. and amid all of this turmoil, we wonder whether covid has given us reason to stop, to reassess, and perhaps to d

let's speak to my colleague ben thompson who has been following developments on this.t be an absolute nightmare for what has been such a tough year. you are absolutely right. just as those airlines thought they could get passengers back into the skies with may be testing out at airports or rather my sleek arrangements, and indeed people getting overseas for the christmas holidays, that seems not to be happening. some of the because false on the london stock market today have been in london travel firms, particularly airlines but also big energy firms to because our demand for things like oil and petrol is down for what would normally be a pretty busy season for travelling. no surprises to forgetting that hospitality and retail also bearing the brunt of this because they in the uk and in those most restricted areas are simply not able to open. this is the time of year when they would be at their busiest. they make all of their busiest. they make all of their money at this time of year to get them through the rather bleak winter months of january, february and march. so,

now, ben thompson reflects on how the uk economy,

rescuers in norway are still searching for people now, ben thompson reflects on how the uk economy, businesses

welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and sally nugent.e caution" in easing coronavirus restrictions, warning it could lead to a third wave of infections. good morning. he's still the champion — anthony joshua knocks out kubrat pulev to defend his world titles and set up a potential super fight with tyson fury. good morning to you. it's looking more and settle down for the foreseeable future. low pressure sweeping in today, stronger winds and outbreaks of

ben thompson, thank you for that.he travel period. brexit trade negotiators are continuing in brussels later, despite a warning by the european parliament it would not vote on a deal this year if it had not been agreed by last night. the uk ‘s former national security chief lord rickets says he agrees a short extension would be sensible. it is a very exceptional crisis we are in at the moment. that's not really the circumstances in which governments can take cool—headed, rational decisions with long—term implications of the country. and we are implications of the country. and we a re clearly in implications of the country. and we are clearly in the very last throes of this negotiation about leaving the eu, they say 98% of it is done, still some hard issues to deal with but i don't think either side, certainly not the british government, has got the bandwidth to make those decisions now so i would be very much in favour of a short, technical extension so we can cope with his immediate crisis and then come back and sett

our business presenter ben thompson joins us now. in figures and in a way that is perhaps no surprise. no, not at all. it really illustrates how much of an impact the pandemic is having on our work and our livelihoods. i want to show and our livelihoods. i want to show a grass, firstly, that shows the 370,000, and it puts it into stark contrast with what has happened previously. you will notice the spike at the end, the 370,000 jump in the number of redundancies. compare that to their spike that you can see towards 2008. that was the financial crisis of 2008 and so it tells you that the numbers ofjobs lost as a result of the pandemic is significantly greater than the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. if you take it in its entirety, 820,000 jobs have been lost since february, since the pandemic began, taking the jobless rate to 4.9%. we had expected, some of the forecasts were that the jobless rate could be even higher, may be closer to 5.1%. it has actually come in a little lower than that but nonetheless, the 0br, the gov

our correspondent ben thompson is at london's stansted airport for us to find out more.so—called safe destinations. it means that passengers who are returning from there from tomorrow will have to isolate for 14 days. lots of uncertainty, too, ahead of the brexit date, when the uk officially ends the transition period with the european union. so, it means there could be changes coming further down the line for us being able to travel overseas. let's get the details with simon calder, who is with me. let's talk first of all, simon, about the canaries, simon, about the canaries, some big changes this morning and perhaps one of the few places we might have been able to go, until tomorrow, to get a bit of winter sun? yes, seven weeks ago the transport secretary, grant shapps, said, it is all right, you can all go to the ccanaries now, you can all go to the canaries now, that is fantastic news, because november, december, january, february, march, a wonderful destination, normally, millions of british people would be taking advantage of that, and many people did book trips, o

our business presenter ben thompson can explain. e uk, and taxpayers, to be able to supportjobs the uk, and taxpayers, to be able to support jobs and provide the uk, and taxpayers, to be able to supportjobs and provide the necessary help that businesses need right now. let me put this into context through a series of graphs. they do illustrate just how uk is shaping up as far as its finances are concerned. this first one tells us are concerned. this first one tells us that borrowing hit £31.6 billion last month as you said. the highest novemberfigure on last month as you said. the highest november figure on record. last month as you said. the highest novemberfigure on record. in novemberfigure on record. in november alone, borrowing was about six times what it was in november last year, so these are absolutely some record figures we are seeing right now. putting that into more context, going back as far as the year 2000, borrowing to cover the gap between spending and revenue, so for this financial year, jumping to £240. 9 for this f

our business presenter, ben thompson, joins us now. yes, simon.ecause they do not necessarily tell us the true situation on the ground. they are looking back at what has already happened. but all assumptions are that the jobs picture will get much worse before it gets better, and just to put it into a bit of context, 820,000 redundancies since this pandemic began, and we are expecting the jobless rate to rise to closer to 7.5% by the end of next year. that would mean 2.5 million people out of work. and the hardest hit sectors are the ones that have borne the brunt of lockdown restrictions. hospitality losing thousands of jobs restrictions. hospitality losing thousands ofjobs as we know. there is in the most stringent of restrictions, those in the tier 3 areas, are unable to open in any meaningful way. and even if you are in tier2 it meaningful way. and even if you are in tier 2 it is very difficult for many firms, whether it is bars, restau ra nts many firms, whether it is bars, restaurants or hotels, to actually make any sort of meaningful living

our business presenter ben thompson has more. this is devastating news this week.ak 2a hours for any of the staff working in those two big firms, the arcadia retail giant and this morning debenhams took to the future for them looks somewhat different but let me explain the difference. arcadia, confirmation last night it had entered administration and it owns brands that many will know like miss selfridge‘s, evans, burton and topshop. it is in administration but will continue to trade and they are hoping to find buyers for some of those brands that will be attractive to some potential buyers may be their online rivals, the likes of boohoo or asos could snap them up but it's a very different story at debenhams. the department store chain, 2a2 years on the uk high street, it appears have gone to the end of the road and that is because the administrators say there is no buyer forthcoming. they will enter those stores and begin liquidating them and the stock held within them. they want to try to sell that while they have a market ahead of christmas and they will use the

our correspondent ben thompson has been to london's stansted airport. of yearand sun, it is hugely popular at this time of year and it was one of the few places you could actually get to without having to quarantine on the way back. but from 4am tomorrow, it changes, you will need to quarantine for 14 days if you are returning from the ca nary for 14 days if you are returning from the canary islands. a big change, and we know that the big travel giant tui has said it may cancel all of its christmas schedule because of that. there is so much confusion and uncertainty, especially given that the foreign office hasn't actually changed its advice, so, the advice is still at the moment, you can go. they are not advising against all but essential travel, so it means your flight may 90, travel, so it means your flight may go, your hotel may stay open, so you are not entitled to an automatic refund. the one saving grace might be the idea of test and released. from next week, from tuesday, in england, you will be able to sign up to test and release, which means t

we can speak now to our business presenter, ben thompson.nes are a lot of businesses trying to work out what these talks could mean for them. on these talks could mean for them. on the 1st of january when they wake up how they will decide how they will be able to trade and operate with their customers in the european union. many firms in this country will import goods from overseas as well as part of their production process and so therefore will rely on two—way trade between mainland europe and the united kingdom. as of those talks continue, there is very little certainty right now but what a trade deal will look like, if indeed one will be done at all. let's get the thoughts ofjosh hardy, deputy director general at the confederation of british industry. josh, afternoon tea. what you make of these talks? we are told that they will go the extra mile, they will —— that business just wa nts they will —— that business just wants clarity? more twists and turns. it is almost worthy of a le carre novel. it is good news, the fa ct carre novel. it i

we can speak now to our business presenter, ben thompson. that for larger organisations, they maybe have more resources , organisations, they maybe have more resources, deeper pockets, more teams who are able to work on some of that paper work that will be required, whether there is a deal or not, but for smaller businesses, that uncertainty is proving to be pretty difficult to navigate. a lot of businesses i have been speaking to say that they have run out of patience as far as this is concerned and they just want to know what they are preparing for. they can do it, but they need the time and information to be able to make sure they are compliant with the new rules, whatever they may be. so let's get the thoughts of mike cherry, he's the chairman of the federation of small business. mike, good morning. itouched federation of small business. mike, good morning. i touched on it there, a lot of businesses running out of patience, talk to me about the implications for smaller businesses in particular. as i said, they may have not as much resour

thompson. but spurs ended any hopes of an upset with two further goals, this strike from ben davies put them backpped things up forjose mourinho's side nine minutes from time. 3—1 the final score against the championship side. i knew that if the results goes in that direction, they will have a goal. that's part of the game, so we needed to kill the game. instead of killing it, we kill ourselves by losing a contact ball and to allow them to score the one. after that, it was a moment where we needed stability attitude, and we had it. and this is the draw for the semi finals. it'll be a manchester derby with united drawn at home to city, while brentford's first ever major cup semi final will be against tottenham. those ties will be played in early january. rangers remain 16 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership after an 11th straight league win at stjohnstone. it finished 3—0 to steven gerrard's side. champions celtic remain second following their 2—0 win over ross county — with three games in hand of course. hibernian are a point behind in third. they won 1—0 against st mirren. elsewh

thompson. but spurs ended any hopes of an upset with two further goals, this strike from ben davies put them backip side. i knew that if the results goes in that direction, they will have a goal. in the last part of the game, so we goal. in the last part of the game, so we needed to kill the game. instead of killing it, we lost a contact instead of killing it, we lost a co nta ct ball instead of killing it, we lost a contact ball and to allow them to score the one. after that, it was a moment where we needed stability attitude, and we had it. and this is the draw for the semi finals. it'll be a manchester derby with united drawn at home to city, while brentford's first ever major cup semi final will be against tottenham. rangers remain 16 points clear at the top of the scottish premiership after an 11th straight league win at stjohnstone. it finished 3—0 to steven gerrard's side. champions celtic remain second following their 2—0 win over ross county — with three games in hand of course. hibernian are a point behind in third. they won 1—0 against st mirren. elsewhere, dundee united and livingston