we'll have all the implications of the uk and russia trade and more from simonjack, the uk and russiafrom simon jack, business the uk and russia trade and more from simonjack, business editor. you're with business live from bbc news. jd wetherspoon has reported pre—tax profits of £5am for the six months to 28th january — up 36% on the same period in the previous year. joining us now from london stock exchange is tim martin, the founder and chairman ofjd wetherspoon. thanks forjoining us. these are not easy times for the casual dining market. give us your secret. it's ha rd to market. give us your secret. it's hard to know, really. it's a thousand components of a bmw, you work on different components all the time and you eventually come up with a good car. we have been going a long time, we sell a lot of things that have been unfashionable over the years, like real ale, which is doing very well for us. we are now selling quite a bit of draught beer, which is at the trendy end of the market. 0ver which is at the trendy end of the market. over the years we have moved into breakfast and c

our business editor simonjack has the latest.ook founder mark zuckerberg broke his silence tonight on a scandal that has engulfed the social media giant. in a facebook post, he said the company had "a responsibility to protect your data" and admitted the company had "made mistakes". he described how a british academic had invented an app inviting facebook users to do a personality test. 300,000 people downloaded it, it collected personal information on them and also all of their facebook friends, harvesting data on 50 million users. that data was obtained by a british consultancy, cambridge analytica, in 2014, a move mark zuckerberg described tonight as "a breach of trust", and it was later allegedly used in the trump election campaign. a campaign the company's executives took a lot of credit for when secretly filmed. an apparent shock to the original app designer. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014, well before anybody would think mr trump would be a

simonjack, bbc simon jack, bbc news.a technology correspondent dave lee is in san francisco. facebook, a huge global company now, the pressure is mowning, how significant a moment is this for them? i think this could be a hugely significant moment for them, indeed for silicon valley in general. the mood here is that the era of tech self regulation may be reaching an end, we nuns the last hour, there has been a meeting at face book with employees but it wasn't chaired by mark zuckerberg or his deputy, we haven't here from either of them since this news broke on friday. internally and externally as we have been hearing they are facing investigations on both sides of the atla ntic investigations on both sides of the atlantic and the impact on the company's value has been to the tune of round $50 billion, so in the short—term, hugely significant and also as we are learning in the long—term it will have real impact on how this company does its business. thank you. a red arrows jet has crashed at raf valley airbase in anglesey

our business editor simonjack reports.e information age, personal data is the new currency and we spend it liberally on social media platforms. how old we are, whether we are in a relationship, what are our political leanings, this can all be gathered and used. cambridge analytica is a company which does exactly that and it is at the centre of a political storm that has rocked one of the biggest companies in the world. it started with an app designed by a british academic that invited facebook users to do a personality test. 270,000 people downloaded the app, it collected personal information on them, theirfriends, theirfriends‘ friends and so on until it had information on 50 million facebook users. that data was passed to cambridge analytica, who allegedly used it to influence the presidential election in the us, using highly targeted messages, a charge denied by the company. the uk's data watchdog said she had concerns about the company for some time. these allegations are very serious, they came to the attention of our

simonjack there for us in the city of london. on the mi last august, has been cleared of eight charges of causing death by dangerous driving. 54—year—old david wagstaff from stoke—on trent was on a hands—free phone call at the time of the collision and had already admitted to careless driving. yesterday another driver, 31—year—old rysza rd masierak, who was driving the other lorry involved, was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. our correspondent, helena lee, reports. the sheer force of the impact of the crash is clear to see. a crash that was entirely avoidable, the trial heard, with the most catastrophic and tragic of consequences. ryszard masierak stopped his lorry in the slow lane of the mi for 12 minutes. the jury was shown this dash—cam footage from another lorry driver on the road before the collision. he passed masiera k‘s lorry, here on the left, stationary in the slow lane. the court heard masierak was twice over the legal limit and he'd been driving erratically in the hours before. soon after, cyriacjosep

our business editor simonjack reports.n the information age, personal data is the new currency and we spend it liberally on social media platforms. how old we are, whether we are in a relationship, what are our political leanings, this can all be gathered and used. cambridge analytica is a company which does exactly that and it is at the centre of a political storm that has rocked one of the biggest companies in the world. it started with an app designed by a british academic that invited facebook users to do a personality test. 270,000 people downloaded the app, it collected personal information on them, theirfriends, theirfriends‘ friends and so on until it had information on 50 million facebook users. that data was passed to cambridge analytica, who allegedly used it to influence the presidential election in the us, using highly targeted messages, a charge denied by the company. the uk's data watchdog said she had concerns about the company for some time. these allegations are very serious, they came to the attention of

our business editor simonjack has the latest.ebook founder mark zuckerberg broke his silence tonight on a scandal that has engulfed the social media giant. in a facebook post, he said the company had a responsibility to protect your data and admitted the company had made mistakes. he described how a british academic had invented it out, inviting facebook users to do a personality test. the other dozen people downloaded it, it connected —— collected personal data on them. that data was obtained by british consultancy cambridge analytica in 2013, a move mark zuckerberg described tonight as a breach of trust and it was later used in the trump election campaign. a campaign that the compa ny‘s trump election campaign. a campaign that the company's executive took a lot of credit for in a secretly filmed interview. an apparent shock to the designer. i never thought that anything that we did would be used in the trump campaign, this is 2014, well before anyone would think that mr trump would be a serious candidate. i did not have a speci

off the back of the trade comments from president trump. the inside track with our business editor simonjack. we want to know how you are struggling into work. we've made it in, but will we make it home? i don't think i will! let us know how you're getting on. just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. a warm welcome on this bitterly cold day for many of us. in his trade disputes with the rest of the world. and aluminium imports to protect us producers. they have welcomed the move. but china is amongst those warning it will harm global trade. and stock markets have fallen since the announcement. here's the details. on foreign steel imports, and 10% on foreign aluminium. firms like carmakers — and provoke damaging retaliation. they argue it could destroy more jobs than it creates. to save the us steel industry. year and providing hundreds of well paying, stable jobs. having to start over at 47 years old. the mill and axe 100 jobs. relentless cycle of boom and bust. intention to slap tariffs of 25% on steel imports. on alumina imports and you are going to see a lot o

earlier, our business editor, simonjack, spoke to the ceo of unilever, paul polman. and obviously create longer—term shareholder value, or continue to create that value. we have announced that we would move to three divisions, two of them located here in the uk, which is the beauty and personal care division and the home care division, which is about 60% of our business and fastest—growing. that secures about £1 billion per year in spending. the second decision we have made is to simplify our legal structure. instead of having two legal structures, we are simplifying that in one legal structure in the netherlands, and that will allow us again once more to run our business a bit faster and more efficiently. sweden's h&m, the words second—largest clothes retailer behind zara owner inditex, has reported flat sales for the first quarter of its financial year despite an increase in store numbers compared to last year. the swedish retailer recorded £4.06 billion of sales, excluding vat, during the three months to 28 february, compared to sales of £4.13 billion last year. l

in a moment we'll be getting reaction from our business editor simonjack.s go to our political editor in a moment we'll be getting reaction from our but first, let's go to our political editor laura kuenssberg in westminster. how is this agreement going down there is it being seen as a success for the government? i think you would have heard the sighs of relief in westminster in brussels. there had to be compromised to get this far. some budging on the eu side but a lot more from the british government for tory mps, particularly on fishing. there has been compromises too far and certainly some of the things agreed in the draft deal are different from what leave voters we re different from what leave voters were promised in summer 2016. it will be almost two years before the government can make significant changes to immigration policy and we will play billions of pounds for almost two years after leaving. but broadly speaking for the government, their priority in terms of brexit has been to get this transition deal done. today, they believe they have done.

here's our business editor, simonjack.k founder mark zuckerberg broke his silence tonight on a scandal that has engulfed the social media giant. in a facebook post, he said the company had "a responsibility to protect your data" and admitted the company had "made mistakes". he described how a british academic had invented an app inviting facebook users to do a personality test. 300,000 people downloaded it, it collected personal information on them and also all of their facebook friends, harvesting data on 50 million users. that data was obtained by a british consultancy, cambridge analytica, in 2014, a move mark zuckerberg described tonight as "a breach of trust", and it was later allegedly used in the trump election campaign. a campaign the company's executives took a lot of credit for when secretly filmed. an apparent shock to the original app designer. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014, well before anybody would think mr trump would be a se

thank you very much, our business editor simonjack time.bours, in moments of crisis. lars lokke rasmussen said that although britain had decided to leave the eu, they still had the closest ties possible. and he warned that the eu would be sending a very clear message to russia, in relation to the salisbury attack, when it meets next week. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports. denmark is one of the uk‘s closest european allies, a fellow nonconformist, rather eurosceptic nation. today, as we walked through the danish parliament, prime minister rasmussen wanted to talk first about the salisbury attack and whether the eu would take concrete action. i think it‘s time to step up and speak out very loud and very clear to russia that we will not accept this because this is a threat to everybody‘s security. this is in a way the first real test after brexit. 12 months of very bad—tempered negotiations. can the uk still rely on its european allies in a moment of crisis? yes. i‘m absolutely convinced that britain can rely on europe. even though the br

relationship with the eu will look like, once the transitional period ends, as our business editor simonjackusinesses both big and small, today's news was just what the doctor ordered. although not a cure—all for business anxiety as we head out of the european union, it was welcomed today by the boss of glaxo smith kline as a dose of common sense. we certainly welcome this pragmatic approach to transition. it's absolutely critical to secure the supply of medicines and vaccines for the people here and in europe who need them. but we're also looking forward to more precision on the details of the end state of the relationship. and in that end state, if you like, what's the most important thing for gsk? that we get the security of supply to the people that need our medicines and our vaccines is absolutely critical, and the right kind of alignment with the regulators. harmonising rules on drugs between the uk and the eu is critical to a company that employs 16,000 people in the uk. gsk is already spending £50 million per year on its brexit planning. for business, this is a really important, real

of being interested in stripping the assets of gkn — something it denies — as our business editor simonjackd automotive innovation, from icons like the spitfire to components in modern—dayjets and cars. today, it was acquired by a company that likes to do its business quickly. melrose's self—declared motto is to buy, improve and then sell companies within five years. unions fear "improve" is code for cost—cutting. people are obviously concerned about their jobs. they don't know how they're going to stand. you know, guys in their 30s with young families, big mortgages, they want, like everybody, you need some sort of security, some sort of commitment. the melrose chief executive has previously told mps the company can be trusted. one of the things i'm proud about in melrose is, actually, i do think we have a great track record of trying to do the right thing by everyone, actually. we're not a charity, we are a business, but we do try to do the right thing. the business secretary said he had extracted promises from melrose. commitments have been made, including maintaining the business as a b

our business editor simonjack reports.rchbishop. the british establishment rolled out the red carpet for a man whose face seemed to be everywhere: mohammed bin salman, crown prince of saudi arabia. but this is no social visit — his commerce minister is here to talk business. together, we can do so much for our own people. it will create jobs for our own people, we will create opportunities for our own people, it will be win—win situation. there is an opportunity that we need to grab. and we need to work as one team, because there is a common objective that will be fruitful and beneficial for both nations. saudi arabia is the uk's largest trading partner in the middle east. arms sales are a big part of that. in 2015 to 16, the uk sold £3.3 billion worth of weapons to the kingdom. in total, we exported £6.2 billion worth of goods and services to saudi arabia in 2016, while saudi investments in the uk come to over £11 billion. both the uk and saudi arabia are going through big changes. for the uk, of course, it's brexit. saud

of being interested in stripping the assets of gkn — something it denies — as our business editor simonjackbeen at the forefront of aerospace and automotive innovation, from icons like the spitfire to components in modern—dayjets and cars. today, it was acquired by a company that likes to do its business quickly. melrose's self—declared motto is to buy, improve and then sell companies within five years. unions fear "improve" is code for cost—cutting. people are obviously concerned about their jobs. they don't know how they are going to stand. you know, guys in their 30s with young families and big mortgages, they want, like everybody, you need some sort of security, some sort of commitment. the melrose chief executive has previously told mps the company can be trusted. one of the things i'm proud about in melrose is actually, i do think we have a great track record of trying to do the right thing by everyone, actually. we're not a charity. we are a business. but we do try to do the right thing. the business secretary said he had extracted promises from melrose. commitments have been made, i

here's our business editor, simonjack.ckerberg is growing to give his version of how the personal data of 50 million facebook users ended up with a consultancy that worked on the successful election campaign of donald trump and was secretly filmed boasting of their influence. the cambridge academic who came up with the original app says he is stunned by the controversy. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014. well before anybody would think mr trump would be a serious candidate. so at the time, i didn't know who their clients were going to be and i did not know the specific case. i did not know the specific case. i did know it was going to be used for political purposes but beyond that, yes, it was well above my pay grade. i should have asked! although he did sign an undertaking that is migratory was from research only and would never be used for commercial purposes. the implication and aligning the story is democracy has somehow been undermined and

our business editor, simonjack, has the latest.broke his silence tonight on a scandal that has engulfed the social media giant. in a facebook post, he said the company had a responsibility to protect your data and admitted the company had made mistakes. he described how a british academic had invented an app inviting facebook users to do a personality test. 300,000 people downloaded it, it collected personal information on them and also all of their facebook friends, harvesting data on 50 million users. that data was obtained by a british consultancy, cambridge analytica, in 2014 — a move zuckerberg described tonight as "a breach of trust" — and it was later allegedly used in the trump election campaign. a campaign the company's executive took a lot of credit for when secretly filmed, an apparent shock to the original app designer. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014, well before anybody would think mr trump would be a serious candidate. so, at the time,

simonjack is our business editor.s to be reflected upon in some detail. well the chancellor first, i spoke to some city folk and they broadly welcomed it and city folk and they broadly welcomed itand said city folk and they broadly welcomed it and said with more detail about how we could possibly achieve what we have been told is not achievable, putting the all—importa nt we have been told is not achievable, putting the all—important financial services inside this agreement which we had been told could not happen. the chancellor said it is necessary, possible and desirable to keep them in. necessary that the uk taxpayer cannot be a rule take because the uk taxpayer is on the hook for this financial centre in the uk as we found out painfully in the financial crisis. it is possible to put it in because you tried to include financial services in the deal but it was trying to do with america so they tried to do it and why not do it again. it is desirable because if you fragment the skills, the capital and money that is in

here is simonjack.k zuckerberg is growing to give his version of how the personal data of 50 million facebook users ended up with a consultancy that worked on the successful election campaign of donald trump and was secretly filmed boasting of their influence. the cambridge academic who came up with the original app says he is stunned by the controversy. never in our wildest dreams did we think anything we did would be used in the donald trump campaign. this is 2014. well before anybody would think mr trump would be a serious candidate. so at the time, i didn't know who their clients were going to be and i did not know the specific case. i did know it was going to be used for political purposes but beyond that, yes, it was well above my pay grade. i should have asked! although he did sign an undertaking that is migratory was from research —— his app was for research only and would never be used for commercial purposes. the implication in the story is democracy has somehow been undermined and that drew a

we know let's talk to our business editor simonjack.hat are the possibilities in terms of government action against some of them? one of the areas being looked into is this idea of asking them to explain and explained wealth. there are a great numberof explained wealth. there are a great number of wealthy russians who have made london this second home and a lot of the money with which they bought these premium properties as toa bought these premium properties as to a large extent been and explained so to a large extent been and explained so what they could do is say if you are going to buy a property in the uk you will have two and set a lot of questions about where exactly you got that money from. that would be an edited. you could have the expulsion of diplomats and you would have that but there has been some talk about cutting russian banks out of the international swift system. that would be in an attempt for russia and make life very difficult but it would also require quite a bit of international cooperation. that's the big test t

our business editor simonjack explains.get a potential deficit. a gas death warning is set at five o'clock in the morning. it's basically the national grid vein, we're not sure there is enough gas in the system to meet that demand. does that mean you're going to turn on your cooker or central heating and it's not going to work? no. it's the first early warning shot of a number of measures. but they can then take to bring the supply and demand back into balance. it includes for example asking heavy users to use less. in fact, a big chemicals company has been asked by national grid and they've agreed to dial down their usage by 20%. lets turn to india where this magazine cover has split public opinion. the headline reads ‘moms tell kerala— don't stare, we want to breastfeed.‘ now there are two issues here — both breastfeeding in public and the two people in the photo. the magazine used a model, not a mother — on the cover. inside, though, the baby's real mother is pictured breastfeeding her child — next to the model. this is

here's our business editor, simonjack.n age, personal data is the new currency, and we spend it liberally on social media platforms. how old we are, whether we are in a relationship, what our political leanings are — this could be gathered and used. cambridge analytica is a company which does exactly that, and it's at the centre of a storm that has rocked some of the biggest companies in the world. it started with an app, which invited facebook users to do a personality test. 270,000 downloaded it. it collected personal information on them, theirfriends, their friends‘ friends, and so on, until it had info on 50 million users. but that data was passed to cambridge analytica, which allegedly used it to influence the presidential election in the us, using highly targeted messages — a charge denied by the company. the uk's data watchdog said she'd had concerns about the company for some time. these allegations are very serious. they came to the attention of our office some months ago and, on march 7th, i issued a demand for i

editor. the uk leaves the eu. putting your questions to a range of experts. and our business editor, simonjack afternoon. co. the hashtag bbcaskthis. there have been demonstrations in the siberian city of kemerovo. the siberian city of kemerovo. fire killed more than 60 people, 41 of those children. criminal negligence. of serious safety violations. been obtained with bribes. translation: what's happening here isn't war. it's not a spontaneous outburst in a mine. about demography, and losing so many people. why? because of some criminal negligence. how can this ever happen? what was the reason? what are the consequences? at a protest outside the mayor's office in kemerovo. he said people were still asking the president for answers. know that the president has already arrived. arrived. questions, how could this negligence happen? happen? how could the fire alarm not work in the shopping mall centre? work in the shopping mall centre? alarm hasn't been working for several weeks in the shopping mall. several weeks in the shopping mall. so that is why maybe the fire has taken so many lives. 30 minu

earlier, our business editor, simonjack, spoke to the ceo of unilever, paul polman.older value, or continue to create that value. we have announced that we would move to three divisions, two of them located here in the uk, which is the beauty and personal care division and the home care division, which is about 60% of our business and fastest—growing. that secures about £1 billion per year in spending. the second decision we have made is to simplify our legal structure. instead of having two legal structures, we are simplifying that in one legal structure in the netherlands, and that will allow us again once more to run our business a bit faster and more efficiently. russia will expel uk diplomats soon, its foreign minister has said, in response to the expulsion of 23 of its diplomats by britain. sergei lavrov told russian media the expulsions would definitely happen. the uk took its action after moscow refused to explain how a russian—made nerve agent was used on a former spy and his daughter in the uk. i'm joined by chris wheafer, senior partner at a macro—advisory

simonjack is with me for the latest. what has given rise to this?ages from supplies from northway and in wales. some of the supplies have been cut off. you add surging demands and you get a potential deficit. it is set at five o'clock in the morning and it is basically the national grid saying they are not sure there is enough gas in the system to meet the demand. does that mean you will turn on your cocker or central heating and it will not work? no. it is the first early warning shot of a number of measures they can take to bring the supply and demand back into balance. that includes asking heavy users to use less and one of the big chemical companies has been asked by ben national grid to dial down their usage by 20%. viewers may be asking are there not stocks held in reserves ? are there not stocks held in reserves? last summer, there was a big gas storage facility that was closed down and there were warnings that the time asking if they wanted to do this. because they said there was stuff come from overseas, they would be fine. if you look at e