simonjack, thanks forjoining us. told victoria derbyshire that the government should reverse its tax plans. i'm here to support farmers. right, are you angry? it's difficult to be angry on somebody else's behalf. that's like being... no, i'm not angry on someone else's behalf. so it's not about you? no. it's not about your farm and the fact that you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax? classic bbc there. classic. is it? yeah. it's not the fact that. . .the fact that i bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax. you told the sunday times in 2021 that's why you bought it. you people. bbc... sorry? ok, let's start from the beginning. i wanted to shoot. that's even worse to the bbc. i wanted to shoot. which comes with the benefit of not having to pay inheritance tax. now i do. but people like me will simply put it in a trust, and so long as i live for seven years, that's fine. so one of the reasons rachel reeves says she brought this in is to stop wealthy people using it as a way of avoiding tax. no, that was the only rea

simonjack reports.s and vans in luton for over a century. in recent years it has produced only vans, but soon these production lines may come to a standstill as parent company stellantis plans to shut the plant for good, marking the end of an era and the loss of 1,100 jobs. my grandad used to work there back in the �*80s and stuff, so, you know, it provided so many jobs for the town. hundreds of people work there and which my husband is part of it. so it's really, really shocking to hear the news here. just before christmas, everyone's getting - the bad news. the stellantis boss, seen here at luton in 2018, has warned that requirements to sell more electric cars while consumer demand stalled, was unsustainable. this year, 22% of all cars manufacturers sell in the uk must be pure electric and 10% of vans — targets most will miss. next year, it's 28% of cars and 16% of vans. 80% must be battery powered by 2030. and the government tonight renewed its commitment to ban sale of all petrol and diesel cars by

simonjack, bbc simon jack, bbc news, simonjack, bbc news, westminster.ucy letby killed seven babies and tried to kill seven others said she had good intentions despite failing to escalate concerns about the nurse. alison kelly denied being dismissive of doctors' worries about unexplained deaths on the unit in 2016. do you think there's any possibility that things had become so acrimonious, doctors v nurses, with you backing the nurses, that a culture of fear had developed? i wouldn't say a culture of fear. i think there were challenges with the relationships. - i think trust had broken down and i think, on reflection, - we could have done more to support the clinicians. i spiking is set to be made a specific criminal offence in england and wales. giving someone alcohol or drugs without their agreement is already illegal — the government hopes the move will encourage more victims to come forward. there will also be extra training for bar staff to help victims and spot possible offenders. here's sima kotecha. dance music plays. a night out clubbing. what s

and simonjack in the studio with laura. and it'sjames in glasgow. so undoubtedly this has been, as you said, simon, an absolute whopper of a budget. the government is well aware they still need to explain it. they are still making the argument, as they would say. and rachel reeves has been on lots of visits already. she was with us this morning, and that central question that keeps coming back and still hasn't gone away is what the impact of this national insurance change for employers is going to be. notjust because it is going to be hard for a lot of businesses to swallow it, but also because in the election, they were not explicit that this was their plan. and rachel reeves is really dancing on a pin trying to say she didn't break her promise. yeah. i mean, having to go back with real kind of semantics about the labour manifesto, which you've talked about a lot of times about we're not going to touch national insurance. well, we are going to touch national insurance, just not the one that you as an employee will see in your pay slip. nevertheless

more analysis on this inheritance tax and what it means for farmers — here's our business editor simonjacke worth over £1 million so potentially could be hit by the new threshold but that is not the full story, inheritance tax exemptions and special rules about bequeathing to family members means the threshold could be as high as £3 million, so let's compare that number with what has happened in recent years. in 2021—22, 117 farms that came above the 2.5 million threshold, and not all families are going to get those exemptions, depending on different circumstances, but independent economists and government figures suggest the real number of people who are going to be hit is closer to the mid hundreds, 500, or even less. there is no doubt that farmers have been hit very hard in recent years, clobbered by the cost of living and the cost of doing business, inputs like food, fuel, fertiliser, they have been going up by 50% in some cases, so they have been under a big squeeze. but also remember this, this is notjust a farming tax, the inheritance tax changes apply to all private businesses of w

more analysis on this inheritance tax and what it means for farmers — here's our business editor simonjacke uk, and according to figures from the industry and government, around 70,000 of those are worth over £1 million, so potentially eligible to be hit by this new tax threshold. but that's not the full story. inheritance tax exemptions special rules about bequeathing, to family members and spouses, means the threshold could be as high as £3 million. now let's compare that number to what's happened in recent years. in 2021 to 2022, there were 117 farms that came above the £2.5 million threshold. now, not all families are going to get those exemptions depending on different circumstances. but independent economists, government figures suggest that the real number of people going to be hit by this is closer to the mid hundreds, 500 or so or even less. now, there is no doubt that farmers have been hit very hard in recent years. they've been clobbered by the cost of living and the cost of doing business. inputs like food, fuel, fertiliser, etc, have gone up by 50%, in some cases more than the

bob dudley is the former ceo of bp and told our business editor, simonjack, that with only 8% of renewablebe a move away from fossil fuels such as natural gas in the nearfuture. across both political spectrums, when it has now sunk in — the amount of energy required for these new data centres — the attitude towards the industry in general is different and it's changing and it's more positive — recognise we need this. it's interesting — you say oil and gas will be needed to power the technologies of the future, including ai, at least in the short term. i think the energy transition has been turned on its head in the last year because of the big data centres that are planned. the power consumption of those is going to be enormous, and you can't do it all with renewables. for me, it's one of the first times i've seen such a radical change, um, in terms of energy demand related to these data centres. it will mean a role for natural gas to play that — it's a cleaner—burning fuel certainly than oil — and i think the world is going to change. and so people have to get pragmatic and realistic abou

the bbc�*s business editor simonjack has more. the national security and investment act when you have any bits of critical infrastructure, this certainly qualifies for that. i'm told that that is very close to happening, also pointed out to me, when mr kratinski which was already the biggest shareholder in royal mail's parent company upped his stake from 22 to 27,500%, there was a review done of his alleged link to russia, he owns a pipeline which does transport some russian gas into the eu with the approval of the eu. that i think is very close to being signed off. the other thing was that he made a series of concessions, a series of promises not to change the brand, it's been around since the reign of henry viii, keep its uk tax headquarters here, and no compulsory redundancies until 2025, what i understand which moves this closer to the finish line is this was something of a deed of arrangement, a series of extra concessions which may involve extending the term of some of those guarantees, as i say, it is not a done dealjust ye

that's being reported by the bbc�*s business editor simonjack, whojoins me now live.t have you learnt, simon, about how close this impending deal is? it needs to be signed off under the auspices of the national security and investment act. when you have any critical infrastructure, and this certainly qualifies as that, but i am told this is a very close to happening. when daniel kretinsky, already the biggest shareholder in royal mail, at his stake to 27.5%, there was a review ten of his alleged links, for example, to russia. he does own a pipeline that does transport gas to the eu, he just owns the pipeline, but thatis he just owns the pipeline, but that is very close to being signed off. the other thing, he made a series of promises not to change the brand. it has been around since the reign of henry viii, keep its uk tax headquarters here, and no compulsory redundancies until 2025. what i understand moved this closer to the finish line is a series of extra concessions that may involve extending the term of some of those guarantees, so it is not a done dealjust yet

i spoke to the bbc�*s business editor simonjack for more.national security and investment act when you have any critical infrastructure and this certainly qualifies. but i am told that is very close to happening and also pointed out to me that when daniel kretinsky, who was already the biggest shareholder up to stake there was a review done of his alleged link to russia. he owns alleged link to russia. he owns a pipeline which does transports on russian gas into the eu, with the approval of the eu, with the approval of the eu, with the approval of the eu, and he doesn't buy the gas. hejust owns the eu, and he doesn't buy the gas. he just owns the pipeline. but that is very close to being signed off. the other thing was that he made a series of concessions, a series of promises, not to change the brand. it has been around since the reign of henry viii, keep its uk tax headquarters here and no compulsory redundancies until 2025. what i understand, which moves this closer to the finish line, it's something called a deed of arrangements— a serie

here's our business editor simonjack. the government dangled pro—growth, pro—business promises.rst budget contained a £25 billion rise in new business taxes and big pay rises for some workers. which companies here today are finding hard to swallow. it's not a great start. from a business perspective, it seems that everything is now on the shoulders of business. they've had to bear the burden. do you accept that businesses do have broader shoulders and should bear more burden of fixing public finances? . , ., , . ., finances? that is a difficult one. i think they're _ finances? that is a difficult one. i think they're willing _ finances? that is a difficult one. i think they're willing to _ finances? that is a difficult one. i think they're willing to play - finances? that is a difficult one. i think they're willing to play their| think they're willing to play their part but— think they're willing to play their part but not too much. and those attendin: part but not too much. and those attending heard _ part but not too much. and those attending heard concerns - part but not too

our business editor simonjack is here. this is an industry under pressure because of these targets.because of these targets. what is the government response? the targets are considered — the government response? the targets are considered incredibly _ the government response? the targets are considered incredibly owners. - the government response? the targets are considered incredibly owners. a - are considered incredibly owners. a portion of all the cars sold in the uk have to be electric year by year. this year it is 22%, next year 28, going up to 80% by 2030. currently we are at 18% and it is not going fast enough to hit the targets. if you don't hit them you get massive fines. hitting the revenues of companies and therefore they are laying off staff, they say. the business secretary last night told industry that he realised they were under pressure and would have a rethink and he said this in the commons today for science we will be... we will be shortly fast tracking a consultation on our manifesto commitment to end the sales of new purely petrol and diesel cars by 2030. but we

simonjack reports.motor company was founded in 1857 and has been building cars and vans in luton for over a century. in recent years, it has produced only vans, but soon these production lines may come to a standstill as parent company stellantis plans to shut the plant for good, marking the end of an era and the loss of 1,100 jobs. my grandad used to work there back in the 80s and stuff, so, you know, it provided so manyjobs for the town. hundreds of people work there, which my husband is part of it, so it's really, really shocking to hear the news here. just before christmas everyone's getting the bad news. _ the stellantis boss, seen here at luton in 2018, has warned that requirements to sell more electric cars while consumer demand stalled, was unsustainable. this year, 22% of all cars manufacturers sell in the uk must be pure electric and 10% of vans — targets most will miss. next year it's 28% of cars and 16% of vans. 80% must be battery—powered by 2030. and the government tonight renewed its comm

our business editor simonjack has been finding out who will now be subject to the new tax.ding to government and industry figures, around 70,000 of those are thought to be worth over £1 million. so, technically could be caught by this new tax threshold. however, that's not the full picture. because of inheritance tax reliefs and special exemptions for bequeathing stuff for spouses and families, the threshold could be as high as 3 million. now, let's compare that number to what's happened in recent years. in 2021 — 2022, only 117 farms were inherited worth more than 2.5 million. not all families will get all of those exemptions but that has led the treasury and independent economists and tax experts to think that the number actually affected by these changes could be as low as 500 a year, although those figures are disputed. there is no doubt it's been a very challenging few years for farmers. the cost of things like food, fuel, fertiliser have rocketed. they've been walloped by the cost of living and the cost of doing business crisis. for example, pig farming costs have gon

and simonjack in the studio with laura. and it'sjames in glasgow.n absolute whopper of a budget. the government is well aware they still need to explain it. they are still making the argument, as they would say. and rachel reeves has been on lots of visits already. she was with us this morning, and that central question that keeps coming back and still hasn't gone away is what the impact of this national insurance change for employers is going to be. notjust because it is going to be hard for a lot of businesses to swallow it, but also because in the election, they were not explicit that this

our business editor simonjack has been looking into those struggles.. the cost of things like food and fuel and fertiliser have rocketed, they have been walloped by the cost of living and the cost of doing business crisis. for example, pig farming because of going up 54% since 2019, call farmers have seen costs rise by 45%, and even cereals have seen an increase in cost of 43%. tv presenterjeremy clarkson was among those marching in whitehall, saying "it's the end" for farmers. its estimated that 500 of the 210,000 farms in the uk will be affected. you're live with bbc news. prosecutors in new york say they're open to delaying sentencing in donald trump's hush—money case — but object to his criminal conviction being dismissed. mr trump was found guilty in may of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the pawn actress stormy daniels. mr trump was found guilty in may of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the porn actress stormy daniels. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik has more from new york. prosecutors have now outlined what

that's being reported by the bbc�*s business editor simonjack, whojoins me now live.

our business editor, simonjack, can tell us more.here does today's news sit in all of that? i think it dense trust in the industry yet further. there has been widespread public outrage against sewage incidents we have reported on very forcibly. as you say, nine companies were told they could not take the pot of money that customers pay into to pay out bonuses. six of the nine companies identified voluntarily did this, so the owners rather than customers footed the bill for these bonuses. but three of them, thames water, yorkshire water and welsh water did pay that money out of the customer part and that will have to be repaid from the money they are going to get in the future when we get this new settlement which they are working on now. obviously it is not a great prelude to the fact that the regulator ofwat is about to announce some very eye watering rises to water bills, saying there has been underinvestment for too long and we will see some very substantial water bill rises above inflation over the next five years. they are locke

the closure puts 1,100 jobs at risk, as our business editor simonjack reports.ns in luton for over a century. in recent years it has produced only vans, but soon these production lines may come to a standstill as parent company stellantis plans to shut the plant for good, marking the end of an era and the loss of 1,100 jobs. my grandad used to work there back in the 80s and stuff, so, you know, it provided so many jobs for the town. hundreds of people work there and which my husband is part of it. so it's really, really shocking to hear the news here. just before christmas, _ everyone's getting the bad news. the stellantis boss, seen here at luton in 2018, has warned that requirements to sell more electric cars while consumer demand stalled, was unsustainable. this year, 22% of all cars manufacturers sell in the uk must be pure electric and 10% of vans — targets most will miss. next year, it's 28% of cars and 16% of vans. 80% must be battery powered by 2030. and the government tonight renewed its commitment to ban sale of all petrol and diesel cars by 2030, with