theo leggett, as ever, thank you — mail. theo leggett, as ever, thank you very _ mail.as ever, thank you very much - mail. theo leggett, as ever, thank you very much for - mail. theo leggett, as ever, | thank you very much for that. more of course on our website. the british government has published plans to decarbonise the electricity grid over the next six years. it's being labelled a �*clean power action plan' — and drawn up to work towards a target of 95% clean power by 2030. the government claims the plans will improve energy security and lower energy bills — but their conservative opponents say we're looking at an era of higher bills. let's cross live now to the chief executive of national gas — that's the company that run's britain's gas transmission network. jon butterworthjoins me now. jon is also the network emergency coordinator for gas supply. lovely to have you here in the business news. you are looking after gas. to what extent do you fit in these plans? what will it mean for your business? morning. i think what is really remarkable actually is this week t

we'll get analysis from our businsess correspondent, theo leggett, in our business centre — and the politicalion from damian grammaticas in our newsroom — but our first report on that business warning from essyllt carr. we are asking businesses to contribute more, and i know that there will be impacts of this measure felt beyond businesses too. ever since the chancellor delivered her budget, she has faced a backlash from businesses. many say a higher rate of national insurance contributions, increases to the minimum wage, and the cost of new workers�* rights legislation amount to a significant burden on firms. the cbi, which says it represents around 170,000 companies, says its survey of around 900 businesses suggested a steep decline in activity in the first three months of 2025, with expectations at their weakest in more than two years. but according to the british retail consortium, which represents the likes of marks and spencer and tesco, it's notjust businesses feeling downbeat. its monthly survey of around 2,000 people found consumer confidence in the economy had dipped, as had people'

theo leggett, bbc news. and our political correspondent, hannah miller, joins me.on campaign on. can they turn it around? they certainly hepe _ can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. _ can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. last - can they turn it around? they certainly hope so. last week, i can they turn it around? iie: certainly hope so. last week, the prime minister was repeating the election pledge to have the highest growth in the g7 by 2029. these figures today put the uk well lower than the g7 average, and it's not just a matter of numbers in a league table. the government is reliant on growth to improve public services, to have more money to spend on schools and hospitals. while most people don't necessarily think at home thinking, what are the growth figures showing, they have a sense of whether they feel better off, as we were hearing. ministers have warned this will take time. they have several years, but ever since the budget, employers have been complaining about the rise in national insurance contributions. it is arguably too soon

theo leggett, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.r. hello from the bbc sport centre. the england test captain, ben stokes, will be out for at least three months after tearing his hamstring. he picked up the injury in the final test agaist new zealand last week and scans have now revealed the extent of the tear and he will have surgery injanuary. it's the same hamstring he tore in august and that ruled him out for two months. stokes had already been omitted from the squad for the white ball tour to india next month and the champions trophy in february. england's next test isn't until the one off match against zimbabwe in may. fast bowler kate cross is in the england squad for the women's ashes which starts in australia next month even though she hasn't fully recovered from the back strain that limited her involvement on the recent tour to south africa. she's made the white ball and test squads for the series which features three one dayers, three t20s and a four—day test match. heather knight will captain across all formats. cross pla

theo leggett, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.t the forces of the rsf, has devastated the country and led to many thousands of deaths. civilians in towns and villages across the country have been attacked as atrocities are committed by both sides. the bbc verify team have obtained footage filmed at the time of one incident in which dozens of people were killed to piece together what took place. here s merlyn thomas — and we should warn you, that some of the imagery in this report is particularly graphic. in sudan, a brutal power struggle has been raging since last april between the army and a paramilitary group. human rights groups have condemned both sides for widespread atrocities. a series of recent incidents appears to have been the result of one man's defection. abu shakeel. he became a senior commander with sudan's paramilitary group, the rapid support forces, or rsf, shortly after the conflict broke out last year. but he recently switched sides back to the sudanese army, which appears to have triggered a series of reprisal

and is the managing director of malaysia airlines group, he spoke to our business correspondent, theo leggettibuted to where we are today in malaysia airlines because issues of engine reliability, supply chain, and of course the lack of skilled workforce in the region. as you know the skilled workforce in the asia—pacific region is highly demanded, and the spare parts coming out, is behind time, we sent engines for overhaul, with the contractual obligations are 55 days, we get them 105 days or more. henceforth this is cannot go on, the cancer has to stop, the decision is to cut capacity 20%, ground the planes, take a step back, do what we need to do to make sure malaysia airlines upholds safety. because of the historical records of malaysia airlines in 2014. malaysia airlines cannot, cannot, cannot, wager on safety. another problem you've had is your planes are relatively old and that causes technical problems in itself. you have struggled to get new planes because of issues with boeing and airbus. i would malaysia airlines today is managing an ageing fleet because over the last two decades w

our international business correspondent theo leggett explains what's been going wrong.s since the start of the year, many of them in north america, where sales have been plummeting. and that appears to be because of bad choices made within the parent company. dealers in north america have essentially found themselves with large inventories of cars that they just can't sell, because they're not what the market wanted. and there's been a lot of criticism of stellantis itself and of mr tavares because of that. at the same time, in europe, stellantis is facing pretty much the same pressures that other car—makers like volkswagen, bmw and mercedes—benz are facing in that it has a large number of factories making a lot of cars, but there isn't the demand there should be, particularly for electric cars, that it's invested a lot of money in developing. and at the same time, like other manufacturers, it's facing competition from chinese brands, which are coming in and taking a share of the electric car market. so all of this is coming together. last year was a very good year for

let's get more on this with our business correspondent theo leggett. do we know why he has quit?don't do we know why he has quit? - don't know the precise reasons, but problem have been starting to engulf stellantis since the start of the year. dealers in north america have essentially found themselves with large inventory of cars just cant sell because they are not what the market wanted. there has been a lot of criticism of stellantis itself and carlos tavares because of that. in europe, stellantis is facing similar pressures to other car makers are facing in that it has a large number of factories making a lot of cars but there should be, particularly electric cars, that it has invested a lot of money developing. it is facing competition from chinese brands that are coming in and taking a share of the electric car market. last year was a very good year for stellantis, this good year for stella ntis, this year good year for stellantis, this year has been a pretty dreadful one, and the share prices have been plummeting even before the resignation of carlos tavares. it appears th

the bbc�*s theo leggett has more on how he got there. you need resilience.e beginning so i have been in an environment, i grew up in an environment where resilience was a survival mechanism. it wasn't about developing your career or making money, it was about surviving so you had to be resilient. my resilience is built on a different factory than most of my counterparts. as you were on your way up, did you find your background lead people to take you less seriously estimate i can ——i can remember lots of times in my career where i was sat in a meeting or a room where the time nor the treatment towards me didn't seem consistent with what i had observed, my peers, my colleagues get, sometimes there was an element of a lack of professionalism around it but i never contribute that to anything around race or lack of education. but primarily race. because racism is such an abhorrent thing that i never want to attribute that to somebody without certainty, i would never want to put that on somebody without certainty. i was young, a lot of the time i was in these roo

our international business correspondent theo leggett explains what's been going wrong.tis since the start of the year, many of them in north america, where sales have been plummeting. and that appears to be because of bad choices made within the parent company. dealers in north america have essentially found themselves with large inventories of cars that they just can't sell, because they're not what the market wanted. and there's been a lot of criticism of stellantis itself and of mr tavares because of that. at the same time, in europe, stellantis is facing pretty much the same pressures that other car—makers like volkswagen, bmw and mercedes—benz are facing in that it has a large number of factories making a lot of cars, but there isn't the demand there should be, particularly for electric cars, that it's invested a lot of money in developing. and at the same time, like other manufacturers, it's facing competition from chinese brands, which are coming in and taking a share of the electric car market. so all of this is coming together. last year was a very good year fo

business groups in the uk have predicted a difficult economic start to 2025, as our correspondent, theo leggettp priority. the latest figures show zero growth between july and september. that's worse than initial estimates had suggested. and it follows last week's figures showing inflation at its highest level in eight months. this labour government is going into 2025 with absolute resolve to work with investors, wealth creators and workers across the country to stimulate economic growth and improve living standards for workers across the country. this is our number one mission as a government and we start from a disappointing set of economic statistics as we head into 2024, but that's why we are going to fight every day to make sure we improve the lives of working people across this country. for mick, who runs a pub in wimbledon, business has been pretty good in the run—up to christmas. he says that's necessary, because the new year can be tough. injanuary, people tend to tighten the purse strings a bit. and, yeah, it's important for cafes, pubs, bars and restaurant across the country to have

our business correspondent theo leggett explained the significance of the ons decision.ate of growth was of 0.1% and it has now been resides downwards to static zero growth. it is not a huge revision but a psychologically significant one. what lies behind is it is that smaller businesses, businesses in the service sector have performed more poorly than expected. that is why we are seeing these figures today. the understanding is there has been no growth. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas told us more about the significance of these new figures and what the government's response has been to the news. the figures relate immediately to after the election. that was before the government's budget and it reflects their inheritance. it is a small revision. 0.1% has been tweaked down to 0% in the revision. they say what they are doing is tackling things for the long—term and very early this morning the chief secretary to the treasury was out his account. this government is going into 2025 with absolute resolve to work with investors to stimulate economic growth and

our business correspondent theo leggett has been assessing the numbers.idwinter for a a bleak midwinterfor a government which has made the economy its top priority. the latest figures show zero growth betweenjuly priority. the latest figures show zero growth between july and september. that's worse than initial estimates had suggested. and it follows last week's's figures showing inflation at its highest level in eight months. this labour government _ level in eight months. this labour government is _ level in eight months. this labour government is going _ level in eight months. this labour government is going into - level in eight months. this labour government is going into 2025 - level in eight months. this labourl government is going into 2025 with absolute resolve to work with investors, wealth creators and workers across the country to stimulate economic growth and improve living standards for workers across the country. this is our number one mission as a government and we start from a disappointing set of economic statistics as we head into 2024,

let�*s get more on this with our business correspondent theo leggett. do we know why he has quit?

our business correspondent theo leggett explained the significance of the ons decision (pres)with me a psychologically significant one and what lies behind it is the smaller businesses like legal firms and businesses and service sector have performed a bit more poorly than expected. that is why we are seeing this today there is a bit more information on the understanding is there has been no growth. our political correspondent damian grammaticas is with me. the government is saying the challenge they inherited from the previous government is huge. you could say they have a bit of a point there, because these figures relate to the july to september, which comes immediately after the election at the beginning ofjuly, but before the government's budget at the end of september. this reflects the inheritance and it is a very small revision of 0.1%. that has now been tweaked down to 0% in the revision. they say they are tackling things for the long—term and very early this morning the chief secretary to the treasury was giving his account. this labour government is going | into 2025 with a

want i just want to bring you ijust want to bring you some breaking news that we are getting from theo leggett executive of global automotive group has stepped down with immediate effect. full statement said it has protected the resignation of the leader since 2021. it is the leader since 2021. it is the world's fifth largest automotive group. it is the parent company of vauxhall but it also controls a number of other brands including peugeot, citroen, chrysler and jeep. other brands including peugeot, citroen, chryslerand jeep. it has been struggling with falling sales, especially in north america. also here in the uk the boss has recently courted controversy after announcing the vauxhall plant in luton would close with the loss, or putting at risk at least, of over 1000 jobs. the company hasn't said why he has stepped down but he was due to stepped down but he was due to step down in 2026 the box of the vauxhall owner has stepped down with immediate effect. now we are going to catch up on the day's sport. liverpool have moved 9 points clear at the top of the premier league after a deserved 2

the ocean floor, neither the aircraft, nor the people on board, were found. 0ur correspondent theo leggettm kuala lumpur en route to beijing, made it to the edge of malaysian airspace and then, for no reason that can be understood at the moment, turned around, changed course and started flying in a different direction, almost the opposite direction to where it was supposed to be heading. at the same time, its main radar was transponder was turned off, so it effectively went dark. it was tracked by military radar for a short period of time, but after that its whereabouts was unknown. now, we do now know that this aircraft came down in the indian ocean, and parts of it have washed up on the shores of east africa. but the only reason we knew that the aircraft had even headed in this direction was based on some pretty impressive detective work done based on a number seven, in fact, very short data transmissions between the aircraft and a satellite. so calculations were made that interpreted this data that suggested the plane had gone thousands of miles off course and ended up in the southern i

with me is our international business correspondent, theo leggett. fan, so many people are confused by the advert, what is the idea from— confused by the advert, what is the idea from jaguar? they want to aain the idea from jaguar? they want to gain attention _ the idea from jaguar? they want to gain attention and _ the idea from jaguar? they want to gain attention and in - the idea from jaguar? they want to gain attention and in that - to gain attention and in that sense you could say it has played a blind we are that advert. this is not a car you will be able to buy. it is a branding and styling exercise thatis branding and styling exercise that is supposed to show off the brand's values. there won't be any newjaguars on the market until 2026. this is sending out signals about where the brand is heading and trying to gain attention. which it has succeeded in doing. the to gain attention. which it has succeeded in doing.— succeeded in doing. the issue is when youlike _ succeeded in doing. the issue is when youlike at _ succeeded in doing. the issue

let's get more now from our business correspondent, theo leggett.

here's theo leggett. a bleak midwinterfor a government which has made the economy its top priority.uly and september. that's worse than initial estimates had suggested. businesses say they are losing confidence and prices are rising. this is how the economy that has been performing over the last three years. there was a steady decline through 2022 and in 2023 and at the end of last year went into recession. they rallied in the first half of 2024 but no growth we now know between july and september. then there is inflation. a steep rise peaking at more than 11% in late 2022 bed then falling steadily but now it seems to be picking up once again. the government insists that the future is bright. this labour government is going into 2025 with absolute resolve to work with investors, wealth creators and workers across the country to stimulate economic growth and improve living standards for workers across the country. this is our number one mission as a government and we start from a disappointing set of economic statistics businesses say that this is pushing up their costs. the confeder

here's our business correspondent, theo leggett.lause before his resignation, carlos tavares was one of the most powerful people in the global motor industry. he had a reputation as a ruthless cost—cutter, first at the french group psa, then, following its merger with fiat chrysler in 2021, at stellantis. initially, that stella ntis. initially, that merger went stellantis. initially, that merger went well, with the combined group producing a profit of 18.6 billion euro last year. but since then, stellantis has struggled. in north america, dealers found themselves unable to clear a backlog of models that customers simply didn't want to buy. in europe — like other manufacturers — it's been hit by competition from chinese brands, and difficulty selling electric cars. earlier this year, mr tavares said the company was in a darwinian struggle for survival. colleen mchugh is the chief investment officer at wealthify. good morning to you, colleen. good morning to you, colleen. good morning, sally. this news is hot on the — good morning, sa

our business correspondent theo leggett reports. what are your reactions to these price hikes.m-— price—wise will be catastrophic for families, everyone that is feeling the gust of living crisis is now facing another 35% increase, and average of 36, that's terrible, i think her mind is also up confirmation that the private water system has failed, after decades of privatisation, they've not kept their end of the bargain, they have squeezed this particular industry, i think that there are really serious questions to be asked about the labour government, it so overwhelmingly popular, so, i think now, a lot of people unable to pay, tens of thousands of people not paying, could well be that we see people are very despondent. i will come back — people are very despondent. i will come back to _ people are very despondent. i will come back to the _ people are very despondent. i will come back to the point _ people are very despondent. i will come back to the point you make about the government in that final point about perhaps people striking and not paying their bills. what do you ma

theo leggett, bbc news. — she's about to meet the pensions minister over what she says is a decades long injustice. there are more than 450,000 british pensioners living abroad whose pensions have been "frozen", so that when the state pension goes up each year, theirs does not. that means while pensioners based here in the uk currently get £169.50 a week, some overseas pensioners receive less than half that. it isn t the same everywhere. pensioners who ve retired to places like the united states or the european union are not affected. but those in countries like canada, australia, new zealand and india are unlikely to get the same annual increase as pensioners here in the uk. well, now campaigners are asking the government to change the rules, as our political correspondent helen catt reports. just days away from her 100th birthday, anne puckridge is on a round trip of more than 8,000 miles — from her home in canada, to westminster — to try to change the government's policy on frozen pensions. how old are yo

theo leggett, bbc news. of hampshire are still without water this lunchtime. our reporter duncan kennedy is in eastleigh for us. duncan, the timing couldn't be worse really, what impact is this having? it's having a huge impact, something like 58,000 homes have been of supply since tuesday night. a bottled water plant, the word on everyone's lips is one of frustration, carloads of children with frustrated parents, pensioners, plumbers, you name it, frustrated by the price rises announced today but this is coming just before christmas. this is coming 'ust before christmas._ this is coming 'ust before christmas. �*, ., ., , christmas. it's not ideal, is it? and it's not — christmas. it's not ideal, is it? and it's not the _ christmas. it's not ideal, is it? and it's not the first _ christmas. it's not ideal, is it? and it's not the first time. - christmas. it's not ideal, is it? and it's not the first time. not j and it's not the first time. not great — and it's not the first time. not great really. quite frus