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Live Reporting

Chris Johnston

All times stated are UK

  1. Good night

    That's it for Business Live. See you at 6am tomorrow.

  2. Will the UK stay in European Aviation Safety Agency?

    House of Lords

    Parliament

    BA plane

    Liberal Democrat peer Lord Chidgey has questioned the UK's post-Brexit aviation safety regime.

    Last month it was reported the US Federal Aviation Administration warned the UK that it must outline its post-Brexit aviation safety strategy to avoid disruptions to transatlantic trade.

    Tthe UK is a member of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), alongside EU member states and a number of non-EU countries including Norway and Switzerland.

    Transport Minister Baroness Sugg says the government is working to ensure the continuation of co-operation with the US "as far as possible".

    Lord Chidgey says that, if the UK fails to secure continuing membership of EASA, "all bets will be off" and called for continuing regulatory alignment.

    Baroness Sugg says she recognises the need for "a speedy agreement" and ministers are examining the feasibility of remaining in EASA.

  3. Nail bar slavery warning

    BBC Newsbeat

    Nice nails

    There's a warning that workers in your local nail bar could be victims of human trafficking.

    Rachel Harper, from the modern slavery charity Unseen, says they "see a lot of cases" in the nail salon industry.

    They want people to be able to spot the signs of modern slavery, as the number of potential victims is going up.

    It's not as simple as saying that all cheap nail bars exploit their staff, so it's important to be able to recognise those that do.

    Otherwise, says Rachel, victims of human trafficking will remain "invisible to the person who doesn't know what to look for."

    Read more here.

  4. '20% cheaper than Hinkley'

    Sizewell C
    Image caption: Sizewell C (right) hwould be built north to the existing Sizewell B plant

    EDF Energy has said it could build a new nuclear power station in Suffolk for significantly cheaper than the near £20bn Hinkley Point C site.

    Chief executive Simone Rossi said there could be a capital cost reduction of 20% for a proposed new plant at Sizewell, Suffolk.

    Work has started on Hinkley Point C in Somerset which Mr Rossi said was "going well".

    The French firm plans to put the first unit of power into service by 2025.

    Read more here.

  5. GRG wrongdoing 'came from the top of RBS'

    RBS sign

    A spokesman for the GRG Action Group, which represents more than 500 businesses, says the memo published today provides an "alarming insight" into the culture at RBS.

    "The need to generate fees at all costs pushed staff to deploy devious tactics designed to cause maximum financial hardship to clients. Ross McEwan’s attempt to blame this on a 'junior manager' is wholly unconvincing – it was a cultural issue and culture comes from the top," he says.

    "Not three months ago, Ross McEwan claimed any allegations of wrongdoing by RBS were attempts at ‘bad mouthing’ – today’s revelations make a mockery of that claim.

    "If our call for the full publication of the FCA’s report has ever been more warranted, it is now. The evidence is clear: we need to see the full extent of what the victims were put through.”

  6. Apple payment in line with expectations

    Tim Cook

    The $38bn Apple says it will pay in tax on its foreign cash pile is roughly in line with expectations, say analysts at Cross Research.

    The company had set aside $36.3bn for the payment, meaning it will not have a major impact on its cash flow this quarter.

    The recent US tax changes requires companies to pay a one-off charge on foreign-held earnings - whether or not they plan to bring them back to the United States.

    More here.

  7. Arcadia 'to pay suppliers less'

    ITV News reports that Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group has told clothing suppliers it is cutting the price it is willing to pay for orders it has already placed.

    It has seen a letter signed by Arcadia chief executive Ian Grabiner informing suppliers that a 2% discount is being imposed from 1 February "on all existing and future orders” and blamed “huge changes in the retail market”.

    Arcadia owns chains including Top Shop, Topman and Miss Selfridge.

    More on the story from ITV News here.

    View more on twitter
  8. McKenna to run Asda (and a bit more besides)

    Judith McKenna

    The UK supermarket sector is set to get its first female boss after Walmart promoted chief operating officer Judith McKenna to run its international unit, which includes Asda.

    The role is regarded as a stepping stone to the top job at the world's largest retailer, with chief executive Doug McMillon and his predecessor Mike Duke both having run the international unit in the past.

    Walmart's international business has more than 6,000 stores in 28 countries with net sales of almost $30bn in the most recent quarter - close to a quarter of Walmart's total.

    Ms McKenna, 51, who is from Middlesborough, joined Asda in 1996 and has been both finance chief and chief operating officer of the retailer. Her base salary will be $1m (£718,000),

  9. Apple's $38bn tax bill

    Apple logo

    Apple will pay about $38bn in tax on its $250bn foreign cash pile following recently changes to US tax rules.

    The technology giant also said it expected to invest more than $30bn in the US over the next five years, and create 20,000 jobs by hiring at both existing offices (or campuses, in Apple-speak) and at a new site.

  10. Government suffers Lords defeat

    Sean Curran

    Parliamentary correspondent

    The government suffered a defeat in the Lords on Wednesday after a former head of the judiciary criticised plans to give ministers the power to create new criminal offences.

    Lord Judge, who is a former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, told peers that proposals to let ministers create new money laundering offences without having to get a new bill passed by parliament were "constitutionally troublesome".

    There was cross-party support for a proposal to amend the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill so that ministers would not be able to create new money laundering offences.

    The government was defeated by 264 votes to 184 - a majority of 80 votes.

    On Monday peers defeated the government when they removed ministers' ability to create offences under the Bill's sanctions enforcement powers.

  11. Facebook expands Russian probe

    Facebook logo

    Facebook has told the Government's fake news inquiry it will expand its investigation into whether Russian agents attempted to influence the Brexit vote.

    In a letter to Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, Facebook UK policy chief Simon Milner said the social media giant would now search for "clusters engaged in coordinated activity around the Brexit referendum" that appear to have originated in Russia.

    Mr Collins, who has previously criticised Facebook for doing "no work" in looking for Russian interference on their platform during the 2016 referendum, welcomed the move.

    Facebook said security experts would begin their investigation promptly but may take several weeks to produce results.

  12. Further to fall?

    Bitcoin

    Bitcoin is still hovering around the $10,000 mark this evening, but Neil Wilson of ETX Capital also thinks it has further to fall:

    Quote Message: The break below $10,000 marked an important breach of key technical and psychological levels. This very much feels like a tipping point for Bitcoin and if the optimism really has gone the next leg lower could conceivably take us back to the narrow (for Bitcoin) range it traded Nov 21-24th, when it was bouncing around just above $8,000.”
  13. Breathing space for Carillion contractors

    Carillion

    Back to Carillion for a moment. Several banks are offering small firms overdraft extensions, payment holidays and fee waivers, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.

    Chairman Mike Cherry says: "The emergency measures put in place by banks for customers hit by Carillion's collapse will provide some respite at a desperate time for hundreds of small firms. Many hundreds more are still yet to feel the knock-on impacts of the giant's demise.

    "It's critical that they also receive support in the months ahead. We now need to establish a Carillion task force dedicated to helping all affected small firms and workers to recover and get back on their feet."

  14. 'Just Hit Budget!'

    More on those leaked 2009 memo from RBS, as tweetd by Times financial editor Patrick Hosking.

    RBS chief executive Ross McEwan has said the "Just Hit Budget!" memo was "written by a junior manager who is no longer employed by the bank".

    View more on twitter
  15. RBS bosses face grilling

    RBS logo

    Royal Bank of Scotland boss Ross McEwan will appear in front of MPs later this month to answer questions on the lender's treatment of small businesses after more damning details of the scandal emerged.

    The Treasury Select Committee confirmed that Mr McEwan will appear alongside chairman Sir Howard Davies on 30 January for a grilling on the bank's controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG).

    There is also a backbench business debate scheduled tomorrow in the Commons on the treatment of small businesses by GRG called by Clive Lewis, Labour's shadow Treasury minister.

    It comes after Mr McEwan was asked by the committee chair Nicky Morgan to disclose previously unpublished memos, one of which allegedly reveals that staff were encouraged to extract money from struggling small businesses.

  16. MoJ 'was prepared for Carillion collapse'

    Chemlsford prison

    Ministers planned carefully for the possible collapse of Carillion, which provides maintenance services to more than 50 prisons in England, says the Ministry of Justice's permanent secretary.

    Richard Heaton told the Public Accounts Committee that the company had not been providing "a perfect service" and that steps were being taken to manage that.

    Carillion was awarded facilities management contracts in 2015 for about half the prison estate at a cost of almost £100m over the past two years.

    Mr Heaton said he would not speculate on whether the contracts would be brought in-house, but admitted that direct management input would make things easier and probably reduce the risk of riots.

  17. FTSE dips

    Burberry

    The FTSE 100 has ended 0.4% lower at 7,725 points, dragged lower by a 9% slide in Burberry.

    Informa, which has made a bid for rival UBM, dipped 5.8% as investors reacted negatively to the terms of the proposed tie-up. FTSE 250-listed UBM soared almost 12%, however.

    Rolls-Royce was the day's biggest blue-chip riser, up 5.4%.

  18. Call for clarity

    Carillion

    Education Select Committee chairman Robert Halfon has demanded to know what impact the collapse of Carillion will have on schools and the 1,400 apprenticeships run by the firm.

    In a letter to Education Secretary Damian Hinds he said: "Given the scale and nature of the services provided by Carillion to almost 900 schools and colleges, it is essential that the impacts of the firm's collapse are understood and steps taken to ensure the continuity of services such as school catering and facilities management across the country."

  19. The power of Bitcoin

    Bitcoin farm
    Image caption: Russia's crypto-businessman Dmitry Marinichev mines virtual currencies in a former car factory in Moscow.

    If you're searching for a reason to dislike Bitcoin, look no further than this comment piece by Guardian technology reporter Alex Hern.

    "Mining" Bitcoins consumes a vast amount of electricity every year - more power than New Zealand's annual requirements and equivalent to one million transatlantic flights, he writes.

    Quote Message: In simplified terms, bitcoin mining is a competition to waste the most electricity possible by doing pointless arithmetic quintillions of times a second. The more electricity you burn, and the faster your computer, the higher your chance of winning the competition. The prize? 12.5 bitcoin – still worth over $100,000 – plus all the transaction fees paid in the past 10 minutes, which according analysts’ estimates is another $2,500 or so. This is a winner-takes-all game, where the prize is guaranteed to be paid to one, and only one, miner every 10 minutes. Burning more electricity increases your chances of winning, but correspondingly decreases everyone else’s – and so they have a motivation to burn more electricity in turn."