:00:00. > :00:08.with Victoria Fritz and Jamie Robertson.
:00:09. > :00:10.Are Uber drivers being taken for a ride?
:00:11. > :00:14.A UK court is set to rule on demands for paid leave and pensions,
:00:15. > :00:20.in a major test case for the gig economy.
:00:21. > :00:37.Live from London, that's our top story on Friday the 28th of October.
:00:38. > :00:39.Drivers for the cab-hailing firm Uber
:00:40. > :00:42.will learn later whether they are entitled
:00:43. > :00:45.to holiday pay, rest breaks and the national living wage.
:00:46. > :00:55.booming ad sales spell out big profits for Google owner, Alphabet.
:00:56. > :01:00.European markets have been open about half an hour.
:01:01. > :01:02.A lot happening in the banking sector.
:01:03. > :01:04.Royal Bank of Scotland shares up strongly.
:01:05. > :01:10.And we'll be getting the inside track on a huge trade deal
:01:11. > :01:14.that was on and then off - and then back on again,
:01:15. > :01:16.a global economy that seems to be getting back on track
:01:17. > :01:22.Today we want to know, would you be prepared to pay more
:01:23. > :01:25.for your Uber if the money went to the driver?
:01:26. > :01:41.We start here in London where a court is due to rule
:01:42. > :01:45.on what's being called the employment case of the year.
:01:46. > :01:48.Taxi hailing app Uber is being sued by 19 of its drivers
:01:49. > :01:52.demanding the right to holiday and sick pay and a pension.
:01:53. > :01:57.It could have major implications for the wider gig economy,
:01:58. > :01:59.where companies use apps to employ people on a freelance basis,
:02:00. > :02:02.for everything from deliveries to baby-sitting.
:02:03. > :02:05.For Uber, there is a huge amount at stake.
:02:06. > :02:09.In just six years, it has ballooned from a tiny start up to a company
:02:10. > :02:12.spanning 70 countries and valued at $66 billion.
:02:13. > :02:15.Uber has always maintained that its drivers are self-employed.
:02:16. > :02:17.They get to work as little or often as they wish
:02:18. > :02:19.but without the benefits of staff employees.
:02:20. > :02:23.However, the plaintiffs argue they are employed by the company,
:02:24. > :02:27.so it owes them paid leave and a pension.
:02:28. > :02:31.If the judge agrees, tens of thousands
:02:32. > :02:36.of other UK Uber drivers could claim the same benefits.
:02:37. > :02:40.That could push up the cost of booking an Uber ride here in the UK.
:02:41. > :02:47.Uber is fighting similar challenges around the world.
:02:48. > :02:49.In August, a US judge rejected a $100 million deal
:02:50. > :02:53.saying that the settlement was not fair,
:02:54. > :02:58.But not everyone who drives for Uber is unhappy with the way it operates.
:02:59. > :03:22.Here are two London drivers who have very different views.
:03:23. > :03:30.I am not self-employed. The definition of self-employed is that
:03:31. > :03:37.I create the business, where I do not. I follow the app, and that gets
:03:38. > :03:48.me access to the job, and I do not get paid. Uber get paid, and they
:03:49. > :03:53.control all these things. I was always a creative person, I run
:03:54. > :03:58.different projects, a tech start-up, we are very busy. Sometimes I cannot
:03:59. > :04:04.drive for days, OK, all week I am going to drive on Uber and make some
:04:05. > :04:08.cash. All the benefits, they are enjoying it, and I left all alone
:04:09. > :04:14.just to fulfil the responsibility. With the responsibility there comes
:04:15. > :04:19.a price, holiday pay, pension, all these things. I don't want to be
:04:20. > :04:23.owned by it, I don't want to be ruled by a company. I want to be
:04:24. > :04:28.able to build my own business, or when I go away, I don't need to ask
:04:29. > :04:31.for permission, is it OK if I am not working this week? I cannot do that.
:04:32. > :04:35.Anna McCaffrey is an employment lawyer at Taylor Wessing.
:04:36. > :04:42.You can take us through some of the details, why do the drivers say they
:04:43. > :04:46.want to be treated as employees? What is the ultimate? They're
:04:47. > :04:51.adamant is essentially around control, in that they say whilst
:04:52. > :04:55.Uber acts as an app, they control how drivers pick people up, the fact
:04:56. > :05:00.that they can give and take feedback on the ride and the driver, and also
:05:01. > :05:06.in relation to how Uber sets prices, that means that they are not really
:05:07. > :05:10.acting at arms length, as Uber have claimed. Really, they are under
:05:11. > :05:15.control and are real workers and should therefore get workers'
:05:16. > :05:20.rights. As an employment lawyer, is their case a strong one? It is
:05:21. > :05:26.definitely very interesting. Employment status has always been a
:05:27. > :05:30.grey area, and since the days of master and servant, we have tried to
:05:31. > :05:35.figure out who is self-employed and who is an employee, but now we are
:05:36. > :05:38.trying to apply this to different situations, and technology has
:05:39. > :05:43.really changed that. They do have a good case, but equally I think the
:05:44. > :05:50.company, Uber, have a lot of valid points to make. What is their main
:05:51. > :05:54.point? Uber's case is that they are not a taxi company, they are a
:05:55. > :05:58.technology company, and they act as a platform to connect freelancers,
:05:59. > :06:02.the drivers, with customers, and that they are not controlling those
:06:03. > :06:07.people, they are the facilitator rather than an employer. It is a
:06:08. > :06:14.little rich, isn't it? In terms of the spirit and the letter of the
:06:15. > :06:21.law, ask any consumer what Uber is, it is a taxi hailing app. That is
:06:22. > :06:24.the thing about the gig economy, the new way of getting surfaces, their
:06:25. > :06:35.argument is they are just providing a platform for taxi companies. Even
:06:36. > :06:40.traditionally black taxi tarmac cab drivers have been self-employed.
:06:41. > :06:45.What could be knock-on effects be? There is a cost to Uber itself of
:06:46. > :06:49.having to pay holiday pay, sick pay, pensions - that could be phenomenal
:06:50. > :06:54.and could potentially affect the viability of the business model. On
:06:55. > :06:58.a wider scale, there are a lot of companies in the digital economy
:06:59. > :07:01.that have similar platforms, they are looking very carefully at the
:07:02. > :07:07.outcome to see what it might mean for them. The third reason is that
:07:08. > :07:11.there is a lot of political focus on this, the Government are looking at
:07:12. > :07:14.Venice, whether we have got the right balance between self-employed
:07:15. > :07:16.and the rights of companies. Thank you very much indeed.
:07:17. > :07:19.the company behind search giant Google.
:07:20. > :07:22.Its shares have been on the rise in after hours trade,
:07:23. > :07:25.after a 27% jump in quarterly profit.
:07:26. > :07:30.It made more than $5 billion in the three months to September.
:07:31. > :07:32.It's mostly down to booming advertising sales.
:07:33. > :07:34.But Alphabet has also been spending a fortune
:07:35. > :07:37.gambling on new technology what it calls other bets.
:07:38. > :07:42.Here's the BBC's tech reporter in San Francisco, Dave Lee.
:07:43. > :07:44.Google's success in this quarter has been largely down
:07:45. > :07:50.Compared to this time last year, interactions with mobile apps
:07:51. > :07:54.has gone up by around 33%, which is quite something
:07:55. > :07:57.given that many people thought Google's Achilles heel
:07:58. > :08:00.a few years ago might have been making the transition from desktop
:08:01. > :08:04.advertising to interactions when we are on the move.
:08:05. > :08:06.Also interesting from Alphabet's earnings
:08:07. > :08:11.These are things that are not related to the core Google business,
:08:12. > :08:17.but are slightly more outlandish or experimental ideas.
:08:18. > :08:21.The other bets include things like the Nest thermostat
:08:22. > :08:23.that Google sells, and also fibre, an effort to install
:08:24. > :08:25.superfast broadband in cities all across the US.
:08:26. > :08:28.We know these are the bets that have made a bit more money,
:08:29. > :08:36.compared to $141 million this time last year.
:08:37. > :08:39.While Google's core business is search and advertising
:08:40. > :08:42.at the moment, who knows which one of these other bets
:08:43. > :08:46.will end up being Google's main business in the feature?
:08:47. > :08:50.It could take time and patience, but Google and Alphabet
:08:51. > :09:00.for the time being seem to be very much on the right track.
:09:01. > :09:02.There has been some surprisingly downbeat news from Amazon
:09:03. > :09:05.The last three months produced lower profits than expected,
:09:06. > :09:08.and it says the Christmas season, which is vital to its business,
:09:09. > :09:12.is not going to be as profitable as it hoped.
:09:13. > :09:15.On top of that, it's investing heavily in new ways
:09:16. > :09:17.of shipping parcels by drones and in video productions.
:09:18. > :09:21.UPS has ordered 14 Boeing 747s in a deal worth around $5.3 billion.
:09:22. > :09:27.and Boeing had said it was thinking of stopping production altogether -
:09:28. > :09:37.But this may breathe new life into the iconic old jet.
:09:38. > :09:41.Another casualty of the falling pound.
:09:42. > :09:47.The airline operator IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia,
:09:48. > :09:48.managed to report a small rise in profits
:09:49. > :09:53.to $1.22 billion in the third quarter.
:09:54. > :09:57.But the chief executive, Willie Walsh,
:09:58. > :10:01.of the pound had cost it $177 million.
:10:02. > :10:03.The world's largest brewing company, AB InBev, has reported an unexpected
:10:04. > :10:09.drop in profit following declining sales in Brazil.
:10:10. > :10:16.It made a downward revision to its earnings forecast. EU member that
:10:17. > :10:17.earlier in the month it completed its $100 billion acquisition of its
:10:18. > :10:23.rival brewer SABMiller. Shares in Chinese internet giant
:10:24. > :10:25.Baidu slipped on Thursday after it reported an unprecedented
:10:26. > :10:37.quarterly drop in revenue. Tell us what happened. Well, Baidu
:10:38. > :10:41.is known as China's version of Google, they dominate the search
:10:42. > :10:46.market, but their numbers definitely were not as good as Google's, shares
:10:47. > :10:48.falling by as much as 4% in extended US trading because of its first-ever
:10:49. > :10:51.quarterly fall in revenue. Investors quarterly fall in revenue. Investors
:10:52. > :10:56.were unnerved by the warning that the numbers are going to get worse.
:10:57. > :11:04.In the third quarter, revenue fell by 0.7% down to $2.7 billion, but
:11:05. > :11:09.the forecast is that it will fall by 4.6% in the October to December
:11:10. > :11:13.period, the next quarter. So this is largely due to a plunge in
:11:14. > :11:18.advertising after a medical scandal in China caused the government to
:11:19. > :11:23.crack down on the sector. So earlier this year, a student with a rare
:11:24. > :11:28.form of cancer accused Baidu promoting adverts that directed into
:11:29. > :11:32.this treatment that did not work, and the student later died. Because
:11:33. > :11:35.of the huge outcry around this, the government has basically enacted a
:11:36. > :11:39.new law that bans online promotion of things like prescription
:11:40. > :11:44.medication and tobacco on the internet. So that is hurting Baidu,
:11:45. > :11:48.and it is going to hurt them for the next few quarters. Amazing that just
:11:49. > :11:53.one company can do that, thank you for your time.
:11:54. > :12:00.This is how the Asian markets fared, a very choppy session, pretty mixed,
:12:01. > :12:06.and we can see the Nikkei is up a little bit, a bit of a weakening
:12:07. > :12:12.when it comes to the yen. Markets have been open 42 minutes in Europe,
:12:13. > :12:16.and it is a bit of a down day, some earnings really dragged down some of
:12:17. > :12:20.these big indices across the world. Michelle Fleury is in Wall Street,
:12:21. > :12:28.and she is talking about what is going on with economic growth in the
:12:29. > :12:31.US. Investors and the presidential campaigns will be paying close
:12:32. > :12:34.attention to the new GDP data on Friday morning. Overall, the US
:12:35. > :12:40.economy has struggled to post any decent growth of late. In the second
:12:41. > :12:44.quarter, the annual growth rate was a mere 1.4%. If the data for the
:12:45. > :12:49.next quarter shows equally slow growth, that will be picked up on
:12:50. > :12:55.Italy by Republican candidate Donald Trump, as evidence that the economy
:12:56. > :13:01.is broken. -- most economists, however, are expecting a more
:13:02. > :13:04.respectable growth rate of 2.5%. On the stock market, Hernanes season is
:13:05. > :13:13.in full swing, the latest quarterly accounts are released by Exxon and
:13:14. > :13:16.Chevron, as well as MasterCard. investment director
:13:17. > :13:27.at Aberdeen Asset Management. We are going to do RBS in more
:13:28. > :13:31.detail later, but a big week for banks. Western banks have done well,
:13:32. > :13:35.revenues have been better than expected, a difficult time for
:13:36. > :13:39.banks, low interest rates are not conducive to high profitability, so
:13:40. > :13:42.they have produced better profits than expected. Bad debts have been
:13:43. > :13:46.better than expected given the economies in which the banks have
:13:47. > :13:50.been operating in have been doing better than we thought. Capital
:13:51. > :13:55.position are strong, a good season so far. One big move in health care
:13:56. > :13:59.and pharmaceuticals, mounting competition, continued pricing
:14:00. > :14:05.pressures, yet we are seeing the biggest rise in the FTSE 100 in
:14:06. > :14:27.pharmaceuticals. God of the company question is we're going to be
:14:28. > :14:32.talking later about the papers, see you in a second! Still to come, our
:14:33. > :14:38.economic screw will be clearing the fog of complexity hanging over this
:14:39. > :14:39.week's biggest business stories, growth, global trade deals and a
:14:40. > :14:46.little bit more and banking as well. Lets talk about Royal
:14:47. > :14:50.Bank of Scotland. There are different ways of looking
:14:51. > :14:54.at this story. On the one hand, the bank continues
:14:55. > :14:57.to face a range of large conduct And it has swung to a ?469 million
:14:58. > :15:03.loss in the third quarter, not to mention that it confirmed
:15:04. > :15:10.that it will miss a 2017 deadline to sell off its Williams
:15:11. > :15:13.Glyn branch network. hand, there are parts
:15:14. > :15:16.of this business that Lets talk to James Hughes -
:15:17. > :15:50.investors clearly liking In 2016 but other are doing
:15:51. > :15:56.particularly well. When you eat, it is not necessarily an ideal time for
:15:57. > :16:03.the banks to profitable. There are other areas within the retail side
:16:04. > :16:08.of banking that are doing pretty well or RBS and why you are doing OK
:16:09. > :16:15.today. We cannot look away from the downside, the five runs in aside for
:16:16. > :16:27.litigation costs. They have lost Santander air and now they are
:16:28. > :16:33.looking of them as well, so it is they have to sell the end of 2017
:16:34. > :16:45.and the EU says they have to do it, but they say they cannot. What will
:16:46. > :16:53.happen? You Santander would look to be buying this part of the business,
:16:54. > :16:58.Williams and Glynn, and it will be a massive challenge for anyone who
:16:59. > :17:04.comes in. I look at this as well. But it has to be done by the end of
:17:05. > :17:15.2017 of them look like it will be done. I'm what is going on on the
:17:16. > :17:22.tablet the tablet can do and to stay in here. They say no cheque-book was
:17:23. > :17:24.involved. They were knowing there was no
:17:25. > :17:28.They were knowing there was no cheque paid.
:17:29. > :17:32.Our top story: An employment tribunal in London is expected
:17:33. > :17:34.to rule today on whether Uber drivers are entitled
:17:35. > :17:36.to basic workers' rights such as paid holiday,
:17:37. > :17:41.The taxi app company regards them as self-employed
:17:42. > :17:46.We're expecting to hear the verdict on this case around 2pm UK time.
:17:47. > :17:49.Plenty more in the meantime on the website.
:17:50. > :17:56.A quick look at how markets are faring.
:17:57. > :18:00.UK 10-year gilt yield climbs to highest since Brexit vote.
:18:01. > :18:06.Is this the eye of the storm for inflation?
:18:07. > :18:13.We will be talking about that because there are some interesting
:18:14. > :18:19.Lets turn our minds to the bigger picture, by which we mean global
:18:20. > :18:35.We have got Andrew Walker in the studio with us. Justin Trudeau must
:18:36. > :18:36.be upset, packing his bags and then being told it was not going to
:18:37. > :18:47.happen. This is the agreement between the EU
:18:48. > :18:52.and Canada to remove a lot of the trade barriers, an agreement that
:18:53. > :18:56.both sides say it will be a boost to trade and incomes on both sides of
:18:57. > :19:01.the Atlantic. It was supposed to be signed at a ceremony in Brussels
:19:02. > :19:05.yesterday, but in the end Belgium could not consent to it because
:19:06. > :19:10.there were objections from one regional parliament. What happened
:19:11. > :19:20.in the end is that is now an agreement, Wallonia has accepted a
:19:21. > :19:27.kind of interpreted the statement. A fudge? It is a bit of a fudge and we
:19:28. > :19:32.have to see whether the Canadians are happy with what has been added
:19:33. > :19:37.to this agreement. What does it mean for other trade agreements? It is
:19:38. > :19:46.important because the Canada deal in relation to the EU was seen as
:19:47. > :19:53.either a path breaker or a stalking horse for a much bigger deal which
:19:54. > :19:57.is being negotiated with the US. It is really controversial politically.
:19:58. > :20:03.I think what has been happening with this back and forth over Belgium is
:20:04. > :20:07.an indication of the fact it will be really difficult to nail that
:20:08. > :20:13.agreement down with the United States and even more difficult to
:20:14. > :20:18.get ratified if it does happen. Another big story is what is going
:20:19. > :20:23.on with global growth. We heard from some of the world's biggest
:20:24. > :20:30.economies and we have had from France that we have got the OS a bit
:20:31. > :20:33.later. How is the picture coming together in your view? They are
:20:34. > :20:39.telling different stories. The French figure was a bit
:20:40. > :20:47.disappointing, it was 0.2%. It was fairly decent growth from Spain,
:20:48. > :20:53.0.7, although it was below the previous quarter. Spain still has
:20:54. > :20:59.not got back to its precrisis levels of economic activity, that is going
:21:00. > :21:03.back to 2008, although it is getting closer. The United States looks as
:21:04. > :21:07.if it will pick up a little bit after a sluggish second quarter. It
:21:08. > :21:13.is broadly in line with the general picture we have seen of the rich
:21:14. > :21:16.countries continuing to recover after the financial crisis, but
:21:17. > :21:24.still not getting any convincing momentum. The US economy has been a
:21:25. > :21:28.political football in the run-up to the US elections and this is the
:21:29. > :21:35.last amount of data we get beef for those voters go to the polls. How
:21:36. > :21:39.will they be interpreted? I am sure they will be interpreted in two
:21:40. > :21:46.different ways by two different parties. If we get a figure of 2.5%
:21:47. > :21:56.as an annual figure, which is what we are expecting, President Obama
:21:57. > :22:02.will say it is is a sign that we are getting ahead and will hand the bat
:22:03. > :22:13.until Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump says we will be harmed. Donald Park
:22:14. > :22:17.will say there is no growth. It is true there has not been much growth
:22:18. > :22:22.and people on medium incomes have not seen the benefit to the extent
:22:23. > :22:26.that they should have done. There is no question that Donald Trump is
:22:27. > :22:31.In a moment we'll take a look through the Business Pages but first
:22:32. > :22:35.here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.
:22:36. > :22:48.The live aid its way and they are with all that
:22:49. > :22:58.are in all on the BBC web page. We are also on which you find on
:22:59. > :23:06.We are also on which you find on Facebook.
:23:07. > :23:08.What other business stories has the media been
:23:09. > :23:12.Joining us again is Richard Dunbar, Investment Director
:23:13. > :23:28.In. The idea that because inflation has been going up the bond markets
:23:29. > :23:35.are going down. Bond markets have only one in one direction for
:23:36. > :23:44.decades. It has been part of my career. They are very sensitive to
:23:45. > :23:48.the levels of inflation. Rising bond yields to an extent a sign that
:23:49. > :23:54.things are getting back to normal, but the way they go from the lower
:23:55. > :24:19.levels they are focusing on at the moment. If you make a four and are
:24:20. > :24:26.ideal and more from a safer's is that you, it is good news. There is
:24:27. > :24:31.a story in the Financial Times and France's deepening problems in the
:24:32. > :24:48.nuclear sector, threatening the potentially increase the bills of
:24:49. > :25:07.customer prices. At the 18th of nuclear reactors? Energy system,
:25:08. > :25:14.like a lot in the West, is creaking at the seams. We have had a lot of
:25:15. > :25:18.debate on Hinkley Point and we are trying to add two our site, but
:25:19. > :25:29.until that point is, we do rely on others. The Philippines president
:25:30. > :25:38.says he is going to stop swearing because he was talking to God on an
:25:39. > :25:45.aeroplane. There are a few global politicians who would do well to
:25:46. > :25:49.stop swearing. He is very popular, but his manner is not one that is
:25:50. > :25:55.There will be more business news throughout the day on the BBC Live
:25:56. > :26:09.webpage and on World Business Report.
:26:10. > :26:16.Weekend weather is looking very deep and it should they largely dry and
:26:17. > :26:17.myself, do not expect a huge amount of