:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Bland and Rachel Horne.
:00:08. > :00:13.After the disappointing growth outlook the UK received
:00:14. > :00:15.from the IMF earlier this week, today we get some real numbers
:00:16. > :00:35.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 26th July.
:00:36. > :00:39.Economists predict UK growth will have picked up slightly -
:00:40. > :00:45.as consumer spending comes under pressure from rising prices.
:00:46. > :00:47.Also in the programme, Japan's Nintendo returns to profit,
:00:48. > :00:54.thanks to bumper sales for its new Switch console.
:00:55. > :01:02.Markets in Europe have opened. They are in the green. All eyes are on
:01:03. > :01:03.the States where the Federal Reserve meet.
:01:04. > :01:07.We'll be talking to one of Europe's largest online train ticket
:01:08. > :01:16.retailers which is trying to break into some of Asia's biggest markets.
:01:17. > :01:18.bland and boring, today we want to know, what's the best
:01:19. > :01:39.In just under an hour, the UK will unveil its latest growth
:01:40. > :01:42.numbers for the three months to the end of June.
:01:43. > :01:44.Earlier this week the International Monetary Fund warned that weaker
:01:45. > :01:47.economic activity means both the US and UK will expand more slowly
:01:48. > :01:53.However, in the numbers due out this morning,
:01:54. > :01:56.economists are expecting the UK's growth rate will have risen slightly
:01:57. > :02:10.Following the Brexit vote, the pound fell.
:02:11. > :02:12.This put pressure on prices and last month inflation stayed
:02:13. > :02:14.above the Bank of England's 2% target rate.
:02:15. > :02:16.And higher prices - partly from imported goods -
:02:17. > :02:18.are having an impact on consumer spending.
:02:19. > :02:19.Now according to Visa - household expenditure
:02:20. > :02:21.fell 0.3% last month - the lowest figure
:02:22. > :02:24.But government figures suggest uncertainty isn't
:02:25. > :02:29.The UK continues to be the top investment location in Europe
:02:30. > :02:33.with more than 2,200 new foreign direct investment projects
:02:34. > :02:40.announced in the last year and that's 2% up on the year before.
:02:41. > :02:42.And on Tuesday, BMW announced it had chosen Oxford
:02:43. > :02:44.as the location of where it will build its new
:02:45. > :02:48.Joseph Sternberg, Editorial-Page Editor
:02:49. > :02:55.at the Wall Street Journal is with me.
:02:56. > :03:01.Welcome to Business Live. Nice to see you. So if we get the growth
:03:02. > :03:05.that they're expecting, it will be very much as tends to be the case in
:03:06. > :03:09.the UK driven by consumers? Right. I think that one of the interesting
:03:10. > :03:13.stories here is that coming into the Brexit referendum last year the
:03:14. > :03:16.economy was already in a very healthy condition and very
:03:17. > :03:20.resilient. So the fact that the growth is still positive even with
:03:21. > :03:24.all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is a good sign that that
:03:25. > :03:29.resilience is working, but there are a lot of head winds, consumer
:03:30. > :03:32.spending is taking the hit from the falling pound that should be causing
:03:33. > :03:37.concern even if the numbers are in the black. The weak pound was,
:03:38. > :03:41.especially after the Brexit vote, was said to be, what was going to
:03:42. > :03:47.boost exporting which would give manufacturing a new lease of life
:03:48. > :03:49.and that it would rebalance the UK's economy away from consumerism and
:03:50. > :03:53.more to boost exports. We haven't really seen that happen. I think one
:03:54. > :03:57.of the stories to arise from that and this is something you would hope
:03:58. > :04:00.that policy makers would be paying attention to in Westminster as they
:04:01. > :04:05.negotiate Brexit. The economy is more complicated than it used to be.
:04:06. > :04:09.You know maybe price and the exchange rate is less important than
:04:10. > :04:14.it once was. More focus on the quality and the productivity.
:04:15. > :04:17.Joseph, if we get this 0.3% that many are expecting. It is an
:04:18. > :04:20.increasing it will be something like the 16th or 18th quarter in a row
:04:21. > :04:26.where we have seen an increase. Which sounds good, but if we put it
:04:27. > :04:31.in context, this increase compared to the 0.6% increase that we were
:04:32. > :04:37.seeing a year ago, it is not great for the UK, is it? Right. When you
:04:38. > :04:40.look at the falling consumption worries about real income inflation
:04:41. > :04:45.adjusted, wages are not keeping up. I think that there is a lot of
:04:46. > :04:49.reason for concern. Concern about how investment will perform with the
:04:50. > :04:52.uncertainty of the outcome of the Brexit process. We were saying that
:04:53. > :04:55.some figures show that the UK is still open for business. Lots of
:04:56. > :04:59.business investment. Is that somewhere where we should be look to
:05:00. > :05:05.go seek comfort? Yes, I think that one of Britain's advantages has been
:05:06. > :05:09.that it is so open to investment and it is a relatively liberal economy
:05:10. > :05:12.compared to the rest of Europe. The Brexit challenge is to expand on
:05:13. > :05:14.that benefit instead of assuming that the economy can just coast. OK.
:05:15. > :05:18.Joseph, thank you very much. Let's take a look at some of
:05:19. > :05:21.the other stories making the news. President Trump says Apple's chief
:05:22. > :05:24.executive, Tim Cook, is committed to building three
:05:25. > :05:26.plants in the US. Such an investment would help
:05:27. > :05:27.the administration follow through on a big campaign promise,
:05:28. > :05:30.reviving the country's When asked, Apple
:05:31. > :05:35.declined to comment. Britain is hitting the brakes
:05:36. > :05:39.on new petrol and diesel vehicles. The Government plans to ban
:05:40. > :05:42.new cars and vans powered Government officials are expected
:05:43. > :05:49.to unveil a $332 million fund to help cut down on pollution
:05:50. > :05:52.to improve air quality. The reported move follows a similar
:05:53. > :05:54.announcement earlier this month The South Korean car-maker Hyundai
:05:55. > :06:04.has posted a 51% drop It blamed the poor performance
:06:05. > :06:08.on a slowdown in US sales, Chinese consumers bought 64% less
:06:09. > :06:13.Hyundai cars compared It's part of retaliation by Chinese
:06:14. > :06:17.authorities who object to the installation of a new US
:06:18. > :06:34.defence system known as THAAD. More stories updated throughout the
:06:35. > :06:44.day on the Business Live page online. On there right now, VW a
:06:45. > :06:58.dime letter face accusations of running a cartel. The two firms have
:06:59. > :07:06.denied, that's Volkswagen and Daimler denied the allegations. This
:07:07. > :07:07.plays into the diesel emissions scandal. You can read more about
:07:08. > :07:14.that online. It's just announced a return
:07:15. > :07:27.to profit on strong demand Give us the numbers. Well, Rachel
:07:28. > :07:31.the company has managed to make about $115 million in the three
:07:32. > :07:34.months between April and June and as you mentioned the company's
:07:35. > :07:38.basically back in the black after losing money last year. It is still
:07:39. > :07:52.nothing compared to its heyday though. About a decade ago when its
:07:53. > :07:58.very popular wii console was turning consumers into gamers. The company
:07:59. > :08:01.has been betting on this new console, Switch, which was launched
:08:02. > :08:06.in March. In the first month the company managed to sell about three
:08:07. > :08:12.million units worldwide which is about the same as its rival Xbox as
:08:13. > :08:16.well as PlayStation 4 and the company hopes to sell ten million
:08:17. > :08:21.more Switches in this financial year which analysts think is quite
:08:22. > :08:25.conservative, but the company has been having production issues to
:08:26. > :08:27.catch up with very strong demand. So, it's very good news for
:08:28. > :08:35.Nintendo. Thanks for that. It was a good day for markets in
:08:36. > :08:38.the States on Tuesday, with strong results from Caterpillar
:08:39. > :08:53.and McDonald's boosting the S 500 The Nikkei is up 0.5%. The hang sang
:08:54. > :09:00.up a third of a percent. Europe have opened up. We're in the green. Like
:09:01. > :09:04.markets in the States, markets in Europe are waiting for the outcome
:09:05. > :09:08.of the Federal Reserve's two day meeting. Investors will be looking
:09:09. > :09:12.for more information on how the Fed plans to start reducing its balance
:09:13. > :09:13.sheet. With that and more Michelle Fleury
:09:14. > :09:16.has the details about what's ahead Well, some big tech names making big
:09:17. > :09:20.waves this Wednesday. Investors will want to hear more
:09:21. > :09:22.about Apple's US plans. That's after Donald Trump told
:09:23. > :09:25.the Wall Street Journal that Tim Cook, the boss of the tech
:09:26. > :09:28.giant, had committed to building three
:09:29. > :09:31.manufacturing plants in America. And Facebook reports second-quarter
:09:32. > :09:34.earnings after the market closed. Profits at the social media giant
:09:35. > :09:38.are likely to get a boost from its fast growing mobile ad
:09:39. > :09:40.business, but how Wall Street wants to know
:09:41. > :09:46.what progress Mark Zuckerberg and company are making developing
:09:47. > :09:49.new advertising features. Meanwhile, a day after General
:09:50. > :09:53.Motors reported a drop in profits, Ford is due to publish its first set
:09:54. > :09:56.of quarterly results that is since Jim Hackett
:09:57. > :09:59.became Chief Executive and America's Central Bank wraps up
:10:00. > :10:01.a two-day monetary policy meeting. No change though expected
:10:02. > :10:09.to US interest rates. Joining us is Jeremy Cook,
:10:10. > :10:19.Chief Economist, World First. We heard Michelle talking about the
:10:20. > :10:24.Fed meeting. They are not expected to change the rate, but it is always
:10:25. > :10:27.watched closely? We are watching the language that's coming out of the
:10:28. > :10:32.Federal Reserve the more about the balance sheet, the $4.5 billion
:10:33. > :10:36.worth of assets that are sat on the Federal Reserve balance sheet which
:10:37. > :10:40.they bought as part of their quantitative easing plan. We will be
:10:41. > :10:44.looking to see how they plan on reducing that and whether they give
:10:45. > :10:49.any markers as to when that's going to happen. In the policy statement
:10:50. > :10:52.which comes out at about 7pm British Summer Time tonight. So why are
:10:53. > :10:56.investors interested in that? Explain to us how the way that they
:10:57. > :11:01.choose to reduce the balance sheet could impact on the markets? While
:11:02. > :11:05.the Federal Reserve raised interest rates three times in the past nine
:11:06. > :11:10.months and people are saying we're starting to get to a point where the
:11:11. > :11:17.US economy can be meaningfully creating growth and creating
:11:18. > :11:21.inflation, ?4.5 trillion worth of mortgage assets were bought by the
:11:22. > :11:24.Federal Reserve. The way they sell those back is very interesting for
:11:25. > :11:30.economists and markets because we have to wonder who buys them? Who
:11:31. > :11:33.feels ready to take the assets off the Federal Reserve and what that
:11:34. > :11:36.means for growth in the global economy as well? You can't just
:11:37. > :11:41.destroy them. You can't just say the Fed is going to let go of them, so
:11:42. > :11:47.where does that money flow to is the really interesting thing? Keeping
:11:48. > :11:50.the focus on the US, Facebook announcing it's quarter results.
:11:51. > :11:54.Everyone's favourite app. So it seems in the sense of the growth
:11:55. > :11:59.that they have enjoyed, quarter on quarter, on quarter. Something like
:12:00. > :12:03.16 quarters and 1.2 billion users, not just of Facebook, but of their
:12:04. > :12:08.messenger app, and they own whatsapp. The key thing that a lot
:12:09. > :12:12.of people are talking about is they own Instagram and Instagram is
:12:13. > :12:17.starting to become the tip of the sphere for Facebook in taking on
:12:18. > :12:22.people like Snapchat, the instant stories and the use of filters and
:12:23. > :12:27.stickers on, I don't do this, but some people, some do! Rumbles. But
:12:28. > :12:30.it is all about how that advertising revenue is coming through from that.
:12:31. > :12:34.Facebook Live is very interesting. Whether we start to see adverts as
:12:35. > :12:38.part of Facebook Live moving forward. Google reported, Alphabet
:12:39. > :12:45.reported at the beginning of the week. Ad revenues hit lower, hit by
:12:46. > :12:48.the EU fine. Jeremy Cooke, you will be joining us at the end of the
:12:49. > :12:50.programme to go through the papers. I will.
:12:51. > :12:55.We'll be talking to one of Europe's largest online
:12:56. > :12:57.train ticket retailers which is trying to break into some
:12:58. > :13:07.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:13:08. > :13:12.The UK Government is set to announce today that new diesel and petrol
:13:13. > :13:15.cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2040 in a bid
:13:16. > :13:19.The Government is also due to publish its court-mandated
:13:20. > :13:24.It sounds like a huge move, but is it?
:13:25. > :13:26.Let's get the answer from our business
:13:27. > :13:37.How big a move is this then? Well, it is an admirable goal, but it is a
:13:38. > :13:41.long way off and the car industry is already moving in that direction.
:13:42. > :13:44.The chances are that within a few years, you won't see many pure
:13:45. > :13:48.diesel and petrol cars on the road anyway. They will be hybrids and
:13:49. > :13:51.electric because of emissions regulations being brought in
:13:52. > :13:56.particularly in Europe which mean that car makers are having to invest
:13:57. > :13:58.money in electrification technologies and if they are
:13:59. > :14:03.investing that money they will want us to buy electric cars and they
:14:04. > :14:07.will be trying to persuade us to buy them. So market forces will take us
:14:08. > :14:12.in this direction. In order to have a complete ban on petrol and diesel
:14:13. > :14:16.cars by 2040 a lot will need to change. Particularly charging
:14:17. > :14:21.infrastructure. It won't be enough to have a few fast charging stations
:14:22. > :14:23.up and down the M1, there need to be comprehensive charging
:14:24. > :14:27.infrastructure, not just on main roads, but rural areas. You might
:14:28. > :14:31.say particularly in rural areas so people can get around. That
:14:32. > :14:33.infrastructure doesn't exist yet. It will need comprehensive investment.
:14:34. > :14:38.The question is where does that money come from and who pays? We
:14:39. > :14:41.have got a plan for that better infrastructure for charging electric
:14:42. > :14:47.cars, but what other measures are on the table? There is 100 million for
:14:48. > :14:50.charging electric cars which may not seem much, but there is an onus on
:14:51. > :14:54.local authorities to develop their plans and Michael Gove said this
:14:55. > :14:58.morning he would look at any plans drawn up by local areas for example
:14:59. > :15:01.to introduce highly localised scrappage schemes. It was thought
:15:02. > :15:04.there might be some national scrappage scheme for diesel cars
:15:05. > :15:06.because they are seen as being the main source of the problem in terms
:15:07. > :15:10.of air quality. That hasn't happened. The onus will be on local
:15:11. > :15:13.authorities and they can get money for things like retro fitting buses.
:15:14. > :15:25.Thank you very much for that. Plenty on the Business Live page. We
:15:26. > :15:31.have a team of correspondents across the UK. There are three months left
:15:32. > :15:35.to spend, save or donate your old ?1 coins and the cost of changing those
:15:36. > :15:39.is costing small firms thousands and thousands of pounds.
:15:40. > :15:47.Check your kids' piggy banks for those ?1 coins!
:15:48. > :15:52.In just under an hour, the UK will unveil its latest growth
:15:53. > :15:54.numbers for the three months to the end of June.
:15:55. > :15:56.Economists are expecting the UK's growth rate will have
:15:57. > :16:17.Let's take a look at how the markets are faring.
:16:18. > :16:19.And now let's get the inside track on rail travel.
:16:20. > :16:23.1.7 billion rail journeys were made in the UK in the past 12 months.
:16:24. > :16:25.This is a record high, with passenger numbers
:16:26. > :16:28.more than doubling over the last two decades.
:16:29. > :16:32.Advance ticket journeys increased nearly 10% over the last year,
:16:33. > :16:38.but sales of season tickets fell by 2.9%.
:16:39. > :16:40.Trainline says it is the world's biggest independent
:16:41. > :16:46.It operates across 24 countries, helping passengers
:16:47. > :16:48.to find the quickest and most cost-effective routes.
:16:49. > :16:57.Clare Gilmartin is chief executive at Trainline and joins us now.
:16:58. > :17:05.Good to see you. Welcome to the programme. This move towards advance
:17:06. > :17:09.tickets, E tickets, but still on some routes you can't do it, you
:17:10. > :17:14.can't get the best bargains because they are still doing paper tickets.
:17:15. > :17:18.URI. We have been on a mission to bring the world's rail into one
:17:19. > :17:24.simple app and website. We operate across 24 different countries now
:17:25. > :17:27.and our mission is to help people see all their options, all the
:17:28. > :17:32.different prices for their journey, so they can get the best price and,
:17:33. > :17:37.increasingly, to get mobile tickets to people so that they never have to
:17:38. > :17:41.queue in a train station, because the net result of all that is people
:17:42. > :17:45.take the train more. Will it ever happen? It sounds like a noble
:17:46. > :17:51.ambition but no queues, completely ticketed? We've really got the bit
:17:52. > :17:55.between our teeth on this. We started in 2014 in the UK when there
:17:56. > :17:59.were hardly any mobile ticketed roots and today we are nearly 50%
:18:00. > :18:03.and I hope by the end of next year, we're partnering with the industry,
:18:04. > :18:09.the real companies on the Government so by the end of 2018, hopefully the
:18:10. > :18:13.full rail network in the UK will be eat ticketed. You are operating
:18:14. > :18:18.across Europe and make inroads into Asia. How do you collect up all
:18:19. > :18:21.those train lines, as trains crossed different borders, legal rules on
:18:22. > :18:27.cultural issues. What sort of challenges have you faced? It is
:18:28. > :18:31.complex and we are the leading global player in this at the moment.
:18:32. > :18:35.We have brought together nearly 90 different rail carriers into one
:18:36. > :18:40.app. There are 35,000 train stations in Europe, competitive as airports,
:18:41. > :18:44.so it is a complex job but we are making it easy for customers, easy
:18:45. > :18:48.to find the best price for your journey, easy to get a mobile ticket
:18:49. > :18:52.and increasingly we are using data to give people better real-time
:18:53. > :18:55.travel information on their journey. The big push for the company, the
:18:56. > :19:02.big untapped market, seems to be Asia. What are you doing to break
:19:03. > :19:07.that? When I said 70% of rail still bought off-line, people queueing in
:19:08. > :19:12.stations, that is a global number. Japan is a huge market, all off-line
:19:13. > :19:18.today, all people queueing in train stations, so we are looking to early
:19:19. > :19:21.next year start in Japan by selling train tickets. We have the Olympics
:19:22. > :19:25.coming up in a few years. Today it is very hard for foreign travellers
:19:26. > :19:29.to buy a train ticket in Japan and we wish to make that much easier but
:19:30. > :19:34.we're also looking beyond that to the US. Before you came to Trainline
:19:35. > :19:40.you were vice president at eBay. Did you see many comparisons between the
:19:41. > :19:43.two countries where companies? To survive spent 15 years working in
:19:44. > :19:49.companies that use technologies to make life a bit better. At Trainline
:19:50. > :19:55.we are on a mission, we want to make train travel accessible to everybody
:19:56. > :19:58.and make it easy, we want to take the hassle away, take the anxiety of
:19:59. > :20:03.getting the best price away and make it simple, easy and transparent. As
:20:04. > :20:06.a company, you are very reliant on tech talent and people with the
:20:07. > :20:10.know-how and skills. What are you doing as an organisation to nurture
:20:11. > :20:15.that and protect the tech talent of the future? We employ over 40
:20:16. > :20:21.different nationalities and that's the lifeblood of any global
:20:22. > :20:26.high-growth tech company. So we take recruitment, hiring and developing
:20:27. > :20:31.our people really seriously. We host a whole load of tech events in our
:20:32. > :20:35.offices. We have a very vibrant tech and creative culture. We have been
:20:36. > :20:39.hiring a lot in technology and data science and it is exciting work for
:20:40. > :20:44.people. It is bringing artificial intelligence to rail for the first
:20:45. > :20:47.time, which tells customers in their journeys. Do you have a favourite
:20:48. > :20:56.train journey? I love the journey along the $ to call more. It is
:20:57. > :21:00.beautiful. -- along with Dawlish Coast to Cornwall.
:21:01. > :21:02.Volkswagen will hold an emergency board meeting later today,
:21:03. > :21:03.regarding allegations that the car-maker operated
:21:04. > :21:05.a cartel alongside Audi, Porsche, Mercedes and BMW,
:21:06. > :21:08.If true, the reports would be a further blow
:21:09. > :21:11.to the German car industry, which is trying to recover after
:21:12. > :21:20.Damien McGuinness reports from Berlin.
:21:21. > :21:28.Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Audi, Porsche, all German car brands
:21:29. > :21:33.accused of collusion. The allegation is that since the 1990s they
:21:34. > :21:40.regularly held talks to agree costs, either for parts or for technology.
:21:41. > :21:45.The aim was allegedly to block competition. All five car companies
:21:46. > :21:49.deny the claims, all refused to comment, and it is possible that the
:21:50. > :21:53.talks were legal, held simply to discuss how to standardise
:21:54. > :22:01.technology across the industry. But the news has rattled investors. When
:22:02. > :22:07.German media first published on the reports last Friday, VW shares fell
:22:08. > :22:11.by 4.9%, while shares for BMW and Daimler dropped by more than three
:22:12. > :22:14.percentage rock the European Commission and the German cartel
:22:15. > :22:20.office have not yet launched an official probe but are looking into
:22:21. > :22:25.the allegations. Folks like and Daimler have declined
:22:26. > :22:28.to comment on the allegations. -- folks via and Daimler.
:22:29. > :22:30.What other business stories has the media been
:22:31. > :22:33.Jeremy Cook, Chief Economist, World First, is joining
:22:34. > :22:40.One of the big stories the Financial Times Greece to raise euros of the
:22:41. > :22:44.first bomb selfie years but let's not breathe a sigh of relief? Nobody
:22:45. > :22:48.should be popping such champagne corks over this. This is an
:22:49. > :22:55.incremental step awards Greece being back. We are talking about UK GDP
:22:56. > :22:58.this morning, the Q1 GDP increase was positive, we're starting to see
:22:59. > :23:05.green shoots of recovery, but when you look at the fundamentals of the
:23:06. > :23:08.economy, still very poor, 180% jet to GDP ratio. Whilst this increases
:23:09. > :23:12.the amount of debt that Greece eventually owes, it has been
:23:13. > :23:17.financed at a lesser interest rate than most of the other debt that it
:23:18. > :23:26.has. Its last bond issue was three years ago and was about 4.9%, this
:23:27. > :23:30.is 4.5, 4.6. So incrementally getting a bit better. What is
:23:31. > :23:34.interesting is this bond sale to Dublin was a kickback for some of
:23:35. > :23:37.the people buying the bonds. A lot of people still hold Greek debt and
:23:38. > :23:42.hold that previous debt which expires in 2019 so what has now
:23:43. > :23:47.happened is that some holders of that debt, which was due to expire
:23:48. > :23:51.in 2019, have been offered this new debt and if they took up this new
:23:52. > :23:55.debt, which expires further in the future, they get a windfall back
:23:56. > :24:01.from the Greek government, which equates in total to about 1400
:24:02. > :24:06.euros. That kind of makes this return to the bond market not as
:24:07. > :24:11.positive as it sounds? It is a financing issue. Is that a normal
:24:12. > :24:14.thing that can happen? Companies will -- countries will try and
:24:15. > :24:20.elongate the amount of time they have to pay until they have to pay
:24:21. > :24:25.it back but this just seems to be a very, very short-term way of doing
:24:26. > :24:29.it. The other element that is interesting is that with interest
:24:30. > :24:32.rates that are persistently low, stubbornly low, investors are
:24:33. > :24:35.perhaps turning to these countries that they may not have wanted to
:24:36. > :24:40.touch in the past, where they can get a bit of a decent return.
:24:41. > :24:44.Investors are not there for yield, they are there to make money. You
:24:45. > :24:47.look at US Treasury debt or gilts in the UK, they are not getting the
:24:48. > :24:50.return that they would want so they have to go to the countries which
:24:51. > :24:55.are paying a bit more money but for an elevated amount of risk.
:24:56. > :24:58.Argentina last month launched a 100 year bond. You give me your money
:24:59. > :25:03.now, I will pay you back in 100 years and you will get a %. 8% as
:25:04. > :25:07.previously used to happen and Argentina has a history of default
:25:08. > :25:16.so would you put your money and it? Did you? No. Let's touch on this
:25:17. > :25:19.story in the Times. Bland, dull and boring, they have teamed up,
:25:20. > :25:24.Scotland, Australia and the United States, to try and boost tourist
:25:25. > :25:28.numbers and draw attention. Hopefully a little village called
:25:29. > :25:34.Snore can get involved does well and we can have a commonwealth of boring
:25:35. > :25:39.cities. These are nice little village is getting together and
:25:40. > :25:43.hopefully it can continue. Where did you recently holiday near? I was in
:25:44. > :25:51.Tuscany with some friends and this was... The town we were near was
:25:52. > :25:59.twinned with a place in Belgium called 76 -- called Silly. It made
:26:00. > :26:02.me giggle. That it. Bland, dull and boring. Not us! More business news
:26:03. > :26:16.throughout the day. Good morning. While eastern areas of
:26:17. > :26:17.the UK start off on a relatively dry note, further west