:00:00. > :00:21.The UK's Finance Minister is poised to announce billions of pounds worth
:00:22. > :00:24.of new government spending but is Britain's national debt pile
:00:25. > :00:30.Grounded - Germany's Lufthansa cancels nearly 900 flights
:00:31. > :00:39.as a last minute court bid to stop a pilot's strike fails.
:00:40. > :00:46.Also in the programme Facebook woos China but at what price Mariko Oi
:00:47. > :00:55.The UK's Autumn Statement - which is the budget -
:00:56. > :00:58.will be announced in a few hours' time.
:00:59. > :01:01.It's especially important this time because it's the first fiscal plan
:01:02. > :01:04.that's been unveiled since the Brexit vote
:01:05. > :01:07.and since Philip Hammond became Chancellor.
:01:08. > :01:10.The UK leaving the European Union presents specific challenges
:01:11. > :01:12.the government will have to face head on.
:01:13. > :01:17.Well, the finance minister is likely to pledge increased
:01:18. > :01:23.?5 billion or $6.2 billion is the number being mentioned.
:01:24. > :01:26.That's modest compared to say Donald Trump's $1 trillion
:01:27. > :01:33.Another area likely to get a cash infusion is research and development
:01:34. > :01:37.?2 billion worth going to the industry,
:01:38. > :01:40.which is being touted by the government as a long
:01:41. > :01:44.Also there is expected to be something for the so-called
:01:45. > :01:47.Jams - those people who are "just about managing" -
:01:48. > :01:49.so perhaps increased benefits for working mums
:01:50. > :01:53.and an increase in the lowest tax threshold.
:01:54. > :01:56.But the money to pay for this has to come from somewhere.
:01:57. > :02:00.The government is likely to borrow ?100 billion over the next five
:02:01. > :02:06.years - about $124 billion dollars - to foot the various bills.
:02:07. > :02:08.With me is Laurie Macfarlane - an economist from
:02:09. > :02:24.Good morning. This is a critical one question that this is the first big
:02:25. > :02:30.test for the Chancellor. It is his chance to set out his vision post
:02:31. > :02:38.Brexit. The announcement comes at a challenging time. A forecast is
:02:39. > :02:42.expected to show high inflation and slower growth. What will be
:02:43. > :02:48.interesting will be to see if he uses this opportunity to show a
:02:49. > :02:54.marked change in direction for the economy or chooses a more low-key
:02:55. > :03:00.affair. Evidence suggests it will be the latter that he can be forgiven
:03:01. > :03:07.because it is the first event since the leadership. He has less wiggle
:03:08. > :03:12.room because of the problem of the lower growth forecast for next year
:03:13. > :03:18.and beyond which means with much less revenue coming in, he really
:03:19. > :03:24.does not have the money to spend? The Chancellor will be juggling
:03:25. > :03:30.trade-offs between maintaining credibility with public finance and
:03:31. > :03:37.the economy and also acting to stave off any down turn from a Brexit and
:03:38. > :03:41.acting to address the key concerns addressed by voters in the
:03:42. > :03:47.referendum campaign. Some are of the view he should be taking bold action
:03:48. > :03:53.in public investment, critical housing. It is clear part of the
:03:54. > :03:58.country have been airing their discontent for quite sometime.
:03:59. > :04:06.Though the room for spending is lower than perhaps back in March for
:04:07. > :04:16.George Osborne, he has crucially if he is investing in infrastructure
:04:17. > :04:22.and R, it should help with finances and the economy. Many are
:04:23. > :04:27.arguing it will be a lower key effect to keep the big guns for
:04:28. > :04:32.maybe a budget just before an election in 2020 and the start of
:04:33. > :04:38.Brexit negotiations where it is not clear how that will go and what that
:04:39. > :04:46.will mean ultimately for the UK economy. He may have to invest more
:04:47. > :04:52.in the latter budget? Exactly. We can expect a relatively low affair.
:04:53. > :04:56.Apparently will be shorter than in previous years. He will be focusing
:04:57. > :05:01.on domestic issues. He will be under some pressure to announce measures
:05:02. > :05:07.to help the so-called James which are managing families. An increase
:05:08. > :05:12.in personal allowance. Crucially, that does not do anything to help
:05:13. > :05:19.the 5 million individuals who do not earn enough to pay income tax. And
:05:20. > :05:26.passenger duties could also be looked at. Infrastructure... We have
:05:27. > :05:31.heard there is going to be an announcement in roads and broadband
:05:32. > :05:38.and perhaps one or two other big announcements. It is important to
:05:39. > :05:42.say that the amount of money we are talking about is relatively small
:05:43. > :05:47.but definitely a step in the right direction. Thank you for your time.
:05:48. > :05:52.We are right across the Autumn statement and you will be able to
:05:53. > :05:53.hear and watch it live and also here our analysis.
:05:54. > :05:56.A court in Germany has rejected an appeal by Lufthansa -
:05:57. > :05:59.in a bid to stop a 24-hour pilots strike.
:06:00. > :06:01.The airline has cancelled about 875 flights today -
:06:02. > :06:03.and that's affecting more than 100,000 passengers.
:06:04. > :06:06.The union behind the industrial action says it now plans another
:06:07. > :06:20.This will be the view at airports across Germany today. Rows of empty
:06:21. > :06:27.Lufthansa planes parked up and going nowhere. An estimated 100,000 people
:06:28. > :06:31.are affected by this two-day strike. This is a dispute that has been
:06:32. > :06:40.running for more than two years. The pilot union want a 3.7% pay rise
:06:41. > :06:47.dating back to 2012. Lufthansa is offering a 2.5% increase. In a
:06:48. > :06:50.recent interview, the boss of Europe's biggest airline spoke about
:06:51. > :06:57.challenging environment as they try to compete with budget rivals and
:06:58. > :07:01.update their fleet. We have huge cost pressure and it has been an
:07:02. > :07:05.issue for this industry for years and we cannot depend on the oil
:07:06. > :07:10.prices remaining where they have been lately so that does not relieve
:07:11. > :07:16.us from continuously working on efficiency and cost reduction. This
:07:17. > :07:22.action comes just 24 hours after Eurowings, its low-cost subsidiary,
:07:23. > :07:28.had to cancel 65 in a separate dispute with cabin crew is. Other
:07:29. > :07:32.airlines will check to see if they can use larger planes to try to
:07:33. > :07:32.accommodate some of the affected passengers.
:07:33. > :07:35.Facebook has been working on a tool that would pave the way
:07:36. > :07:38.for censoring certain content if the network was ever
:07:39. > :07:40.to launch in China - that's according to
:07:41. > :07:58.We have a black screen at the moment... It will seem we are
:07:59. > :08:07.struggling to link up... That she is. What a relief. What is going on
:08:08. > :08:14.with Facebook? It is based on a report in the New York Times.
:08:15. > :08:19.Facebook did not exactly deny or confirm whether this censorship tool
:08:20. > :08:24.does exist. But the New York Times article quotes are current and
:08:25. > :08:29.former Facebook employee and they say it is still in the early stages
:08:30. > :08:35.and might not become a reality but there has been quite a lot of public
:08:36. > :08:41.reaction because while it takes out some content, Facebook, based on the
:08:42. > :08:48.government requests are around the world, by giving... By creating this
:08:49. > :08:54.kind of cool it is tactically giving away that control to a state and
:08:55. > :09:00.that is quite significant. We will see if this is really true and if it
:09:01. > :09:02.will materialise but there has been quite a lot of reaction online.
:09:03. > :09:04.In other news: There are reports talks between Greece
:09:05. > :09:07.and its international creditors were paused on Tuesday -
:09:08. > :09:10.after Athens accused its partners of pushing for tough new cuts
:09:11. > :09:14.which it said would be a social disaster.
:09:15. > :09:16.It needs to reach agreement with eurozone lenders
:09:17. > :09:19.and the international monetary fund by early December to unlock
:09:20. > :09:26.The Japanese car maker Toyota is recalling more than 800-thousand
:09:27. > :09:29.minivans in North America - over concerns the sliding doors
:09:30. > :09:32.could open while the vehicle is moving.
:09:33. > :09:37.The recall affects Sienna minivans from 2011 to 2016.
:09:38. > :09:48.Toyota says it is still developing a fix for the problem.
:09:49. > :10:02.That is not what you want to happen. Looking at markets. Oil prices
:10:03. > :10:07.slightly down. Japan is closed for a holiday at so take no notice of
:10:08. > :10:14.that. The market is grabbing all the headlines are in the US. All hitting
:10:15. > :10:20.record highs. The Trump effects pushing up sharemarket in their US.
:10:21. > :10:23.We will talk about that when we look at the papers in a moment.