:00:00. > :00:00.As we have a ready mentioned, it is the last day of campaigning in the
:00:00. > :00:00.UK general election. Let's discuss that in more detail on World
:00:07. > :00:24.Business Report. With voters feeling the pinch and
:00:25. > :00:25.concerned about Brexit, we weigh up the economic policies of the main
:00:26. > :00:31.parties. And going, going, gone: Uber swings
:00:32. > :00:34.the axe and sacks 20 members of staff following an investigation
:00:35. > :00:47.in to sexual harassment. Also in the programme, we have more
:00:48. > :00:53.detail on the diplomatic row involving Qatar. What are the
:00:54. > :01:01.economic and business implications? We will discuss that as well.
:01:02. > :01:04.But first, there's just a day to go until voters in Britain head
:01:05. > :01:07.to the polls for its second general election in two years.
:01:08. > :01:10.Security has been a key issue in the campaign,
:01:11. > :01:12.but as with anywhere else, prosperity and the economy
:01:13. > :01:15.will by hugely important to how people vote.
:01:16. > :01:18.But unlike anywhere else, the UK must contend with its decision
:01:19. > :01:21.to leave the European Union.
:01:22. > :01:24.Minimising the disruption to the economy is one of the most
:01:25. > :01:26.divisive issues between the governing Conservatives
:01:27. > :01:41.If we have a look back to the 2005 election, you can see the UK economy
:01:42. > :01:47.has been gradually recovering since the 2008 financial crisis. That is
:01:48. > :01:53.that very big get there. So grey has returned, pretty slowly.
:01:54. > :01:56.For many businesses, Brexit spells considerable
:01:57. > :02:00.The 29th of March 2019 is the current deadline for the UK
:02:01. > :02:04.Without a trade deal in place firms on both sides face huge disruption.
:02:05. > :02:06.One reason the government needs to maintain
:02:07. > :02:13.growth is the UK's growing national debt.
:02:14. > :02:16.This year it's expected to be 88% of GDP, which is higher
:02:17. > :02:30.In the year to the end of March, the government
:02:31. > :02:33.spent $67 billion or ?52 billion more than it took in.
:02:34. > :02:36.The Conservatives say that they'll get this deficit back down zero
:02:37. > :02:41.Labour says it wants to eliminate the deficit on day to day spending
:02:42. > :02:43.in five years, but will borrow to invest.
:02:44. > :02:46.Peter Dowd is a Labour politician and is currently
:02:47. > :02:48.the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
:02:49. > :02:57.Peter, thank you for being on the programme. A critical day for you
:02:58. > :03:01.and all of your colleagues. Looking at the Labour manifesto, many have
:03:02. > :03:09.seen the great detail in the plans. Radical plans, radical changes, at
:03:10. > :03:15.the scrapping of university fees. Minimum wage, free school meals, the
:03:16. > :03:19.list is very long. Many have argued that you have some kind of money
:03:20. > :03:23.tree. That is the conservative line. The Institute for Fiscal Studies are
:03:24. > :03:28.concerned the numbers do not add up. I disagree with the Institute for
:03:29. > :03:33.Fiscal Studies. What we have tried to do in our manifesto is set out
:03:34. > :03:38.what our spending plans are going to be, and we have another document
:03:39. > :03:46.which sets out how we're going to raise those figures. They out
:03:47. > :03:54.clearly, it is a clearly costed manifesto, more so than the
:03:55. > :03:59.Conservatives'. If the Institute for Fiscal Studies had a chance to look
:04:00. > :04:03.at my figures -- our figures, and have disagreements, we stand by
:04:04. > :04:08.them. One of the ways is raising taxes on those who earn ?80,000 or
:04:09. > :04:13.more and increasing corporate taxes. On the point of raising income tax
:04:14. > :04:17.for the higher paid, many would argue, actually, you can't really
:04:18. > :04:20.guarantee what you will get in in terms of money on that, because of
:04:21. > :04:23.course, people change their behaviour when taxes change, and
:04:24. > :04:27.they get to a clever accountants that ensure they pay little tax.
:04:28. > :04:31.Yes, what you need to do in that case is a couple of things. Firstly,
:04:32. > :04:35.we have set aside in our figures about ?4 billion which gives us room
:04:36. > :04:39.for manoeuvring in the context of people changing their behaviour. So
:04:40. > :04:43.we have already accounted for quite a substantial amount of that. The
:04:44. > :04:49.other aspect you have to do, and which Labour are doing, is you have
:04:50. > :04:53.a tax avoidance plan going into the future, making sure that those
:04:54. > :04:58.people who should be paying their taxes are actually paying them. We
:04:59. > :05:06.already have at least, at least, a ?35 billion tax gap every year.
:05:07. > :05:11.Labour want to close out by about ?6 billion. So we are only go for about
:05:12. > :05:17.20% of the already huge tax gap, there. If a drug you briefly, many
:05:18. > :05:21.look at the manifesto is a you punishing business. Others might say
:05:22. > :05:28.you are helping small businesses. The increase in corporate taxes is
:05:29. > :05:34.encouraging, and the increase in the minimum wage could be tricky for
:05:35. > :05:39.some employers to deliver, particularly in the context of
:05:40. > :05:46.Brexit. It will still be the lowest minimum wage in the G7. And our
:05:47. > :05:50.productivity continues to be lower, and our investment, too. In terms of
:05:51. > :05:54.the minimum wage, we will work with small business to help them, where
:05:55. > :05:59.they cannot manage the gap. We have tax credits already which of many
:06:00. > :06:04.companies and people trip reached the gap between what they own and
:06:05. > :06:10.what they live on, and we will continue to do that. Peter Dowd,
:06:11. > :06:17.thank you for joining us today. Part of the Labour Party.
:06:18. > :06:20.And for more information, as we've said, on all the other
:06:21. > :06:23.and their policies in the UK election, please go
:06:24. > :06:26.website - the address is www.bbc.com/news.
:06:27. > :06:29.And do stay tuned to BBC News for more live coverage.
:06:30. > :06:31.You've just heard from the Labour Shadow Chief Secretary
:06:32. > :06:35.Later, on Business Live, we'll be speaking
:06:36. > :06:47.That is coming in just a few hours. Other business stories, now.
:06:48. > :06:50.Ride-sharing service Uber has fired 20 of its staff as part
:06:51. > :06:53.of an investigation into sexual harassment and other problems around
:06:54. > :06:57.The company launched an investigation in February
:06:58. > :07:00.after former employee Susan Fowler wrote a blog post detailing
:07:01. > :07:03.what she said was systemic sexual harassment and gender bias
:07:04. > :07:14.Our North America technology reporter Dave Lee has more.
:07:15. > :07:22.After a former employee outlined a range of serious allegations about
:07:23. > :07:26.sexual harassment and a hostile work culture, Uber set up a hotline for
:07:27. > :07:32.employees to raise issues. In the last three months, 215 claims were
:07:33. > :07:35.made. The complaints covered things like dissemination, sexual
:07:36. > :07:40.harassment, bullying, and even physical security. 115 of those
:07:41. > :07:43.claims were followed up, leading to 20 dismissals. Seven members of
:07:44. > :07:48.staff were given final warnings, and others were put into training
:07:49. > :07:52.programmes. There are 57 cases still being looked at. The names of the
:07:53. > :07:57.five employees have not been made public, but the BBC understands at
:07:58. > :08:01.least one senior executive at the firm was dismissed. News of the
:08:02. > :08:06.sackings were delivered in a companywide meeting on Tuesday.
:08:07. > :08:09.Uber's chief executive was not in attendance. He has been spending
:08:10. > :08:15.time with his family, following the recent death of his mother in a
:08:16. > :08:19.boating accident. A broader report into the culture at Uber is expected
:08:20. > :08:28.next week. The boss of Tesla says that
:08:29. > :08:31.new buyers of its highly anticipated Model 3 will have to wait
:08:32. > :08:35.until the end of next year before they can take delivery
:08:36. > :08:37.of their new car. Tesla has been accepting deposits
:08:38. > :08:40.of $1,000 for the Model 3 and the company has been
:08:41. > :08:42.aggressively raising funds to help Shares of Adani Enterprises jumped
:08:43. > :08:47.nine percent in Mumbai on Tuesday after news that the Adani Group is
:08:48. > :08:50.going ahead with its controversial Adani will break ground
:08:51. > :09:00.at its Carmichael mine and rail Just to say that we are looking at
:09:01. > :09:07.the situation with regards to Qatar and their dispute with Saudi Arabia
:09:08. > :09:12.and other countries. All the detail on that to come. This is a brief
:09:13. > :09:17.look at the market. A flat, next session. Investors were keen to stay
:09:18. > :09:26.cautious this side of an election in the UK. I will see you soon.