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Live Reporting

Ian Pollock

All times stated are UK

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  1. Good night

    BBC test card

    It's been a quiet evening, but the Livepage team are back bright and early tomorrow, at 06:00 prompt.

  2. Via Email

    Those milk protests by farmers

    Louis Lavery

    Live page reader

    "Not sure what the logic is behind farmers buying all the milk and giving it away. They'd be better off refusing to supply it at below cost of production. With migrants blocking the ports the supermarkets might soon find they have no other suppliers than UK farmers."

  3. Fiat Chrysler car-hacking

    The logo of Jeep is seen on a steering wheel of the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee on a car dealership in New Jersey, in this July 24, 2015

    Remember that astonishing story last month about Fiat Chrysler cars in the US being vulnerable to "hacking" via their in-car entertainment systems, so that drivers might lose control? About 1.4 million Jeeps were recalled so that their on-board software could be repaired. Now, Harman, the firm that makes the cars' entertainment systems (that's car radios to you and me) - has spoken up.

    "We do not believe this problem exists in any other car outside of Fiat Chrysler," said Harman's chief executive Dinesh Paliwal. "Our system was safe and secure," he said, and added that the problem was seemingly due to a "hole" or port opening in a network.

    "Once you leave the door of the house open, somebody will walk in and they can do whatever they want," he told Reuters.

  4. RBS sale - the debate rumbles on

    BBC News Channel

    Joanne Hart

    Joanne Hart, investments editor of the Mail on Sunday, told viewers to the BBC News Chanel that in the long term shares in RBS, which the government started selling today, should rise in value.

    "The sheer overhang of shares that the government holds, which was 78% and is now 73%, means that other investors are very scared of buying shares in RBS, because they just think, 'will the government interfere?'," she said.

    "So the sooner he [Mr Osborne] starts selling down, the more interest in those shares there will be, and so the price should rise, eventually," she added.

  5. More news from Greece

    Tourists relax under trees in central Athens, Greece August 4, 2015

    What does the European Commission think of progress so far, in its negotiations with the Greek government over a new, third, bailout?

    The commission says it is encouraged. Spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told Reuters: "We are moving in the right direction and intense work is continuing. The constructive collaboration with the Greek authorities should allow the negotiations on a new three-year programme to progress rapidly.

    "Agreement is possible in order to allow for a first disbursement under the new ESM programme in time for the payment Greece is due to make on 20 August (to the ECB).

    "It is an ambitious, yet realistic timetable," she added.

  6. RBS share sale leaves market 'nonplussed'

    Ken Odeluga, senior market analyst at City Index, writes:

    Quote Message: As important as the commencement of a sell-down of the government’s stake is, the market is nonplussed. After all, the 5.2% disposal was well trailed. Its occurrence last night by private placement could open the Treasury up for some criticism, especially as it occurred during a relatively fallow period of the year. On the other hand, the state can just as easily claim that the disposal was conducted in the least-market disruptive way possible.'
  7. US to raise rates next month?

    Dennis Lockhart

    The US Federal Reserve could raise rates next month, if comments from Dennis Lockhart - president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - are any indication. He told the Wall Street Journal that the US economy is ready for the first increase in more than nine years and it would take a significant deterioration in the data to convince him not to move in September. "I think there is a high bar right now to not acting," he said. Mr Lockhart is regarded as a centrist among Fed officials and his comments are among the clearest signals yet that the central bank will jump next month.

  8. Apple refutes mobile network chatter

    Benedict Evans, of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, tweets about rumours of Apple's MVNO - mobile virtual network operator - plans. 

    View more on twitter
  9. RBS shares - worth a punt?

    Now that the government is starting to offload its shares in RBS, should you buy a few (assuming you have some passing interest in share investment)? Here's an interesting article on the Motley Fool website.

  10. Nationwide house prices

    Houses in North London

    As mentioned earlier, house price inflation picked up slightly in July, according to the Nationwide, to an annual rate of 3.5%. The lender has been looking at the effect of the new stamp duty regime, which came into effect six months ago. Chief economist Robert Gardner said: "The impact on the pattern of transactions is already evident, with much less bunching of transactions around the £125,000, £500,000 and in particular the £250,000 price points."

    He added: "Moreover, based on the first six months of transactions data from the Land Registry, nearly 235,000 purchasers in England and Wales have paid less tax under the new regime, with an average benefit of circa £1,800. The benefits are greatest in the south of England where average house prices are higher," he added.

  11. Via Email

    A reader writes...

    Dan Wade

    Livepage reader

    "Surely a lot of commentators on the RBS sale yesterday are missing the fact that although taxpayers as a whole have lost £1bn (up to £15bn over the sale of the entire stake), this is far better than RBS failing as a business and a proportion of taxpayers ending up losing their whole savings and livelihoods?"

  12. RBS sale - more favourable comment

    Radio 5 live

    Stephen Davies, from the right-wing think-tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, told Radio 5 live that the government was right to return the bank to the private sector as quickly as possible.

    "The original mistake was to actually bail out the bank in the first place, I don't think there's ever going to be what you might call a good time to get out of this," he said.

    "There's been word today about a £1bn loss but actually what that means is the loss was really made, if you like, when the government paid what it did to bail RBS out and it's just been crystallised in the sale now.

    "It could well be that in the future the crystallised loss is less but you can't be sure of that," he added.

  13. Corbyn criticises RBS sell-off

    Jeremy Corbyn

    The leading contender for the Labour leadership, Jeremy Corbyn, has criticised the government's decision to start selling shares in RBS.

    Speaking to the BBC's Yorkshire political editor Len Tingle, Mr Corbyn said the sale was a great mistake: "It's being sold at a loss, which is not good, but we took RBS into public ownership because of the way it had been run, and it was about to collapse."

    "I think we should be using RBS as a very important investment tool - so we could assert our public control of it to ensure they invest in infrastructure and manufacturing," Corbyn added.

  14. Financial markets

    FTSE-100 index graph

    In London, share prices fell very slightly and the 100 share index closed two points lower at 6,687.

    In Paris the Cac-40 index dropped eight points to 5,112.

    And in Frankfurt the Dax index rose 12 points higher at 11,456.

    On the foreign exchanges, the pound was almost unchanged against the dollar at 1 dollar 56.1.

    The pound was also little changed against the euro at 1 euro 42.5.

  15. Big supermarkets respond to milk price protests

    BBC News Channel

    Andrew Opie is the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents some of the big supermarkets. He told the BBC News Channel that it was wrong to blame retailers for low wholesale milk prices, and that the problem was down to a fall in global demand: "The global market at the moment is over supplied, we haven't seen the pick up in demand that we might have expected from places like China and India which were growing quite rapidly."

    "So until that picks up there will be problems. But it's absolutely wrong to look at retailers here.

    "Retailers are actually doing the right thing - they are paying the best prices, but these are global conditions outside their control," he added.

  16. Greek shares

    A man walks under an electronic board showing share prices at the Stock Exchange in Athens, Greece, 04 August 2015.

    The Athens General Index closed down about 1.2%. On Monday, the share index had dropped 16%, on the first day of trading after a five-week shutdown. Once again bank shares fell by almost 30%. The head of the Athens Stock Exchange, Socrates Lazaridis, told a news conference that the market was returning to normal after the long shutdown. "The second day of trading showed clear signs that we are moving towards a normalisation of the exchange market after a month without transactions," he said.

    "Already all the sectors, and the indices that represent these sectors, have been moving in a positive direction with the exception of three - banking, food and health sectors."

  17. Milk farmers protest

    BBC News Channel

    Neil Sadler is a farmer who has been giving away free milk outside a supermarket in Telford, in Shropshire, to draw attention to the problem of low wholesale prices. He told the BBC News Channel: "It's been great, I mean a lot of the customers have been a little bit bemused to start with to see why we were giving free milk away and wondering what the catch was."

    "But when we explained to them what the reasoning behind it was, most of them have been very supportive.

    "The price has reduced by about 33% over the last eight months and its now completely unsustainable for all levels of dairy farming - and we're starting to see more and more farms now going up for sale," he added.

  18. Farming protests in France

    Farmers dump manure next to the entrance of the administrative centre in Colmar, eastern France, on August 4, 2015.

    And in France, as part of a continuing campaign against high taxes, farmers today dumped manure next to the entrance of the administrative centre in in Colmar, eastern France. Great picture, of a steaming load of ****.

  19. Farming protests in Belgium

    Belgian dairy farmers pour milk from a truck during a protest against low milk price at the milk processing factory Corman in Bethane near Liege, Belgium, July 30, 2015

    By way of contrast and comparison, this is what some Belgian dairy farmers have been doing - pouring milk from a truck during a protest against low milk prices, at the milk processing factory of Corman, in Bethane near Liege, in Belgium on 30 July.

  20. News from Greece

    Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos arrives for a meeting with senior negotiators at a hotel in Athens, on Friday, July 31, 2015

    The Greek Finance Minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, has had a chat to reporters in a break from his bail-out discussions with the country's various lenders. He said there were no significant disagreements with the creditors on privatisation, and the talks had gone better than expected.

    "We have submitted a proposal to them," he said. "They said they would examine it and come back to us. There were small divergences in views. I don't think there will be a problem. Discussions have gone better than I expected," he added.

  21. Gopichand Hinduja

    Gopichand Hinduja

    Gopichand Hinduja is co-chairman of the Hinduja group, India's giant conglomerate. He doesn't talk to the media much but he has been interviewed by Ben Thompson. Watch the interview here.

  22. RBS sale - IoD comes out in support

    BBC News Channel

    The government's decision to start selling its controlling stake in RBS has received much criticism. But Stephen Herring from the Institute of Directors (IoD) told the BBC News Channel that the real question was why the government was holding such a large stake in the bank, so long after the financial crisis.

    "I think I would have been tempted to have accelerated the process of the sale to a little bit faster than the government are doing," said Mr Herring.

    "But obviously I'm not privy to all the advice about timing but let's hope there is a commitment to pass the bank back into the private sector, because we really don't want major financial institutions to be owned by the state, with the political interference that's the inevitable consequence of that," he added.

  23. RBS sale - union takes a dim view

    BBC Radio 4

    Rob MacGregor is the national officer for finance at the trade union, Unite. He told the World at One on Radio 4 that he disagreed with the decision to start privatising RBS.

    "I think it's an utter disgrace quite frankly. I think the UK taxpayer has been short changed to the tune of about a billion pounds on this sale. And if the rest of the shares owned by the UK government are sold with the same discount, we will be looking at a loss to the British people of around about £14bn," he said.

    "So I think this is shoddy commerciality. I don't think this is being done for commercial reasons. I think actually this is being done for purely political reasons. And quite frankly if the chancellor had any shame whatsoever he'd actually admit to that."

  24. Glencore forced to close South African coal mine

    Glencore website

    South Africa's mines minister has ordered Glencore to stop all operations at a coal mine because of the way it planned to carry out job cuts. Glencore confirmed in July it was cutting 600-700 jobs at its Optimum open cast mine and shut part of it due to lower coal prices.

    Earlier today Glencore had said it was putting its Optimum mine into "business rescue", a form on insolvency. It had argued that the mine's finances were difficult because it was supplying the state power company Eskom with coal at prices lower than the cost of production.

    For its part Eskom says it will renegotiate its coal supply deals at lower prices.

  25. Shire in £21bn US bid

    London-listed pharmaceutical group Shire says it has bid $30bn (£21bn) for US rival Baxalta to form a global biotech company focused on rare diseases. "We believe the proposed combination of Shire and Baxalta would be strategically and financially attractive for both of our companies, accelerating our respective growth ambitions and creating the leading global biotech company in rare diseases," Shire's chief executive Flemming Ornskov said in a statement just released.

  26. Former RBS chairman backs share sale

    BBC Radio 4

    Sir George Mathewson

    Sir George Mathewson, former chairman and chief executive of RBS who left the bank in 2000, tells the BBC that - despite questions about whether the government's got a good deal - it's the right move for the bank and the wider UK economy. He says: "I think that the deal for the taxpayer was a deal done a long time ago under necessity. The market has said that this is the worth of the bank today and, as such, I think it's right that it should move forward with this transaction for the benefits of the taxpayer and indeed for the benefits of the shareholder. And perhaps more so even for the benefits of getting a fully functioning banking structure within the UK."

  27. Steel union responds to Tata sale collapse

    Quote Message: The UK continues to be at a disadvantage because of high energy costs, compounded by environmental levies which are not faced by competitors in Europe. The government’s much-heralded support for energy-intensive industries has been slow to come on stream, whereas French and German producers have benefited from policy changes by their own governments for a number of years. Nobody denies that the market is difficult but the UK steel industry should not be held back further by the lack of a serious industrial policy for foundation industries such as steel. from Roy Rickhuss General secretary, Community
    Roy RickhussGeneral secretary, Community
  28. Klesch and Tata end steel talks

    Gary Klesch, the Chairman of Klesch Group

    Tata put its Long Products division up for sale last October. At the time, potential buyer Gary Klesch told the BBC there was still a lot of due diligence to do on the acquisition and he would come to a decision as soon as possible. Long Products makes transport rails and steel sections for use in construction, heavy industry and excavation. The division includes operations in Scunthorpe and Teesside in England, and Dalzell and Clydebridge in Scotland. It employs 6,000 people in the UK, and also has operations in France and Germany.

  29. Klesch and Tata end sale talks

    Tata's Scunthorpe steelworks

    US billionaire Gary Klesch has pulled out of talks to buy Tata Steel's Long Products division in the UK. A short statement said: "The Klesch Group confirms that it is no longer in talks with Tata Steel to purchase its Long Products Europe business and associated distribution activities."

  30. Shard restaurants evacuated due to fire

    The Shard

    Well, this is going to spoil a few corporate lunches.

  31. Greek stock market returning to 'normal'

    Athens stock market

    The head of the Greek stock market says trading appears to be settling down after the previous day's record losses that followed a five-week shut down. "The second day of trading showed clear signs we are moving towards a normalisation of the market after the long shutdown," says Socrates Lazaridis, chief executive officer of Hellenic Exchanges. The Athens General Index, which shed 16.2% on Monday, was down 1.3%. However, banks have still suffered big falls.

  32. China's stock market 'rigged like boxing'

    World Service

    Investors have lunch in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house

    Who's to blame for China's stock market crash? "This is the arrogance of the Chinese authorities," says US economist Peter Morici, who has been talking to BBC world Service's Business Daily. "They have monkeyed with markets."

  33. Credit Agricole shares slump 10%

    A traffic light shines red near a Credit Agricole logo,

    Credit Agricole shares have slumped 10% after the French bank ruled out a simplification of its complex ownership structure for the time being. Investors have been hoping for radical change at the bank which they say is riven with tensions between its listed entity and a network of cooperative regional lenders that control strategy and organisation. The bank says it has held discussions on structural change with the European Central Bank (ECB), which regulates the industry, but these had run into "constraints". It also appears to have ruled out any change that may have delivered a big cash windfall for shareholders.

  34. (Fire)sale of the century

    Douglas Fraser

    Scotland business & economy editor

    RBS

    If you think Royal Bank of Scotland hasn't come far in the seven years since its crash, you'd have a point.

    It's still not clear that it's ready for a sell-off of the UK government stake, but that's what it's getting anyway.

    You might, meanwhile, be missing another point that the £45bn bail-out nearly seven years ago was not (back then) intended to turn a profit.

    Back then, there was a chance that the whole jingbang could have gone the way of the £12bn raised from shareholders the previous spring - up the Swanee, or down the Gogar Burn. 

    Read more on Douglas's blog here

  35. RBS shares sale

  36. Diesel price continues to fall

    A car being filled up with diesel

    RAC Fuel Watch data for July shows the average price of diesel at the pumps fell 5p a litre as retailers finally began passing on the savings in the cost of wholesale diesel, which has been below that of petrol since the end of May. At the start of the month diesel was 120.63p, but by the end it had dropped almost 5p to 115.74p. On 29 July, the UK saw the first forecourt price flip between diesel and petrol since summer 2001, with diesel at 116.28p, just below the average petrol price of 116.64p.

  37. EU and Vietnam near trade pact

    The EU and Vietnam have reached an agreement in principle on a new free trade deal that would see the lifting of most tariffs on goods. The EU's top trade official, Cecilia Malmstroem, said a deal - which is still to be finalised - would "provide significant new opportunities for companies on both sides, by increasing market access for goods and services". The two sides have been in talks for two-and-a-half years.

  38. RBS shares 'still a buy'

    Quote Message: We are perplexed by the chancellor’s choice of timing. Before the launch of last night’s accelerated book-build, governments of all political colours had chosen to reject superior sell-down opportunities. Last night’s disposal at 330p achieved a new 2015 low and arguably sold the tax-payer short. But for existing shareholders nursing paper losses, is it their concern? They still own the same shares of the same company, but with reduced government overhang. We see value ahead. BUY reaffirmed. from Ian Gordon Banking analyst, Investec
    Ian GordonBanking analyst, Investec
  39. 142 days, 13 hours, and 29 minutes

    Selfridges Christmas shop

    Selfridges claims to be the first department store in the world to open its 2015 Christmas shop, according to a report in Retail Week. The retailer says it wants to capitalise on the summer tourist trade.

  40. Sterling dips on growth data

    Sterling dipped against the dollar and the euro after a Markit/CIPS report showed that growth in the UK construction industry slowed unexpectedly in July. Sterling fell to $1.5583, down slightly on the day, having traded around $1.5606 beforehand. The euro inched up to 70.38p, up 0.1% on the day and slightly firmer than 70.28p before the data was released. Sterling has been underpinned in recent weeks by mostly robust economic data.

  41. RBS sale: 'politically toxic'

    Quote Message: Can anyone, apart from some politicians, who thinks that the taxpayer will ever get all its money back for the bailing out of Royal Bank of Scotland, please raise their hand now? No, I didn’t think so, but this still doesn’t adequately explain the timing behind last night’s announcement that the UK government is paring down its 78% stake in the bailed out lender by 5%, at a time when markets are fairly quiet, and volumes low. Putting to one side the fact that the UK government at the time paid over the odds for the bank, the beginning of the sale process was always going to be politically toxic. from Michael Hewson Chief market analyst, CMC Markets
    Michael HewsonChief market analyst, CMC Markets
  42. Construction output eases in July

    Construction PMI chart

    The UK construction sector slowed unexpectedly in July, hurt by a loss of momentum in house building and civil engineering, a closely watched survey has found. The latest Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 57.1 after hitting a four-month high of 58.1 in June. The slowdown may have reflected an easing of the surge in confidence among construction firms that followed May's unexpectedly conclusive general election, Markit said.

  43. BMW hit by launch costs

    BMW logo on car - generic image

    Higher launch costs for new cars and a tougher market in China have weighed on quarterly profits at Germany's BMW. Net profit fell to €1.749bn, from €1.767bn in the April-June quarter of last year. Munich-based BMW also said it sold a less profitable mix of vehicles, containing more compact cars that typically have lower profit margins.

  44. Greek shares fall again

    Greek nstock market

    Greek shares started their second day of trading by falling 4.5%, dragged down by another near 30% plunge in banking stocks. The Athens stock market is down 3.66% right now at 643.63. The index lost 16.2% on Monday, recovering a little after an initial 23% fall in share prices at the opening of trade after a five week suspension. All four of the country's major banking stocks have fallen more than 29% again on Tuesday effectively their daily limit for losses.

  45. RBS share sale 'disastrous'

    BBC assistant political editor tweets

  46. House buyers benefit from Stamp Duty change

    Kevin Peachey

    Online personal finance reporter

    In addition to publishing its latest house price update, the Nationwide Building Society has looked into the change in stamp duty rules announced in December. It suggests the move from the old “slab” structure has benefited 235,000 buyers to the tune of £1,800. But 5,000 buyers – mostly in London – paid an average of £28,000 more tax than they would have done under the old system.

  47. FTSE market update

    London's FTSE 100 index is down about 0.5% at 6,656.47 points. RBS is among the biggest fallers on the market with shares down 1.7% to 331.90p. Former RBS subsidiary Direct Line Insurance is among the top risers with shares are up 1.8% at 372.60p on the back of its 50% rise in half year pre-tax profits. Star performer so far today is Smiths Group. It's shares are up more than 7% to 1233p, after the Financial Times reported ValueAct, the US activist hedge fund led by Jeff Ubben, had bought about 5% of the company.

  48. 'Common sense' is the key

    Business Live

    Gopichand Hinduja

    He's one of the UK's richest men, and helps run a business spanning finance to manufacturing. Gopichand Hinduja is known for spotting under-performing companies and turning them around. But he tells Business Live that when he's looking at targets he likes to keep things simple. "Common sense is most important thing. Any successful needs talent, human power," he says.

  49. Puerto Rico defaults on bond payment

    People shop in a store in San Juan, Puerto Rico (03 August 2015)
    Image caption: Economists say that Puerto Rico's financial woes run deep and will take years to sort out

    Puerto Rico has confirmed that it failed to make a debt payment at the weekend in the latest sign of the economic crisis in the US territory. The government said it did not have the funds available to pay more than $50m (£32m) due on bonds. The ratings agency Moody's said it viewed the development as a default. Puerto Rico's governor said in June that the island's debts of more than $70bn were unpayable and that its finances needed restructuring.

  50. RBS share sale

    BBC Radio 4

    Harriet Baldwin

    Treasury minister Harriett Baldwin is on Today explaining why the government has started selling its RBS stake now - and not two months ago when the share price was higher. The chancellor's move was based on the advice he received, she says. "It would be the easiest thing in the world to sit back and do nothing. It's the start of a process," she adds. Presenter John Humphrys did try to pin her down further, but the now standard jousting between journalists and politicians failed to get a clearer answer.

  51. Direct Line profits rise 50%

    The logo of Direct Line Insurance Group

    Direct Line Insurance reported that profits from continuing operations in the six months to the end of June rose nearly 50%. The specialist car insurer, most known for its brands Churchill, Green Flag, NIG and Privilege, said overall motor insurance prices rose by 5.9% in the second quarter of 2015 from a year earlier. Pre-tax profit rose to £315m, from £211.7m a year earlier.

  52. Toyota sales fall by 127,000

    A little more detail from Toyota's latest profit figures. It says quarterly revenues increased by 9% to 6.98 trillion yen. But it sold about 127,000 fewer vehicles compared with last year, at 2.1 million vehicles during the quarter. Toyota, was also toppled as the world's largest car manufacturer by sales by Volkswagen last month based on sales in the first six months of this year. It had held the position for three years.

  53. RBS share sale

    Ross McEwan, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, responds to share sale:

    Quote Message: I’m pleased the government has started to sell down its stake. It’s an important moment and reflects the progress we are making to become a stronger, simpler and fairer bank. There is more work to be done but we’re determined to build a bank the country can be proud of.
  54. RBS sale: taxpayer down £1bn

    Pedestrians are reflected in the glass of an advertising board as they walk past a branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland in central London

    The government may have raised £2.1bn from the sale of its first tranche of RBS shares, 5.4% of its holding, but it's a £1.07bn loss on the price originally paid to bail out the bank. The state still owns about 73% of RBS. So, were that trend to continue and the government sells the shares in roughly 5% tranches without the share price rising, the taxpayer would be down about £15bn on the deal. Of course, the government is banking - excuse the pun - on RBS's share price rising as it returns it to private hands.

  55. Standard Life warns on annuity impact

    Standard Life building

    Insurance giant Standard Life saw operating pre-tax profits rise 6% to £290m in the first six months of its financial year, but said a fall in annuity business would impact the full-year results. Sweeping pension changes mean people who retire won't have to buy an annuity. Standard Life said that it expects a full-year contribution from annuity new business to drop by between £10m to £15m, and the contribution from asset liability management to drop by between £30m and £40m compared with 2014.

  56. Toyota net profit rises 10%

    A visitor walks between Toyota Motor Corp"s cars displayed at the company"s showroom in Tokyo

    Toyota Motor posted a 10% rise net profit in the three months to the end of June, as it cut costs and made gains on currency fluctuations which helped make up for weaker global vehicle sales. Net profit reached 646.39 billion yen (£3.34bn), the world's second largest car manufacturer said. The Japanese car manufacturer left its net profit forecast for the year ending March unchanged at 2.25 trillion yen.

  57. Nationwide: house price growth up again

    Housing signs

    Nationwide's latest UK house price index says prices rose 0.4% in July, taking the annual growth to 3.5%. "After moderating over the past twelve months, there are tentative signs that annual house price growth may be stabilising close to the pace of earnings growth, which has historically been around 4%," says Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist,

  58. RBS sale: 'right thing to do,' says Osborne

    George Osborne, said:

    Quote Message: This is an important first step in returning the bank to private ownership, which is the right thing to do for the taxpayer and for British businesses: it will promote financial stability, lead to a more competitive banking sector, and support the interests of the wider economy. Now is the time for RBS to rebuild itself as a commercial bank, no longer reliant on the state, but serving the working people of Britain. I wasn't the Chancellor who bailed out RBS; but I am the Chancellor now responsible for doing the right thing for the British economy. So while the easiest thing to do would be to duck the difficult decisions and leave RBS in state hands; the right thing to do for the economy and for taxpayers is to start selling off our stake. So today that's what we're doing."
  59. BreakingBreaking News

    RBS sale price

    RBS shares were sold to institutional investors at a 2.5% discount to Mondays's closing price of 337.6p. That's about 7p discount on the share price, so around 330p per share. The sale of 630 million shares sold raised around £2.08bn.

  60. US-UK investment relations

    BBC Radio 4

    US flag at NYSE

    The CBI employers' group has done a report on UK investment into the US. Simon Moore, the CBI's International Director, says on Today that UK firms are the single biggest investors in the US, pumping in £519m a year according to latest available figures. The common bonds - language, culture, attitudes to business - remain as strong as ever, he says. He also points out that about a third of the investment total is made by UK manufacturing firms.

  61. RBS shares sale report

    Business writer and broadcaster tweets

  62. RBS shares sale 'flawed logic'

    Business writer and broadcaster tweets

  63. RBS shares sale 'flawed logic'

    Business writer and broadcaster tweets

  64. RBS sale: we should be 'grateful'

    Radio 5 live

    RBS logo

    Not everyone is critical of the government's RBS timing. James Bevan, of CCLA Investment Management, tells Wake Up to Money that we should be "grateful" the loss on RBS will be "relatively small". He says the intention was to rescue the bank in order to rescue the economy. He point out the intention was "never to make a profit from the shares".

  65. RBS sale: 'Wrong time, wrong price'

    BBC Radio 4

    RBS share price

    "The taxpayer is being short-changed," says Ian Gordon, head of banks research at Investec. He's on Today, talking about the government's sale of RBS shares, and is critical of the Treasury's timing. The shares could have been sold for a higher price in February when they were trading about 400p. In a year or two, RBS's recovery will probably mean the bank has a cash surplus, boosting the share price, he says. "There seems to be a complete absence of reference to price by selling at this time."

  66. Timing of RBS share sale a concern

    Radio 5 live

    Why sell RBS shares at the start of the summer holidays? Gemma Godfrey tells Wake Up to Money the timing might seem odd if the government wanted to get return as much money to the taxpayer. She points out that in February, the share price of the bank was 400p per share. Regardless of the intention when the bank was bailed out Ms Godfrey says the concern now must remain at least that "the taxpayer gets its money back". She adds that RBS shares could be open to retail investors in the future. It's worth pointing out that the first time the government was thought to be considering selling RBS shares back into the market was more than three years ago.

  67. City culture taking a long time to change

    Radio 5 live

    Kenneth Clarke

    "We have to make sure that those people that acted criminally are held to account and that we underline a change in culture with pretty strict enforcement, so that people aren't tempted to go back to the casino days of 2004/5 to 2007/08," former government minister Ken Clarke tells Wake Up to Money in the wake of Tom Hayes' conviction for Libor manipulation. Mr Clarke says the government is doing more to "prevent black money coming in" to London. But, he says, the culture in the City is taking longer to change. "We've gone in the right direction but we have got to make sure we don't slip back into the days when people who were extremely clever thought they could get away with virtually anything," he adds.

  68. Libor a result of sophisicated processes

    Radio 5 live

    Tom Hayes

    Tom Hayes has become the first person to be handed a criminal conviction for his involvement in the Libor rate rigging scandal. Former chancellor of the exchequer Ken Clarke, who was in government when Libor was first introduced in the late 1980s, tells Wake Up to Money the reason Mr Hayes and others were able to get away with rigging the Libor rate was that the systems and processes "became ever more sophisticated and clever in the mid-2000s". He adds: "One reason why people were able to get away with malpractice was that only a few people really knew what was going on."

  69. Government a 'reluctant shareholder' in RBS

    Radio 5 live

    RBS

    The government's desire to sell down its stake in RBS makes sense because "it is a reluctant shareholder", Gemma Godfrey, head of investment strategy at Brooks MacDonald tells Wake Up to Money. But will shareholders ever make their money back? She says in future sales shares will have to be sold at "a substantial profit" to the 502p average per share the government paid to bail out the bank back in 2008 and 2009. She also questions how the share price is going to get back to 500p given its continuing involvement in regulatory investigations and fines.

  70. Toyota suffering from recalls

    Radio 5 live

    Toyota logo

    Toyota has lost its place as the world largest carmaker. There are multiple reasons for this, but Tim Pollard executive editor of Car magazine tells Wake Up to Money one of the main problems in recent years is that Toyota has "sadly" become "connected with a number of major car recalls". Something like four million models have been affected by the Takata airbags recall alone, he says. Toyota has 41% market share in its home market of Japan, he adds, so this is quite a big deal.

  71. Get in touch

    Matthew West

    Business Reporter

    As always don't forget you can get in touch via email at businesslive@bbc.co.uk and on twitter @bbcbusiness

  72. Good Morning

    Matthew West

    Business Reporter

    Morning folks. We'll find out today just how much the taxpayer - that's us - has lost on the sale of the first tranche of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland. We also get a trading update from former RBS subsidiary Direct Line later, plus Nationwide building society's latest house price index, and Toyota's first quarter results are due out very shortly. We'll bring you those and everything else as it happens. Stay with us.