As he prepares to do this again, hes trying to improve his partys fortunes. This morning, jeremy hunt was keeping his cards close to his chest as he toured the tv studios. But he did give this hint. I do want, where its possible to do so responsibly, to move towards a lower tax economy, and i hope to show a path in that direction. But this will be a prudent and responsible budget for long term growth. With roughly £13 billion to play with, thats less than hed hoped for. The chancellor is scrabbling around for ways to find more cash that would allow him to reduce taxes. And labour arent saying whether theyd prioritise tax cuts or not. So would you bring down taxes now . Well, we want to bring the tax burden down in the long run, but were not going to promise anything which is not completely responsible and fully funded and fully costed. And youll see all of our plans in the manifesto for getting the economy growing because that Economic Growth is so crucial to making People Better off, and for getting that sustainable revenue for public services. Behind the doors of number 11, the calculations are both financial and political. The chancellor is under enormous pressure from conservative backbenchers to deliver tax cuts on a scale that they think they can sell on the doorstep. But the economy is in recession, Interest Rates are still relatively high compared to recent years, and evenjeremy hunts power to do anything that makes people feel significantly better off is limited. Thats because he set himself a target of Getting National debt pulling in five years time. A rule one former Bank Of England Economist Says should be tweaked. He isnt convinced that the chancellors plans for growth will come off. People are still feeling poorer, and theyre feeling poorer, laura, because they are poorer. The tax take is going up, not down. Monetary policy is getting tighter, not looser. And all of those are big headwinds for growth that make me think this is another year of fogginess. And as the work to dot the is and cross the ts of wednesdays budget gets under way, the chancellor and the Prime Minister know it will take a significant announcement before many voters can smile about the budgeting theyre doing at home. Hannah miller, bbc news. This budget, what may be in it and not be in it is all over this mornings front page which you can see on our website. You can look at the papers of course. Lets speak now to dan kemp chief research and Investment Officer at morningstar good morning to you. The chancellor says we are on a path to lower taxes. What does that look like, do you think . Hello, sally. Its been a huge week as you say and the chancellor will be focused very much on that front but were not sure how far along that path you will be able to get this week or this year because he has very little room to manoeuvre. As you heard in that piece, the spectre of that Disaster Autumn Budget hangs over this, everyone understands stability is the most important thing and so theres very little jeremy hunt thing and so theres very littlejeremy hunt can do this week and anything that he is likely to do will be accused of being irresponsible. Likely to do will be accused of being irresponsible. Lets talk about what being irresponsible. Lets talk about what has being irresponsible. Lets talk about what has changed being irresponsible. Lets talk about what has changed as i being irresponsible. Lets talk i about what has changed as well. Since the last time he stood at the dispatch box with various ideas about the economy. Inflation has come down significantly, however the economy has gone into recession at the end of last year. Talk us through the changes and what that means in terms of how much money the chancellor has to play with and how that has changed in recent months . When we started the changed in recent months . When we started the period changed in recent months . Wren we started the period beginning with autumn than it was very little had they expected. I was at the back of the and more recently that expected to hit and reduce taxes and spending has reduced but the most important to remember about this is its not really had room. Its based on a forecast for what will happen in the next five years. A lot of the so called headroom that the chancellor is dealing with is coming in years four and five and that is very uncertain for how, its a bit like spending a bonus in a job you have not gone yet. Its very uncertain whether you have that and you dont know what will lay a head and the danger for dont know what will lay a head and the dangerforjeremy dont know what will lay a head and the Danger Forjeremy Hunt is he spends based on that headroom and it disappears very quickly. The situation is worse than it was in the autumn statement, was that it was in the beginning of the air and the beginning of the air and the economy is a tough space and with higher interest, very difficult for him to do anything that will please the economists and his party this week. ,. , week. You mentioned the economists week. You mentioned the economists and week. You mentioned the economists and the week. You mentioned the| economists and the party. Week. You mentioned the economists and the party. Also in his mindset is voters as well. Also, he is very aware of the reaction to the infinite Liz Truss Mini budget and the mayhem that caused on Financial Markets globally. Your sense of what is happening this wednesday, people are fairly calm from that Point Of View . I think they are calm but they were reasonably calm before the last time as well. We see is how quickly Investor Sentiment can change, it changed literally a couple of hours after the disastrous mini budget. We know things change quickly if you get this wrong from an Investor Perspective we are always looking for stability. Its a novel investment and thats why he has to start this week and if you can do something to help the political fortunes of the party that he will try to do that, beyond anything else he will want to aim for stability and aim to keep the markets confident and fairly quiet as we get through. Confident and fairly quiet as we get through. Thank you so much and we get through. Thank you so much and we we get through. Thank you so much and we will we get through. Thank you so much and we will see we get through. Thank you so much and we will see you we get through. Thank you so i much and we will see you again soon, have a good week. It will be an interesting one that is special. Now lets head down under. A special summit is taking place in australia with leaders from asean countries to commemorate 50 years of relations. Australia is looking to strengthen relations across asia as it pivots away from china and looks to build economic and diplomatic alternatives. According to recent figures, asean accounts for nearly 15 of australias overall trade greater than australias bilateral trade with japan, the us, or the european union. Live now to dr Bryce Wakefield Executive Director of Australian Institute of international affairs. Welcome to the programme. For the australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this is a really important event, talk us through what is at stake . Asean is an increasingly through what is at stake . Asean is an increasingly important is an increasingly important partner for australia. It exhibits strong growth, so it is going to be a fundamentally important to growing the economy as well in australia. There are Strong Manufacturing centres and its an important geopolitical entity in the region. It shies away from geopolitical debates but it is essential to australias external security, especially indonesia and the approaches to australia. Here i think there is a bit of a difference between what canberra sees and what some of the other couples in asean see as the priority. That may be reflected in some differences that will be discussed next week. What can we meet discussed next week. What can we expect from discussed next week. What can we expect from the discussed next week. What can we expect from the summit we expect from the summit in terms of deals done . We expect from the summit in terms of deals done . There are deals being terms of deals done . There are deals being done terms of deals done . There are deals being done at terms of deals done . There are deals being done at the terms of deals done . There are | deals being done at the moment around setting up Investment Teams which will be very important in terms of removing barriers to investment between the two entities between asean and australia. They will be very welcome because at the moment investment is actually quite anaemic. It will look at 2 way investment, for example, between asean and australia is Something Like 300 billion which if you compare to new zealand which has less than i of the population of asean, new zealand has to those of that, around 200 billion. Kariong, sor i around 200 billion. Kariong, sorry i was around 200 billion. Kariong, sorry i was interrupting around 200 billion. Kariong, sorry i was interrupting you. | around 200 billion. Kariong, sorry i was interrupting you. I | sorry i was interrupting you. I was going to ask you if china was going to ask you if china was watching this with interest or if it is not that phased by what australia is doing . I cannot see china being particularly phased with that. Australias relationship with asean has been on a developing pace over the last decade or so. I have to say that the current foreign minister penny wong in australia has had a particularly deft diplomatic relationship with asean countries. I dont think china is too worried about it, its looking at of the relations with the region and will be far more concerned about domestic developments among asean states. , ~ ,. , developments among asean states. , ~ ~ ,. , states. Thank you. Appreciate our states. Thank you. Appreciate your analysis states. Thank you. Appreciate your analysis on states. Thank you. Appreciate your analysis on that. Over in china, thousands of delegates are preparing to meet in beijing as the annual parliamentary meeting begins on tuesday. Its a time where the government outlines its economic plan for the year. But china is facing a number of challenges and many are hoping the government will unveil some bold policies to help give the economy a much needed boost. Heres our Business Reporter katie silver. When it comes to the economy, chinas officials or any difficult position. The countrys difficult position. The country� s post difficult position. The countrys post pandemic economic recovery has been disappointing. Youth on a planet is high, local governments are saddled with debt and people are not having babies. Raising questions about the future workforce. Was not forget that is all before the downturn in the real estate sector which accounts for about a quarter of the economy. Thats been going on for almost three years and falling Property Prices are hurting consumer confidence. People are less willing to spend and also unlike in much of the rest of the world, prices in china are falling and all that may feel come in the short term it also signals things are not well with the economy. Thats what is happening inside china. From the outside restrictions on ship exports are hurting the countrys tech ambitions. All in all its a very tricky situation to make policies for. Beijing has been trying, the central bank has been cutting key Interest Rates to boost the economy. State owned banks promised to keep lending to struggling Property Developers but beijing has not shown any question to spend money to help turn the economic fortunes run. And our limited stools in the arsenal to fix things. The premier special be closely watched, who is expected to announce chinas Economic Growth target for the year and many are hoping a roadmap to get the country back to boom times again. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. ,. ,. , the uk. This allterrain wheelchair the uk. This allterrain wheelchair has the uk. This allterrain| wheelchair has changed the uk. This allterrain wheelchair has changed joshs life. £15 wheelchair has changed joshs life. ,. , wheelchair has changed joshs life. , a, a, wheelchair has changed joshs life. ,. , life. 45 years ago was the last time i life. 45 years ago was the last time i came life. 45 years ago was the last time i came up life. 45 years ago was the last time i came up here life. 45 years ago was the last time i came up here when life. 45 years ago was the last time i came up here when i i life. 45 years ago was the last i time i came up here when i used to be able to walk and got this chair 1. 5 to be able to walk and got this chairi. 5 years ago to be able to walk and got this chair 1. 5 years ago and it was all those Childhood Memories coming back, this is what it is capable of doing is getting people the freedom and independence that they lost because of the condition. Although he had a Muscle Wasting Condition since childhood, josh is not a man who likes to take it easy. I knew this would be a challenge and i knew it was a route that would be potentially accessible stop i saw another person go up in a Power Chairand i stop i saw another person go up in a power chair and i thought if you can do it than i can. Injune hill rest of the top of snowdon, against someone with the same condition, raising money for off road wheelchairs. Not many know about these jazz existing and it is part of the reason of Raising Awareness that the chairs are out there. For more stories from across the uk, for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website youre live with bbc news. Now lets talk about bitcoin, because the crypto currency has been on quite a rally seeing its best month for over 2 years, jumping more than 40 in value in february. Today its trading above 64,000. So what is going on with bitcoin and why is it happening now . Connor sephton is an independent Crypto Journalist and podcaster. Good morning to you. Im guessing you have been busy, have you . Have you . Furiously busy, thou h have you . Furiously busy, though so have you . Furiously busy, though so much have you . Furiously busy, though so much going have you . Furiously busy, though so much going on | have you . Furiously busy, i though so much going on as always in the crypto space. What is causing this surge right now, february, why february . Right now, february, why februa . � ,. ,. , february . Theres two factors. One of them february . Theres two factors. One of them is february . Theres two factors. One of them is the february . Theres two factors. One of them is the approval i february . Theres two factors. One of them is the approval ofj one of them is the approval of Exchange Traded funds for bitcoin in the us. There are now ten in operation, blackrock and Fidelity Investments are the two biggest and blackrock is seeing 10 billion flow into that fund and what this means is american investors can gain exposure to Bitcoin Price without owning it directly. The other factor which comes in april is an event, a rare event known as the halving which will see the number of new bitcoin that enters the market every day he slashed by 50 . So where do we no day he slashed by 50 . So where do we go from day he slashed by 50 . So where Do We Go From Here . Day he slashed by 50 . So where Do We Go From Here . Is day he slashed by 50 . So where Do We Go From Here . Is it day he slashed by 50 . So where Do We Go From Here . Is it going l Do We Go From Here . Is it going to start coming down significantly again anytime soon or is it on an upward trajectory for a while . Im asking you to look into your crystal ball. flit asking you to look into your crystal ball. Asking you to look into your crystal ball. Of course, if you ask enthusiasts crystal ball. Of course, if you ask enthusiasts they crystal ball. Of course, if you ask enthusiasts they are ask enthusiasts they are adamant that 100,000 of bitcoin is a realistic target, others like jp bitcoin is a realistic target, others likejp morgan think we are going to fall back to 42,000, april or stop the real factor is theres a new swell of investment coming from institutions and Retail Investors through etf that bitcoin has never had before and the fact that blackrock is involved, the Worlds Largest Asset Manager is really adding Asset Manager is really adding a sheen of credibility to bitcoin. This is a significant element to crypto but it remains volatile as ever. It does and also the scandal surrounding other crypto currencies or providers of platforms to trade on, they keep rolling in, dont they . They do. Isnt It Interesting that we have seen ftx collapse, one of the worlds biggest exchanges coming to some of the coulta in recent months and now we have a huge Wall Street Giant actually leading charged with the price rises. Its unbelievable when you think about Bitcoin Being established to be an alternative to Central Banks and traditional finance. Now traditionalfinance banks and traditional finance. Now traditional finance is really into bitcoin. Now traditional finance is really into bitcoin. What you think will really into bitcoin. What you think will happen really into bitcoin. What you think will happen in the really into bitcoin. What you i think will happen in the months ahead when it comes to regulation . Ahead when it comes to reuulation . ,. ,. , regulation . That is a really aood regulation . That is a really good question. Regulation . That is a really good question. I regulation . That is a really good question. I think regulation . That is a reallyl good question. I think there are some within the securities and Exchange Commission in the us who are banging their heads on their desks because there is an inaction surrounding regulation and argue that this means consumers are not protected and there are not clear rules to follow. But it moves so fast that regulars are always behind the curve but the sec approving this in and of itself is quite significant development. We itself is quite significant development. Itself is quite significant development. Itself is quite significant develoment. ~ ,. , development. We will rely on ou to development. We will rely on you to keep development. We will rely on you to keep us development. We will rely on you to keep us uptodate, l development. We will rely on i you to keep us uptodate, ok . You to keep us up to date, 0k . Thank you very much. You to keep us uptodate, ok . Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much thank you very much. Thank you very much its thank you very much. Thank you very much. As he thank you very much. Thank you very much. As he says, thank you very much. Thank you very much. As he says, it very much. As he says, it is moving very much. As he says, it is moving very very much. As he says, it is moving very fast very much. As he says, it is moving very fast all very much. As he says, it is moving very fast all the i very much. As he says, it is l moving very fast all the time. Now have you travelled through Dubai Airport . Chances are many of you have as it is the Busiest International airport in the world outside of the us. Weve been talking to its boss, who says he considers the Pandemic Recovery to be over, and his airport will see Passenger Numbers above levels never seen before. Paul griffiths spoke to my colleague, sura njana tewari. We are more than 100 of where we were Pre Pandemics of recovery for us is already happening. Growth actually is already looking very strong, ourjanuary numbers were very strong indeed. In month one of 2024, we already have revised upward our projection for the year, it was 88. 8 million and is now over 90 million. Expectations are pretty strong and we do think we will exceed our record Passenger Numbers that we recorded Pre Pandemics during the course of this year. There are a lot of global headwinds at the moment, high Interest Rates, staff s ho rta g es, Interest Rates, staff shortages, and plain grounding is. How are you dealing with all those headwinds . The very fortunate position all those headwinds . The very fortunate position is all those headwinds . The very fortunate position is we i fortunate position is we arguably spread business, i thought it was population is within four hours flying time and with 240s nations in 104 Different Countries with 95 our lives, having a business which serves all four corners of the earth makes us incredibly resilient and despite what happened across the geopolitical scene and to the world economy, we find there is some sort of counterbalance that normally happens, one region may suffer a little bit but others rebound very quickly. The Growth Markets at the moment are india, saudi, the moment are india, saudi, the uk, traditionally very large markets for us have been our top three for some considerable time. The thing is because we are slightly challenged with space this is why the impetus to invest in technology is so strong and that enables us to continue to grow our Customer Base and allow more slots and capacity for our lines. Allow more slots and capacity for our lines. How do you hope to maintain for our lines. How do you hope to maintain an for our lines. How do you hope to maintain an edge for our lines. How do you hope to maintain an edge of for our lines. How do you hope to maintain an edge of your. To maintain an edge of your competitors . To maintain an edge of your cometitors . ~. ,. ,. , , competitors . What has happened is the transit competitors . What has happened is the Transit Elements competitors . What has happened is the Transit Elements of competitors . What has happened is the Transit Elements of our i is the Transit Elements of our Customer Base has declined in favour of point to point travellers which is now 60 of our total market which is 40 Pre Pandemics. That resulted in huge increase in the number of visitors to do by, 70 million during 2022 and a Multiplication Effect in economic terms is very significant. 0bviously economic terms is very significant. Obviously we can earn more money through people coming to stay and live in the city than people who are just passing through the airport. It is interesting how other competitors in the region, in qatar and its trying to invest heavily in market share of the transit passenger market. We have a huge market share and the largest International Airport and plan to stay that way. He is ambitious. Paul griffiths the ceo of Dubai Airport. Finally lets talk about the growing business of esports. Millions of dollars in prize money is awarded every year at global events. The Esports Industry connects fans of Popular Online games with the top players in the field and now teams brands and organisations have emerged with players signing contracts, gaining sponsors, and receiving lucrative endorsement deals. But its the Real Time Data that is crucial making superstars of the players and enabling betting opportunities in the sector. Bayes esports is the worlds leading esports data supplier. I spoke to the boss, martin dachselt. We have different tools to extract data and thats different to traditional sport where you manually scour data with an application either yourself to match and we either have a direct connection to the api of a Game Publisher when we get hundreds of data points per second directly out of the game server or we have our own tools which can act like a game client and extract them, the data points in the game. We use Video Analysis Tools to extracted from the video signal so definitely a different way and we take the data and sanitise them, formatted in a unique format and put them in different codecs. For the betting industry, utilisation for fans to understand better what is going on in the game. What challenges have you had in providing this service for both those who watch esports and compete and of course appetisers betting agencies . Esports is a very agile sport. Its very fragmented so you have a lot of tournament organisers and you dont have a sport body like fifa which oversees all that. You need to approach and negotiate the different tournament organisers and because esports is very young they do not have such clear words as traditional sports. Matches are changed very often, team names and teams are suspended and new teams are suspended and new teams are suspended and new teams are formed. You have less data of the history and additional to that, unlike traditional sports where the rules hardly change, in esports we have matches, patches like illegal legends multiple times a year which may change the game a bit but week of legends. Game a bit but week of legends legends. Which country is winnin legends. Which country is winning in legends. Which country is winning in the legends. Which country is winning in the esports i legends. Which country is i winning in the esports arena . Thats hardly to say, in asia it is a topic and each region has its own games titles which are successful. If you look at europe you have counterstrike and league of legend, in Eastern Europe you have dota and other countries have titles like crossfire. It depends on the region, asia is a tremendous success with league of legend and the limbic stadium was fully booked. You see hundreds of millions of fans. , � see hundreds of millions of fans. , ~. I. Fans. How will ai impact your business fans. How will ai impact your business going fans. How will ai impact your business Going Forward . I fans. How will ai impact your business Going Forward . We | fans. How will ai impact your i business Going Forward . We use ai business Going Forward . We use al to and Machine Business Going Forward . We use al to and Machine Learning i business Going Forward . We use al to and Machine Learning to i al to and Machine Learning to create Prediction Models and since the start of the company we are very familiar with that. In the future i expect that it will present the highlight in a game automatically for the fans and if we were better understanding what happened and what was the outstanding actions in the image. The Chief Executive of bays is sports. Lets see how the asian markets are faring on wall street. The price of oil was being watched carefully the price of oil was being watched carefully because the price of oil was being watched carefully because of the week and the biggest producers agreed to extend Production Cuts for an additional three months. The members led by saudi arabia and russia said they would continue to cut oil by 2. 2 Million Barrels every day putting pressure on prices. Interestingly prices went up on the remedy would make the decision is as you can see the reaction so far has been witty flat on the news which is often the case. Thats all from me for now, have a lovely day and i will see you soon. Hello. We did have a bit of spring sunshine around on sunday, but the clear skies are lasting through the night. The winds are fairly light, too, so temperatures are really dropping. Its going to be quite a chilly start to your monday morning could be A Touch Of Frost and some mist and fog patches. They should clear away. Therell be a bit more rain moving into the southwest later on in the day, but for most of us, its going to be a fine, bright, chilly start. Some fog, perhaps the vale of york, the welsh marches, central, Southern England as well that clearing away by around the middle of the morning. Theres the rain thats going to push into the southwest of england into wales by around about lunchtime. A few splashes of rain arriving across Northern Ireland later in the afternoon. But generally further north and east, you should stay dry for a good part of the day and temperatures will range between around 7 12 degrees. Now, moving into monday evening, thats when the patchy rain pushes its way further eastwards across parts of england, Eastern Scotland as well, tending to fizzle out a bit as it does so. Itll be another fairly chilly night as we head into Tuesday Morning for some parts of wales, central and Southern England as well, but not as cold as the current night. Now, as we move through monday night into tuesday, then this area of low pressure, this Weather Front continues to drift its way eastwards, but its tending to fizzle out. So, i think early tuesday, we are likely to see a bit of cloud and patchy light rain for Eastern England and Eastern Scotland. Once that clears away, sunny spells for most. A little bit more cloud and a few showers in the west around some of these irish sea coasts. But reasonably light winds, temperatures not doing too badly up to around about 8 12 degrees, so pretty typical for this stage in early march. And, then as we look towards the middle of the week, then, were going to see High Pressure sitting across scandinavia. Weather fronts try and move in from the atlantic, but as they bump into that area of High Pressure, theyre not going to make too many inroads. So, for wednesday, perhaps some showery rain moving into the Far Southwest of england, perhaps Northern Ireland, a little bit breezy here. But for much of the british isles, i think things are looking dry and settled. Again, some Early Morning mist, frost and fog possible, clearing away to leave sunny spells and thankfully a dry spell of weather with highs around about 8 12 for most of us. So, as we look towards the middle part of the week, into thursday and friday, plenty of dry weather. Could be odd spots of rain, particularly towards the west. Temperatures fairly typical of the time of year, and i think many of us will be pleased to see this quieter spell of weather through the week ahead. Bye bye. Good morning, welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and sally nugent. 0ur headlines today. Pressure grows on the chancellor jeremy hunt to announce tax cuts in wednesdays budget his last before a General Election. Its a big week for chancellorjeremy hunt. Theres lots of speculation that hell cut National Insurance again but questions remain about how he will balance the books. Ill be looking at the options. A senior hamas official tells the bbc that it is impossible to provide a list of israeli hostages who are still alive, while the territory is being bombed. In sport, peps delight with blue the colour, as city come from behind to beat rivals united in the manchester derby. Good morning. There is frost and fog around this one, which were left, and for many it will be a largely dry day but we do have some rain from the south west slowly pushing north eastwards. All the details later in the programme. Its monday the 4th of march. Our main story. The chancellor, jeremy hunt, is under growing pressure to introduce tax cuts in wednesdays budget ahead of what could be a crucial week for the government. This budget is the last before the next General Election and with backbench conservatives eager to see taxes lowered from their current levels before voters head to the polls, the stakes for mr hunt and the Prime Minister rishi sunak are high. 0ur political correspondent, hannah miller, has the story