On year in the First Quarter of this year so weak but out performing many key economies across europe currently. But inflation seems to be coming under control atjust over 2 percent in february. Still, The Cost Of Living crisis has Hit Households hard in portugal, especially in key cities such as lisbon where a lack of Affordable Housing has become a major issue. To discuss whats at stake, im joined by Raquel Varela a historian at the new University Of Lisbon and author of a peoples history of the portuguese revolution. A warm welcome to the programme. Forviewers a warm welcome to the programme. For viewers around the world, could you put into context the political scene at the moment portugal . This new government in place this week, but instability going to be hanging over . But instability going to be hanuain over . ,. , ~ hanging over . Hello and thank ou ve hanging over . Hello and thank you very much hanging over . Hello and thank you very much for hanging over . Hello and thank you very much for the you very much for the invitation. First of all the political situation can just be understood if we look to the real social situation, according to recent study of a decade income, 70 of the portuguese have to work extra time or have an extra job to pay a normal bills or housing, food, etc. So, according to officialfigures, 48 food, etc. So, according to official figures, 48 of the portuguese are living in the poverty line, before social transparencies. The social situation, the so called Housing Crisis in lisbon, it was announced after 2008 of the banking sector, and of course of the European Union demands to cut the wages and increase the public debt, and this has led to the fact people could not afford to continue to pay their houses, so the government has decided in 2013, to change the law and sell the house, the houses to foreign investment. So, a volcanic situation. This has led to increased number of strikes and many of them with strikes and many of them with strike funds that were not traditional at least since the 805 and numerous of five, strikes out of traditional unions connected to more rank and file democratic unions. After 2008, and all this social situation, what has happened is that the right wing parties have divided and many parties including the Neofascist Party, that in the last elections one 1,100,000 votes. This means the current Prime Minister cannot govern either without the social democratic party, which in portugal is called the socialist party, or with the right wing with this Neofascist Party. So what we foresee is that this government will probably last more than one year until the next september, or october when the National Budget has to be approved. This is a key moment in portuguese politics because the National Budget as defined the stability and the ability to government or not. ~ , and the ability to government or not. ~ ,. Or not. Thank you very much because or not. Thank you very much because you or not. Thank you very much because you have or not. Thank you very much because you have in or not. Thank you very much because you have in a or not. Thank you very much because you have in a very l because you have in a very comprehensive answer given us a picture of what is happening in portugal and how tricky it is for the current government. From what youre saying it sounds like it cannot really push through key economic changes that are much needed because it does not have the backing, is that correct . Well, the parliamentary backing, is that correct . Well, the Parliamentary Support backing, is that correct . Well, the Parliamentary Support of. The Parliamentary Support of this government is extremely weak, since there are new parties, notjust the parties, not just the neofascist parties, notjust the Neofascist Party, there is also a new Neoliberal Party called liberal initiative, which is also a break of the traditional conservative party. So what we have seen is that either we have seen is that either we have what is called portugal a central block, which is a government between the Social Democrats and the conservatives, but these probably will just increase conservatives, but these probably willjust increase the Neofascist Party as a Protest Party against the central block, so the socialist do not want this kind of government. 0r want this kind of government. Or the conservative will decide the government with the neofascist, and this of course would be a total disaster because that is a matter of well, basic democratic rights that can be put in charge by this party stop thank you for your time. This party stop thank you for your time this party stop thank you for our time. ,. ,. , ~ your time. Interesting to take aet our your time. Interesting to take get your take your time. Interesting to take get your take on your time. Interesting to take get your take on what your time. Interesting to take get your take on what is get your take on what is happening in portugal. Raquel varela there. Here in the uk, some news that will put further pressure on the Bank Of England to cut Interest Rates sooner rather than later. A shop Price Inflation has eased to its lowest rate bank since December 2021 coming in at 1. 3 percent in march, down from 2. 5 percent in february, according to the latest data from the british retail consortium. This is good news for households who are seeing the cost of the food shop come down. Live now to jane foley head of fx strategy at rabobank. Once again, or evidence to show that inflation is headed in the right direction . It that inflation is headed in the right direction . Right direction . It certainly is even food right direction . It certainly is even food prices right direction . It certainly is even food prices and right direction . It certainlyl is even food prices and they have been quite sticky, food prices down for ten months but still at three 17 , still a little bit too high but certainly if we look at what the Bank Of England has forecast they think the official Consumer Price index, the official Inflation Measure hit the 2 target this spring but it could millrise a little bit more later on in the year, so we are nearly at that target, the question is can we sustain the 2 level, going through to the medium term . [30 through to the medium term . Do ou through to the medium term . Do you think the Bank Of England might move a little bit sooner thanjune, many are arguing june is the time when it feels it can start to reduce Interest Rates, your thoughts . Economists across the city are split between june, economists across the city are split betweenjune, june 20 and august one, there is a meeting in may but most people think thatis in may but most people think that is probably too soon because we still awaiting for my official Inflation Data and remember is from yesterday minimum wage met Minimum Wages went up and that will add to the cost base of Many Employers and make it more difficult for them to pass on price cuts because they are paying out more in wages will stop also that talks to Services Inflation, if you are in the business or Service Industry your biggest cost are your wage bills, and Services Inflation is running at 6. 1 which is too high, may probably too soon for an Interest Rate cut, june is live though the Bank Of England says every meeting is five but here we think august might be better. Watch this space, good to see. See again soon. The first phase of the uk governments expanded offer of funded childcare for Working Families in england came into effect this week. Working parents of two year olds will now get 15 hours per week of funded childcare during term time and from september, from nine months old, children will also be included. Live now to rajan lakhani, head of money at plum. A lot of concern about provision. You squeezed in good morning there is a lot of concern about Childcare Providers time and they find retention as a particular challenge. Retention as a particular challenue. ~ ,. , challenge. With your previous. Uest challenge. With your previous guest you challenge. With your previous guest you were challenge. With your previous guest you were talking challenge. With your previous guest you were talking about | challenge. With your Previousl Guest you were talking about a rise in the minimum wage although Staffing Costs have pressed for Childcare Providers the cost has increased yet they have not been receiving enough from the government to be able to deliver those Childcare Reforms until recently and the chancellor pledged this guaranteed rates which would be in place so they would get more money to fulfil the provision of childcare but because it has been the underfunding, over the past four years, it is still very challenging for Childcare Providers to be able to deliver this and it is this vision around the number of Childcare Providers to reduce what they providers to reduce what they provide but also some of the action of 1000 nursery bases as well, there is that bega valley at the moment between supply and demand. At the moment between supply and demand at the moment between supply and demand. Depends where you are, it is like and demand. Depends where you are, it is like a and demand. Depends where you are, it is like a postcode and demand. Depends where you are, it is like a postcode two are, it is like a postcode two in some cases it is difficult. Within months of a child being born they have to apply for a childcare place, we did some research not only is a Postcode Lottery issue can about what support is available, over two thirds appearance arc of views about Childcare Provisions there is lots of support available Free Childcare hours for tax Free Childcare hours for tax Free Childcare or child. It is confusing for parents. Depending on where you live and work this provision you might not be able to get that support stop if you live in a place where you cannot find a space. In a local nursery. What are your options . There arent any . It is difficult to get that support and people get on grandparents or other guardians there was child in that available to there are benefits from the government as well but there is also an option to pay for childcare as well and that is the thing these free hours are 15 and will rise to 30, but only across 38 weeks of the year, another 1a week post Free Childcare hours are not necessarily available. What Childcare Providers have to do is Charge HigherforChildcare Providers have to do is charge higher for those hours outside of three hours and Charge Higherfor extras as well for things like food and nappies and trips as well. It is a challenging environment for parents and you talked about inflation earlier, there is good news of food prices falling but on the other hand Council Tax Bills are going up, water bills are going up going and 1. 6 million households are remortgaging this year when you combine that with a challenging moment around childcare it is a difficult environment for families across the. Certainly is. Rajan certainly is. Thank you for your analysis. Lets get some of the days other news 110w. Shares of Donald Trumps social Media Company plunged 21 on monday. The drop wiped out the gains from its debut last week. It comes after the company disclosed it recorded 58 million in losses last year and admitted it would struggle to meet its financial liabilities going forward. Google has agreed to delete billions of records and submit to some restrictions on its power to track users, as part of a legal settlement. The deal aims to resolve a Class Action Lawsuit brought in the us in 2020 which accused the tech giant of invading peoples privacy by collecting user data even when they were browsing in private mode. The suit had sought 5 billion in damages. Google is supporting the deal, though it disputes the claims. The United States and britain has announced a new partnership on the science of Artificial Intelligence safety, amid growing concerns about upcoming next generation versions. Commerce secretary Gina Raimondo and British Technology secretary Michelle Donelan signed a memorandum of Understandingin Washington to jointly develop advanced ai model testing, following commitments announced at an ai Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in november. Tourisms latest frontier. We are looking into the growing trend of arctic travel. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. We are looking at the top business stories. Tesla could be facing a bumpy road ahead. Americas leading Electric Car Company is due to report how many cars it produced and delivered globally during the first three months of this year, possibly as early as today. And wall street is worried. For more on this, heres the bbc� s north America Business correspondent Michelle Fleury in new york. 0ne analyst called the start of this year a nightmare for tesla as he cut his Delivery Forecast from 475,000 to 425,000. Wall street is bracing for tesla to report its First Sales Decline in years. The last time that happened was during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020. So what is going on . Elon musk� S Car Company has suffered multiple setbacks. A fire at its gigafactory in berlin halted production. Higher Interest Rates, which put up borrowing costs, are also taking a toll and it has an ageing line up of vehicles. But it is the Chinese Market that investors are most worried about. Dan ives from Wedbush Securities blamed rising Ev Competition and a lingering price war for the challenges that the Company Faces in that market. The gloomy outlook, well, its driven teslas stock down roughly 30 since the start of this year. Still one bright spot it looks poised to retake the title of largest ev maker in the world from chinese rival byd, which on monday said it had sold around 300,000 evs during the quarter. And heres something that might help tesla and other makers of Electric Vehicles. A Senior Minister in the indian government, in charge of Road Transport has said the country will have no diesel or petrol vehicles in the future. But the minister didnt give any timeframe to fulfil this ambitious target. The bbc� s Arunoday Mukharji explains how challenging will it be to achieve this target. The minister making these comments while speaking to the Press Trust Of IndiaProminent National news agency said he wanted to get rid of the nearly 360 million petrol and diesel cars from indian roads. Surprisingly the minister did not say by when the government was planning to do this and any kind of ambitious target like this has challenges in a country like india. Here is why. While sales of Electric Vehicles have gradually been going up, the industry itself is still at a nascent stage, out of all cars running on indian roads, less than