Podcasts

There's a warning this year is your last cheap Christmas dinner - because of the EU exit. Inflation reached a two-year high last month, according to official statistics. The slump in Sterling since the referendum has bumped up the price of imports and the cost of key ingredients like butter, sugar and even Turkey. Georgie Frost checked in with Lesley Negus from Thrifty Lesley from the Moneyblogger community to find out about how to provide the festive food of your choice without breaking the bank.

Georgie Frost is joined in the studio by Tom Church, Co-Founder of www.latestdeals.co.uk. Today on the agenda, they discuss boosting your pension pot, the Southern Rail train strikes and dealing with the Post Office despite yet more strikes so close to Christmas. All these stories and more on The News Review.

YouTube says its paid the music industry $1bn (£794m) in royalties this year. But that's still not enough according to record companies. They say YouTube does not pay a fair rate to musicians and record labels, and is slow to police illegal and pirated material uploaded by its users. Nine of the 10 most-watched clips on YouTube are music videos, topped by Psy's "Gangnam Style." James Brydges has been finding out more from music law expert Elliot Chalmers.

Jack Sommers of The Huffington Post joined Share Radio Breakfast to give his weekly politics round-up. Chancellor Philip Hammond has called for transitional arrangements to “smooth” Britain’s exit from the EU. What did Jack make of this, and is there the possibility of a cabinet split? Jack also discusses the political implications of the Southern Rail strikes, and gives his take on the events in Aleppo.

Iran's state airline says it's signed a $16.6 billion deal with US aircraft maker Boeing. Iran Air will buy 80 passenger planes as part of a 10-year deal, in the biggest business agreement between the US and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. So is this the first big sign of a thawing relationship, or will matters be complicated by President-Elect Trump's indication of anti-Iranian policies? Matt Cox spoke to Howard Wheeldon, Founder of Wheeldon Strategic Advisory, to find out more.

Italy's largest bank, UniCredit, has announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs by 2019. It may also say it will raise €13 billion euros in the country's biggest share issue, to clean up its balance sheet and boost longer-term profitability. The move comes at a troubled time for Italian banks and the economy, with the country's third-largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, at risk of failure. Bruce Packard is a Senior Analyst at bank rating and advisory organisation, Lafferty Group, and he joined Share Radio Breakfast to discuss.

The UK is building 15% fewer homes than it was in the five years before the downturn in 2008, according to a new report by Carter Jonas that has laid bare the disjointed residential construction industry. For more on this, Lee Layton, a Research Analyst at Carter Jonas, joined Share Radio Breakfast to offer an insight into the research.

Barclays has agreed to sell its French retail banking operations to European private equity firm, AnaCap Financial Partners. This follows the UK bank’s decision to sell its credit arms in Spain and Portugal. The bank says it's going to focus on its core markets in the UK and US. So is this the Barclays equivalent of Brexit? Share Radio’s Matt Cox spoke to Jeremy Cook, Chief Economist from World First, to find out more about the decision and what it will mean.

India's monetary credibility took a hit following the government's decision to remove large denomination notes from circulation one month ago. Prices in the country have reportedly collapsed and consumer sales fell by as much as 30% in November. Now, rating agency Fitch has cut its growth forecast for the country from 7.4% to 6.9% and some economists believe the damage could be even worse. Robert Van Egghen reports.

Gadgets and Gizmos with Share Radio's technology editor Steve Caplin.