Capital Economics says that although 0.4% GDP growth for the three months to October was better than expected, it doesn't necessarily bode well for the final quarter of 2018...

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Sterling has fallen 0.21% on the dollar to $1.2691, following news reports in the Daily Mail and the Sun that Theresa May has called an emergency conference call with Cabinet ministers.

Political editors for the Sun and the Daily Mail said that a decision was pending on whether to pull tomorrow's vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal.

A new pipeline to help take gas from Shell's Shearwater platform to the St Fergus plant in Aberdeenshire has been announced.

The 23-mile (37km) link will join Shearwater, 140 miles (225km) east of Aberdeen, with the Fulmar Gas Line.

Shell said the move - part of the creation of a gas infrastructure hub in the central North Sea - would reduce costs.

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Capital Economics says that the weak UK growth figures are a reflection of the unwinding of some temporary factors that boosted growth in the third quarter, rather than a significant slowdown in underlying activity.

"In contrast to the downbeat tone of most of the survey indicators over the last few months rolling three-month GDP growth held up well at 0.4%," said Capital Economics' UK economist Thomas Pugh.

However, due in an easing in growth in services, Capital economics believes that fourth quarter growth will come in at about 0.3%.

"This would mean that GDP growth for 2018 as a whole would be around 1.3%, which would be the weakest annual expansion since the financial crisis," Mr Pugh added.

Reopening the Brexit withdrawal agreement is an option, Downing Street sources say.

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Turkish economic growth dwindled to 1.6% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, falling short of estimates of 2%, due to its currency crisis and soaring inflation

This is the worst performing quarter since the third quarter of 2016, following the attempted military coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.

A sell-off of the lira since January has driven up the costs of food and fuel, forcing Turkey's central bank to raise interest rates to 24%.

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Professor Costas Milas of the University of Liverpool's management school says that the slowdown in UK growth could help Theresa May tomorrow when Parliament votes on her Brexit withdrawal deal.

"The GDP figure signals a rapidly evolving deteriorating economic environment which should provide food for serious thought: I would be very surprised if (some) MPs decided not to condition, at least partly, their voting preference on the latest economic news," he said.

"The current economic environment could in fact worsen much further - at least in the short term - if MPs prolonged political uncertainty and added to our economic misery by bringing into the picture the prospect of yet another (unwanted) snap election and/or a second referendum - the outcome of which is still difficult to call."

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A court in London is expected to deliver a verdict shortly on whether the Indian tycoon, Vijay Mallya, must return to India to face fraud charges.

Mr Mallya, whose business empire once included Kingfisher beer, left India two and a half years ago after defaulting on debts of more than a billion dollars linked to a failing venture, Kingfisher Airlines.

Asked by the BBC if the charges against were political, Vijay Mallya said that it was “self-evident” and added “clearly this is extremely political, it’s really obvious.”

Mr Mallya was speaking ahead of his hearing.

Which industries saw the most growth in the last three months?

Image source, Cwm Taf University Health Board

Troubled government public services contractor Interserve has announced that it has been awarded a £25m contract by the Cwm Taf University Health Board.

The contract is part of the next phase of the £36m redevelopment of Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr, which is funded by Welsh Government.

In addition to refurbishing the hospital floors with a new pharmacy, kitchen and dining area, Interserve will also build a new staff changing area within the courtyard, construct new plant rooms, refurbish the first-floor main switch rooms; and build a new car park and external infrastructure.

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Commenting on the GDP figures for October, Rob Kent-Smith, head of national accounts Rob Kent-Smith, says: "GDP growth slowed going into the autumn after a strong summer, with a softening in services sector growth mainly due to a fall in car sales. This was offset by a strong showing from IT and accountancy.

“Manufacturing saw no growth at all in the latest three months, mainly due to a decline in the often-erratic pharmaceutical industry. Construction, while slowing slightly, continued its recent solid performance with growth in housebuilding and infrastructure.”

UK GDP rose by 0.4% in the three months to October, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That is a slowdown from the 0.6% growth recorded in the quarter to September.

New data showed GDP rose 0.1% in October. It is an improvement from a flat reading for monthly growth in both August and September.

From a small gain early this morning, sterling is now down 0.10% against the dollar at $1.2720.

The pound is down 0.26% against the euro at €1.1141.

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Controversial tycoon Vijay Mallya is waiting to learn whether he will be extradited to India to face charges of financial crimes.

Once called the "King of Good Times" due to his extravagant lifestyle, the businessman has been embroiled in financial scandals since 2012 and stands accused of fraud and money laundering - allegations he denies.

If he is sent home from the UK and found guilty, it will be a spectacular fall from grace for a man whose lifestyle brands have achieved global recognition and who has even spent time as a politician.

Read more here

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London shares have continued to slip, in line with other European stock markets, on the eve of the UK parliament's vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal.

The FTSE 100 is down 0.3% to 6,758.91, with the losers led by Barratt Developments, which has fallen 4% to 456p. Top of the winners is mining giant Randgold Resources, which has risen 1.5% to £67.66.

The FTSE 250 has dropped 113 points or 0.6% to 17,731.12. Top of the losers is Thomas Cook, which is down 7.8% to 28.5p as its shares continue to fall after its second profit warning in two months.

The top riser on the index is retirement financial services firm Just Group, which has jumped 18.8% to 96.3p.

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John Allan, president of the CBI, says that if MPs vote down Prime Minister Theresa May's EU withdrawal plan on Tuesday, they need to come up with another option.

He tells the Today programme: "If this is voted down tomorrow, I think it behoves our politicians to come up with a better alternative.

"After tomorrow, there's only 109 days until we leave the EU, and I think it would be very damaging indeed if we left without a deal."

He says: "If I were a political leader at this time - which thankfully I'm not - I'd be corralling all the party leaders and saying to them, 'look, we're going to sit here until we reach an agreement which gets us a better result'."

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More from the European Court of Justice's ruling that the UK can unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU.

It says: "In today’s judgment, the full court has ruled that, when a member state has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, as the UK has done, that member state is free to revoke unilaterally that notification.

"That possibility exists for as long as a withdrawal agreement concluded between the EU and that member state has not entered into force or, if no such agreement has been concluded, for as long as the two-year period from the date of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, and any possible extension, has not expired."

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Environment Secretary Michael Gove tells the BBC's Today programme that Tuesday's vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal agreement "is going to go ahead".