The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported growth of 0.1% for the final quarter of 2025 - mirroring the 0.1% figure covering July to September - worse than the 0.2% expected by many economists. Growth of 0.1% was measured for December, with activity easing following the pre-November slowdown partly blamed on nerves among consumers and the private sector ahead of the budget. Money latest: Chain crowned nation's favourite supermarket for fifth time The data was worse when growth was measured by head of population - a more accurate measure of the country's living standards - with output down across the second half of 2025. ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said of its findings: "The economy continued to grow slowly in the last three months of the year, with the growth rate unchanged from the previous quarter. "The often-dominant services sector showed no growth, with the main driver instead coming from manufacturing. "Construction, meanwhile, registered its worst performance in more than four years. "The rate of growth across 2025 as a whole was up slightly on the previous year, with growth seen in all main sectors. "Initial estimates show GDP per head was up on the previous year despite it contracting slightly in each of the last two quarters." The data was released as the government remains under pressure to incentivise investment against a backdrop of complaints over Treasury-imposed business costs that have hit employment. Growth for the economy has been front and centre of Labour's priorities for power from the off but its stewardship has been criticised by business groups, especially in the retail and hospitality sectors. It also emerged this week that a senior member of the cabinet agreed. The Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Lord Mandelson via a message in March last year, shared with Sky News this week, that the government had "no growth strategy at all". Separately, a report by a committee of MPs on Wednesday demanded a series of reforms to arrest business closures and decline on the high street - including cutting costs, overhauling business rates and ending late payments. The Business and Trade Committee found that small businesses were now operating under pressures similar to, and in some cases worse than, those experienced during the COVID pandemic. Firms have widely admitted passing on higher employment costs while the UK's unemployment rate has risen by a full percentage point to 5.1% since the government took office in 2024. Investment is being held back, business groups say, by not only higher costs but also wider uncertainties including the effects of Donald Trump's trade war. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said of the growth figures: "Thanks to the choices we have made, we've seen six interest rate cuts since the election, inflation falling faster than predicted and ours is the fastest growing G7 economy in Europe. "The Government has the right economic plan to build a stronger and more secure economy, cutting the cost of living, cutting the national debt and creating the conditions for growth and investment in every part of the country." Inflation is forecast to ease sharply in the coming months after 18 months of upwards pressure on the pace of price increases. But economists largely see 2026 just undershooting the 1.3% growth figure seen in 2025. Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said he expected activity to pick up in the coming months but forecast growth of 1% for this year. "Renewed uncertainty has emerged as a risk to the growth outlook this year. To avoid hindering economic growth momentum, households and businesses need stable foundations and policy clarity", he wrote, mirroring demands from opposition parties for a U-turn on business burdens imposed by the chancellor to unlock private sector investment.

A post on his own Instagram account and that of his wife's said he had "met his final days with courage, faith and grace". The actor revealed in 2024 he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. The statement said: "Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. "He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. "For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend." Van Der Beek shot to fame through Dawson's Creek, which ran from 1998 to 2003, following a group of high school friends. Then 20, he played 15-year-old Dawson Leery along with the show's other stars Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson. It was hugely popular, turning Van Der Beek into a household name in the US and UK, where it was shown on terrestrial TV. He also starred in the film, Varsity Blues, in which he played Jonathan 'Mox' Moxon, the backup quarterback of a high school football team. 'He will always be family to me' He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah. Tributes were paid to Van Der Beek immediately after the news. His Dancing With The Stars partner, Emma Slater, who appeared with him on the show in 2019, said: "I'm so devastated. "He is and will always be family to me. Love you so much James. The man that you are, you can be proud of. "So grateful that I got to be there to say goodbye to you." 'I am broken' Actor and close friend, Alfonso Ribeiro, who starred in The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, said: "I am broken. So happy to have him in my life. Lucky I got to be there to say goodbye." Van Der Beek made a surprise video appearance at a Dawson's Creek reunion charity event, in September, in New York. He had previously dropped out due to illness. He appeared projected on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre during a live reading of the show's pilot episode, to benefit F Cancer. Read more:Gwyneth Paltrow leads tributes to designer ValentinoAnthony Joshua pays tribute to friends killed in Nigeria crash Van Der Beek said: "Thank you to every single person here." Van Der Beek was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, and began acting aged 13 after suffering concussion playing football, which prevented him playing for a year on doctor's orders.

They were babies born into the age of the iPad, the smartphone and social media and have grown up in what I call the digital Wild West. From the iPads when they were younger, to the smartphones at secondary school, raising children against the backdrop of the explosion of social media, gaming platforms, and artificial intelligence has been like trying to navigate a new frontier without a playbook. It has been a constant battle to balance the benefits of using technology - be it creative play on Minecraft or Roblox - while trying to keep them safe in these spaces where chatrooms are rife and protect their growing minds. I have had countless conversations with friends as we fret about the possible erosion of our kids' attention spans or obsession with screens. As my kids have got older, online platforms have given them a space to socialise with friends while gaming, or revise in groups online. But I've also been confronted with the challenge of attempting to limit screen time and restrict - or ban - the use of social media, be it Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram. It's made all the harder when all their peers are using these apps to communicate and socialise. There is an almost intoxicating draw for this stuff for teens who naturally want to break boundaries, are led by their peers and want to impress. Social media impacts them and their relationships at a critical period of both exploration and vulnerability. Research shows social media drives poor body image in girls and can lead to self-harm. Boys can find themselves exposed to toxic masculinity and misogyny. The TV series Adolescence became a global conversation because it captured a zeitgeist global in its reach - how our children are growing up in the digital age, and how as parents can we protect them. Read more from Sky News:Do you know what your kids see online?Instagram and YouTube 'engineer addiction' So when I say my experience of raising children in the age of social media and smartphones has been anxiety-inducing, time-consuming and, at times, conflict-inducing, I think many of you reading this might feel the same. Like the Wild West frontier of the 19th century, this technological frontier of the 21st century is rapidly expanding, lawless, and lacking in institutional regulation. It is populated by some good actors and many bad ones. That's why I can completely sympathise with the parents now screaming to the politicians that they want to turn it off and stop under-16s using social media. It is a conversation that has been turbocharged by Australia's decision in December to bring in a social media ban for under-16s and a series of landmark trials brought by parents in the US to hold the world's biggest social media companies responsible for harms to children. Spain and Greece are also considering bans as pressure builds on the government to act. Could the UK really ban social media for kids? In the House of Lords, peers have tabled an amendment to the schools bill for an under-16s social media ban. The Conservatives are pushing hard on it and polling suggests two in three adults in the UK back the ban. In response, the government last month launched a three-month consultation into how to better protect kids online, looking at a possible social media ban, better age verification to ensure kids aren't accessing inappropriate content, removing features that drive addictive behaviours to doom-scrolling, and limiting screen time for young people. Liz Kendall, the cabinet minister for science, innovation, and technology leading that consultation, met me at a school in London earlier this week to talk to some teenagers about their online experiences as part of the government consultation. She tells me she's had "hundreds and hundreds of letters from parents saying they want a ban" but says she is undecided and weighing up the evidence. "Organisations like the NSPCC, the Molly Rose Foundation, the Internet Watch Foundation, who warn about the risks of a ban, argue that if you have a ban it will all just push it underground - that young people will find a way around it," she says. "That is why we're consulting not only on whether a ban is the right way forward, but other measures. "How do you much more tightly regulate platforms and have proper age verification measures? Could you have curfews so that there's a break overnight? Or emergency breaks to stop doom-scrolling? "We also want to look at this issue of VPNs, which we know young people can use to get around this. So, we want to look at all the options." 'Parents are right to demand action' But the government has come under criticism for not clamping down on the tech companies with the powers they already have. Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose foundation - set up in memory of Molly Russell, who took her own life aged just 14 after viewing suicide and self-harm content online - tells me that for "far too many years, tech firms have been able to sit on their hands when it comes to children's safety". "Successive governments have chosen to either do nothing or to make triangulated responses," he says. "You know, when you look at the Online Safety Act, it was watered down, it took years to get on to the statute book. "It's now being enforced by Ofcom in a really unambitious way. Parents are right to look at the services and the products their children are using and say, 'this is outrageous, we need to see action'." Is No 10 scared of the tech bros? Ask inside government and the view from some working in this space is that tech regulation had been put on a back burner. One government insider told me it was for fear of No 10 angering big US tech, and, in turn, Donald Trump and his administration. But that is beginning to change. Last week, Ms Kendall and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips announced plans to work with tech giants, including Microsoft, on a "world first" deepfake detection initiative to recognise deep fakes and "set clear expectations" for industry detection standards. It comes days after the UK regulator opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk's xAI and X over its compliance with UK law after claims the chatbot Grok was used to generate sexual deepfake images without consent. When I asked Ms Kendall if she thought the government had dragged its heels because of fear of a tech backlash, she suggests a clampdown on big tech is coming and points out the government's robust approach to Mr Musk's X and xAI over Grok's fake sexualised images. "I am determined to do everything in my power to stand up for what is right and proper, to deal with illegal content, to protect children from online harms," she says. "There is further to go, and you'll be definitely hearing more about next steps in the weeks ahead. "[When] X and Elon Musk were allowing illegal images and sexualised deep fakes of women to be shared, we said that's not only against British values but against British law. "So we will act to make sure the existing law is upheld but also to go further. We do want to look at more effective age verification measures because young children should not be exposed to that material." Ms Kendall says she is going to legislate to close the gap in the Online Safety Act on AI chatbots, as some are not covered in the act, and wants to do more on getting non-consensual intimate images taken down more quickly and follow other countries with stricter rules. For Mr Burrows, the government has done too little for too long, but he also warns parents that a ban is not the panacea they hope it to be. 'Watershed moment' "The reality is that a ban does not necessarily stop them using these services. But it would make it harder for children to disclose," he tells me. "You force the problem underground. You force it to sites that are outside the scope of a ban, including gaming platforms." But having campaigned for years in this area, he also believes "we have reached a watershed moment". "I think it is clear that the patience of parents has snapped. And so I am confident that we will see action now because it feels like we've reached an inflection point. "This government has been far too slow to act in its first 18 months in office. Ian, Molly's father, and I met the prime minister a year ago. He promised at that point to take further action, and then we heard nothing. "The geopolitics have not helped with the pressure from the White House. But I think now I am optimistic that by having this national debate, it is very clear that this is not an issue that ministers can continue to ignore. "So yes, I am hopeful that we can see the urgent change that every parent needs." For a government struggling to deliver the change promised to voters at the election in 2024, turning the Wild West of the digital age into a more tame and orderly place for our young people to roam would be a very good place to start.

England's struggles against spin in Asia resurfaced in a 30-run loss in Mumbai which left them third in Group C after two games. Despite the defeat, Brook remained bullish of his team's chances of navigating their remaining group games against Scotland and Italy to progress. England unravel at hands of West Indies spinners at T20 World CupScorecard: England vs West Indies, T20 World Cup, Mumbai "You have to be confident in this game," the England captain told Sky Sports Cricket. "We obviously thank God we won against Nepal the other night, otherwise we'd be in a tricky situation. "We obviously play Scotland and Italy next. We've just got to go back to do our homework on them and go back to the basics and see how we go." England succumbed to slow left-armers Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein, and off-spinner Roston Chase as they were bowled all out for 166 in 19 overs chasing 197 for victory. Nasser Hussain saluted the West Indies bowling attack after producing a performance which ratchets up the jeopardy in Kolkata, where England and Scotland meet on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. 'More jeopardy on Scotland game' "You have to give credit to how well the West Indies spinners bowled," the former England captain said. "It is survival of the fittest nowadays in T20 cricket and adapting, because your match-up is never going to always be in your favour. "You have to give West Indies credit, but I think if there is an Achilles heel, it is a playing of spin for England compared to how good they are at belting seamers. "Look at the way again Phil Salt got them off to a flyer, so I think there is a discrepancy there, but I still think this is a very good England side. "With what's happened now, there is a bit more jeopardy. When you go and play Scotland, if you're almost through, you can go and play care-free cricket, but now you've got to win that game." Nasser: Not all doom and gloom Despite his observations on the changes to the complexion of England's next group game against Scotland, Hussain insisted it was not doom and gloom after the West Indies setback. "That Scotland game becomes absolutely key now," he added. "Scotland, in the last World Cup in Barbados, caused a bit of a scare for England - they got off to an absolute flyer and played really well. "If England lose to Scotland, Scotland go to four points, England are on two and then anything can happen, so that's why this game was so vital today. "I expect England to beat Scotland and I expect them to beat Italy, but in a T20 game, it just takes one or two cricketers in the opposition. I expected England to beat Nepal, they only just got over the line. "I still think this [England team] is a very good T20 side, I still think this is their best format, they had won 11 out of 12 going into today, so one loss against the West Indies is not doom and gloom. "You're still a very good side, but if you do beat Scotland and you do beat Italy and you get to Sri Lanka for Super 8s and it is spinning, which it will, that's the area you just need to keep an eye on and just need to improve on." England's T20 World Cup fixtures and results (first round) All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports Beat Nepal by four runs (Mumbai)Lost to West Indies by 30 runs (Mumbai)vs Scotland (Saturday February 14) - Kolkata (9.30am)vs Italy (Monday February 16) - Kolkata (9.30am) Watch the Men's T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from February 7 to March 8. Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free with NOW.

They were babies born into the age of the iPad, the smartphone and social media and have grown up in what I call the digital Wild West. From the iPads when they were younger, to the smartphones at secondary school, raising children against the backdrop of the explosion of social media, gaming platforms, and artificial intelligence has been like trying to navigate a new frontier without a playbook. It has been a constant battle to balance the benefits of using technology - be it creative play on Minecraft or Roblox - while trying to keep them safe in these spaces where chatrooms are rife and protect their growing minds. I have had countless conversations with friends as we fret about the possible erosion of our kids' attention spans or obsession with screens. As my kids have got older, online platforms have given them a space to socialise with friends while gaming, or revise in groups online. But I've also been confronted with the challenge of attempting to limit screen time and restrict - or ban - the use of social media, be it Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram. It's made all the harder when all their peers are using these apps to communicate and socialise. There is an almost intoxicating draw for this stuff for teens who naturally want to break boundaries, are led by their peers and want to impress. Social media impacts them and their relationships at a critical period of both exploration and vulnerability. Research shows social media drives poor body image in girls and can lead to self-harm. Boys can find themselves exposed to toxic masculinity and misogyny. The TV series Adolescence became a global conversation because it captured a zeitgeist global in its reach - how our children are growing up in the digital age, and how as parents can we protect them. Read more from Sky News:Do you know what your kids see online?Instagram and YouTube 'engineer addiction' So when I say my experience of raising children in the age of social media and smartphones has been anxiety-inducing, time-consuming and, at times, conflict-inducing, I think many of you reading this might feel the same. Like the Wild West frontier of the 19th century, this technological frontier of the 21st century is rapidly expanding, lawless, and lacking in institutional regulation. It is populated by some good actors and many bad ones. That's why I can completely sympathise with the parents now screaming to the politicians that they want to turn it off and stop under-16s using social media. It is a conversation that has been turbocharged by Australia's decision in December to bring in a social media ban for under-16s and a series of landmark trials brought by parents in the US to hold the world's biggest social media companies responsible for harms to children. Spain and Greece are also considering bans as pressure builds on the government to act. Could the UK really ban social media for kids? In the House of Lords, peers have tabled an amendment to the schools bill for an under-16s social media ban. The Conservatives are pushing hard on it and polling suggests two in three adults in the UK back the ban. In response, the government last month launched a three-month consultation into how to better protect kids online, looking at a possible social media ban, better age verification to ensure kids aren't accessing inappropriate content, removing features that drive addictive behaviours to doom-scrolling, and limiting screen time for young people. Liz Kendall, the cabinet minister for science, innovation, and technology leading that consultation, met me at a school in London earlier this week to talk to some teenagers about their online experiences as part of the government consultation. She tells me she's had "hundreds and hundreds of letters from parents saying they want a ban" but says she is undecided and weighing up the evidence. "Organisations like the NSPCC, the Molly Rose Foundation, the Internet Watch Foundation, who warn about the risks of a ban, argue that if you have a ban it will all just push it underground - that young people will find a way around it," she says. "That is why we're consulting not only on whether a ban is the right way forward, but other measures. "How do you much more tightly regulate platforms and have proper age verification measures? Could you have curfews so that there's a break overnight? Or emergency breaks to stop doom-scrolling? "We also want to look at this issue of VPNs, which we know young people can use to get around this. So, we want to look at all the options." 'Parents are right to demand action' But the government has come under criticism for not clamping down on the tech companies with the powers they already have. Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose foundation - set up in memory of Molly Russell, who took her own life aged just 14 after viewing suicide and self-harm content online - tells me that for "far too many years, tech firms have been able to sit on their hands when it comes to children's safety". "Successive governments have chosen to either do nothing or to make triangulated responses," he says. "You know, when you look at the Online Safety Act, it was watered down, it took years to get on to the statute book. "It's now being enforced by Ofcom in a really unambitious way. Parents are right to look at the services and the products their children are using and say, 'this is outrageous, we need to see action'." Is No 10 scared of the tech bros? Ask inside government and the view from some working in this space is that tech regulation had been put on a back burner. One government insider told me it was for fear of No 10 angering big US tech, and, in turn, Donald Trump and his administration. But that is beginning to change. Last week, Ms Kendall and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips announced plans to work with tech giants, including Microsoft, on a "world first" deepfake detection initiative to recognise deep fakes and "set clear expectations" for industry detection standards. It comes days after the UK regulator opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk's xAI and X over its compliance with UK law after claims the chatbot Grok was used to generate sexual deepfake images without consent. When I asked Ms Kendall if she thought the government had dragged its heels because of fear of a tech backlash, she suggests a clampdown on big tech is coming and points out the government's robust approach to Mr Musk's X and xAI over Grok's fake sexualised images. "I am determined to do everything in my power to stand up for what is right and proper, to deal with illegal content, to protect children from online harms," she says. "There is further to go, and you'll be definitely hearing more about next steps in the weeks ahead. "[When] X and Elon Musk were allowing illegal images and sexualised deep fakes of women to be shared, we said that's not only against British values but against British law. "So we will act to make sure the existing law is upheld but also to go further. We do want to look at more effective age verification measures because young children should not be exposed to that material." Ms Kendall says she is going to legislate to close the gap in the Online Safety Act on AI chatbots, as some are not covered in the act, and wants to do more on getting non-consensual intimate images taken down more quickly and follow other countries with stricter rules. For Mr Burrows, the government has done too little for too long, but he also warns parents that a ban is not the panacea they hope it to be. 'Watershed moment' "The reality is that a ban does not necessarily stop them using these services. But it would make it harder for children to disclose," he tells me. "You force the problem underground. You force it to sites that are outside the scope of a ban, including gaming platforms." But having campaigned for years in this area, he also believes "we have reached a watershed moment". "I think it is clear that the patience of parents has snapped. And so I am confident that we will see action now because it feels like we've reached an inflection point. "This government has been far too slow to act in its first 18 months in office. Ian, Molly's father, and I met the prime minister a year ago. He promised at that point to take further action, and then we heard nothing. "The geopolitics have not helped with the pressure from the White House. But I think now I am optimistic that by having this national debate, it is very clear that this is not an issue that ministers can continue to ignore. "So yes, I am hopeful that we can see the urgent change that every parent needs." For a government struggling to deliver the change promised to voters at the election in 2024, turning the Wild West of the digital age into a more tame and orderly place for our young people to roam would be a very good place to start.

Viewers will soon be able to watch Disney+, Netflix, Hayu and HBO Max alongside Sky's own original shows and exclusives as part of a new entertainment offering. The deal, which Sky says is the best value in the market, means the platforms will be available together as part of the broadcaster's Ultimate TV package from £24 a month. HBO Max, coming to the UK and Ireland in March, will air the upcoming and much-anticipated Harry Potter series when it is released, and will also be the new streaming home for Friends. It also brings medical drama The Pitt - long awaited outside the US following Emmy and Golden Globe wins - to the UK and Ireland for the first time. Hayu, billed as "the home of reality TV", offers The Real Housewives back catalogue as well as British shows such as Made In Chelsea and The Only Way Is Essex. The two streamers join Disney+, which includes film franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, and the hit series Rivals, as well as Netflix - home to shows including Stranger Things, Black Mirror and Adolescence - in being offered as part of a Sky subscription. The service will begin in March, with Hayu available from July. Sky, the owner of Sky News, is home to shows including Brassic and A League Of Their Own, and is also due to launch the first UK version of hit US comedy show Saturday Night Live in March. With viewers preferring to access their favourite shows and films in one place, the announcement gives Sky an appealing offering amid increasing competition from streamers. Bosses say the deal marks "a new era" for the broadcaster and its own streaming service, NOW. "In a world-first, we're bringing together Sky, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Hayu into a single Sky TV subscription," said Sophia Ahmad, Sky's chief consumer officer. "Nowhere else offers this breadth of incredible entertainment in a fully integrated experience, with everything customers love watching side by side so viewers can jump from show to show with ease." Millions of existing customers with Sky Q, Sky Stream or Sky Glass subscriptions will get "easy access" to the new line-up as standard, she added. "We're proud to continue Sky's legacy of innovation, making it easier than ever for people to enjoy the very best entertainment and best experience, all in one place." Sky plus the HBO Max Basic subscription with adverts, Disney+ Standard with adverts, Hayu, and Netflix Standard with adverts will be available together for new customers as part of Sky Ultimate TV from £24 a month, Sky has said, while existing customers will get access as part of their Sky TV subscription.

After several fellow cabinet ministers suggested the UK would benefit from rejoining the customs union, Ms Reeves said she and Sir Keir Starmer want to "try and remove barriers for businesses". While keen to trumpet trade deals the UK has struck with the likes of India and the US, the chancellor declared: "The biggest prize is clearly with the EU, and we have made progress there." "I'm all up for doing deals with India and the US and Korea, but none of them are going to be as big as what we can get through better trade relations with Europe", Ms Reeves said. "We trade almost as much with the EU as the whole of the rest of the world combined," she added. "I think further integration will require further alignment. "But I'm up for that. My government, Keir's government, is up for that." Leave Brexit alone, says top Tory Ms Reeves, who was speaking at the London School of Economics on Wednesday, has been accused of seeking to "row back on Brexit" with her ambitions. Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride claimed it was Labour's "poor choices", rather than the departure from the EU the Conservatives negotiated, that had contributed to economic hardship. The prime minister and chancellor have repeatedly said the government will not rejoin the customs union or single market, but Ms Reeves said: "We were very clear in opposition that we wanted to have better trade relations and a greater degree of trust between the UK and the European Union." She cited the UK returning to the Erasmus student exchange programme as an example of progress being made, and noted the government is working on an "ambitious Youth Mobility Scheme". Reeves: 'We can win the argument' "We want to make Europe as strong as possible," the chancellor said. "That means not pulling up the drawbridge. "And I know we did that when we voted to leave - not me, the country made that decision… I am confident this is a political argument as well that we can win." Read more from Sky News:Man Utd co-owner claims UK 'colonised by immigrants'Police and prosecutors hold talks over Andrew allegations Last December, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said while it was not "currently" policy, it could be beneficial for the UK to consider re-entering a customs union with the EU. He told The News Agents podcast: "It's self-evident that leaving the European Union badly damaged our economy, took us out of an important marketplace and created serious friction, that untruths were being peddled by those that thought exiting the EU would be a good thing." Health Secretary Wes Streeting also told The Observer that month that "the best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU". Labour's 2024 general election manifesto set out three so-called "red lines" regarding the EU. It stated: "There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement."

The mood and atmosphere inside the stadium in Tottenham's defeat to Newcastle left the Spurs chief executive with no choice but to go to the Lewis family and suggest the parting of the ways. On Tuesday night, Venkatesham and Johan Lange put forward their opinion to the Lewis family, that they wanted to give Frank time to turn it around, but the atmosphere against Newcastle was the final straw. There were even big concern from the Spurs chiefs at half-time of the game. Transfer Centre LIVE! | Tottenham news & transfers⚪Spurs fixtures & scores | FREE highlights▶️Got Sky? Watch Tottenham games LIVE on your phone📱Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺 So why didn't Frank work? Off the back of the Europa League win last season, there was a mixed reaction to Frank's appointment in the summer from supporters. Many said he hadn't won anything and he had very little managerial experience in Europe. Then came his first press conference. It was fairly underwhelming. And unfortunately, he came out with something which seemed to stick with him and was ridiculed often on social media. "We will lose football matches." Now, of course, we all know what he was trying to say. All clubs lose football matches. But then he referenced Arsenal as an example of being unbeaten in the Premier League. That didn't go down well. That negativity was a stark contrast to Ange Postecoglou's: "I always win things in my second season." The season did start pretty well with a win over Burnley and a very comfortable win over Manchester City away. But there really wasn't much else to get excited about apart from that. After that, the cracks started to show. There were public clashes with players and supporters. When one of the leadership group at Spurs, Guglielmo Vicario, was having a very difficult season and drew criticism from Spurs fans, Frank called them 'not true Spurs fans'. The Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence snub at home to Chelsea was another embarrassing public post-match incident. At Bournemouth away, when Pedro Porro and Van de Ven had to be pulled away from supporters, there was even an embarrassing pre-match howler: Frank pictured with an Arsenal branded cup. That felt like his Steve McClaren 'wally with a brolly' moment. There were also the damning derby defeats. Losing to Chelsea at home with a disappointing xG of just 0.05 - their lowest ever in a Premier League game. And then there was the loss to Arsenal. "Who is Eberechi Eze?" Frank joked in his pre-match press conference. Two days later, Eze scores a hat-trick. Senior players started to doubt his methods. Then there's defending the indefensible in Cristian Romero and the public criticism of the club on his Instagram account. Frank defended him and then just days later, his red card at Manchester United earned him a four-match ban. Let's be fair to Frank as well - the injuries were atrocious. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, two of Tottenham's creative midfielders, have been out for all of the season. Dominic Solanke has only just returned and the forwards have just not been up to standard. Two defenders, Romero and Van de Ven are the club's second highest scorers this season. The January window was also a disappointing one. Selling Brennan Johnson and not recruiting any forwards has left Spurs desperately short with just a few months of the season remaining. But Spurs have now rolled the dice and now they have a huge decision to make. Discussions will take place over the next few days over whether the way forward is an interim or a full-time head coach. If it's an internal appointment, you'd only really expect John Heitinga - brought in to Frank's backroom staff in the last few weeks - as we wait to hear how many, if any, of Frank's coaching team remain at the club. Get it wrong and make the unthinkable could happen. Tottenham Hotspur in the Championship.