Sunday newspaper round-up: EU election, Fiat Chrysler, Renault, Monsoon Accessorize, Arcadia, British Steel

Philip Hammond has warned Tory leadership candidates that they face being toppled as prime minister if they pursue a no-deal Brexit. His comments came as several leading candidates, including Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, said that they would be prepared to leave the EU with no deal in October. - The Sunday Times

Tens of thousands of new members have joined the Conservatives in the last year, swelling the electorate that will choose Theresa May's successor. The Tories now have more than 160,000 paid-up supporters, an increase of almost a third since March 2018. - Sunday Telegraph

Dominic Raab has defended his claim that feminists are some of the most obnoxious bigots and that men are getting a raw deal, saying he does not want “double standards” in the debate on equality. The former Brexit secretary, a leading candidate to be the next prime minister, was challenged on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show about his comments from 2011, when he said: “From the cradle to the grave, men are getting a raw deal. Feminists are now amongst the most obnoxious bigots.” - Observer

A mammoth counting operation has got underway in the UK as European election votes are tallied up in what is expected to be a sensational victory for the Brexit Party. Ballot boxes have started to be emptied with polls predicting that Nigel Farage's hardline Eurosceptic movement will thrash the two mainstream parties whose vote share is poised to collapse. - Mail on Sunday

John McDonnell defended Labour’s Brexit policy after admitting that the party was heading for a “good kicking” in the European Parliament elections. Figures showing turnout increasing in areas that voted Remain in 2016 but falling back in Leave regions pointed to a good night for the Liberal Democrats. - The Sunday Times

Car giants Fiat Chrysler and Renault are on the brink of revealing a major global tie-up to create the world’s biggest carmaker. The companies are expected to confirm tomorrow that they plan to join forces in the face of fundamental structural challenges facing the global car industry. - Sunday Telegraph

The Unite boss, Len McCluskey, has accused Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, of trying to turn members against Jeremy Corbyn over the leadership’s refusal to fully back a second referendum. Tensions over the party’s second referendum policy broke out into the open on Sunday night as it braces for difficult European election results. - Observer

France's Marine Le Pen has called for a 'powerful' far-right lobby in the European Parliament after exit polls showed her on course to win the contest in France. The populist leader declared a 'victory for the French people' as early estimates showed her set to defeat President Emmanuel Macron's party - amid predictions of a populist surge across the continent. - Mail on Sunday

The multi-millionaire fashion tycoon behind Monsoon Accessorize is promising to pump up to £34m in rescue funds into the struggling chain in return for rent cuts from landlords. Peter Simon, who started out selling coats from a stall in Portobello market in west London in 1970, is close to launching a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a controversial form of insolvency that lets retailers close stores and lower rents. - The Sunday Times

The perilous state of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire has been laid bare in a 312-page tome sent to landlords as the former “king of the high street” pleads with them to help save Arcadia from going bust. The document reveals that Arcadia’s earnings have crashed from £215m to just £30m in the last five years – a fraction of the £100m of extra costs, including pension contributions and debt interest, it is on the hook for. - Sunday Telegraph

The trade body for steelmakers has rubbished claims that British Steel could be more easily saved if the UK were outside the European Union and warned that the turmoil of a no-deal Brexit could further damage the industry. The intervention, from UK Steel’s director general, Gareth Stace, comes as the government faces a race against time to find a buyer for British Steel, which collapsed into insolvency last week, putting 5,000 jobs directly at risk and endangering thousands more in the supply chain. - Observer

Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has vowed to shatter the 'corporate vanity' among its middle management that has dogged the company for decades and restore the retailer to its former glory on the high street. In an extensive review of the 'lost' corporate values at M&S, its ranks of middle management are attacked for becoming 'slow', dominated by committees and 'resistant to change'. These 'defensive' attitudes are to blame for successive attempts to turn around M&S ending up 'on the rocks'. - Mail on Sunday

The house building and construction hybrid Galliford Try has rejected an audacious takeover bid from rival Bovis. Bovis made an approach to Galliford Try for an all-share deal that would have seen it acquire Linden Homes, Galliford Try’s housebuilding division, and its regeneration arm. Greg Fitzgerald, the chief executive of Bovis, ran Galliford Try for 12 years before leaving in 2016. - The Sunday Times

Vulnerable pensioners with progressive and crippling diseases are having NHS funding for their care withdrawn under cost-cutting measures. An investigation by the Telegraph revealed that more than 7,000 patients whose care and nursing fees were covered by the health service have had their funding revoked since the “stealth cuts” were introduced. - Sunday Telegraph

Sweden is embarking on a bus tour of the UK to reassure its 100,000 expatriates and British-based Swedish businesses worried about the threats posed by a hard Brexit. Torbjörn Sohlström, the Swedish ambassador to the UK, said thousands of Swedes in the UK were concerned about their future right to remain in the UK. His “pop-up embassy” on wheels is designed to give them an opportunity to discuss concerns. - Observer

Metro Bank has used billions of pounds of cheap loans from the Bank of England to invest in the same type of risky deals blamed for the 2008 financial crash. Figures show the challenger bank drew £3.8 billion from the BoE's Term Funding scheme, which was intended to boost affordable loans to families and businesses. But the Mail on Sunday reported that rather than lending the cash to mortgage customers or small firms, as its rivals did, Metro Bank instead invested in so-called mortgage-backed securities. - Mail on Sunday