Friday newspaper round-up: Boeing, mortgages, ISAs

Boeing said on Thursday it had reached a $51m settlement with the US state department for numerous export violations including Chinese employees in China improperly downloading documents related to US Pentagon programs. The state department said from 2013 through 2017 three Chinese employees at Boeing facilities in China downloaded technical data involving programs including the F-18, F-15 and F-22 fighter jets, the E-3 airborne warning and control system, the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and the AGM84E cruise missile. – Guardian

Food industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”. Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflation, and they are discussing a legal challenge as a viable option if a solution with the government is not found. – Guardian

Jeremy Hunt has scrapped plans for a scheme that would enable first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder with a 1pc deposit, just days after it emerged the Treasury was considering the move. Treasury insiders said the Chancellor had abandoned the taxpayer-backed scheme ahead of the Budget next week following a backlash from lenders that warned that the plans risked a surge in defaults among borrowers. – Telegraph

Fund managers with collective assets under management of nearly £100 billion have added their voices to calls for Jeremy Hunt to introduce a “British Isa” in next week’s budget to encourage investment in British companies. In a letter to The Times today, the signatories, who include fund managers such as Liontrust, brokers led by Peel Hunt and Canaccord Genuity, and senior City figures such as Baroness Altmann, have called on the chancellor to create a new UK Isa. – The Times

British drinkers bought ten million fewer bottles of wine in the run-up to Christmas after the government’s duty increases, leaving a black hole in Treasury finances, the industry has warned. In a letter to the chancellor, wine bosses say that last August’s double-digit increase in the tax on most wines and spirits has stifled sales, fuelled inflation and reduced revenue to the Treasury. – The Times