Friday newspaper round-up: Cameron, UK interest rates, Facebook

European leaders were joining together to insert a “last chance” clause into David Cameron’s renegotiation deal last night, ensuring that Britain would never be allowed to reopen talks. In the surprise move, pushed by Belgium and backed by France, all 28 countries will insist that an agreement struck today is the maximum that can ever be offered to Britain. Although British officials stressed that the move had not been prompted by the prime minister, he is believed to support it as a way of convincing Eurosceptics that the deal on the table is the last and only offer. - The Times

Market expectations that UK interest rates will remain on hold until 2019 are not justified, according to the deputy governor of the Bank of England. Sir Jon Cunliffe said bets by investors that rates could even be cut were not backed by economic fundamentals. “I can’t see anything in the economic news over the last three-to-four weeks that would lead to a shift like that,” he said at a conference in Brussels. - The Daily Telegraph

Facebook and Twitter stepped into the battle with the FBI, with both companies pledging that they “stand with Apple” and will “aggressively fight” attempts to weaken encryption. Apple is heading deeper in to a legal battle with the FBI, which is attempting to access encrypted information on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers. - The Guardian

Saudi Arabia has shocked oil markets by rejecting any prospect of a cut to its oil production, causing prices to fall by as much as 3.5%. Adel al-Jubeir, the kingdom’s foreign minister, said Riyadh was still "not prepared" cut production, dashing simmering hopes that talks with Russia about capping output would help reduce the glut of global oil. - The Daily Telegraph

Amazon.com is quietly inviting drivers for its new “on-demand” delivery service to handle its standard packages, as the online retailer known for low prices and razor-thin profit margins looks to speed up delivery times and tamp down its growing multibillion-dollar logistics bill. - The Guardian

Liverpool is home to a bigger proportion of fast-growing firms than anywhere else in the UK, according to a report, which says the provinces are now producing more successful new companies than the capital. There are now as many high-growth businesses in the UK as there were during the dotcom boom in the early 2000s, the study by the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) found. - The Daily Telegraph