Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, minimum wage, RBS, Grainger

Almost 2 million workers in the UK are in line for a pay rise on Monday as the legal minimum wage increases by nearly 5%. Adults on pay rates rebranded as the “national living wage” will receive a 4.9% rise from £7.83 to £8.21 an hour, worth an extra £690 over a year and affecting around 1.6 million people. - Guardian

Theresa May was warned last night that she faced resignations and a split in the Conservative Party if she agrees to pursue a “soft” Brexit this week. Ministers including Chris Grayling and Penny Mordaunt have made it clear they would consider resigning if the prime minister bows to the will of the Commons, should it vote for a customs union with the EU tonight. - The Times

Plans to keep Britain in the customs union after Brexit could win the backing of a majority of MPs today after a senior member of the shadow cabinet warned that Labour was only likely to support a Brexit plan that allowed immigration reform. Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary, hinted that Labour would again be unable to back the Common Market 2.0 plan, under which Britain would stay in the customs union and the single market, because it meant maintaining freedom of movement. - The Times

David Gauke, the justice secretary, said on Sunday that the prime minister would have to accept the possibility of backing a customs union if the measure is supported by parliament this week. While this was dismissed by Brexiters, including those in cabinet, who have threatened to resign if May accepts a customs union or submits to a delay that goes beyond 22 May, chief whip Julian Smith told the BBC on Monday that a softer Brexit was “inevitable” after the government lost its majority after the 2017 election. - Guardian

The gender pay gap has widened over the past year despite hopes that forcing employers to publish their figures would shame them into taking action. The average woman earns 10 per cent less than a typical male colleague in 2019, up from 9.3 per cent in 2018. - The Times

Factory activity in China grew in March for the first time in four months, offering an unexpected boost for the economy that will calm fears of a slowdown. China’s official purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.5 from February’s three-year low of 49.2. - The Times

Royal Bank of Scotland is under fire for pursuing the owners of small and medium-sized companies for debts linked with a government loan scheme that it has admitted abusing. The all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking said that it would write to the Treasury to express its concerns about how the bank is treating small business owners who used the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, a taxpayer-backed lending scheme. - The Times

Transport for London has selected Britain’s biggest listed residential landlord as its preferred partner to build and manage more than 3,000 homes for rent across the city. Grainger, the FTSE 250 landlord of rental homes, has fought off competition from Argent Related, a regeneration specialist, and Greystar, an American rental housing developer, to be selected as the London transport provider’s investment partner. - The Times

British Land has sold its entire portfolio of pubs for £130m as it continues a sell-off of standalone properties in favour of larger developments with several tenants. The FTSE 100 member has agreed to hand its 45 pubs, which are occupied by Greene King’s Spirit Pub Company, to London-based property investor Aprirose. - Telegraph

Mike Ashley is resurrecting plans for a move into consumer lending, as he struggles to seize control of Debenhams and seeks new sources of growth for his Sports Direct empire. The retailer is said to be envious of fashion giant Next’s credit arm, which has 2.5 million customers and has played a major role in expansion. - Telegraph

They are calling it the “flat white” sector and it is overtaking industry as the largest driver of UK economic output. According to research the coffee-drinking, bicycle-riding millennials of digital and creative businesses, notably those in the “Silicon Roundabout” in east London, propelled it above a more traditional part of the UK economy representing businesses such as manufacturing, mining, power generation and water supply, which accounted for about 13.8 per cent. - The Times

Holidaymakers are paying “billions” of pounds more than necessary because big online travel companies are using their financial clout to dominate search-engine results. The Bed and Breakfast Association is calling on the government to act after accusing America’s two biggest travel website operators of “brandjacking” small independent hotels and B&Bs. - The Times

MPs have been urged to “seize the opportunity” on spiralling business rates that are “strangling our high streets”. Retail leaders have calculated business rates will rise another £200m over the next year as changes to the levy are introduced from today. - Telegraph

Billionaire Philip Day has withdrawn his interest in LK Bennett, leaving a trio of front-runners to battle it out for the stricken retailer. Dune, Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley and franchisee Rebecca Fang are left in the running for the fashion chain, popular with the likes of the Duchess of Cambridge and Theresa May. - Telegraph

Mobile operators are nearing a deal to work together on a barter system to tackle rural coverage “not-spots” amid a rising threat of costly new regulations as they prepare for heavy investment in 5G networks. The chief executives of Britain’s ­mobile network owners – BT, O2, Three and Vodafone – are in talks to take a two-pronged approach to the problem of patchy signals in the countryside. - Telegraph

Network Rail is not ready to deliver billions of pounds of engineering work needed to keep services moving, a watchdog has said. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said that the government-owned company had detailed designs for just over a third of the work it needed to carry out over the next 12 months. - The Times

1 APRIL SPECIALS

Britain needs to take special measures if it is ever to recover from the scarring social divisions exacerbated by Brexit, says a working party drawn from the country’s leading institutions. The Guardian understands one of the initiatives that has caught the imagination of the group is the creation of the post of “healing tsar” – a unifying figure to promote a feeling of national togetherness.

British April Fool's jokes have been banned this year under an archaic parliamentary order, amid warnings the public can no longer tell the difference between reality and farce. The statute from 1653 states that the issuing of false reports is strictly prohibited and punishable by the splitting of an offender’s ribs. - Telegraph