Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, internet levy, tax avoiders, Facebook

Theresa May’s Cabinet is resigned to her Brexit deal being defeated by up to 100 votes next week after talks in Brussels collapsed without progress on Wednesday. Downing Street is already making plans for a third “meaningful vote” on the deal on the assumption that Tuesday’s vote is lost, and Mrs May is considering making a major speech on Friday to plead for support from MPs. - Telegraph

Jeremy Corbyn opened talks yesterday with Conservatives backing a Norway-style soft Brexit as peers voted to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU. To the anger of some Labour MPs, Mr Corbyn spent more than an hour with Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles who back Brexit but support remaining in the single market. - The Times

Spain is blocking attempts to reach a compromise over the Irish backstop as part of a "land grab" for Gibraltar, ministers have been told. It is is insisting on excluding Gibraltar from all agreements between Britain and the EU after Brexit as part of its bid for shared sovereignty of the Rock. - Telegraph

Embracing free trade would limit the damage caused by a "no deal" Brexit, give a bounty of cheaper imports to consumers and strengthen Britain’s hand in EU negotiations, according to top German economists. Slashing all import tariffs after Brexit would cut costs for households and businesses, giving the economy a boost, the Ifo Institute said in a new report, calling this model a “hard but smart” Brexit. - Telegraph

France is to become the first European country to implement a levy on internet giants that use sophisticated fiscal strategies to avoid taxes. Under the scheme announced by Bruno Le Maire, the economy minister, companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple will be required to pay a tax equivalent to 3 per cent of their digital sales in France. - The Times

A third of British billionaires have moved to tax havens after an exodus over the past decade, a Times investigation has found. They are among 6,800 Britons controlling 12,000 UK firms from low-tax jurisdictions. The Exchequer is denied billions a year but many of the bosses still reap the benefits of British assets. - The Times

A new Government deal is set to call time on the dominance of fossil fuels in Britain’s power system by the end of the next decade in favour of giant spinning wind turbines. By 2030 the number of mega offshore wind farms in British waters is expected to double under a multi-billion pound Government-industry partnership to be announced today. - Telegraph

Mark Zuckerberg has announced a U-turn to the way Facebook operates, saying that the site will in future focus on private messages rather than publicly shared content. Amid a string of privacy scandals at the technology and publishing company, and a shift among younger generations towards preferring private conversations online, Facebook is moving away from its original aim of getting users to share everything publicly on their timeline. - The Times

The largest shareholder in Tesla has said that it would not object to Elon Musk stepping down as chief executive and taking a less public-facing role in the company, such as “chief ideologue”. Baillie Gifford, a Scottish investment trust that holds a 7.7 per cent stake in the electric car company, was speaking a day after Tesla shares hit a five-month low. - The Times

Almost 90% of UK shoppers use Amazon and 40% have access to its Prime subscription service, according to research that lays bare the challenge for high street retailers. Most Amazon shoppers visit the online retailer at least once a month and just under a fifth once a week, underlining the retail dominance Amazon has gained. - Guardian

Amazon is making a push to increase the number of women in its business, amid growing concern that technology companies are not doing enough to improve diversity in the sector. Amazon unveiled initiatives it would be rolling out in the UK including a £130,000-a-year bursary to help female students from low-income background, and a programme to help women get back into work, although did not set targets for how many more women it wanted to bring into the business. - Telegraph