Thursday newspaper round-up: EU customs union, RBS, oil glut, London City Airport

Theresa May is under growing pressure from Liam Fox, the trade secretary, to pull out of the EU customs union, a move required to facilitate post-Brexit bilateral trade deals but which would impose costs on exporters and could strain Anglo-Irish relations. The issue is looming as a battleground in discussions over whether the UK will pursue a “hard” or “soft” Brexit. It will have to be resolved before London triggers Article 50, the starting gun for withdrawal negotiations with the EU. - Financial Times

Royal Bank of Scotland is attempting to settle a multibillion-pound legal claim brought by shareholders who say they were misled into supporting the bank’s £12 billion rights issue in 2008. It is in talks with representatives of institutions and thousands of private investors who claim that its true state was hidden from them when they bought shares to stabilise the bank’s finances during the financial crisis. - The Times

Global oil prices plummeted over a dollar a barrel within minutes after official US energy data showed an unexpected glut of oil in storage. The price of Brent crude quickly dropped from around $44.90 a barrel to $43.68, a decline of more than 2pc, after the surprisingly high storage data was revealed, dragging the market deeper into multi-month lows. The price fell further to $43.47 in late evening trading. - Telegraph

Theresa May ruled out an early general election in her very first cabinet meeting, but as the Conservatives build a substantial lead in polls, the temptation of a snap poll is building. This week, YouGov gave Mrs May the biggest lead over the Labour party in six years, suggesting that the prime minister would be able to increase her majority from a slender 16 seats to more than 100 if a vote was called now. A fresh mandate could stop Tory Eurosceptics from holding Mrs May’s legislative agenda hostage if she prefers a “soft” Brexit to the hard divorce they advocate. - Financial Times

British car manufacturing hit a 16-year high in the first half of 2016, but the industry says future growth, jobs and investment are at risk following the Brexit vote. Almost 900,000 cars rolled off production lines at UK factories in the first six months of the year, 13% more than the same period in 2015. - The Guardian

At least one airport in the south of England is expanding. London City Airport has been given the go-ahead to increase capacity by nearly 40 per cent as part of a £344m plan. The scheme involves an extended terminal, a new aircraft taxiway and extra berths as well as better public transport links. - The Times

Bacteria growing inside the human body could be a rich source of much-needed new antibiotics. The first example, discovered in Germany, is a bug growing inside the nose. It produces a compound that kills other bacteria including ones resistant to existing drugs. - Financial Times

Beer sales have some fizz in them, rising in the second quarter of the year and helping to reverse a decade of decline. Britons drank 31 million more pints between April and June than in the first three months of the year, as beer sales rose 1.5pc, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. - Telegraph

Britain’s decision to quit the EU could help put Britain in pole position in developing self-driving cars that rely on internet connectivity to pilot themselves. he UK is already at an advantage over most of Europe in researching autonomous vehicles because it never ratified the Vienna Convention, which requires “every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle”. - Telegraph