Thursday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Vestas, McLaren

The police criminal inquiry into the Post Office has identified dozens of persons of interest so far, as a team bolstered to 100 officers investigates the actions of executives, legal teams and civil servants connected to the Horizon IT scandal. The investigation, which the police describe as unprecedented in size and scale, is in the first instance examining potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice by those involved in making “key decisions” on Post Office investigations and supporting prosecutions of branch owner-operators. – Guardian

The wind turbine maker Vestas has said it will cut 300 jobs at its Isle of Wight factory. Staff at the plant in Newport have been told at least half of its manufacturing operation, which employs 600 people, will be cut amid changing demand for turbine blades. Vestas, a Danish manufacturer with operations in 88 countries, is switching from making offshore blades to smaller, onshore blades, which will only sustain 300 jobs at the site, it said. – Guardian

Labour has been accused of seeking to bulldoze through the Home Counties as Angela Rayner prepares to unveil the biggest overhaul of planning rules in a generation. The Housing Secretary will on Thursday unveil a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) intended to pave the way for thousands of estates across the South East. – Telegraph

British supercar maker McLaren has been sold to an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, in a deal presided over by the Emirate’s crown prince. The Woking-based company has until now been owned by state-owned Bahraini investment outfit Mumtalakat. But the firm has now sealed an agreement to sell McLaren’s automotive business to CYVN Holdings, which is managed by the trillion-dollar Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. – Telegraph

One of America’s largest car manufacturers is set to abandon its plans to develop a driverless taxi after the programme was marred by an accident last year. General Motors (GM) had made the new technology a priority, pouring more than $10 billion into its Cruise robotaxi vehicle since 2016. The company announced on Tuesday that it plans to shift the focus of the Cruise programme to concentrate on developing advanced driver assistance systems for personal vehicles instead. – The Times