Thursday newspaper round-up: Trump, London-only visas, Tata

Donald Trump’s election as US president denied Hillary Clinton the prize of being the first woman in the White House but could boost the hopes of a female politician across the Atlantic: Marine Le Pen. France is the next big western democracy due to elect its president and a win for the far-right National Front leader in May’s election would cause a political earthquake in Europe to rival Mr Trump’s victory this week. – Financial Times

Business leaders have outlined their vision of a London-only visa that would allow them to maintain access to foreign labour. Under the proposals from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, businesses in the UK capital would be able to sponsor skilled workers with a job offer for a visa. – Financial Times

Tata Steel has been lambasted for considering closing its UK pension scheme before making a £60m payment scheduled for next year. Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP for Aberavon, said it would be an “absolute disgrace” if Tata closed the scheme without making the payment and said the Indian company had “moral and social responsibilities”. - Guardian

Homebuyers are slowly returning to the property market after the uncertainty caused by the referendum, but there are not enough homes to meet demand, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Its keenly-watched monthly residential market survey reported that buyer inquiries are up for the second month running, but there has been further fall in instructions. – Telegraph

Britain’s eight remaining coal-fired power plants will be forced to close by 2025, unless they take the unlikely step of investing vast sums in new technology to slash their carbon emissions. Ministers said the plans, which follow an initial pledge last autumn to phase out coal, would “provide confidence to investors” in new, cleaner gas-fired power plants and help to “significantly reduce emissions from the UK’s energy use”. - Telegraph

What one analyst called “significant headwinds”, dominated by a customer exodus and including, ironically, a distinct lack of puff powering its wind farms have triggered a plunge in profits at SSE. The Perth-based energy supplier, one of the industry’s so-called Big Six, said that pre-tax profits had slipped to £475 million in the six months to September 30, from £548 million a year earlier. – The Times

A record number of women have joined the upper ranks of Goldman Sachs as partners as it aims to propel more of them into senior management positions and close the gender gap at the top of the Wall Street bank. Nineteen Goldman Sachs managing directors were told yesterday that they had been promoted to its partnership, including four of the bank’s highest- flying Europe-based women bankers. – The Times