Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Apple, Sports Direct, William Hill

Parliament seized control of Brexit last night as three government ministers quit to give MPs the power to tear up Theresa May’s deal. The business minister Richard Harrington joined Alistair Burt and Steve Brine in effectively resigning as they joined 29 Tory MPs defying a three-line whip to defeat the government. - The Times

...The prime minister had earlier declined to say whether she would abide by the outcome of a process of “indicative votes”. Theresa May earlier announced that she did not yet have the support to justify holding a third meaningful vote on her deal, but insisted shewould not hand parliament a “blank cheque” to decide what happened next. - Guardian

EU citizens living in the UK would be stripped of their freedom of movement, housing and social security rights by Home Office legislation introduced to regulate immigration following Brexit, a parliamentary report has warned. Despite repeated government reassurances that their privileges will be protected, a study by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) concludes that more than 3 million Europeans living in Britain would be left in legal “limbo”. - Guardian

Big companies should split their profits with staff and give employees a say in how chief executives are paid, or risk a complete breakdown of trust in the capitalist system, MPs have said. A report by the business select committee said a series of “shaming” decisions – including a £75m bonus handed to the boss of housebuilder Persimmon – showed a need for fresh curbs on “executive greed … baked into the remuneration system”. - Guardian

Hundreds of JP Morgan staff have been asked to relocate out of the UK "at fairly short notice" in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Around 300 investment banking staff will have to sign new contracts in the coming weeks confirming whether or not they will relocate abroad. - Telegraph

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has joined the growing clamour to further tax tech firms Google, Facebook and Amazon as part of a wider review of “outdated” global corporation tax rules. In a speech in Washington, Christine Lagarde said governments must react to growing concerns that digital companies pay little tax in most countries where they operate, which denyies exchequers vital funds for public services and welfare. - Guardian

Apple is shifting its focus away from the gadgets that made it the world’s most valuable company towards the content that appears on them. With more than 1.4 billion iPhones, iPads, iMacs, Apple watches and Apple TV boxes in global circulation the company has an unparalleled distribution infrastructure and has pledged to use that reach to change what we watch, the news we read, the games we play and how we pay for everything we buy. - The Times

Apple’s “Netflix killer” has been a long time coming. But after today's announcement, which featured enough Hollywood royalty for an awards show - and Sesame Street’s Big Bird - perhaps Netflix killer is the wrong phrase as Apple’s TV Plus does not seem like a plan to take on Netflix directly. - Telegraph

Sports Direct is considering a cash bid for Debenhams in its latest attempt to prevent a financial rescue plan that could wipe out its stake in the ailing department store. Mike Ashley’s retail group said it was contemplating making the offer “alongside other options”. It said the offer, for which it gave no indication of value, was likely to be in cash but it reserved the right to vary the form and mix. - Guardian

William Hill has written to its landlords asking for rent cuts of up to 50 per cent, blaming the difficulties caused by the government’s decision to reduce the maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting machines. The bookmaker confirmed yesterday that about 2,000 landlords had received letters about reductions, after a report in Property Week. - The Times

A British Airways plane scheduled to travel from London for Düsseldorf mistakenly flew its passengers to Edinburgh instead. Rather than head east from City airport across the Channel into Europe, the plane flew due north to the Scottish capital. But the mistake was only spotted while landing, when passengers were welcomed to Edinburgh. - Guardian

Airbus has landed one of the biggest aircraft orders with a Chinese leasing company signing a 300-plane deal. China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) will buy 290 of the European manufacturer’s A320 single-aisle jets and 10 of its larger A350XWB planes. - Telegraph

At least one multimillion-pound housing development in London is segregating the children of less well-off tenants from those of wealthier homebuyers by blocking them from some communal play areas. Developer Henley Homes has blocked social housing residents from using shared play spaces at its Baylis Old School complex on Lollard Street, south London. - Guardian

Nissan was prepared to pay former chairman Carlos Ghosn a $40m retirement package in a settlement that raises questions about his arrest for alleged financial crimes, according to a report on Monday. Mr Ghosn has been charged by Tokyo prosecutors with offences relating to reporting his compensation following his arrest in November. - Telegraph

Autonomy founder Mike Lynch personally directed an alleged “revenue pumping” scheme to conceal the fact that the FTSE 100 software company was “stagnating” prior to its $11.1bn takeover by Hewlett-Packard, the High Court heard on Monday at the start of the biggest fraud trial in English legal history. Dr Lynch and former Autonomy chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain used “fraudulent devices” to increase and invent revenue, HP claimed as it began a battle for $5.4bn in damages from the pair. - Telegraph

Britain’s competition authorities have for the first time taken cross-border action against Spanish car hire firms, after widespread complaints about misleading practices. Two large hire firms operating in Spain, Centauro and Record Go, have been ordered by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to change the way they tell customers about charges. - Guardian

British augmented reality (AR) pioneer WaveOptics has hired IP Group's Robert Bahns as its new chief financial officer, as it pushes ahead with plans to slash the price of smartglasses to under $600 (£469). Mr Bahns, a seasoned venture capitalist, had previously been involved with WaveOptics as an investor, having served as a technology partner at IP Group, a shareholder in the British startup. - Telegraph