Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit talks, May days, inequality gap, Barclays

David Davis bowed to European demands that Britain agree the principle of its multibillion-pound Brexit bill before talks on a new trade agreement can begin, as formal negotiations got under way in Brussels yesterday. In a significant climbdown, less than a month after declaring that the sequencing of the talks would be “the row of the summer”, Mr Davis changed tack and signed up to the main principles of the EU’s position. - The Times

David Davis and the EU slammed the door on any prospect of a “soft” Brexit as formal negotiations on leaving the EU finally got underway in Brussels. The Brexit Secretary confirmed Britain would be leaving the customs union and the single market, in a move designed to scupper any parliamentary plots to water down the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from Europe. - Telegraph

Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs are joining forces to try to bring down Theresa May's Government by passing amendments in Wednesday's Queen’s Speech. The Opposition parties only need seven MPs to change sides to overturn the Government's 13-strong working majority which could trigger a no confidence motion in Parliament. - Telegraph

Conservative MPs have called on colleagues to calm down and rally around Theresa May following a suggestion that the prime minister has just 10 days to save her leadership. A number of politicians, including ministers, insisted that the British public was in no mood for another general election as they expressed anger about any attempts to destabilise the party. - Guardian

Ministers have urged Downing Street to “get a grip” amid signs of a free-for-all among cabinet figures apparently positioning themselves for a future without Theresa May as prime minister. Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, bemused Conservative MPs by appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme minutes after Michael Gove, the environment secretary, yesterday morning. Both talked about Brexit. - The Times

Two-thirds of Europeans believe the EU should take a hard line with the UK over Brexit, according to a survey. Sixty-five per cent of those questioned in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy Austria, Hungary and Poland said the EU, while trying to maintain a good relationship with Britain, should not compromise on its core principles. - Guardian

Business groups are using the uncertainty created by the general election result to push for continued membership of the single market after Brexit. The body representing the powerful chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry yesterday became the latest trade lobby to call for the government to seek continued membership of the single market during any transition phase. - The Times

Theresa May is expected to forge ahead with an energy price cap this week despite misgivings among Tory ranks and warnings it could prove a “political and consumer timebomb”. If the prime minister opts for the wide-ranging intervention promised during the election – which she said would save 17m households up to £100 on bills – such a measure would require primary legislation and feature in the Queen’s speech on Wednesday. - Guardian

Business has been told to prepare for an interest rate rise in the second half of next year as the Bank of England is forced to give in to price pressures in spite of soft growth. The CBI, the employers group that represents 190,000 companies, is predicting a first increase in the third quarter of 2018, almost a year earlier than the markets are forecasting, “with further rises likely, given the lack of spare capacity in the economy and provided the [Brexit] negotiations go smoothly”. - The Times

A £2.3tn windfall for those lucky enough to own their own homes during the property boom of the 1990s and early 2000s has opened up a deep and widening inequality gap between the generations, a thinktank has warned. Rising house prices that have enriched older generations have priced the young out of home ownership, said the Resolution Foundation, adding that the pattern whereby each generation was wealthier than the previous one had broken down. - Guardian

Shareholders of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management have backed the creation of a powerhouse British investment company. In Edinburgh, 98.6 per cent of Standard Life investors who voted supported the £11 billion merger, while at the Aberdeen meeting in London nearly 96 per cent were in favour. - The Times

The Conservative council responsible for the tower block where at least 79 people died in a fire described by the mayor of London as preventable has stockpiled £274m of reserves and offered rebates to residents paying the top rate of council tax. According to the latest accounts, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ran a budget surplus, which Labour councillors have claimed was being used as a slush fund to bribe voters with a rebate close to elections. - Guardian

Contactless spending has risen by a third since the start of the year, raising fresh questions about whether cash is starting to die out. “Touch and go” technology, which includes cards, mobiles, watches and fitness bands, is now the preferred way to pay among British shoppers, according to research by Barclaycard. - The Times

Barclays and some of its former directors are braced for the Serious Fraud Office to decide tomorrow whether to bring criminal charges over the bank’s dealings with Qatar during its £11.8bn fundraising in the financial crisis. Sources familiar with the bank said they thought it was likely that both the lender and individuals will be charged. In the event charges are brought, it was unclear last night how they will plead. - Telegraph

A key shareholder in BT has reduced its stake in the company from 4 per cent to 2.66 per cent and could reduce it further to as little as 1.33 per cent. Orange, the French telecoms group and one of BT’s biggest investors, issued a statement after the market had closed last night saying that it had launched a private placement for the sale of 133 million shares in the FTSE 100 group. - The Times

Cyber-security minnow AimBrain has raised £4m to help tackle the problem of rising online fraud levels faced by banks in what it called a "broken" system. London-based AimBrain, which was founded in 2014, said the way in which banks currently identify customers online is "unsafe, expensive, unpopular with customers and incompatible with global regulations". - Telegraph

A property company that aims to buy British supermarket stores will announce plans to float today at a time when the grocery sector is undergoing widespread consolidation. Supermarket Income Real Estate Investment Trust wants to offer shares on the specialist fund segment of the London Stock Exchange and hopes to raise up to £200 million through a placing. - The Times

Public anger at mainstream business, from misbehaving bankers to highly paid bosses to cavalier companies, has prompted a revival in co-ops. Britons have signed up to the ethically driven co-operative societies in their hundreds of thousands, lifting the number of active members to more than 13 million. - The Times