Tuesday newspaper roundup: £66bn a year Brexit, Putin, tourism boost

Cabinet ministers are being warned that the Treasury could lose up to £66 billion a year in tax revenues under a “hard Brexit”, according to leaked government papers. GDP could fall by as much as 9.5 per cent if Britain leaves the single market and has to rely on World Trade Organisation rules for trading with the continent, compared with if it stayed within the EU, the forecasts show. - The Times

Theresa May has been accused of tyranny and lack of respect for democracy by some of her own MPs over the government’s refusal to give parliament a say on the terms of leaving the EU. A string of Conservatives were critical of the government’s Brexit strategy in a House of Commons debate on Monday, with some asking for more details about the government’s negotiating plan and others calling for a greater say on the way the UK will leave the EU. - Guardian

The slump in sterling is a blessing in disguise after years of overvaluation and helps to break the corrosive stranglehold of the financial elites over the British economy, according to a former bail-out chief for the International Monetary Fund. “It is desirable from every point of view. The idea that Britain is in crisis or is on its knees before the exchange rate vigilantes is ludicrous,” said Ashoka Mody, the IMF’s former deputy-director for Europe and now at Princeton University. - Telegraph

Retailers have warned of challenging times ahead as the weak pound ramps up their import costs and consumer confidence is buffeted by a climate of economic uncertainty as the UK embarks on Brexit negotiations. Underscoring the volatile pattern of recent months, the latest snapshot of high street and online spending showed like-for-like sales were up 0.4% on the year in September, a turnaround from August’s 0.9% drop. - Guardian

President Putin came to the rescue of the oil price yesterday, driving it to a one-year high as Russia revealed that it was ready to join other leading producers in cutting supply this year. The Opec cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, is planning to broker a production cut at a meeting next month, but a deal was beginning to look unlikely after Iraq, its second-biggest producer, said that it wanted to raise output in 2017. - The Times

The UK has recorded its biggest-ever month for tourist visits after the referendum-related slump in the pound lured 3.8 million people to British shores in July. In the highest month ever for inbound tourism, overseas visitors spent £2.5bn – 4% more than last year, according to new figures from the tourism agency VisitBritain. - Guardian

The Canadian online gaming group that was confirmed yesterday to be in merger talks with William Hill was recently fined $870 million and its former chief executive is being investigated over insider trading. In news that took the City by surprise, William Hill confirmed speculation that it is in discussions about a nil-premium, all-share merger with the Toronto-listed Amaya, owner of the online gaming site PokerStars. - The Times

Monarch Airline’s multi-million pound rescue bid will go down to the wire this week, with a financial lifeline expected to come through just hours before the extension on its operating licence is due to expire on Wednesday. The low-cost airline is locked in talks with major stakeholder Greybull Capital and Boeing, and expects to unveil a massive funding overhaul to satisfy the Civil Aviation Authority’s financial health check-list and clinch a new Air Travel Operators’ Licence. - Telegraph

Three law firms have agreed to merge in a deal that creates the sixth-largest legal practice in the country. Olswang, Nabarro and CMS announced what is the biggest such move in the British legal profession only ten days after they had revealed they were in merger talks. - The Times

The scandal over BAE Systems’ decision to use French steel to build Britain’s new Trident submarines has intensified, with claims the metal could have been produced in UK after all. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon ceremonially started work on the £41bn project last week, with a cutting of the first steel plate for the “Successor” submarines at BAE's plant in Barrow on Furness. - Telegraph

Russia’s VTB Bank has become the first big lender to publicly say it will move its European headquarters out of the UK because of the disruption expected to be caused by the country’s decision to leave the EU. Herbert Moos, deputy chairman and chief financial officer of VTB, said the board of the state-owned lender was considering several alternative locations for its European hub, including Frankfurt, Paris and Vienna and would decide later this year. - FT

The government is being urged to end the political drive to get more people into university after new research showed that graduates are “colonising” jobs in banking, education, the police and estate agency that were the preserve of school-leavers in the past. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – which represents people working in human resources – said the all-party consensus to get more young people into higher education was no longer justified given student debt and the careers many ended up pursuing. - Guardian

The operator of crisis-hit Southern Rail has defended its record as a rail franchise holder against fierce Government criticism, hours after threatening to take a major trade union to court in a last-ditch bid to avert another round of strikes. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is on the offensive after its latest bid to end the ongoing dispute with the Rail and Maritime and Transport (RMT) workers union broke down over the weekend, prompting unions to call for a three day strike this week. - Telegraph

Employees entering BP headquarters in St James’s Square, London, are given a daily reminder of the imprint left on their company by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A sign in the entrance declares BP’s priorities to be: “No accidents; No harm to people; No damage to the environment.” Shareholders visiting the offices could be forgiven the temptation to add a fourth slogan: No growth. - FT

Data has been transmitted across a national electricity grid for the first time, in what could be a significant step towards the creation of virtual power stations, where many thousands of homes and businesses combine to manage electricity use more smartly. The new technology could lead to lower energy bills for consumers who allow small variations in the energy consumption of their appliances, such as water heaters or freezers. - Guardian

Uber’s growing popularity has been confirmed after new accounts revealed the taxi technology’s drivers billed more than £100m in UK fares last year, leading to a doubling of profits at its parent company. Uber London, the taxi app’s UK holding company, recorded a profit before tax of £1.83m, up 105pc on the prior year, on the back of revenue that more than doubled. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s biggest manufacturers has quit its membership of the CBI amid anger over the employers’ group’s anti-Brexit stance. JCB, which makes construction equipment to be exported around the world, resigned as a CBI member during the summer, in the aftermath of June’s historic referendum. - The Times

Singapore’s central bank has shut down a second Swiss bank under investigation for alleged money laundering activities linked to the Malaysian state fund 1MDB. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had ordered Falcon Bank to cease its operations in the city-state because of a “persisistent and severe lack of understanding” of Singapore’s money laundering controls. - Guardian