Wednesday newspaper update: Brexit, bitcoin, Paddy Power, tax avoidance
Theresa May has offered to enter talks with Jeremy Corbyn to break the logjam over Brexit and let parliament decide a binding way forward if they fail to find a compromise. In a significant shift, May said she would request an extension to leaving the European Union and opened the door to accepting a softer Brexit, with No 10 not ruling out accepting either a customs union or a second referendum. - Guardian
...Mrs May’s aides suggested that she was willing to agree a form of customs union and close single market alignment as the price of getting a Brexit deal through the Commons. A No 10 aide said that she would approach the issue of a customs union, which the Tories promised in a manifesto commitment to leave, in a “constructive spirit”. - The Times
...The outcome provoked disbelief and anger from members of the Conservative party’s largest Eurosceptic grouping, the European Research Group (ERG), some of whom doubted that they could support a subsequent deal. Cabinet sources said that both the political cabinet in the morning and the government cabinet in the afternoon were fractious and bad-tempered, with at least 14 members warning against being forced by parliament to accept an option leading to a long extension rather than no deal. - Guardian
The prime minister will have to give significant ground on her Brexit proposals if she wants to secure Labour’s support, Jeremy Corbyn indicated last night. Mr Corbyn expected a customs union and protection of workers’ and consumer rights to be “on the table”, and told Mrs May that regardless of how people had voted in the 2016 referendum they “didn’t vote for lower living standards or to lose their jobs”. - The Times
The gambling watchdog has forced Paddy Power Betfair and Betfred to remove two new games from shops over concerns they undermine a clampdown on lucrative “crack cocaine” betting machines. Restrictions limiting the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals( FOBTs), the so-called “crack cocaine of gambling”, from £100 to £2 came into force on Monday.
The UK’s super-rich pay half the rate of inheritance tax paid by the merely very rich, according to an analysis of HMRC data that throws fresh focus on how billionaires’ advisers use a “kitbag” of tricks to reduce heirs’ tax bills. Estates worth £10m or more paid an average of 10% tax to the exchequer in the 2015-16 tax year compared with an average 20% tax paid by estates worth £2m-£3m, according to data released by HMRC following a freedom of information request by asset manager Canada Life. - Guardian
An April Fool's joke is believed by some to be behind a rally that sent Bitcoin to its highest level in almost five months on Tuesday. The prank, which first emerged on the website Finance Magnates, claimed the US Securities and Exchange Commission had approved “not one, but two applications for Bitcoin-based exchange traded funds” in a “shockingly sudden” decision by the SEC following an “emergency meeting”. - Telegraph
The City regulator has warned investors of the risks posed by investments such as mini-bonds held in Isas, amid scrutiny of the savings industry after the collapse of London Capital & Finance. The Financial Conduct Authority said that savers considering an investment in an Innovative Finance Isa should consider carefully how their money would be invested before proceeding. - The Times
Superdry's entire board has quit, along with its advisers, in a move that propels co-founder Julian Dunkerton into the role as interim chief executive following his shock victory in his battle to return to Superdry. Mr Dunkerton won 51.15pc of the votes cast to elect him as a director, with 48.85pc against, while Boohoo chairman Peter Williams was also elected to the board by the same margin. - Telegraph
A controversial new London skyscraper dubbed “the Tulip” has been given planning approval, paving the way for the construction of the second tallest building in Western Europe after the Shard. Designed by Foster + Partners, the 305-metre tower in the City of London will feature a viewing platform with rotating pods, a restaurant and a sky bar, and is expected to attract 1.2 million visitors a year. - Guardian
Securities regulators will allow oil giant Exxon Mobil to block shareholders from voting on a proposal that the company disclose goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Activist investors led by the New York state comptroller pushed the proposal, which urges Exxon to set annual targets in line with goals decided by the 2015 Paris climate agreement. - Guardian
Storage of obsolete nuclear submarines has cost the UK taxpayer £500m because of “dismal” failings in the government’s nuclear decommissioning programme, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found. The Ministry of Defence has twice as many submarines in storage as it does in service and has not disposed of any of the 20 vessels decommissioned since 1980, the National Audit Office (NAO) said. - Guardian
Facebook may pay news websites to publish high-quality content on its platform, according to Mark Zuckerberg. The chief executive of the social network said that the company was considering building a dedicated section of its website for trusted news and was looking at ways that it could pay publishers. - The Times
Debt repayments by the world’s poorest countries have doubled since 2010 to reach their highest level since just before the internationally organised write-off in 2005, campaigners have warned. The Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC) said a borrowing spree when global interest rates were low had left many developing nations facing repayments bills that were forcing them into public spending cuts as plunging commodity prices, a stronger dollar and rising US interest rates combined to increase debt repayments by 85% between 2010 and 2018.
The late wife of one of the founders of the discount supermarket chain Aldi has plunged the family into a bitter row after declaring in her will that her grandchildren and their mother are excluded from future business decisions. Cäcilie Albrecht, known as the grande dame of the Aldi clan, vented her anger towards the five offspring of her late son, as well as his widow, Babette, accusing them of lavish spending not in keeping with the firm’s frugal philosophy, and of siphoning millions from company funds to finance their luxury lifestyles. - Guardian