Sunday newspaper round-up: Crossrail, Brexit, Huawei affair, Whitbread, Trump

Theresa May will be entering a coalition with Jeremy Corbyn “against the people” if she agrees a customs deal with the Labour leader, Nigel Farage has warned. The Leave campaigner said his burgeoning Brexit Party would field a full slate of candidates against Tory and Labour MPs in a general election and “break the two party system” if Mrs May and Mr Corbyn made a pact to keep the UK tied to EU rules. - Sunday Telegraph

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has poured cold water on Theresa May’s plan to offer a temporary customs union to win Labour over to a Brexit deal, saying the cross-party talks were like “trying to enter a contract with a company going into administration”. McDonnell said his party wanted to do a deal as quickly as possible but would require a permanent customs union to provide stability for businesses, not just an interim arrangement until the next election. - Observer

Giant foreign firms which own the cables that supply electricity to British homes are making vast profits and siphoning hundreds of millions of pounds out of the country each year, according to an investigation by the Mail on Sunday. Four firms that connect homes to the National Grid - including two owned by billionaires from the US and China - dished out dividends of more than £1bn in the past two years alone. - Mail on Sunday

Theresa May will take a final desperate gamble to deliver Brexit this week by offering Jeremy Corbyn three major concessions in a bid to force MPs to back a new deal. The prime minister will show her hand on Tuesday, making a “big, bold” offer to the Labour leader which could split the Conservative Party down the middle. - The Sunday Times

Gavin Williamson could try to force the Prime Minister to hold an independent judge-led inquiry into the Huawei affair as he steps up his fight to clear his name. The former defence secretary is being urged by friends to table a Parliamentary motion demanding a new investigation, which would almost certainly be backed by opposition parties and a number of Tory MPs. - Sunday Telegraph

Bus passengers across England are paying “massively unfair” fares of up to £6 for a single journey, four times the amount Londoners are charged to traverse the capital, Guardian research has found. Analysis of a snapshot of five-mile bus trips in local authorities across England found that while a single bus ticket in London costs £1.50, passengers elsewhere pay far more despite often experiencing worse services. - Observer

A company that counts Tory MP Priti Patel as a director is plotting a float on London’s stock exchange. Accounting software firm Accloud, which targets firms in India, last week received a pledge for $30m (£23m). The finance from Australia-based fund manager Mayfair 101 in exchange for a larger stake paves the way for a listing on AIM, London’s junior stock market, which could value Accloud at tens of millions of pounds. - Mail on Sunday

Water industry investors and lenders would lose billions of pounds under Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to renationalise companies at a huge discount to their market value, a leaked Labour blueprint reveals. Plans circulated among the Labour front bench reveal that the party would offer shareholders compensation of less than £20bn, versus their £44bn market value - heaping huge losses onto the pension funds and insurance giants that own and help to fund the water utilities. - The Sunday Times

Revered Wall Street activist Elliott Advisors is poised to renew its attack on Whitbread, putting it on a collision course with boss Alison Brittain for the second time in little over a year. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Elliott is becoming increasingly frustrated by the leisure giant’s strategy of owning Premier Inn hotels outright, claiming that such a move is depressing the company’s share price and leaving it open to a cut-price hostile takeover. - Sunday Telegraph

Donald Trump has escalated the trade war with China by announcing plans to hike the tariff imposed on $200bn of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% on Friday. The US president also threatened to impose tariffs on all Chinese trade with America, a move that could further destabilise relations between the two economic powers. - Observer

Brunei has said it will not enforce the death penalty for gay sex following a global backlash led by celebrities such as Sir Elton John and George Clooney. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has reacted to the outcry which was sparked when he rolled out an interpretation of Sharia law on 3 April to punish sodomy, adultery and rape with death. - Mail on Sunday

The embattled iron ore producer Ferrexpo faces new trouble over allegations that it owes millions of pounds of taxes in Ukraine. The FTSE 250 miner has been hit with a $16.2m (£12.3m) demand by the authorities in Kiev following a government audit into how it priced iron ore pellets sold to a Swiss subsidiary. - The Sunday Times

The embattled publisher of the i newspaper is facing further turmoil as its owners eye up a quick-fire review just months after it was rescued. A consortium of hedge funds which took charge of Johnston Press last November are consulting advisers over a strategic review which would likely result in the sale of the i newspaper in one deal and the rest of the group in another, Sky News reported. - Sunday Telegraph

Philip Hammond is seriously considering a major increase to the minimum wage as he seeks to secure a legacy of ending low pay, it has emerged. Several sources familiar with the chancellor’s thinking told the Observer they believed he was pushing to look at the “ambitious end” of what would be possible without damaging Britain’s employment levels, suggesting he is contemplating going further than any developed nation. - Observer

At least 13 people were killed when a Russian plane exploded into flames mid-air as it made an emergency landing at Moscow's main international airport, local media reports claim. A female flight attendant was reportedly among those who died as she helped people from the stricken Sukhoi Superjet at Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday. - Mail on Sunday