Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, hiring plans, rates, Huawei
The Conservative Party’s fragile Brexit truce was close to collapse yesterday after hardline Brexiteers ruled out two of Theresa May’s proposals for solving the Irish backstop question. Eurosceptics said they would not accept either a unilateral withdrawal clause or an end date to the backstop as a compromise to reach a deal with Brussels, which one one cabinet minister said was “non-negotiable” and was “setting the prime minister up to fail”. - The Times
Hard Brexiters have warned Theresa May that the only proposal they are likely to support to break the Brexit impasse is a version of the “Malthouse compromise”, which envisages removing the backstop from the draft European Union exit treaty. Steve Baker, vice chair of the European Research Group, said that he and other Conservative Eurosceptics could not support the alternative they believed Theresa May favoured – an addendum to the existing EU withdrawal agreement. - The Times
Companies are scaling back spending and hiring plans more ferociously than at any time for nine years amid uncertainty about Brexit, a survey of finance chiefs has found. Executives at some of the biggest British businesses are prioritising measures to drive down costs to shore up their balance sheets, according to Deloitte’s quarterly survey of chief financial officers. - The Times
It’s a long way from Whitehall and Brussels, but a study has found that the developing country that will be hardest hit by Brexit is the south-east Asian nation of Cambodia. Simulations run by the German Development Institute, published this month, show that the impact could be disastrous also outside Europe, pushing millions of people in developing countries into extreme poverty. - Guardian
Whitehall is behind schedule to deliver critical no-deal Brexit plans, with delays to IT projects and failures by government departments to implement contingency preparations. A leaked document shows core public services, including the NHS blood donation service, may be unable to access patient and public data after March 29. - The Times
Britain might not have voted to leave the European Union if the coalition had not imposed five years of welfare cuts and austerity on the country, an academic report suggests this week. Researchers found that swing voters in the 2016 referendum were most likely to have voted Leave if they were concerned about their financial prospects, trumping age as the key determinant. - The Times
A group of Labour MPs are discussing plans to split from the party and set up a centrist political group in opposition to Jeremy Corbyn. One Labour MP, who is among those discussing the move, said that such a split was inevitable but not imminent. - The Times
A shopping centre landlord has argued that the government’s small business rates relief due to be introduced in April will give only the tiniest respite to embattled town centres. Ellandi, which has more than 1,000 shops from Cornwall to Northamptonshire in its portfolio, appointed Montagu Evans, the property consultancy, to assess the measure’s impact. It found it would reduce the Ellandi tenants’ total rates bill of £37 million by only £700,000, or less than 2 per cent. - The Times
Huawei is set to face fresh pressure on its long-term role in the UK as an upcoming government report will find it has failed to address security concerns raised last year. The next annual report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre will find that issues raised from its previous findings into the Chinese telecoms giant have not been fully addressed and will criticise Huawei over the security of its technology, sources said. - Telegraph
Delays calling the taxman’s helpline are creating a backlog as taxpayers increasingly leave filing their returns until the last minute. More than 735,000 people scrambled to file their tax return on January 31, official figures have shown - a 29 per cent rise on five years ago, when 569,847 people left it to the last day. - Telegraph
A Canadian music store mogul has emerged as a leading contender to take over HMV, which is also being circled by Mike Ashley. Doug Putman, who runs the Canadian record retailer Sunrise Records and uses Fleetwood Mac albums to explain his business model, has entered the race to buy the UK music and film retailer, which collapsed into administration just after Christmas. - Guardian
The courier company Hermes is to offer drivers guaranteed minimum wages and holiday pay in the first UK deal to provide trade union recognition for gig economy workers. Under the agreement with the GMB union, Hermes’ 15,000 drivers will continue to be self-employed but can opt into contracts with better rights. - Guardian
Britain's data watchdog is investigating complaints that Google is breaking privacy laws, raising the prospect of multi-million pound fines for the company. The Information Commissioner’s Office is investigating whether the Search giant has broken the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force last year.
A ten-year plan for the NHS was at risk of failing because ministers were still cutting services that prevent illness, health service leaders said. Doctors, nurses, charity chiefs and senior managers emphasised that efforts to prevent disease were being undermined by repeated budget raids. - The Times