Monday newspaper round-up: BIS warning, Bitcoin, BT, AstraZeneca, Fox

A senior Brussels official said last night that Britain and the European Union were “90 per cent” of the way to a deal that would open the door for transition and trade talks on Brexit this month. Theresa May will fly to Brussels this morning for meetings that have been described as the “absolute deadline” for finding agreement. - The Times

Theresa May and the Irish government have failed to reach a deal on the crucial Brexit issue of the Northern Ireland border ahead of a crunch meeting on Monday lunchtime with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker. Despite intense efforts over the weekend to agree a proposal on how to avoid a hard border in Ireland, Irish officials revealed at midnight on Sunday that “there is still a way to go” to achieve a meeting of minds on the issue. - Guardian

Tony Blair said on Sunday he was trying to reverse Brexit because claims by the leave campaign, such as the National Health Service getting an extra £350 million a week once Britain leaves the EU, have been proved false. The former prime minister told the BBC that the government aims in the Brexit negotiations will fail because it wants to leave the single market, but retain all of the benefits, and voters can change their minds. - Telegraph

Ministers are launching a crackdown on the virtual currency Bitcoin amid growing concern it is being used to launder money and dodge tax. The Treasury has disclosed plans to regulate the Bitcoin that will force traders in so-called crypto-currencies to disclose their identities and report suspicious activity. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s biggest drug companies has warned it could be hit with an extra $35.5 million a year in annual duties and face significant disruption if the UK does not withdraw in an orderly manner from the European Union. Astrazeneca said that if the UK had to trade with the EU under World Trade Organisation rules it would be forced to pay $30.5 million a year in extra duties, mostly to Asian and Mediterranean countries, and an extra $5 million duty on UK imports of pharmaceutical ingredients.

BT faces mounting pressure from regulators, rivals and its telecoms provider customers to cut the price of ultra-fast broadband services proposed by its network subsidiary Openreach. Sharon White, the chief executive of Ofcom, criticised Openreach’s plan to add £7 per month to the wholesale cost of broadband to pay for new upgrades. - Telegraph

21st Century Fox is back in discussions with Walt Disney to offload a significant part of its business only weeks after talks broke down amid a disagreement on price. It is understood talks have resumed as Disney remains keen to buy 21st Century Fox’s film, television production, cable network and international assets, including its 39 per cent stake in Sky, the UK satellite broadcaster. - The Times

Amazon has tightened its grip on the UK retail market by taking more than five times as much new warehousing space this year as the next fastest growing rival. The online retailer has expanded its UK distribution network by four million sq ft in 2017 – a space almost as big as the Vatican City – according to research from property agency Savills. The next biggest retailer, Lidl, took 754,000 sq ft. - Telegraph

The public should be told whether the big banks are refusing to support a free-to-use cash machine network, according to the politician who led the campaign a decade ago to maintain access to ATMs around the UK. Proposals to change the way the Link network operates have prompted fears that up to 10,000 of the 55,000 free-to-use ATMs could either close or start charging. - Guardian

America’s biggest banks have moved a step closer to saving billions of dollars in taxes each year as President Trump edges towards his first big legislative victory. Senate leaders are today expected to begin merging their plans for a sweeping overhaul of corporate and personal taxation with an alternative set of proposals passed by the House of Representatives. The president tweeted that he was “looking forward to signing a final bill before Christmas” after Republican senators approved a package of measures in the early hours of Saturday morning. - The Times

New tariff rules on imports from China that could make it harder to discourage dumping of goods are set to be introduced by the European Union on Monday. An updated system to calculate levies on imported goods being sold at below cost prices is expected to be rubber stamped by the EU. - Telegraph

The chief executive of Chapel Down, an official wine supplier to 10 Downing Street, has said Britons will “starve” if the door is closed to foreign fruit pickers after Brexit. England’s biggest winemaker, based in Kent, relies on EU workers to pick grapes for its drinks, which also include beer, cider and gin. - The Guardian

Ministers are considering lowering the age for auto-enrolment to nudge hundreds of thousands of 18 to 21-year-olds into saving for a pension. Experts say a reduction in the qualifying age from 22 is one of the most likely proposals to come from a review on auto-enrolment expected from the Department for Work and Pensions in the next few weeks. - The Times

A newspaper industry logo has been launched to reassure readers that they are being protected from ‘fake news’. The new symbol has been produced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) to help the public in ensuring that what they read is genuine rather than ‘fake news’. - Telegraph

A supermarket chain is to start selling food that is up to a month beyond its ‘best-before’ date in an attempt to slash waste. From today, shoppers at the Co-op's 125 East of England stores will be able to buy a range of out of date products for just 10p. - Telegraph

Motor racing’s regulator, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), has an option on a 20pc stake in the electric-powered Formula E series, it has been revealed. FIA documents have come to light that show that the share option was offered as part of the negotiations when Formula E got the green light in 2014 after the FIA granted its Hong Kong-based parent company, Formula E Holdings (FEH), a licence to operate the series until 2038. - Telegraph