Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit trade deal, IR35, Heathrow meltdown, coronavirus, Shell, Wetherspoon
France has warned that talks between Britain and the EU over a future trade deal will turn nasty. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, said that the negotiators were likely to rip each other apart, with the two sides expected to fight particularly hard over fishing rights. - The Times
The new Chancellor has been urged to immediately suspend a huge tax shake-up for self-employed workers after being warned it will cause “enormous damage” to contractors and the wider economy. Businesses are planning to cut off contractors or delay work while a third of self-employed workers will stop freelancing amid widespread confusion over complying with the new IR35 rules, according to industry bodies. - Telegraph
Heathrow airport has apologised after thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled or severely delayed because of technical issues affecting its departure boards and check-in systems. The situation at the airport on Sunday was described on Twitter by one passenger as “utter chaos”, while another shared pictures of whiteboards displaying handwritten flight numbers and destinations. - Guardian
Officials at British ports lack enough resources to handle an escalation in the coronavirus crisis and operators have not been given enough guidance to prepare, industry leaders have warned. Ministers are facing calls to provide health authorities at key sites with urgent help. - The Times
Boris Johnson has been told to “immediately” sack a controversial new adviser as it emerged they had claimed black people were statistically more likely to be closer to the “boundary for mild mental retardation”. The Prime Minister was on Sunday facing an internal revolt over the hiring of Andrew Sabisky, a researcher and self-proclaimed “super forecaster”, with a number of ministerial advisers expressing their reluctance to work with him. - Telegraph
Britain’s property market is in the grip of a fresh boom, according to Rightmove, with asking prices jumping by more than £2,500 over the past month alone. The average asking price for a home rose to £309,399 in February, £40 shy of its all-time record, said Rightmove. Buyers and sellers have been invigorated by renewed economic confidence, described as the “Boris bounce”, it added. - Guardian
Royal Dutch Shell has thrown its weight behind a Chinese-backed energy storage venture building what is claimed to be Europe’s largest battery in Wiltshire. The Anglo-Dutch energy group will use a 100-megawatt battery near the village of Minety to provide back-up electricity to the National Grid when supplies of wind and solar power dip. The battery can be charged when electricity is cheap and then discharged at peak times when prices are high. - The Times
Investors have called on the government to ensure the private sector is able to participate in its planned £100bn infrastructure spending splurge. As part of its agenda to “level up” the regions, the Government is considering establishing a national infrastructure bank to pour money into improving transport, hospitals, schools and broadband. - Telegraph
Bank of England governor Mark Carney faces being hauled before parliament to answer questions about a embarrassing security breach that allowed hedge funds early access to an audio feed of market-moving press conferences. Mel Stride, the Conservative MP who is chair-elect of the Treasury select committee, said he would call in Carney and his incoming successor Andrew Bailey to explain the breach, which could have allowed hedge funds to make money by buying or selling sterling depending on Carney’s sentiments on the economy. - Guardian
The number of private landlords has hit a seven-year low, with 222,570 leaving the sector since the government began to cut tax reliefs and increase the regulatory burden. The exodus has reduced the number of privately rented homes by 156,410 since its peak of 5.29 million in 2017, according to Hamptons International. The estate agency’s numbers suggest that the majority who have left are so-called accidental landlords, with one property each. - The Times
The United Arab Emirates is keen to strike a post-Brexit free-trade deal between the UK and Gulf states as soon as possible, its foreign minister has said. Anwar Gargash said UK engagement with the Gulf had appeared to wane during three years of preoccupation with Brexit, but he now hoped for a rapid trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). - Telegraph
The pub chain JD Wetherspoon is brushing up its “ethical” credentials by serving up only Fairtrade sugar in all its pubs and hotels in the UK and Ireland. The sugar - packaged in “sticks” and stamped with the familiar blue and green Fairtrade logo - will appear in its 874 pubs and 58 hotels in the UK and Ireland later this month at the start of the annual Fairtrade Fortnight. - Guardian