Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, BHS, Heathrow
Almost £1bn in annual research funding would be thrown into doubt if the UK left the EU, according to a study warning that quitting the bloc could turn Britain into the “poor cousin” of European science. A quarter of all public funding for research in the UK comes from the EU, making the country the second-biggest recipient after Germany. The data, which also revealed the high level of EU science funding for UK universities, were published in a report by Digital Science, a research software company. – Financial Times
David Cameron will on Wednesday try to regroup a fractured Conservative party behind a “one nation” Queen’s Speech, including legislation to reform prisons to stop them from being “warehouses for criminals”. Mr Cameron wants to prove he has a modernising agenda for his second term as prime minister, which risks being remembered mainly for the EU referendum and the Tory splits on Europe that it provoked. – Financial Times
Administrators are hoping to finalise a rescue deal for BHS by the end of this week after securing four offers for the business on Tuesday. MPs are preparing to call Darren Topp, the current boss of BHS, to give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry next month into the retail chain’s collapse. Topp, who took over the business after it was bought for £1 from Topshop owner Sir Philip Green a year ago, will stand before a joint hearing of the work and pensions select committee and the business, innovation and skills committee on 8 June. – Guardian
Microsoft is the latest business to come out in support of the UK remaining in the EU, in a letter to more than 5,000 of its UK staff. The tech firm said Britain’s membership in the union made it one of “the most attractive places in Europe” to make investments. In a letter to employees on Tuesday, Microsoft’s chief executive in the UK, Michel Van der Bel, said: “We appreciate and respect that there are a range of reasons that motivate people on both sides of the debate, but as a business that is very committed to this country, our view is that the UK should remain in the EU. - Guardian
A leading opponent of Heathrow's expansion has called on the airport to publish details of a directors’ bonus scheme that is partially linked to their success in securing approval for a third runway, a type of incentive plan the hub had previously denied existed. John Stewart, the chairman of the influential Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (Hacan), said the west London airport’s apparent “secrecy” over the scheme meant the bonuses had become an “issue”. – Telegraph
Thames Water has hit back at claims that its pensions schemes are in crisis and that a deficit in its workers’ retirement funds is comparable to the problems besetting BHS. “Any comparision with BHS is frankly outrageous,” Stuart Siddall, Thames’ finance director, said: His comment came after reports prompted by an article in the Financial Timescited Thames’ pension situation alongside that of BHS and the money taken out of the department stores chain by Sir Philip Green, its former owner. – The Times
The debate about Britain’s relationship with Europe has focused on a small number of questions. Surely there are none more important than those about British exports and about foreign direct investment into Britain. We need them both to help businesses to grow and to create jobs. As the last three trade ministers, who also ran UK companies operating around the globe, we know what it takes for Britain to succeed internationally. In government we travelled the world to showcase Britain as a great place for foreign companies to set up and invest. – The Times