Friday newspaper round-up: Energy security, bank closures, FOBTs
By Digital Look
Date: Friday 16 Nov 2018
(Sharecast News) - A European Court ruling has thrown the UK's energy security into disarray by ordering the immediate halt to a £1bn scheme designed to keep Britain's lights on. The cornerstone energy security scheme has come to an abrupt standstill after the European Union's Court of Justice ruled that the UK should not be allowed to pay power plants to stay open. - Telegraph
Theresa May was at the mercy of her remaining Brexiteer cabinet ministers last night after being left weakened by an attempted coup and wave of resignations. The prime minister failed to persuade Michael Gove to become her third Brexit secretary as she tried to stem the flow of ministers from government. - The Times
Ireland will remain an open door to the UK for EU citizens after Brexit with no mandatory passport checks on those who travel to Britain via Dublin and Belfast, it has been confirmed. After Brexit, EU citizens not already settled in the UK will be subject to immigration rules but will be able to travel to Britain via Ireland and Northern Ireland uninhibited. - Guardian
Britain's leading consumer group has called on banks to justify nearly 13,000 bank branch closures that have left millions of people struggling to access vital financial services across the UK. Figures compiled by the consumer charity Which? show that the UK has lost nearly two-thirds of its bank and building society branches over the past 30 years, from 20,583 in 1988 to 7,586 today. - Guardian
A gambling addict who was distressed after losing more than £25,000 in one night playing roulette and fixed-odds betting terminals was later found dead at his home. Huseyin Yaman, 37, lost the money over a few hours at Aspers Casino in east London and became angry and agitated, shouting that the machines were fixed. Staff tried to calm him down then called the police. - The Times
The number of new homes built in the past year hit a decade high as the government edged closer to its goal of delivering 300,000 annually in England, according to official figures. A total of 222,190 net additional dwellings were created in the year to March, a 2 per cent increase on 2016-17. It was the most delivered in a year since 2007-08. - The Times
The Restaurant Group's campaign to persuade shareholders to back its £559 million takeover of Wagamama received a boost yesterday when a proxy adviser backed the deal. Institutional Shareholder Services said that the purchase of the Asian noodle bar chain was "supported by strong strategic rationale and substantial synergies". - The Times
Amazon has fired the starting gun on Black Friday, the US tradition that has become a near-fortnight long £10bn shopping extravaganza in the UK. The web giant has been joined by other high street street names, including Argos and Currys PC World, in making an early start to the bargain shopping event on Friday 23 November. - Guardian
Ford has been meeting with multiple rival carmakers to try to secure "billions of dollars" to fund the development of its own driverless cars, one of its executives has said. The US car giant, which invested $1bn (£780m) in its self-driving car unit Argo AI last year, revealed that it is approaching a "broad" number of competitors for further investment, according to reports. - Telegraph
The family of a victim of the Lion Air crash has started legal action against Boeing, after pilots and airlines said the manufacturer had not made them aware of new features in its 737 Max-8 aircraft that could be linked to the disaster. A Florida-based law firm has filed a suit against Boeing on behalf of the parents of Rio Nanda Pratama, a doctor who had been due to marry in Indonesia this week. - Guardian
Aston Martin has roared ahead in its maiden numbers as a public company, almost doubling its revenues and vehicle sales. The luxury sports car company said it sold 1,776 cars in the third quarter, up from 891 in the same period last year, with motorists in America, Asia-Pacific and China driving demand. - Telegraph
Camelot is threatening to take legal action against a rival lottery company that has started taking bets on a new draw called Euromillionaire, launched after it was banned from taking bets on the official Euromillions draw. Betting on the National Lottery's Lotto and Euromillions draws is illegal, but until recently the Gibraltar-based Lottoland was able to exploit a loophole by taking bets on the Euromillions draws in other countries. - The Times
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's petrochemicals company has continued its spending spree with a $1.1 billion deal for a business that makes resins and other products used in boatbuilding. Ineos, which is controlled by the billionaire tycoon, said that its enterprises division had agreed to buy Ashland Global Holdings' entire composite business, which has 1,300 staff in 20 manufacturing sites across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East and makes products such as resins, gel coats and corrosion-resistant fibreglass reinforced plastic. These are used in building ships and other vehicles. - The Times
The administrators of Wonga have revealed that the defunct payday lender's assets are worth only a fraction of the value estimated when it collapsed over the summer. A document filed yesterday by Grant Thornton said that the total value had been put at more than £70 million. However, the estimated proceeds from selling its various assets were likely to raise less than £30 million, it said. - The Times
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