WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
VODAFONE BALKS AT BEING FORCED SELLER
Vodafone’s chief executive has warned that he will not be “forced” into selling the UK group’s minority stakes in four mobile phone operators. Vittorio Colao insisted that the sale this month of Vodafone’s 3.2 per cent stake in China Mobile for £4.3bn ($6.7bn) was not done in response to investor pressure, and called on shareholders to be patient about other possible disposals.
IMMIGRANT CAP HITS ECONOMY, SAYS CABLE
Immigration limits are costing the UK thousands of jobs and hurting the country’s fragile economic recovery, Vince Cable said, in scathing comments that lay bear tensions on the issue within the coalition. A lot of damage is being done to British industry,” the business secretary said.
COMPUTERS SET FOR QUANTUM LEAP
A new photonic chip that works on light rather than electricity has been built by an international research team, paving the way for the production of ultra-fast quantum computers with capabilities far beyond today’s devices. Future quantum computers will be able to pull important information out of the biggest databases almost instantaneously.
IMPACT OF BANK RULES LIKELY TO BE 30 PER CENT TOUGHER
The full impact of the new global bank capital rules announced at the weekend is likely to be 30 per cent tougher than the headline ratio suggests, according to regulators and industry participants who have studied private banking data. The data model the impact of earlier rule changes approved by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision narrowing the definition of what banks can count towards core tier one capital ratio.
THE TIMES
REVENUE FLOATS PLAN TO CUT OUT EMPLOYERS AND TAKE TAX DIRECTLY
HM Revenue & Customs is considering plans to deduct tax directly from workers’ pay packets before salaries reach their bank accounts. There was widespread incredulity last night that HMRC, which has come under fire for its handling of the Pay as You Earn fiasco, had included a proposal in a discussion paper in which it — rather than employers — would determine workers’ tax payments.
OFCOM TO CRACK £2M WHIP OVER NUISANCE CALLS
Companies that bombard people with “silent” calls could be fined up to £2 million after the Government gave Ofcom more firepower to crack down on persistent offenders. The telecoms regulator has been frustrated in its attempts to punish companies that make such nuisance calls.
The Daily Telegraph
RON MAIDEN FRONTMAN BRUCE DICKINSON LANDS NEW AIRLINE JOB
The Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has been named the new head of marketing at Astraeus Airlines. Mr Dickinson has landed the job at the Gatwick-based Astraeus Airlines, which leases planes and crews to carriers including British Airways, Bmi and easyJet. He is already well known to Astraeus. Between gigs, Mr Dickinson flies its aircraft – running up 7,000 hours on Boeing 737 and 757 jets.
SAINSBURY’S TAKEN TO COURT OVER EXCESS PACKAGING
Sainsbury’s is to be taken to court for using too much packaging, the first time that a major retailer has been prosecuted under obscure environmental laws. Trading Standards officers have said that the supermarket has broken 2003 regulations.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
TOTAL SEES DELAYS AFTER BP SPILL
Oil-exploration projects in the Gulf of Mexico will take 20 per cent longer than prior to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as tougher regulation leads to delays in granting approval for exploration drilling, according to the head of French oil company Total SA. Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said oil companies faced higher costs as US authorities took longer to issue drilling permits.
ACS TO BID $3.55BN FOR GERMANY’S HOCHTIEF
Spanish construction giant Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA said it wants to buy a majority stake in German construction-services provider Hochtief AG, a move that would improve its geographical reach and allow it to cut costs. ACS has been Hochtief’s largest shareholder for almost four years.