| Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit deal, ECJ, Royal Mail, BT Theresa May has revealed detailed plans for quitting the EU with “no deal” in a move designed to pile pressure on Brussels to begin trade talks. The Prime Minister decided to “focus minds” by publishing draft legislation showing how the UK will implement independent trade and customs arrangements from “day one” after Brexit in March 2019. - Telegraph Theresa May has angered pro-Brexit MPs by conceding that the European court of justice would continue to have jurisdiction over the UK during the “implementation period” when Britain leaves the European Union. In response to a question from Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was the darling of Eurosceptic Tories at the party’s conference last week, the prime minister said a transition deal “may mean we will start off with European court of justice still governing rules we’re part of for that period”. - Guardian Theresa May is facing a fresh blow from Brussels as it prepares to ignore Britain’s demands to agree the Brexit transition deal before the end of the year, delaying trade talks further. Germany, France and Romania have blocked attempts to open exploratory trade talks after next week’s meeting of European Union leaders. - The Times British households are spending more in the shops - but largely because of higher prices, rather than because they are taking more goods home. Retail sales in September were up 2.3pc compared with the same month a year ago, the British Retail Consortium said, a level of growth with is well above the 12-month average of 1.7pc. - Telegraph The switchover to the new £1 coin is poised to give the economy a boost this week as shoppers scramble to spend the 500 million old ones that are still in circulation. Shops will benefit from a windfall, with up to two thirds of the remaining coins expected to be spent before the deadline of midnight on Sunday. The extra spending represents about a 1 per cent boost to the economy compared with a normal week. - The Times The Government is under scrutiny by European competition authorities over allegations of providing illegal state aid to BT via the business rates regime, amid plans to boost investment in Britain’s broadband infrastructure with new tax breaks. In a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, European Commission competition authorities called on the Government to defend its tax treatment of BT’s telecoms infrastructure against claims it unfairly favours the former state monopoly over rivals. - Telegraph Royal Mail has lodged an injunction in the High Court in a bid to prevent postal workers from going ahead with planned strikes later this month, after unions refused to call them off. The company had given the Communications Workers Union (CWU) a deadline of 12 noon on Monday to call off the industrial action, and if it did not, said it would begin legal action. - Telegraph Reforms to let financially stricken airlines keep flying, and protect passengers from being stranded by a sudden collapse, will be sought by the government following the demise of Monarch. The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, told the Commons on Monday he would focus his efforts on finding ways for airlines to “wind down in an orderly manner and look after customers” rather than be simply grounded in the event of insolvency. - Guardian London’s listing market is gearing up for action as car parts maker TI Fluid Systems has revived flotation plans and petrol station retailer MRH hired advisers for a potential £1.5bn debut. If TI Fluid successfully steers its way on to the market it will draw a line under its false start last October when private equity owner Bain scrapped flotation plans in the wake of uncertainty following the EU Referendum result. - Telegraph It was good news for landlords but bad news for tenants as a recent national slowdown in rent rises was reversed yesterday when Home Let published figures suggesting that prices had risen by 2.1 per cent last month. The average rental price for new tenancies rose to £927 a month in September, compared with £908 in the same month last year, suggesting that rents have not yet reached the peak of affordability, despite rising inflation, sluggish wage growth and economic uncertainty. - The Times A policy reversal on universal credit would mean 250,000 fewer people in work, the government has claimed. In a sign that the government believes it can head off the opposition of up to two dozen of its backbenchers, including Sir John Major, the work and pensions secretary David Gauke told MPs yesterday that the introduction of the new benefits regime was “proceeding to plan, gradually and sensibly”. - The Times The secretary-general of Opec has claimed that the oil export organisation is close to victory in its fight to rebalance the global crude market. In a speech yesterday, Mohammed Barkindo said: “There is clear evidence that the market is rebalancing. - The Times Britain’s switch to greener energy will take another significant step forward this week with the opening of an industrial-scale battery site in Sheffield. E.ON said the facility, which is next to an existing power plant and has the equivalent capacity of half a million phone batteries, marked a milestone in its efforts to develop storage for electricity from windfarms, nuclear reactors and gas power stations. - Guardian Britain’s biggest supplier of free-range eggs has been accused of hypocrisy after claiming that animal welfare was “the cornerstone of everything we do” while keeping more than four million hens in cages. Noble Foods owns the Happy Egg Co, Britain’s most popular free-range brand, but also uses the Big & Fresh brand to sell eggs from caged birds that never go outdoors. Ikea furniture might soon be available to buy on Amazon or eBay as the Swedish retailer overhauls its sales strategy in response to a fall in visitors to its out-of-town stores. Torbjörn Lööf, chief executive of the company, said that it was also looking at opening smaller stores with less stock in city centres.- The Times The cost of treating ill health caused by obesity around the world will top $1.2tn every year from 2025 unless more is done to check the rapidly worsening epidemic, according to new expert estimates. Obesity and smoking are the two main drivers behind the soaring numbers of cancers, heart attacks, strokes and diabetes worldwide, grouped together officially as non-communicable diseases. - Guardian David Cameron has taken a job with the electronic payments firm First Data Corporation, his first major private sector job since leaving office. The former prime minister will work two or three days a month for the US company, which handles credit and debit card transactions and cash machines around the world. The company made revenues of $11.6bn last year, processing 2,800 transfers a second across more than 6m merchant locations. - Guardian Donald Trump could next month be standing just metres from Kim Jong-un’s gun-toting soldiers during a possible visit to the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Officials from Washington have reportedly visited the tense border area between the two countries – who remain technically at war – as they draw up detailed plans for the US president’s upcoming visit to South Korea. - Telegraph | 
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