Sunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Aviva, Boris Johnson, supermarkets, Labour leadership, Cobham

When Florence Widdicombe opened a box of Tesco charity Christmas cards to send them to her friends, the six-year-old schoolgirl from Tooting, south London, was startled to find that one of them had already been used. The card, featuring a kitten in a Santa hat, contained a despairing message from a Chinese gulag. “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China,” the message read in capital letters. “Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation.” - The Sunday Times

A boardroom row has erupted at Aviva over its refusal to trigger a radical break-up plan designed to drag the insurer out of its prolonged stock market slump. It is understood that some of its top directors have been pushing for the struggling FTSE 100 insurer to consider splitting itself in two amid concerns that it could become the target of an aggressive activist investor. - Sunday Telegraph

Ken Clarke has warned Boris Johnson he must “stop campaigning and get on with governing”, condemning the prime minister for seemingly having no detailed plans for a final Brexit deal, or for other vital issues such as social care. The veteran former Conservative MP, who stepped down from parliament at the election having been stripped of the Tory whip shortly beforehand, said Johnson should replace advisers such as Dominic Cummings with people who were able to govern. - Observer

Britain's largest grocers are cutting prices to the bone in a tense festive stand-off with shoppers that has left stores facing a Christmas ‘bloodbath’. Food industry sources said sales at major supermarket chains, which have been poor for weeks, have crashed in the past ten days and left many stores struggling to match last year’s festive period. Bosses at some major names are said to have been left reeling by declines of as much as 10 per cent on the weakest days compared to last year – possibly made worse by recent bad weather. - Mail on Sunday

The frontrunner in the Labour leadership race has been accused of telling “tall tales” about her working-class back story growing up under Margaret Thatcher and watching her father worry about layoffs at the local docks. Rebecca Long Bailey, the shadow business secretary, also faces doubts about her status as favourite to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, after private union polling of party members showed that she is behind rivals Sir Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry. - The Sunday Times

Staff at talkRadio are appealing to ­Rupert Murdoch to save them from a planned “Radio 4 rebrand” that it is feared will alienate listeners. News UK, the 88-year-old media ­mogul’s British newspaper and radio business, has been preparing to ­relaunch the station as Times Radio. Station staff were originally told the change would happen at the end of the year, but that executives are now working towards the end of March, although no final decisions have been made. - Sunday Telegraph

The government has been accused of handing control away after it approved a US private equity firm’s £4bn takeover of the UK defence company Cobham despite national security concerns. The deal had been delayed since mid-2019 after fears were raised that Advent International’s acquisition could undermine the country’s security. - Observer

Lloyds is facing two high-profile legal battles with entrepreneurs who say they were ruined by corrupt bankers at its infamous HBOS Reading branch, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The banking group – which bought HBOS in 2008 and so is liable for its past misbehaviour – was slammed earlier this month for botching a compensation scheme set up for victims of HBOS Reading, who included TV star and businessman Noel Edmonds. - Mail on Sunday

A financial information company tried to hire journalists to take high-speed audio transmission equipment into the Bank of England’s press conferences. Selerity, a New York-based tech company, asked financial reporters to attend press conferences held by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB), in return for payment. - The Sunday Times

A Labour shadow minister is being investigated by police over an allegation of sexual assault in a nightclub months before the general election. The Labour frontbencher is alleged to have touched someone's bottom while on the dance floor with people he knew and had met earlier that day. - Sunday Telegraph

The Bank of England restructured its security department and lost multiple senior employees in charge of protecting some of Britain’s most critical financial infrastructure shortly before it suffered a major breach. After the central bank admitted that hedge funds had gained early access to its market-moving press conferences via a backup audio feed, multiple former employees contacted the Observer to warn that the Bank was struggling with the departure of key staff responsible for protecting it against external threats. - Observer

Washing machines made by Whirlpool have been linked to nearly 3,000 fires in the past decade, it has been claimed. The revelations come as bosses of the faulty appliances are telling half a million of us to unplug our washing machines over Christmas due to fire risks. Labour MP Andy Slaughter has branded it the 'biggest product safety scandal in modern times'. - Mail on Sunday

Submarine and warship repairer Babcock believes it has identified the anonymous analyst behind a damaging attack on the company. Babcock, one of the Ministry of Defence’s biggest suppliers, was blindsided in October last year when a previously unknown organisation, Boatman Capital Research, published a highly critical dossier. - The Sunday Times

The Duke of Edinburgh was due to spend a second night in hospital amid reports he is in good spirits and has been laughing and joking with staff. The 98-year-old was admitted to the private King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone, central London, on Friday morning for observation and treatment for a pre-existing condition. - Sunday Telegraph

As Labour heads into another leadership contest, it will be the votes of the party’s 550,000 members that will matter most in the end. They will have the final say after a 12-week contest that will start next month. Since 2015, the membership has been strongly supportive of Jeremy Corbyn, and he won thumping majorities in 2015 and 2016 thanks largely to them. But after the recent catastrophic election defeat, Labour’s fourth in a row, are some losing patience? Do they want more Corbynism, or is the brand now tainted by failure? - Observer

Prince Charles’s official London residence is set for a costly makeover in the New Year. Royal staff have applied for permission to carry out an urgent ‘major repair programme’ on Clarence House, which dates from the early 19th Century. The works will be paid for from the Government’s annual Sovereign Grant to the Queen, set at £86 million next year. - Mail on Sunday