Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Sports Direct, Debenhams, fracking

The European Commission will cause significant and lasting economic harm to millions of families across the continent if it rejects Britain’s Brexit plan, Greg Clark, the business secretary, has said. In a significant escalation of the government’s rhetoric Mr Clark used a meeting with his Austrian and Finnish counterparts to express dismay at what the government regards as EU intransigence to its proposals. - The Times

Jeremy Hunt has been criticised by Tory Eurosceptics after warning that a "messy" no-deal Brexit would be a mistake the UK and the EU would "regret for generations". The Foreign Secretary, speaking during a visit to the Netherlands, suggested that Britain could accept EU environmental and social regulations in an effort to secure a free trade deal. - Telegraph

A currency war will be inevitable if the US ratchets up tariffs to 25pc on $200bn of Chinese goods this September, economists fear. The tariffs will open up currencies as a second front in the conflict between the world’s biggest economies, risking a 15pc depreciation in the Chinese Yuan, according to an analysis from TS Lombard. - Telegraph

House of Fraser is cancelling all online orders and refunding thousands of customers potentially millions of pounds, after a dispute with its warehouse operator held up deliveries. The decision comes after a wave of complaints from shoppers who had not received goods bought online. House of Fraser, which is now part of Sports Direct International, took down its website on Wednesday after its warehouse operator, XPO Logistics, “paused” processing orders because of a dispute over payment. - Guardian

Debenhams will slash up to 90 jobs as the struggling department store chain pursues cost savings across its fashion and home departments. The ailing retailer has launched redundancy talks with around 200 workers in the latest phase of its cost-cutting drive. - Telegraph

Thousands of households who earn more than £100,000 a year are using the government’s Help to Buy scheme to purchase a house, leading to calls for the programme to be reformed. Since the scheme was introduced in March 2013, figures show that 6,717 households with an income of more than £100,000 have used it. This accounts for 4 per cent of the 169,102 properties that have been sold under Help to Buy, which was intended to get more people on the housing ladder. - The Times

E-cigarette users should be allowed to vape in public places, such as in offices, buses and trains, a controversial report by MPs has recommended. The Science and Technology Committee said that forcing vapers into the smoking shelters could undermine their efforts to quit and called for a ‘liberalisation on restrictions’ which would necessitate ‘non-vapers having to accommodate vapers.’ - Telegraph

An influential shareholder advisory firm has urged investors to vote against Countrywide’s new incentive scheme, blasting it as “unnecessarily convoluted”. The Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issued the recommendation ahead of the estate agency group's annual general meeting on Aug 28, at which it is seeking shareholder approval to replace its long-term incentive plan (LTIP) with its “Absolute Growth Plan” for the next three years. - Telegraph

School leavers are being failed by the government’s apprenticeship levy because fewer are getting the training they need than before the scheme came into force, employers have said. After publication of the latest figures, business groups called once again for urgent reforms of the levy to help more young people into apprenticeships and equip the economy for the future. - The Times

Ineos has been granted planning permission to drill the first shale gas exploration well in Derbyshire despite strong local opposition. The petrochemicals company controlled by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire industrialist, bypassed Derbyshire county council after complaining that it was taking too long to decide and appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. - The Times

If you don’t like the answer, stop asking the question. That is what the government has been accused of doing by deleting a question on support for fracking from a quarterly public opinion survey. For four years the survey has shown that more people oppose fracking than support it. Now, just as fracking is about to resume, the government has dropped the question. - The Times

Ten thousand bridges in Italy held up by decaying concrete are in danger of collapsing, an expert has warned after the death of at least 38 people in the Morandi Bridge tragedy. The viaduct in Genoa, which gave way on Tuesday, sending about 30 vehicles crashing 45 metres to the ground, is one of many structures built in the 1960s and 1970s in need of urgent replacement to avoid further deaths, Settimo Martinello, an Italian bridge maintenance specialist, said. - The Times

Elon Musk has said the past year of his professional life has been “excruciating” and that stress over his business had caused his health to deteriorate. The founder of electric car maker Tesla, also revealed that the pressures of work had caused him to spend his birthday stuck in the Tesla factory and almost miss his brother’s wedding. - Guardian

Celebrities who endorse brands on social media face investigation by the competition watchdog amid concern that some so-called influencers are failing to disclose that they are being paid or rewarded. The investigation will examine the extent to which stars identify commercial relationships and whether the public is being misled, potentially affecting the purchasing decisions of millions. Prosecutions may follow. - The Times

The Environment Agency has granted United Utilities a drought permit — the power to reduce the level of rivers in northwest England by redirecting water — only two weeks after the company cancelled a planned hosepipe ban, saying that more rain meant it was no longer needed. If supplies run low again, the company may have to implement a hosepipe ban while extracting river water. - The Times

Job interviewers would once have looked on a tattoo about as favourably as symptoms of the Black Death. That era has passed, according to an American study that found that a smattering of body art can boost men’s employment prospects. - The Times

The future of Towcester racecourse has plunged into doubt after its owners prepared to call in administrators. After “experiencing trading difficulties”, Towcester’s directors “have concluded that they have no alternative in the short term but to seek court protection”. - Telegraph

Hundreds of Google workers are demanding the Silicon Valley giant be more transparent in its plans to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, criticising their employer for making decisions "in secret". In a petition, published by The New York Times and signed by around 1,000 employees, the "Googlers" said they "need to know what we're building" to make ethical choices about their work. - Telegraph

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is due to confirm plans to ban the sale of the most-polluting fuels for domestic wood burners in an attempt to cut harmful emissions. The sale of traditional house coal will be phased out under proposals set out in the government’s draft clean air strategy in May, which are expected to be confirmed by Gove’s department on Friday. - Guardian