Friday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Catalonia, Vauxhall, inheritance tax

Dave Lewis, the chief executive of Tesco, has “some explaining to do” about why the company did not reveal its inspectors had unearthed “major” process issues at a second 2 Sisters Food Group factory, an influential MP has said. The supermarket chain conducted a series of emergency inspections of 2 Sisters poultry factories as a direct response to a Guardian and ITV undercover investigation into its West Bromwich site at the end of September. – Guardian

Catalan pro-independence parties have held their absolute majority in snap regional elections, dealing a severe blow to the Spanish government, which had called the polls in the hope of heading off the secessionist push. The three separatist parties won a total of 70 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament even though the centre-right, pro-unionist Citizens party was the single biggest winner, taking 36 seats. – Guardian

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google and a key figure behind its colossal growth, is stepping down as executive chairman at the search engine's parent company Alphabet. He will leave in January, and is taking on a technical adviser role for the board, Alphabet said this evening. – Telegraph

The owners of DC Thomson, the family-owned publisher whose titles include The Beano, are set to share dividend payouts of more than £20m after a rise in profits. Revenues at the Dundee-based company, which also owns the free magazines Stylist and Shortlist, as well as Scotland’s Sunday Post, inched up 0.6pc to £277m in the year to March, despite falling advertising sales. Pre-tax profits climbed 23pc to £38.1m. – Telegraph

Vauxhall is insisting that it will not have to cut jobs or production shifts at its Luton factory despite the slowdown in British motor manufacturing. A day after car production figures for British factories in November revealed a 28 per cent drop in domestic demand, monthly commercial vehicle manufacturing figures showed the van market was in recession, with a 34 per cent slump in assembly. – The Times

Tax inspectors delving into people’s estates have increased their inheritance tax take by nearly 15 per cent in the current financial year. Experts believe it shows a much more aggressive approach towards tackling avoidance. Figures released by HMRC show that inheritance tax receipts from the start of the 2017-18 tax year to the end of last month stood at £3.6 billion, a rise of £472 million or 14.6 per cent compared with the equivalent period last year. – The Times