Monday newspaper round-up: Brexit, equality, Finsbury Foods, Wonga

Boris Johnson has used his first newspaper column of the new parliamentary term to attack Theresa May’s Chequers plan, saying it means the UK enters Brexit negotiations with a “white flag fluttering”. The declaration amounts to a significant escalation of the former foreign secretary’s guerrilla campaign against the prime minister and her Chequers plan a day before the Commons returns and at a time when party disquiet over the direction of the divorce talks is mounting. – Guardian

Fewer than one in seven partners at hedge funds and private equity firms are women, and progress towards equality is slow. According to a report based on Financial Conduct Authority data, out of 9,957 partners at private equity firms, hedge funds and other financial services companies only 1,381 (14%) are women. The percentage has increased by only 2% in the past five years despite a plethora of initiatives to increase the participation of women in top finance roles, including the government’s women in finance charter. – Guardian

Aim-listed baker Finsbury Foods has seized on the burgeoning popularity of gluten-free diets with a £25m takeover of family-owned specialist Ultrapharm. Ultrapharm, based in Pontypool, Wales, makes gluten-free bread, rolls, muffins and cake for clients including Marks & Spencer. – Telegraph

Train operators should be forced to pay higher compensation for delays to “level the playing field” with airlines, the chief executive of Flybe has said. Christine Ourmieres-Widener said payouts should be set at three times the value of rail tickets. Ms Ourmieres-Widener said train companies enjoy a “different relationship” with the Government. – Telegraph

Large multinationals are agreeing to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in additional corporation tax in the UK to avoid the stigma of being hit by the so-called Google tax, experts say. They point to Diageo, which agreed in July to pay an extra £190 million in conventional corporation tax in order for HM Revenue & Customs to return £107 million it had paid previously in diverted profits tax. – The Times

Victims of mis-selling by Wonga may face an uphill struggle to get compensation from the company after it emerged that a Mayfair-based investment fund is in line to get paid ahead of all other creditors of the collapsed payday lender. Kreos Capital will have first rights over all the proceeds of the Wonga administration, having lent the company nearly €38 million two years ago in a deal that effectively gave it the right to seize all the company’s main assets, including its lucrative Polish operations, in the event that it was not repaid. – The Times