Monday newspaper round-up: Industrial strategy, military spending, house prices

The government is to highlight five key areas where the UK needs to improve its performance when it reveals on Monday the details of a new industrial strategy designed to increase productivity. Greg Clark, the business secretary, will announce the creation of an independent watchdog to monitor progress made in boosting innovation, upgrading infrastructure, increasing the level of workplace skills, ensuring that the strength of the City is reflected in funds for companies and spreading prosperity to all parts of the country. - Guardian

...The Government hopes to unlock business investment by backing dozens of “sector deals” that will provide taxpayer support and policy collaboration on major issues such as automation and training. It hopes to avoid accusations of “picking winners” from Whitehall by asking industries to come up with ideas themselves, with pharmaceuticals industry at the head of the queue and construction understood to be close to its own sector deal. - Telegraph

The armed forces will not receive any extra funding as a result of a major national security review, the Ministry of Defence has been told. Ministers had hoped to avoid potentially damaging cuts to the military if the review recommended a boost in MoD resources to fight terrorism. - Telegraph

Optimism among companies in the dominant consumer services sector is falling as sales slide and costs jump sharply, the CBI has warned. The business lobby group said that morale in consumer services, which include hotels, bars, restaurants, travel and leisure, had deteriorated for the second quarter in a row to its lowest level since November 2011. - The Times

Black Friday sales failed to tempt shoppers on to high streets, casting new doubt over the wisdom of British stores’ adoption of the US retail event. High street footfall was down 4.2pc on last year. Including retail parks and shopping centres, 3.6pc fewer shoppers bothered to seek out a bargain on Friday. - Telegraph

A final decision on the Northern Irish border cannot be made until a UK-EU trade deal has been agreed, Liam Fox has said, despite warnings from Brussels that trade talks cannot proceed unless an agreement is reached within days. Ireland is seen as the key obstacle to proceeding to negotiations about a future trade relationship with the EU at a December summit, with the Irish government dissatisfied with the options offered so far to prevent a hard border with Northern Ireland. - Guardian

Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are in the spotlight as investors wait to see whether they pass the Bank of England’s annual stress tests this week. Last year, RBS failed, sending its shares down 5 per cent, and the lender had to cut costs and sell assets eventually to scrape through. Barclays passed only by taking steps such as selling its African subsidiary. Standard Chartered also struggled. - The Times

Almost 100,000 households in England are being priced out of the property market each year because of a shortage of affordable homes to rent or buy, according to a report. Research by the estate agent Savills, shared with the Guardian, found the number of priced-out households had risen from its previous projection in 2015 of 70,000 a year. This was in part because of a change in how housing need is assessed, but also due to rising prices and stagnant wage growth. - Guardian

Meredith Corporation has announced that it is buying the Time Inc publishing group in a “transformative” $1.8bn deal that joins two huge magazine companies. Meredith, which owns a portfolio including Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, allrecipes and Shape, will fund the deal with the help of the rightwing billionaire Koch brothers, who have contributed $650m of preferred equity. - Guardian

Upmarket supermarket chain Booths has been put up for sale, opening the door for takeover bids by the likes of online giant Amazon. Clive Black, retail analyst at Shore Capital, said: ‘The wild card would be whether Amazon, after buying Whole Foods in the US as a premium player, will go from online to offline.’ - Mail

The Mayor of London has vowed to protect the Green Belt as he unveils his plans to alleviate the capital’s housing crisis by more than doubling the number of new homes built each year. Sadiq Khan said his draft London Plan, which is due to be launched on Wednesday, will safeguard “the lungs of the capital”. He has also pledged to increase the city’s green cover to more than 50pc by 2050. - Telegraph

A new generation of prefab housing is to go up at a 272-acre site near Wokingham after Legal & General said the Budget had given it confidence to invest. The pension giant’s house building arm will accelerate its use of “off-site” construction and begin erecting 1,500 homes at the end of next year. It is L&G’s second major development as it seeks long-term income in the property market. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s most influential technology investors has launched a scathing attack on the City grandee who agreed the £24 billion sale of Arm Holdings to Softbank, of Japan. James Anderson, who runs the FTSE 100 investment trust Scottish Mortgage, has accused Stuart Chambers, then chairman of Arm, of capitulating to short-termist investors. - The Times

One of London’s best-known venture capital firms has raised a new $375m (£281m) fund as it goes on the hunt for Europe’s answer to Google, Amazon or Facebook. Balderton Capital, which has backed the likes of LoveFilm, Citymapper and Wonga, said the Continent’s technology sector had reached a “pivotal moment” that could produce a company with the scale to rival the Silicon Valley giants. - Telegraph