Monday newspaper round-up: Public sector pay freeze, dividends, Blackmore

Rishi Sunak has rejected accusations that his planned public sector pay freeze amounts to a return of austerity and insisted that spending plans to be announced on Wednesday will result in more money for health, education and the police. With trade unions demanding that the chancellor do a last-minute U-turn over his clearly signalled intention to clamp down on the state’s wage bill and refusing to rule out strikes, Sunak said there would be significant increases in spending on public services next year. - Guardian

The economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic pushed third-quarter shareholder payouts to their lowest level since 2016, according to the latest snapshot, with the UK recording the biggest falls. Janus Henderson is now warning that dividends for the whole of 2020 are likely to drop at least 15.7%, which would “eradicate” more than three years of dividend growth and cost investors $224bn (£170bn) in lost income this year. - Guardian

The effective renationalisation of the railways has been accelerated after ministers put the industry’s future in the hands of Network Rail and a group of government officials, leaving private sector train operators by the wayside. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has asked Andrew Haines, the Network Rail chief, to spearhead a 30-year strategy for the railway called the “The Whole Industry Strategic Plan” (WISP), according to leaked internal documents seen by The Telegraph. - Telegraph

Thousands of small investors who put almost £47 million into unregulated minibonds sold by Blackmore have been warned to expect nothing back after the collapse of the property developer. The disclosure by administrators at Duff & Phelps will add to the furore surrounding Blackmore, which failed in April with only £906 of cash in its bank account. - The Times

One of Britain’s leading restaurateurs has urged the government to abandon blanket Covid-19 restrictions or face “an atomic bomb” of unemployment in January. Richard Caring, who owns chains including Bill’s and The Ivy Collection, said rules that had been “put in place without a great deal of thought” had turned out to be “a killer” for the hospitality industry. - The Times