Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit drugs, Didi, RBS, Aston Martin
The health secretary’s plan to set aside six weeks’ worth of vital medicines to avoid supply disruptions in the event of a no-deal Brexit could cost up to £2bn, campaign group Best for Britain warns today. Matt Hancock wrote to healthcare providers last week, saying the government would set in motion plans to “ensure the UK has an additional six weeks’ supply of medicines in case imports from the EU through certain routes are affected”. Data collated by thinktank the King’s Fund earlier this year suggested the total drugs bill for the NHS in 2016-17 was £17.4bn. – Guardian
Philip Hammond has been urged to scrap billions of pounds in tax relief for entrepreneurs, labelled the “worst tax break” in Britain for helping just a few wealthy individuals, and use the proceeds to increase spending on the NHS. The Resolution Foundation thinktank called on the chancellor to abolish entrepreneurs’ relief in the autumn budget later this year, generating annual savings of around £2.7bn that could be spent on the health service. – Guardian
Business bosses are increasingly facing the wrath of angry shareholders as directors faced 237 revolts by investors in the first six months of 2018. There are now 120 companies on the ‘public register’ of firms which have faced a vote against directors by at least 20pc of investors. This represents a 25pc jump in rebellions compared with the same period of 2017 and a 9pc rise in the number of companies facing unhappy shareholders, said the Investment Association, which tracks the votes. – Telegraph
The Chinese car-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has slammed the brakes on its relentless expansion after the murder of a female passenger raised major safety concerns at one of Asia’s biggest technology companies. Didi, which is known as Beijing’s answer to Uber, has conquered cities in many emerging markets and chased its US rival out of China two years ago. – Telegraph
A Royal Bank of Scotland manager who is subject to a police investigation into allegations that he solicited bribes from the owners of small businesses left the bank with a payoff, it can be revealed. The banker from the bank’s Global Restructuring Group was given a voluntary redundancy package in 2016. The claims of criminal conduct raise difficult questions for the bank about its oversight of the restructuring unit at a time when it was supposed to have been reformed after an earlier scandal. – The Times
Only the few might be able to afford the £150,000 needed to buy an Aston Martin DB11, but from later this year the many might be able to buy a slice of the luxury sports car manufacturer, one of the last bastions of the golden age of British motoring. Aston Martin, indelibly linked with the glamour of James Bond, is set to become one of the sexiest stock market flotations in London in a long time. The owners — a mixture of Kuwaiti sovereign wealth funds, American- Italian private equity and Mercedes-Benz — are expected to announce the plans today. – The Times