Monday newspaper round-up: JCB, ULEZ, mobile 'not spots'

(Sharecast News) - The influential Tory donors behind the JCB digger empire could be hit with a bill for more than £500m to settle a longrunning investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, the Guardian can reveal. The investigation into Anthony Bamford, a Tory peer, and his brother Mark, the director of a subsidiary of the Conservative party, is understood to span a complex network of offshore tax havens and companies. - Guardian Thousands of fines for breaches of London's ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) rules may have been sent unlawfully to drivers of EU-registered vehicles, Belgian authorities claim. The Belgian ministry for transport has ordered an investigation into alleged criminal breaches of data rules after motorists received penalty charge notices from a collections agent acting for Transport for London (TfL). - Guardian

A Government promise to improve mobile coverage in rural areas has been dealt a major setback after network operators warned they will not meet a key deadline. Vodafone, Three and Virgin Media O2 have asked the Government for a delay of up to two years to complete the first stage of the Shared Rural Network (SRN). - Telegraph

Big banks have been accused of giving small businesses "an incredibly poor deal" by offering them less interest on their cash than bigger companies. In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee, Richard Davies, chief executive of Allica Bank, claimed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be receiving an extra £7.5bn of interest per year on their deposits. - Telegraph

A parliamentary group that promotes sustainable and ethical business practices is funded by companies that have paid billions of pounds in fines and compensation for fraud, tax and environmental failings. The all-party parliamentary group on environmental, social and governance has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from funders, including KPMG, the accounting group, BAE Systems, the defence manufacturer and Bayer, the drugs multinational. - The Times

The rising costs of raw materials and disrupted supply chains are threatening to derail the winter "golden quarter" for medium-sized businesses in Britain. Companies are concerned about the possibility of suppliers collapsing or of being unable to provide enough basic materials for production. - The Times