Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, HMRC, new homes

(Sharecast News) - Brexit has depressed UK exports to the EU by 12%, and rejoining the customs union would undo only a fraction of the damage, research shared with the Guardian shows. With the UK's future relationship with the bloc likely to feature prominently in a potential Labour leadership contest, the economists John Springford and Anton Spisak, of the Centre for European Reform, provide fresh evidence of the damage caused by exiting. - Guardian Trading billionaire Alex Gerko has accused HMRC of gloating after it defeated him in a legal tax dispute. Mr Gerko, who is one of Britain's biggest taxpayers, lost a long-running battle in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the tax treatment of profits from a currency-trading fund he operates. - Telegraph

Oil and gas workers are being forced to take significant pay cuts to work in renewables, one of the UK's biggest trade unions has told MPs. The claims by the GMB union, which represents thousands of oil and gas workers, cast doubt on Ed Miliband's claims of a "fair energy transition" for employees. It says the renewables sector pays wages up to 30pc lower than the oil and gas industry, employs far fewer workers and operates a "hire and fire" culture that is destroying the UK's energy communities. - Telegraph

The centrepiece of Britain's post-crisis financial regulation, which was designed to make banks safer, would be abolished as part of an overhaul of the City under a Conservative government. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, is expected to warn on Thursday that "London is having its lunch eaten" because of the burden of regulation facing financial services businesses operating in the UK. - The Times

The government's target of delivering 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029 looks increasingly unrealistic, so the prospect of 3,500 being delivered by a single project in Kent might appear to be too good to miss. For proponents, Northfleet Harbourside promises new homes and jobs, fresh offices and retail space, a 300-bed hotel, a new football stadium for the local team, and the chance to regenerate a "brownfield" area. - The Times