Friday newspaper round-up: OBR, franchise agreements, GoCardless

(Sharecast News) - MPs have launched an inquiry into the role and performance of the Office for Budget Responsibility. The all-party Commons Treasury committee will spend until the end of next month investigating the independent agency's forecasting performance and impartiality. The panel will consider whether reforms are needed 15 years after the OBR was set up by George Osborne when he was Tory chancellor. - Guardian The government will consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements in response to the "harrowing stories" of small business people running Vodafone stores. The move follows allegations of suicide and attempted suicide among shopkeepers who had agreed to deals to run retail outlets for the £18bn telecoms company, which were revealed by the Guardian on Monday. - Guardian

Ed Miliband has been left isolated over his net zero policies after the European Union (EU) dropped a flagship pledge to ban sales of new petrol cars. Brussels was said to be preparing for a major climbdown on vehicle emissions rules amid a revolt by member states including Germany and Italy. Manfred Weber, head of the European Parliament's biggest grouping of MEPs, said a ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars scheduled for 2035 was now off the table indefinitely. - Telegraph

A technology executive who was paralysed in a cycling accident and one Britain's top entrepreneurs are set for a big payday after the payments company they co-founded was sold for almost £1 billion. The €1.05 billion (£920 million) acquisition of GoCardless by Mollie, a Dutch rival, is expected to result in a bonanza for some staff at the British business including its boss Hiroki Takeuchi, as well as his fellow founder Tom Blomfield, a well-known figure on Britain's tech scene who also helped to set up digital bank Monzo. - The Times

The British chief executive of Coca-Cola has been promoted to executive chairman as part of a reshuffle of the American drinks conglomerate's top team. James Quincey, who has been in the top job at the fizzy drinks company since 2017, will move into the role of executive chairman next year. He will be succeeded by Henrique Braun, Coca-Cola's chief operating officer, who will take over at the end of March. - The Times