Thursday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Chinese carmakers, Asos

(Sharecast News) - Labour's plans for ending Britain's long-term economic stagnation have been backed by a group of leading economists, including three Nobel prize winners and a former Bank of England deputy governor. In a boost to the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the 16 UK and internationally based economists said change was "desperately needed" after the policy mistakes and failures of the past 14 years since the Conservatives took power. - Guardian Officials from the GMB are urging staff at Amazon's Coventry warehouse to "together, vote yes", at the start of a month-long ballot process that could trigger a historic union recognition deal. Officials from the union began visiting the West Midlands site on Wednesday after the GMB was granted the right to hold the legally binding ballot by the independent Central Arbitration Committee. Amazon had rejected a request for voluntary recognition. - Guardian

Chinese carmakers have urged Beijing to hit back against European Union tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) with the "most severe measures" in the latest sign of global trade tensions. At a private meeting organised by China's ministry of commerce car manufacturers reportedly called on their government to retaliate by imposing tariffs on imported European vehicles with high-powered engines. - Telegraph

The number of children receiving disability benefits has doubled in the past decade amid a rise in learning difficulties, ADHD and autism, the Resolution Foundation has found. In total, there are now 328,000 more children receiving financial support for disability than there were in 2013, the think tank said, taking this year's tally to 658,000. - Telegraph

Asos has warned staff that virtual meetings have a "detrimental" impact on company performance as it urged staff to adhere to its return-to-office policy. The online fashion retailer has told employees that it will start to take disciplinary action if they do not abide by its flexible working rules. Each department at Asos has different measures, with some teams required to work in the office at least three days a week. - The Times

Consumers are cutting back on eating out, takeaway food, and clothing purchases to save on non-essential spending even as inflation has fallen back to 2 per cent this year. New figures from KPMG show that four in ten British households are saving around £77 a month by reducing expenditure on discretionary items after two years of a cost of living squeeze caused by rising prices. Just under half of those surveyed said their non-essential spending was unchanged this year. - The Times