Wednesday newspaper round-up: Scottish referendum, Apple, UK energy...

10th Sep 2014 07:18

Buckingham Palace has taken the unprecedented step of warning politicians not to drag the Queen into the battle over Scottish independence. In unusually forceful language betraying signs of irritation at the highest level, a palace spokesman rejected calls from MPs, including Labour’s Simon Danczuk and the Tory Henry Bellingham, for the monarch to intervene to help to keep the Union together. - The TimesApple’s highly anticipated entry into the world of wearable technology is the Apple Watch, CEO Tim Cook announced on Tuesday. The Apple Watch will monitor health and fitness, tracking the wearer’s movement, heartrate and activity with built-in sensors, feeding the information into Apple’s Health app for the iPhone and iPad and allowing review and analysis of the data. - The GuardianBritish Gas will be forced to advise its 9m household customers that they would be better off switching to Sainsbury’s Energy, under plans from regulator Ofgem. SSE will also be forced to tell its 5m customers that they could get a cheaper deals with M&S Energy, under the proposals, expected to be published this week. Both energy giants operate so-called “white label” arrangements with the retailers, whereby British Gas and SSE supply electricity and gas to customers under Sainsbury’s and M&S branding. - The TelegraphThe City watchdog is putting contingency plans in place in case it is deluged with calls from desperate companies and consumers following a ‘yes’ vote in next week’s Scottish referendum. John Griffith-Jones, chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority, said the regulator had done ‘some basic contingency planning’ in case Scotland votes to go independent next week. He said the regulator was prepared for a rush of calls from consumers and businesses about the implications of a ‘yes’ vote. - The Daily MailMonarch Airlines is in talks with unions and the pensions regulator about swingeing cuts to salaries, benefits and retirement payouts as it struggles to stay airborne after the withdrawal of its billionaire Swiss backers. The holiday carrier’s owner, the Mantegazza family of Switzerland, has refused to absorb further losses and has declined to plug a £158 million hole in Monarch’s pension fund. Staff are being asked for pay cuts and productivity improvements of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent, on top of 900 job losses from the 3,300-strong workforce. - The TimesBritain's biggest energy firms have agreed to refund more than £153m to 3.5 million domestic customers after the cash accumulated in closed accounts over the past six years, the industry body announced today. - The GuardianThe British division of Alstom was accused yesterday of paying more than £5 million in bribes to corrupt officials in India, Poland and Tunisia as part of a six-year drive to secure lucrative government transport contracts. - The Times