Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, UK water companies, National Grid

Brexit has not contributed to labour market shortages in the UK, according to Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor. Speaking at a panel with other major central bankers, Bailey said the UK’s inflationary problem was partly the result of workers choosing to leave the workforce after the pandemic and not returning. He said the bulk of this labour market shrinkage was caused by factors outside the UK’s exit from the European Union, which put a stop to the free movement of labour from the 27-country bloc. - The Times

Britain's beleaguered water sector is creaking under the weight of a £65billion debt mountain that could rise even further due to inflation. The staggering combined debt pile built up by the UK’s 12 water companies means that huge swathes of cash are being spent on interest payments – money that could be spent cleaning up polluted rivers or fixing leaky pipes. And they face falling deeper into the red as a big chunk of the debt is linked to inflation, which has been rising sharply. - Daily Mail

National Grid has failed to secure emergency backup coal plants to help prevent blackouts this winter after Drax rejected requests to reopen parts of its north Yorkshire power station. The company responsible for keeping Britain’s lights on warned this month that the country was at risk of controlled power cuts this winter in a worst-case scenario if it was unable to import enough energy. - The Times

The crown estate has generated record profits of almost half a billion pounds from Britain’s offshore windfarms, as talks continue over how much of the windfall should be shared with King Charles. The royal property manager made £443m in profits in its last financial year, up by almost £130m from the year before, in large part thanks to payments made by renewable energy companies for the right to access the seabed. - Guardian

Ten major pension funds, which collectively manage around £300billion in assets and include schemes run on behalf of the Church of England and HSBC UK, said, in an letter to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), changing laws on listings would not lead to ‘healthy capital markets’ and would ‘exacerbate’ existing difficulties in attracting investment to the City. - Daily Mail