Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive automotive executive, has been ordered to repay £4.3m to Nissan and Mitsubishi by a Dutch court after he failed in the first step in a legal claim. Ghosn led the Japanese carmaker Nissan and France’s Renault in an alliance, before falling from grace spectacularly. At the end of 2018 he was arrested by prosecutors in Tokyo, charged with concealing his income, but fled to Lebanon a year later. – Guardian
Australia’s biggest cattle farmer has predicted that the nation’s beef exports to the UK could rise as much as tenfold if the two countries strike a free-trade deal. Boris Johnson is determined to push through a free-trade deal with Australia, despite warnings from the National Farmers’ Union over the “irreversible damage” such a deal would do to UK agriculture. It was discussed by ministers at a cabinet meeting on Thursday. – Guardian
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has told Elon Musk that his region would host a new Tesla factory “in a flash” in a direct pitch to the billionaire. Issuing a Twitter plea to the US tech tycoon after The Telegraph revealed growing speculation that Mr Musk could seek to build a UK factory, Mr Houchen said: “Hartlepool and the Tees Valley still stand ready to deliver a new Gigafactory – Just say the word.” – Telegraph
Fears are mounting that a new generation of supply ships to sail with the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers will be built abroad as the contract process is officially launched. The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, has fired the starting gun on the estimated £1.5bn competition to build the three 40,000-tonne “Fleet Solid Support” (FSS) ships. – Telegraph
More homebuyers face having their mortgage applications rejected as lending limits in place since 2014 bite harder after the housing boom of the past 12 months, the Bank of England’s deputy governor has warned. Sir Jon Cunliffe said that low interest rates and the temporary stamp duty holiday had fuelled a surge in house prices in the past year and there were “reasons to believe that . . . the market will not fall back” as the tax break was withdrawn. – The Times
Britain’s financial services industry needs to become more competitive as it has a critical role in levelling up the economy, according to a report. The Policy Exchange think tank said that the City of London and the broader financial services industry had fallen victim to a policy of “benign neglect” since the EU referendum in 2016. – The Times