Tuesday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, North Sea workers, tobacco companies, John Lewis

(Sharecast News) - Andy Burnham has told officials to rip up their plans for how to fix Thames Water and present him with more radical options for what to do with the stricken company. In an early test of his promise to bring "the essentials of life" under public control, the prime minister is urging his advisers to go back to the drawing board and create a new list of policies for the utility. One option being looked at is to convert about £100m of outstanding fines into a government stake in the company, saving its creditors money but giving ministers some say in how it is run. - Guardian

North Sea workers are preparing to strike at oil rigs across the ageing basin over the coming weeks in a sign of growing tensions between trade unions and oil companies. The Unite union said on `Monday that more than `160 offshore rig workers would take part `in a 24-hour strike from Wednesday that could "severely disrupt" UK fuel supplies. - Guardian

Europe's biggest telecoms companies are teaming up for a new satellite mobile venture to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's Starlink. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone are exploring a potential joint venture for the mobile spectrum required to beam mobile phone signals down to Europe from orbiting satellites. The initiative came amid growing wariness in Europe about relying on Starlink after operator SpaceX last week imposed speed restrictions in Ukraine. The curbs dealt a major setback to the country's ability to use drones to defend itself from Russian attacks. - Telegraph

Engineers running Britain's electricity grid have accused their bosses of misrepresenting the risk of blackouts, an independent report has found. The National Energy Systems Operator (Neso) issued a press release in June insisting that the electricity network's stability was never "at risk" throughout a record-breaking heatwave, despite a strain on supplies. But an investigation into claims of a cover-up, published on Monday, shows that staff working in Neso's control room saw this as misleading and felt "frustration" at what they regarded as an understatement of the situation. - Telegraph

Big tobacco companies are exaggerating the scale of Britain's illegal cigarette market and using concerns about organised crime to lobby against stricter regulation and taxes, according to a report. Research on the illicit trade found a "striking gulf" between official government figures of the problem and research funded by tobacco manufacturers. Action on Smoking and Health, the campaign charity, said the findings in its report raised questions about the reliability of research commissioned by tobacco manufacturers and the way it was presented to MPs and the public. - The Times

John Lewis has expanded its rapid delivery service in an attempt to improve sales. More shoppers are able to order Egyptian cotton towels and wine glasses to their homes in under 30 minutes after the department store chain broadened its partnership with Deliveroo and Uber Eats. - The Times