Wednesday newspaper round-up: Post Office, interest-only mortgages, Asda

(Sharecast News) - Post office operators yet to claim compensation of at least £600,000 relating to the Horizon IT scandal have not been chased up by officials because the government did not want to "harass" them with letters, it has emerged. In a report criticising the speed and handling of payouts after the Post Office scandal, the House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said the government is taking "insufficient action" identifying all the operators eligible to claim some of the £1.7bn being paid out across four compensation schemes. - Guardian They were once called a "ticking timebomb" but interest-only mortgages could become easier to get hold of as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) looks at ways to support home ownership. Interest-only mortgages were hugely popular but almost became extinct following the 2007-08 financial crisis, with some viewing them as one of the worst examples of irresponsible lending. - Guardian

Asda's chairman Allan Leighton has made a point not to read too much into industry data. He was "not bothered" about figures published by Kantar last month showing Asda's share of the grocery market had tumbled to a record low. Its shopper numbers versus rival supermarkets were "of no consequence". "We don't really care what anybody else does," Leighton told The Telegraph. - Telegraph

The government has been "dangerously flat-footed" in its approach to recovering billions of pounds of taxpayer losses from an emergency pandemic loan programme, MPs said. Efforts by the Department for Business and Trade to recoup fraud-related losses from the £47 billion bounce-back loan scheme have been "passive" and "largely unsuccessful, with only a small fraction of losses recovered", the public accounts committee said. - The Times

Fermented from grapes ripened in the sun-soaked southern climes, Spanish wines have a long-held reputation for being a shade more powerful than their delicate European cousins. While that boldness has for decades been a draw among oenophiles seeking the hit of a full-bodied rioja or the earthy kick of tempranillo, it is now proving a headache for the country's vineyard owners. - The Times