Today’s political headlines include the DUP’s threat to withdraw support from Government, May to launch plans for ethnicity pay gap reporting, Home Office guidelines may have been breached and Major compares Universal Credit to the poll tax.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Cabinet ministers consider resigning over Brexit customs plans<\/span> DUP \u2018not afraid\u2019 of general election<\/span> McVey admits Universal Credit will leave some people worse off<\/span> Home Office agrees to independent investigation into detention centres<\/span> Charities ask MPs not to report constituents to immigration hotline<\/span> Report recommends 32% pay hike for High Court judges<\/span> HMRC chief received death threats after select committee appearance<\/span> Pension tax relief reform rejected<\/span>
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that at least three Cabinet ministers are considering resigning after Theresa May told her \u2018war cabinet\u2019 that there will be no end date on a plan to keep the UK in a customs union with the EU. Esther McVey, Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom, all of whom are said to have concerns about the proposal, were not at the meeting, and\u00a0The Times<\/em>\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0that six cabinet ministers who did attend challenged the plans: Liam Fox, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab, Gavin Williamson and Michael Gove.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that the DUP has claimed that it is \u2018not afraid\u2019 of a general election, with Jim Shannon adding that it would decide in the next fortnight whether it supported Theresa May\u2019s Brexit deal, and that the Government should take a \u2018hard look\u2019 at its worries. Government sources have\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0The Sun<\/em>\u00a0that they believe that a further payment in addition to the \u00a31bn agreed in 2017 will ensure that the party backs the final deal.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that charities and companies that work with Universal Credit claimants have been made to sign gagging clauses, preventing them from doing anything which would harm the Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey\u2019s reputation. McVey has\u00a0admitted<\/a>\u00a0that \u2018some people will be worse off\u2019 as a result of the policy, while the paper\u00a0adds<\/a>\u00a0that a growing number of Tory MPs are opposing changes to be voted on later this month.\u00a0According<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, Chancellor Philip Hammond is planning to abandon plans to cut income tax to help find \u00a32bn in order to reverse changes to Universal Credit announced in 2015.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that the Home Office has agreed to an independent inquiry into alleged abusive treatment of immigrants held in detention centres. The department had initially refused to agree to the investigation but agreed to do so in return for the end of legal action launched in the wake of a BBC\u00a0Panorama<\/em>\u00a0documentary about the Brook House centre.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The BBC\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that a group of charities have written to Commons Speaker John Bercow asking MPs to pledge not to use an immigrant enforcement hotline to report on constituents, after it emerged that it was called by MPs and their staff 68 times last year. 107 MPs have already signed the pledge, but only one Conservative MP, Heidi Allen, has done so.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>In an\u00a0exclusive<\/a>, the\u00a0Daily Mail<\/em>\u00a0says that a report has recommended that High Court judges\u2019 salaries are increased by 32%, owing to low morale, long hours, changes to pension taxation, and a recruitment crisis. A source close to Justice Secretary David Gauke said he was \u2018sympathetic\u2019 but the increase \u2018is likely to be closer to 2% than 32%.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that the head of HM Revenue and Customs, Jon Thompson, told an event hosted by the Institute for Government that he had had to \u2018change how I travel and what my personal security is\u2019 and has had two death threats investigated by the police \u2018for speaking truth unto power about Brexit\u2019, after he gave evidence to a select committee.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Government has ruled out making changes to pension tax relief, rejecting a report from the Commons Treasury Committee that suggested that it should either be fundamentally reformed or improved by making incremental changes.<\/p>\n