Today’s political headlines includes the fracking chief quitting, Home Office asylum unit criticised, Hunt warns of Huawei risks, May looks for legislation to avoid Queen’s Speech.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Fracking chief quits, claiming Government has imposed a \u2018de facto ban\u2019 Home Office asylum unit criticised Hunt warns of Huawei risks May looks for legislation to avoid Queen\u2019s Speech Damian Green publishes social care proposals Damian Hinds blames social media firms for fuelling eating disorders Tories set to lose 800 councillors Government advisors to recommend stricter greenhouse gas targets
\n<\/strong>The Times\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Government\u2019s shale gas commissioner Natascha Engel has quit after seven months in the role. She claimed that the Government had \u2018instituted a de facto ban\u2019 on fracking by shying away from reviewing a rule which means that operations must be suspended whenever a tremor above 0.5 magnitude is recorded. She said that climate activism, such as that of Greta Thunberg, \u2018will hustle politicians into making bad decisions\u2019, while \u2018Brexit paralysis\u2019 was also to blame for a temporary rule becoming permanent.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>reveals<\/a>\u00a0that whistleblowers from a Home Office unit known as the Dublin Cessation Team, which determines which EU member states should determine an asylum-seeker\u2019s claim, have claimed that its \u2018overworked, under-skilled, bullied and highly stressed DCT caseworkers\u2019 are frequently making mistakes causing individuals to be held in unlawful detention. A range of other allegations have also been made, including long delays and targets incentivising applications to be rejected.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that Huawei has a legal obligation to cooperate with Chinese\u2019s intelligence services. He said it was \u2018right to have a degree of caution about the role of large Chinese companies\u2019 and rejected the idea that the UK was being influenced by the USA as \u2018absolute nonsense\u2019. He added that he was happy to hand over his phone \u2013 and that of his special advisor \u2013 to the ongoing leak inquiry.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times\u00a0<\/em>says<\/a>\u00a0that Theresa May is looking for legislation to justify delaying the Queen\u2019s Speech until the autumn. A list produced by Downing Street includes changes to tax for sporting testimonials and increasing sentences for animal cruelty, with other proposals including legislation on domestic abuse, tenants\u2019 rights and restoring Parliament.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mail\u00a0<\/em>carries details<\/a>\u00a0of a new report on social care by Theresa May\u2019s former deputy, Damian Green for the Centre for Policy Studies. His plans would deliver a basic state-funded level of social care, which recipients could upgrade using savings, and would be funded by a lump sum on retirement, a surcharge on National Insurance for over-50s or a tax on the winter fuel allowance.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>In an\u00a0exclusive<\/a>,\u00a0The Sun\u00a0<\/em>reports that Education Secretary Damian Hinds has blamed social media firms for fuelling teenage eating disorders by disseminating \u2018dangerous ideas of perfection\u2019. He will be meeting executives from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat today and says they \u2018get serious about their responsibility to young people\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0Conservative election analyst Lord Hayward believes that his party is on course to lose around 500 seats to the Liberal Democrats and a further 300 to Labour in this week\u2019s local elections. He attributed this to the failure to deliver a Brexit deal, adding that he also expected \u2018disenchantment\u2019 with the main parties to reduce turnout.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Climate Change Committee, which advises the Government, will recommend on Thursday that the Government should axe its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, instead saying that it should aim to have eradicated or offset all greenhouse gases by then. Policy suggestions include reducing red meat consumption, planting more trees and building new onshore wind turbines.<\/p>\n