Today’s political headlines includes Cabinet ministers to urge May to abandon talks with Labour, Starmer doubts Parliament would approve a cross-party deal with no referendum, Treasury confirms world’s first plastic tax and councils to be required to give domestic abuse victims safe accommodation.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Cabinet ministers to urge May to abandon talks with Labour Starmer doubts Parliament would approve a cross-party deal with no referendum Treasury confirms world\u2019s first plastic tax Councils to be required to give domestic abuse victims safe accommodation European drivers buy twice as many electric cars as British drivers Tory MPs angered by party\u2019s own election leaflets Cashless society will affect elderly and poor Food businesses pledge to cut waste
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Cabinet ministers are pressuring Theresa May to abandon the Government\u2019s talks with Labour over Brexit. Instead, ministers who favour reaching a deal with the EU will tomorrow ask the Prime Minister to outline a timetable for indicative votes by MPs to take place after the European elections and resist attempts to increase no-deal planning. Chancellor Philip Hammond reportedly told colleagues that the idea that an acceptable deal could emerge from the talks was a \u2018false premise\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer has\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0that he doubts that a cross-party Brexit deal would pass through Parliament without a confirmatory referendum being included, but claimed that only Labour could deliver such a referendum. He said that the Government had \u2018not really\u2019 shown willingness to change its red lines, adding that if Theresa May set a date for her resignation this would undermine the talks and that \u2018it would be wrong\u2019 for the talks to continue for much longer if progress seemed unattainable.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Daily Mail<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0celebrating<\/a>\u00a0a \u2018major victory\u2019 for its \u2018Turn the Tide on Plastic\u2019 campaign, after the Treasury confirmed that it is going ahead with plans for the world\u2019s first plastic tax, which will affect manufacturers who don\u2019t use at least 30% recycled content in their plastic. This will also boost the recycling industry, by increasing demand. Treasury Secretary Robert Jenrick said that less than half of plastic is recycled and \u2018we can\u2019t go on like this\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Sun<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that Theresa May will announce today that all councils will be legally required to give safe accommodation to domestic abuse victims, ending the present \u2018postcode lottery\u2019 of provision. The paper hails the news as a victory for its \u2018Give Me Shelter\u2019 campaign and carries an article by May, in which she vows that \u2018whoever you are, wherever you live and whatever the abuse you face, you will have access to the services you need to be safe.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Times<\/em>\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0that a new report by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows that drivers in other European countries bought twice as many electric cars as those in the UK, as the Government made significant cuts to its grants for the vehicles. The Department for Transport said that the UK was at the \u2018forefront\u2019 of green cars.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that Conservative MPs have been angered by a leaflet produced by the party ahead of the European elections, which encourages recipients to lobby Brexiteer MPs to back Theresa May\u2019s Brexit deal in order to stop the elections from going ahead. Priti Patel described the leaflet, and associated website, as an \u2018outrage\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>\u00a0carries details<\/a>\u00a0of a new report by the Commons Treasury Committee, which warns the UK risks \u2018inadvertently becoming a cashless society\u2019 unless the Government takes action, leaving people, such as the elderly and those on low incomes, vulnerable. The committee says the Government should be prepared to force banks to keep branches open.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that some of the UK largest food businesses are to pledge to halve food waste by 2030 at a symposium hosted by Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove today. Participating firms include Tesco, Sainsbury\u2019s, Waitrose and Nestle.<\/p>\n