A government minister and a senior official have been accused of misleading MPs over their plans to strip coastguard officers of their hourly pay. Keir Mather, the maritime minister, was said to have made false claims on Wednesday, while Virginia McVea, the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), was accused of having done so during a meeting with MPs a week earlier. The claims come as a row over government plans to stop paying coastguards intensifies.