The Great Divide

 The Queen’s Speech in full:

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons.

My government will use the opportunity of a strengthening economy to deliver security for working people, to increase life chances for the most disadvantaged and to strengthen national defences.

My ministers will continue to bring the public finances under control so that Britain lives within its means, and to move to a higher wage and lower welfare economy where work is rewarded.

To support the economic recovery, and to create jobs and more apprenticeships, legislation will be introduced to ensure Britain has the infrastructure that businesses need to grow.

Measures will be brought forward to create the right for every household to access high speed broadband.

Legislation will be introduced to improve Britain’s competitiveness and make the United Kingdom a world leader in the digital economy.

My ministers will ensure the United Kingdom is at the forefront of technology for new forms of transport, including autonomous and electric vehicles.

To spread economic prosperity, my government will continue to support the development of a Northern Powerhouse.

In England, further powers will be devolved to directly elected mayors, including powers governing local bus services.

Legislation will also allow local authorities to retain business rates, giving them more freedom to invest in local communities.

My government will support aspiration and promote home ownership through its commitment to build a million new homes.

Following last week’s Anti-Corruption Summit in London, legislation will be introduced to tackle corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.

My government will continue work to deliver NHS services over 7 days of the week in England. Legislation will be introduced to ensure that overseas visitors pay for the health treatment they receive at public expense.

New legislation will be introduced to tackle some of the deepest social problems in society, and improve life chances.

A Bill will be introduced to ensure that children can be adopted by new families without delay, improve the standard of social work and opportunities for young people in care in England.

To tackle poverty and the causes of deprivation, including family instability, addiction and debt, my government will introduce new indicators for measuring life chances. Legislation will be introduced to establish a soft drinks industry levy to help tackle childhood obesity.

Measures will be introduced to help the lowest-income families save, through a new Help to Save scheme, and to create a Lifetime ISA to help young people save for the long-term.

My government will continue to reform public services so they help the hardest-to-reach.

A Bill will be brought forward to lay foundations for educational excellence in all schools, giving every child the best start in life. There will also be a fairer balance between schools, through the National Funding Formula.

To ensure that more people have the opportunity to further their education, legislation will be introduced to support the establishment of new universities and to promote choice and competition across the higher education sector.

My government will legislate to reform prisons and courts to give individuals a second chance.

Prison Governors will be given unprecedented freedom and they will be able to ensure prisoners receive better education. Old and inefficient prisons will be closed and new institutions built where prisoners can be put more effectively to work.

Action will also be taken to ensure better mental health provision for individuals in the criminal justice system.

My government will continue to work to bring communities together and strengthen society.

Legislation will be introduced to prevent radicalisation, tackle extremism in all its forms, and promote community integration.

National Citizen Service will be placed on a permanent statutory footing.

My government will continue to safeguard national security.

My ministers will invest in Britain’s armed forces, honouring the military covenant and meeting the NATO commitment to spend 2% of national income on defence.

They will also act to secure the long-term future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

My government will continue to play a leading role in world affairs, using its global presence to tackle climate change and address major international security, economic and humanitarian challenges.

My government will continue to work to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. It will play a leading role in the campaign against Daesh and to support international efforts to bring peace to Syria through a lasting political settlement.

Britain’s commitment on international development spending will also be honoured, helping to deliver global stability, support the Sustainable Development Goals and prevent new threats to national security.

Prince Philip and I look forward to welcoming His Excellency the President of Colombia on a State Visit in November.

My government will continue with legislation to modernise the law governing the use and oversight of investigatory powers by law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.

Legislation will strengthen the capability and accountability of the police service in England and Wales.

My government will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union. Proposals will be brought forward for a British Bill of Rights.

My ministers will uphold the sovereignty of Parliament and the primacy of the House of Commons.

My government will continue to work in cooperation with the devolved administrations to implement the extensive new powers in the Scotland Actand establish a strong and lasting devolution settlement in Wales. My government will work in Northern Ireland to secure further progress in implementing the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.

Members of the House of Commons:

Estimates for the public services will be laid before you.

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons:

Other measures will be laid before you.

I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

Prime Minister David Cameron called it a ‘bold’ and ‘radical’ agenda, and told MPs: “This is a Queen’s Speech that combines economic security with extending life chances for all; it’s the Queen’s Speech of a progressive, one nation Conservative government.”

Progressive? One nation? Not according to the Scottish government. Commenting on the UK Government programme outlined in the Queen’s Speech at Westminster, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“As I have made clear, the Scottish Government is willing to work with the UK Government on areas of common interest and where we can come up with constructive solutions to problems that we both face.

“However, there are evidently areas of fundamental disagreement between us – and the legislative programme set out in The Queen’s Speech today could not demonstrate more clearly the divergent priorities of the two governments.

“The recent election victory has given me a mandate to lead a government with a progressive agenda, and indeed the wider make-up of the Scottish Parliament reflects that progressive view. This approach is at odds with the programme announced today by the UK Government that remains narrowly and obsessively focused on an agenda of austerity and does little to mitigate the policy’s damaging effects.

“Continued austerity is doing nothing to help the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society and I am dismayed that there is no mention at all of how the UK Government intends to ensure our social security system is fair and fit for purpose so that we can provide a basic level of help for those who need it. Indeed, all of the signals on this issue point towards yet more cuts to welfare.

The First Minister added: “The Scottish Government is firmly opposed to Trident and its proposed renewal – but the UK Government has today confirmed that, at the same time they are pressing ahead with austerity they remain committed to spending an obscene amount of money on a new generation of nuclear weapons based in Scotland. Nothing could more starkly demonstrate the different paths of the two governments.

“The Queen’s Speech also confirms that the UK Government intends to press ahead with plans to repeal the Human Rights Act. I have made clear that the Scottish Government opposes any weakening of human rights protections – not just in Scotland, but across the whole of the UK. My administration has been elected to take forward a progressive agenda – embedding human rights in everything we do, not seeking to erode safeguards which matter to everyone in society. And I have also made clear that UK legislation which attacks human rights cannot expect consent from the Scottish Parliament.

“However, I welcome the suggestion that UK ministers will work in co-operation with the devolved governments on matters of shared interest. Although we do not believe the Scotland Act has delivered in full what was agreed in the Smith Commission proposals, we welcome the additional powers and will work constructively with the UK Government to transfer them to the Scottish Parliament to allow us to use them to help improve the lives of everyone living in Scotland.”

Edinburgh North & Leith SNP MP Deirdre Brock also criticized the Queen’s Speech as just more of the same Tory policies and said ‘it’s time to change the record’.

She called on the government to stop their ideologically driven assaults on welfare and public services and start getting their own house in order – including more efforts to tackle tax avoidance.

Speaking in response to the Queen’s speech, Ms Brock, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee at Westminster, pointed to the billions of public money being wasted by the UK Government on mismanaged projects, as well as the annual £16  billion lost to the public purse from tax fraud and the £34 billion tax gap.

Ms Brock said: “I sit on the Public Accounts Committee; we hear, week in and week out, of the most appalling failures to control government spending – not on social security or welfare benefits but on the pet projects that governments and ministers pursue.

“The electronic system for controlling the UK’s borders, started under the Blair government, has cost tens of millions of pounds and still doesn’t work. Trident has costs spiralling out of control – this time into the billions – and it hasn’t even been agreed on.

“HMRC indicated tax fraud was costing about £16 billion a year and that there was a gap of about £34 billion between the tax that should be collected and what it’s actually collecting, and a tax gap of £34 billion a year.

“That’s where government efforts should be directed – at putting its own house in order; at collecting the monies due and not squandering billions on in-house incompetence.

“It’s not the poorly paid, the disabled or the unemployed causing the problems – it’s the government. Austerity isn’t a necessity; it’s a choice, a preference, of this government.

“The UK is being failed by its government and failed badly. This Queen’s speech is merely the latest example and it’s time the record was changed.”