'Bold' Queen's Speech promised

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 04 Juni 2014 | 15.37

4 June 2014 Last updated at 08:40

David Cameron and Nick Clegg have said their final Queen's Speech before the general election will be "unashamedly pro-work and pro-business".

The Queen will announce the laws the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition hopes to pass before the May 2015 poll when she opens Parliament on Wednesday.

Ministers say changes to annuities and funding of workplace pensions will show the coalition's continuing "boldness".

Proposals to "recall" failed MPs are also expected to be among bills tabled.

The last session of the current five-year Parliament is expected to last until next April, with a general election scheduled to take place on 7 May 2015.

Ministers say the measures to be announced on Wednesday will mark a "significant step" in helping to embed the economic recovery and in promoting work, enterprise and opportunity.

'Getting on'

They will also seek to refute opposition claims that the coalition has run out of steam and that the months leading up to the election will be dominated by wrangling and attempts by the coalition partners to put distance between themselves ahead of May's poll.

In a ceremony rich with historic pomp and pageantry, the Queen will announce the government's legislative programme for the year ahead just before 11:40 BST.

It will then be debated by MPs in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.

Among the measures expected to feature are:

  • A bill implementing reforms to annuities announced in March's Budget. In future, people will not be required to buy an annuity with their pension savings and will be able to draw their retirement income in one go if they choose
  • A separate bill to allow employees to pay into collective pension funds shared with other workers, a move it is hoped will cut costs and encourage saving
  • A new state-funded childcare subsidy worth up to £2,000 a year, replacing the existing employer-funded scheme
  • Extra legal protection for people carrying out good deeds, volunteering or planning local events who end up being involved in liability claims
  • Curbs on public sector employees claiming redundancy and then taking a job within the same sector
  • Plans for a 5p charge for plastic bags in England as announced at last year's Lib Dem conference
  • Reforms to speed up infrastructure projects, including new freedoms for the Highways Agency and allowing fracking firms to run shale gas pipelines on private land without getting prior permission
  • New criminal sentences for those assisting organised crime syndicates and tougher powers to seize the assets of crime bosses
  • Help for pub landlords including a statutory code and a body to adjudicate disputes
  • Giving voters the power to trigger by-elections where MPs have committed serious wrong-doing

The prime minister and his deputy said the emphasis of the programme would be helping those "who want to get on in life".

"We may be two parties, with two different philosophies but we understand one thing," they said in a joint statement.

"Countries rise when their people rise. So this Queen's Speech is unashamedly pro-work, pro-business and pro-aspiration."

The fracking bill has prompted a protest by Greenpeace activists, who say they have erected a fence around Mr Cameron's Oxfordshire home and put up a sign saying: "We apologise for any inconvenience we may cause while we frack under your home".

'Distract attention'
Continue reading the main story

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are desperate to answer the charge that they have run out of ideas which their two parties can sign up to and are simply running down the clock until polling day."

End Quote

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg said the legislative programme was testament to the coalition's longevity and the fact it was still capable of "taking bold steps".

They say the pension changes would provide "freedom and security in retirement", suggesting they would prove every bit as radical as reforms to schools and welfare since 2010 in terms of empowering people.

Campaigners have welcomed more innovation in pensions provision but warned that the changes are not risk-free and said employees and employers must be helped to make informed choices.

Labour leader Ed Miliband called for a Queen's Speech which "signals a new direction for Britain, not one which offers more of the same".

Diamond Jubilee state coach

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Carriage maker Jim Frecklington tells the story of the Queen's new state carriage which will take her to Parliament

"We need action, we need answers, we need a programme for government equal to the scale of the challenge our country faces," he said. "We would have a Queen's Speech with legislation which would make work pay, reform our banks, freeze energy bills and build homes again in Britain."

Labour would support an anti-slavery bill if, as expected, it is among the measures announced, Angela Eagle, shadow leader of the House of Commons, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

But on the Queen's Speech as a whole, she added: "Just because the government announces it's a bold programme, does not mean actually that it is".

The State Opening of Parliament, one of the highlights of the Westminster calendar, used to take place in the autumn but was moved to the early summer by the coalition government.

With Parliament taking a six-week summer recess from July and rising for a further five weeks for the party conference season in September, parliamentary time available to agree new legislation will be limited.

In addition, six bills - including one authorising the building of a new high-speed rail line between London and the West Midlands - are being carried over from the last session.

Business groups urged the government not to over-legislate and to focus on maximising the benefits of the upturn in the economy.

"Ministers' attention should be focused firmly on delivering existing commitments - from deregulation to infrastructure - rather than introduce a raft of new bills that distract their attention from economic growth," said Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.

The Green Party of England and Wales, meanwhile, has called for an end for all public subsidies of fossil fuels, a pay cap for executives and limiting rent increases for tenants to inflation.


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