Boris Johnson unveiled a flurry of 38 planned laws at the State Opening of Parliament – but there was no new cash for the cost-of-living crisis, a conversion therapy ban isn’t a ban, and a waiters’ tips crackdown has been delayed again.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Boris Johnson today unveiled 38 planned laws in his Queen’s Speech in a bid to wrestle back authority after Partygate.
EU laws will be torn up more easily, Channel 4 privatised, and schools forced to keep stricter absence records.
New laws will also crack down on fake website reviews, ‘smart TV’ hackings, dodgy landlords, and ferries that pay under minimum wage.
But Keir Starmer branded it the “latest chapter in a pathetic response to the cost of living crisis”.
And Resolution Foundation director Torsten Bell said: “British politics is out of ideas.”
A stream of critics pointed out there was no cash now – or even promised later – to address the cost of living crisis.
That means the speech had more focus on six months’ jail for protesters who chain themselves to gates – in a Bill to be introduced to Parliament tomorrow – than there is on the cost of living.
Meanwhile a ban on gay conversion therapy is not a ban, there’s no Employment Bill despite multiple promises, and Northern Ireland’s stability hangs in the balance.
Labour MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, blasted: “Our Prime Minister has his head in the sand about real life.
“There is no direction from this government that’s flailing around trying to come up with a list of headlines – but unable to competently govern this country in the interests of people I represent.”
Here’s a round-up of the biggest things missing from today’s Queen’s Speech in the State Opening of Parliament.
No help now for the cost of living crisis
The government boasted it had already given £22bn in cost of living support, including a £150 council tax rebate.
But the Queen’s Speech had no mention of new cash despite Prince Charles vowing to “help ease” the pressure, in a speech delivered from a golden throne. Instead the government said it’ll bring forward more cash “if needed”.
And Boris Johnson sparked chaos when – speaking to MPs – he hinted at more help in “the days to come”.
Treasury and No10 sources immediately hosed down any suggestion of instant help or an emergency budget, with the Chancellor instead waiting to the Autumn.
An Energy Security Bill will bring down costs of heat pumps and keep the bills price cap, but that’s in the long term.
Dan Paskins of Save the Children said: “Families we work with are skipping meals, rationing their power and taking on unsustainable levels of debt. But again, instead of taking serious action ministers have buried their heads in the sand.”
Waiters’ tips crackdown delayed again after six years
Boris Johnson snubbed workers by leaving an Employment Bill – pledged for years – out of the Queen’s Speech.
It would have included a ban on restaurants creaming off waiters’ tips that was first promised in 2016.
Ex-PM Theresa May said she was “disappointed” in the delay.
It also would have brought forward more rights to request flexible working, which are in the spotlight after Covid.
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said “vital opportunities have been missed”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady added: “Today, bad bosses up and down the country will be celebrating.
“No employment bill means vital rights that ministers had promised – like default flexible working, fair tips and protection from pregnancy discrimination – risk being ditched for good.”
Mental health reforms are kicked down the road again
One of the 38 Bills is a Mental Health Act Reform Bill to give patients the “dignity and respect they deserve”.
It would modernise the Act to give the sickest more personalised care and stop them being detained unnecessarily.
Yet the Bill is one of five only promised in ‘draft’ form meaning it’s very unlikely to become law in the next year.
Instead it may only become law by Spring 2024 – or even later if there are delays or a general election.
Ex-PM Theresa May blasted: “I am deeply disappointed that we only see draft legislation on a new Mental Health Act. The process for a new Mental Health Act was started in 2017.
“I now fear we might not see a new Act until 2024… [or] in this Parliament at all.
“I think those suffering from mental health deserve better from the government.”
A ban on conversion therapy isn’t really a ban
A Conversion Therapy Bill will ban “conversion therapy practices intended to change sexual orientation”.
This will partially fulfil a Tory pledge first made by Theresa May in 2018. But, crucially, only partly.
First of all, it’ll only ban adults from being “coerced or forced” to undergo conversion therapy – meaning those who persuade people to choose of their free will be obeying the law.
That’s despite ministers branding conversion therapy “abhorrent” and vowing to ban it for under-18s, forced or not.
Secondly, the ban will not cover trans people after a Tory U-turn that has angrily divided LGBT+ campaigners from ‘gender critical’ activists who warn about irreversible changes for teenagers.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman refused to promise a trans conversion therapy ban, with the government saying it would “recognise the complexity of issues and the need for further careful thought”.
