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Theresa May drops key manifesto pledges from Queen's speech Corbyn taunts May as she backs down on election pledges in Queen's speech
(about 7 hours later)
Theresa May’s minority government has dropped key Tory manifesto pledges, including expanding grammar schools and revisiting the foxhunting ban, as the Queen announced a pared-down legislative programme focused on delivering Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn insisted Labour is a “government-in-waiting” as he taunted Theresa May over the loss of her parliamentary majority, promising to vote down unpopular austerity measures and offer “strong and stable leadership”.
As she formally opened what the embattled prime minister hopes will be a two-year session of parliament, the Queen set out the government’s intention to deliver eight bills necessary for Brexit – including legislation allowing Britain to determine its own immigration, customs and trade arrangements. The Labour leader was warmly cheered from the packed Labour benches, as he responded to a slimmed-down Queen’s speech, which set out a legislative programme dominated by Brexit and was stripped of a series of controversial manifesto policies.
Corbyn called May’s minority administration “a government without a majority, without a mandate, without a serious legislative programme, led by a prime minister who has lost her political authority, and is struggling to stitch together a deal to stay in office”.
May herself said the general election campaign “showed that, as we face the big challenges of our future, our country is divided: red versus blue; young versus old; leave versus remain.
“As I said here last week, the test for all of us is whether we choose to reflect divisions or help the country overcome them. With humility and resolve, this government will seek to do the latter.”
Earlier, the Queen had set out the 27 bills the government intends to pass in what the prime minister hopes will be a two-year session of parliament.
Eight of these were the pieces of legislation the government believes are necessary for Brexit – including bills allowing Britain to determine its own immigration, customs and trade arrangements.
But plans to scrap free school meals, ration winter fuel payments for pensioners, repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, and introduce what became widely known as the “dementia tax” for funding social care have been swept away by the election result.
Grammar schools were not mentioned; nor was the promised free vote on repealing the foxhunting ban, which enraged many younger voters during the campaign.
The fragility of May’s position was further underlined on Thursday as it emerged that her director of policy, John Godfrey, had left No 10 – the latest in a string of departures by powerful figures around her since the election result.
The prime minister was forced to sacrifice her two chiefs of staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, in the weekend following the election, amid widespread complaints from cabinet colleagues about their controlling management style and poor judgment during the campaign.
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has since publicly criticised the conduct of the campaign in a swipe against May and her team, saying he would have liked it to be more focused on the economy – and insisting jobs and the economy must come first as the government negotiates Brexit.
MPs will vote on the Queen’s speech next week and senior Conservative sources have repeatedly said they believe it will command the confidence of the House.
But even if MPs fall into line, it became clear on Thursday that May could face a series of battles in the House of Lords over Brexit legislation.
Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael said he did not believe the eight Brexit-related bills would be covered by the so-called Salisbury Convention, which usually obliges the Lords to back legislation promised in the governing party’s manifesto, and passed by the Commons. “What we are seeing now is the opportunity for Parliament to control the government,” he said.
The Lib Dems have more than 100 peers, with significantly more influence in the upper house than in the Commons, where the party has just 12 MPs.
“The government is not only going to struggle to gets its business through the House of Commons, it is going to have one hell of a job to get stuff through the House of Lords,” Carmichael said.
The Queen’s speech included a series of pro-consumer measures that the government hopes will command popular support among MPs, including a surprise pledge that tenants will not have to pay more than one month’s rent as a deposit.
But May appeared to back away from plans to cap energy bills for 17 million families on the worst-value tariffs. A spokesman said the government was still committed to tackling the worst rip-off price rises, and was discussing with the regulator Ofgem the best way to achieve that.
Instead of an across-the-board cap, the government appeared to be preparing to extend the existing ceiling on bills for 4 million households on prepayment meters to a further 2.6 million vulnerable customers: a compromise that would be exactly what the industry had been lobbying for.
With May yet to conclude the “confidence and supply” deal with Northern Ireland’s Demoratic Unionist party she hopes will commit them to supporting her on key measures, Corbyn made clear Labour was preparing to fight against the government, vote by vote.
“We will use every opportunity to vote down government policies that failed to win public support and we will use every opportunity to win support for our programme,”. he said.
The Queen was accompanied by the Prince of Wales to the ceremony in the House of Lords, after Buckingham Palace announced the Duke of Edinburgh had been admitted to hospital as a precaution on Tuesday night.The Queen was accompanied by the Prince of Wales to the ceremony in the House of Lords, after Buckingham Palace announced the Duke of Edinburgh had been admitted to hospital as a precaution on Tuesday night.
The speech set out the new government’s domestic priorities, including sweeping changes to technical education and beefed-up plans for tackling domestic violence. After the Queen’s speech, the prime minister’s spokesman stressed that the government will “reflect” on the election result; and underlined the fact that which manifesto measures make it into law will depend on the balance of support among MPs.
But a series of controversial proposals set out in the Conservative manifesto were absent from the speech, and from the list of 27 bills the government hopes to pass.
Plans to scrap free school meals, ration winter fuel payments for pensioners, repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, and introduce what became widely known as the “dementia tax” for funding social care have been swept away by the election result.
The government also appears to be willing to go back to the drawing board on its changes of the school funding formula, after Conservative MPs raised concerns about looming cuts.
May’s spokesman said: “The point is the current funding formula is unfair, we stand by that position. A consultation has taken place and we will reflect on the findings of that consultation before we can bring forward proposals which would carry the support of the whole house.”
The spokesman was unable to say whether the government would stick to the Conservative manifesto pledge to “make sure no school has its budget cut as a result of the new formula” – a promise that was meant to be funded by scrapping free school lunches.
Several Conservative MPs said they would seek additional assurances. Harrow East MP Bob Blackman, one of several who expressed his concerns before the election, said: “The manifesto promised no school would see their funding cut and I’ll be pressing for that commitment to be honoured.”
Grammar schools were not mentioned at all, despite the manifesto pledge to consult on opening new selective schools.
Instead, the Queen said: “My government will continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. My ministers will work to ensure people have the skills they need for the high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future, including through a major reform of technical education.”
May’s spokesman made clear that which of the manifesto policies could now be passed would depend on the tough parliamentary arithmetic faced by the new government, which can only carry a majority of MPs with the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party.
“Broadly, it is about governing with humility, and you also have to bear in mind bringing forward measures which can command a majority in parliament,” he said.“Broadly, it is about governing with humility, and you also have to bear in mind bringing forward measures which can command a majority in parliament,” he said.
There was no specific counter-terrorism legislation, instead there was a promise that the government would review counter-terrorism laws in the wake of a series of deadly attacks . The prime minister’s spokesman stressed afterwards that fresh legislation could be brought forward if necessary. May, who began her term as prime minister last July by sacking a series of high-profile colleagues, including George Osborne and Nicky Morgan, and embarking on a controversial drive to expand grammar schools, struck a conciliatory note, conscious of the need to command all her colleagues’ backing.
The speech reiterated May’s promise to hold a public inquiry, led by a judge, into the Grenfell Tower fire, “to ascertain the causes, and ensure that the appropriate lessons are learnt”. Corbyn insisted: “Labour is not merely an opposition: we are a government in waiting, with a policy programme that enthused and engaged millions of people; many for the first time.
With different cabinet ministers striking markedly different tones since the election about what sort of Brexit deal they expected Britain to strike, and May hemmed in on both sides by MPs in her party, there was little detail about the nature of the immigration, trade or customs policies the government would seek to implement. “We are ready to offer real strong and stable leadership in the interests of the many not the few. And we will test this government’s Brexit strategy, and what legislation comes forward, against that standard.
The government promised to “work to improve social care” and “bring forward proposals for consultation” rather than implementing the highly controversial policy set out in the manifesto. And the promise of a free vote on restoring hunting with hounds, which enraged some young voters, has also gone. Conservative sources said talks with the DUP over a confidence and supply deal were “ongoing”. DUP and airline sources in Northern Ireland confirmed on Wednesday that one issue on the agenda is the abolition or radical slashing of air passenger duty.
Another Conservative campaign pledge to consider a price cap on energy costs appeared to have been toned down. The government promised to “bring forward measures to help tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills”. DUP and the sources in Northern Ireland confirmed on Wednesday that APD tax is one of the demands the Ulster party is making in its discussions with both Downing Street and Treasury officials.
The Queen’s speech briefing paper pledged a green paper would be published to examine “markets which are not working fairly for consumers” and hinted at further legislation, saying the government was “prepared to act where necessary”. All three of the region’s airports – Belfast International, George Best/Belfast City and City of Derry airport – have to complete with Dublin airport, where the tax is not levied as it has been abolished in the Irish Republic.
As Black Rod entered the chamber, the veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, known for his regular Queen’s speech heckling, shouted: “Get your skates on, the first race’s at half past two.” The remark, which drew loud laughter from MPs, referred to the Queen’s expected attendance at Royal Ascot on Wednesday, which was disrupted by the delay of the Queen’s speech originally scheduled for Monday. Airline industry sources believe the total abolition of APD would bring a million new passengers through local airports and create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The speech also appeared to confirm that Donald Trump’s planned state visit to the UK has been postponed for the foreseeable future. The DUP is also expected to secure increased investment in infrastructure in Northern Ireland as a result of the negotiations; and has pledged to use its leverage to soften the impact of austerity policies on the UK as a whole.
The Queen’s speech traditionally lists upcoming state visits for the parliament, and she mentioned the planned visit in July by the king and queen of Spain. However, there was no mention of Trump coming, following reports he might not want to come if there was likely to be protests. A spokesman said afterwards: “A firm date has not been fixed, but an invitation was extended and has been accepted.” During May’s speech, Labour MPs heckled the prime minister with shouts of “resign”. Labour’s Kevin Brennan called May the “interim prime minister”, asking how she could negotiate Brexit with the EU if she could not clinch a confidence and supply agreement with 10 DUP MPs to acquire a majority.
May, who is yet to conclude a deal for the DUP to lend ongoing support to her agenda, is keen to show that she can continue to govern despite seeing her majority wiped out at the 8 June general election.
MPs will be asked to support the speech in a vote next week – and opposition parties are likely to table a series of amendments.