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Queen's speech: national living wage increase could be shelved if economy falters, government suggests – live news Queen's speech: national living wage increase could be shelved if economy falters, government suggests – live news
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Queen’s speech and Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn speaking in the subsequent Commons debateRolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Queen’s speech and Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn speaking in the subsequent Commons debate
Here is Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, responding to the revelation that the new EU (withdrawal agreement) bill does not contain a commitment to negotiate an agreement to allow unaccompanied refugee children to come to the UK to join a relative that was in the original version.
LabourList has a full story on this here.
No 10 says the absence of this clause from the bill does not meant its policy has changed. A spokesman said:
That’s all from me for today.
My colleague Seth Jacobson is now taking over.
No 10 is now ruling out making judicial appointments subject to political approval, the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn says. An earlier briefing did not rule this out, leaving reporters to conclude it was an option (particularly in the light of the PM’s previous remarks on this). See 5.01pm.
The government stuck to its existing priorities for education in the Queen’s speech, ticking off the policies in its manifesto and beforehand. Apart from vague comments on free schools (“continue to expand”) and university tuition fees (“delivering value for money”), it reaffirms the improvement in school funding for pupils aged 4 to 16 in England, eventually increasing the annual schools budget by £7.1bn in 2022-23. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that the extra spending is £4.3bn a year in real-terms
From next year some of the extra funding will be distributed by minimum per-pupil funding via the new national funding formula, the Department for Education has announced. That helps the most poorly funded schools outside of cities, with £3,750 for each primary pupil and £5,000 for secondary pupils, with primaries rising again to £4,000 per pupil in 2021. Schools in Bedfordshire appear to be the biggest winners by 2021.But the government’s notes on the Queen’s speech also mention its plans to raise starting pay for qualified teachers to £30,000 by 2022, a pledge which will have to be funded out of school budgets.And while the government is correct to claim that the extra £400m for post-16 education is the biggest increase since 2010, the college sector has been starved of funds in that time. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says:
While the Commons continues to debate the Queen’s speech, at Holyrood MSPs have been debating the final stage of the referendums (Scotland) bill, the framework bill which paves the way for a second independence referendum, should it be approved by Westminster, as the first minster, Nicola Sturgeon, demanded earlier today. This framework bill does not set the date or question on the ballot, which have to be specified in further primary legislation, and much of the debate has centred around that question and whether it will be the same yes/no as 2014.
The draft bill originally stated the Electoral Commission would not be consulted if it had previously assessed or recommended a question, as with the yes/no format for the 2014 referendum.
Critics argued yes/no favoured the affirmative side, and the commission subsequently recommended the options of leave and remain for the 2016 EU referendum.
While the commission has not ruled out a future yes/no question on independence, it believes the assessment should be based on current evidence and political context, and now a compromise amendment has been accepted which states, in summary: if the question has been asked within the same parliamentary session then the commission does not automatically have to assess the question (though Holyrood can ask for it to do so), and if the question has been asked in the previous parliamentary session then Scottish ministers can lodge a motion to extend the ‘validity period’ of the question which, if passed, would mean the question did not need to be reassessed.
This really only matters if a second independence referendum is held next year – beyond 2021, the question will not have been asked in the past two sessions and so will automatically have to be assessed again.
Theresa May, the former prime minister, spoke in the Queen’s speech debate after Ian Blackford. On election night, when interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Neil, she had difficulty answering a question from him about why Boris Johnson had been able to win dozens of leave-voting Labour seats when her attempt to do the same thing in 2017 failed. This afternoon she had a clear answer to that question. She said:
Here are some lines from the afternoon No 10 briefing. These are from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn and the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar.
In an interview at the time of the Conservative party conference Boris Johnson hinted that he was in favour of confirmation hearings of this kind. He said:
But Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, has said he would not be enthusiastic about this.
That is a reference to this HuffPost story.
Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat as MP for Richmond Park last week, is being given a peerage, No 10 has announced. This will allow him to carry on as an environment minister based jointly in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and in the Department for International Development, an appointment that No 10 has also confirmed.Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat as MP for Richmond Park last week, is being given a peerage, No 10 has announced. This will allow him to carry on as an environment minister based jointly in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and in the Department for International Development, an appointment that No 10 has also confirmed.
In this role he will attend cabinet, as he did when he was doing this job before the election, government sources have confirmed.In this role he will attend cabinet, as he did when he was doing this job before the election, government sources have confirmed.
It was widely expected that Goldsmith would get a peerage. A lifelong environmentalist, he was regarded as particularly well qualified for his ministerial post. He is also a committed Brexiter (his billionaire father set up the Referendum party, an early Eurosceptic party that made the case for a referendum on the EU in the 1990s) and he is good friends with the PM’s partner Carrie Symonds, who once worked for Goldsmith as an adviser and who campaigned for him during the election. Like Johnson, Goldsmith is also an Old Etonian.It was widely expected that Goldsmith would get a peerage. A lifelong environmentalist, he was regarded as particularly well qualified for his ministerial post. He is also a committed Brexiter (his billionaire father set up the Referendum party, an early Eurosceptic party that made the case for a referendum on the EU in the 1990s) and he is good friends with the PM’s partner Carrie Symonds, who once worked for Goldsmith as an adviser and who campaigned for him during the election. Like Johnson, Goldsmith is also an Old Etonian.
In his speech in the Queen’s speech debate Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, challenged Boris Johnson to explain why he would not allow the Scottish government to hold another independence referendum. Blackford said:In his speech in the Queen’s speech debate Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, challenged Boris Johnson to explain why he would not allow the Scottish government to hold another independence referendum. Blackford said:
At one point Blackford criticised Johnson for looking at his phone during the speech. It was “not a good look”, Blackford said. In response, Johnson said Blackford should say something interesting. Blackford replied:At one point Blackford criticised Johnson for looking at his phone during the speech. It was “not a good look”, Blackford said. In response, Johnson said Blackford should say something interesting. Blackford replied:
This is what my colleague Simon Murphy wrote in September on the feasibility of building a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.This is what my colleague Simon Murphy wrote in September on the feasibility of building a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson’s comment about a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland may help to explain this reference to a large-scale infrastructure project in a letter (pdf) published this week by the advisory committee on business appointments, approving a part-time job with an iron and steel making company being taken by the former minister Jo Johnson (the PM’s brother). At one point Jo Johnson was a transport minister.Boris Johnson’s comment about a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland may help to explain this reference to a large-scale infrastructure project in a letter (pdf) published this week by the advisory committee on business appointments, approving a part-time job with an iron and steel making company being taken by the former minister Jo Johnson (the PM’s brother). At one point Jo Johnson was a transport minister.
Towards the end of Boris Johnson’s speech, the DUP MP Ian Paisley intervened and asked him to go ahead with the proposal to build a “Boris bridge” between Scotland and Northern Ireland. In response, Johnson hinted that he does want to pursue the idea. He said:Towards the end of Boris Johnson’s speech, the DUP MP Ian Paisley intervened and asked him to go ahead with the proposal to build a “Boris bridge” between Scotland and Northern Ireland. In response, Johnson hinted that he does want to pursue the idea. He said:
Johnson has hinted at his support for the construction of a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland several times in the past, most recently in September, although one expert has described the idea as “about as feasible as building a bridge to the moon”.Johnson has hinted at his support for the construction of a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland several times in the past, most recently in September, although one expert has described the idea as “about as feasible as building a bridge to the moon”.
In the Commons, Boris Johnson is now winding up. He says, after dithering and platitudes, the time has come for action. That is what is is offering, he says.In the Commons, Boris Johnson is now winding up. He says, after dithering and platitudes, the time has come for action. That is what is is offering, he says.
Here is the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, commenting on the revelation in the Queen’s speech briefing pack that the commitment to raise the national living wage to £10.50 is now conditional on the economy continuing to prosper. (See 2.14pm.)
Johnson says the system of government at Westminster needs to meet the challenges of a new era.
So the government will set up a commission to look at measures that could restore trust in government.
As a first step, it will repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, he says.
Johnson says tomorrow he will “peel back the plastic wrapping” and present his oven-ready Brexit bill.
Then, he says, he wants to focus on the NHS. And he invites the opposition to join in cross-party talks on social care.
The government will abolish no-fault eviction for renters, he says. And it will ban strikes that target commuters.
He says he wants to revolutionise local transport. Leeds is the biggest city in Europe without an underground or light rail system, he says.
Johnson jokes about Corbyn being “a stickler for watching the Queen’s speech at the right time”.
He says, as his exchanges with Corbyn come to an end, he wants to say that his personal relations with him have been excellent. And he says Corbyn’s sincerity is not to be doubted.
Boris Johnson is speaking now.
He says this is the moment to repay the people who voted for the government.
People do not just want the government to get Brexit done, he says. He says they want it to move on and address other problems.
Johnson sums up some of the Queen’s speech proposals. And he says its ambition stretches beyond one parliament.
He claims a “new golden age for this United Kingdom” is on offer. And the government will work flat out to deliver it, he says.
The Queen’s speech does nothing for young people worried about tuition fees, and nothing for older people facing poverty, he says.
And there is no mention of universal credit, a cruel policy that has ruined many lives, he says.
Corbyn says rough sleeping has doubled under the Tories in government. He says everyone who sees people sleeping on the streets knows this is morally wrong. He says that, according to Shelter, there will be 280,000 people homeless at Christmas – either sleeping rough, or in temporary accommodation.
He challenges Johnson to fund the removal of dangerous cladding from blocks of flats, and to pay for the installation of sprinklers.
Corbyn says the Queen’s speech contains nothing of substance to deal with the climate emergency.
He says many of the big polluters fund the Tories.
Corbyn says Labour will oppose the government’s attempt to limit the right of transport workers to go on strike. He claims the proposals on this would contravene the International Labour Organization conventions.
Corbyn asks Johnson to deny reports that he wants to merge the Department for International Development. He says setting up DfID was a proud Labour achievement.