The Queen's Speech was a magnificent spectacle, despite the terrible weather. All the pomp and pageantry was on display. Wonderful.
When it came to the actual content, setting out the government's programme for the next few months, we were not disappointed. A crackdown on crime dominated!
This is, of course, the first Queen’s Speech of Boris’s premiership. Whether he will have time to get it all implemented before we head into a General Election is anyone's guess. Some argue an election is now inevitable before Christmas, others say Labour will not risk an election while they are so far behind in the polls, others are more pragmatic and say the MPs will wait for the good weather of spring. We shall see.
But assuming this legislative programme does go ahead, there is much to relish. The package of 22 bills include seven relating to crime and justice.
These include legislation to keep serious criminals in prison for longer, impose tougher sentences on foreign offenders who return to the UK and provide better protection for victims of domestic abuse.
A Sentencing Bill will change the automatic release point from halfway to two thirds for adult offenders serving sentences of four years or more for serious violence or sexual offences. Other measures include strengthening environmental protections, reforming adult social care and improving the NHS, and raising living standards through increasing the national living wage to £10.50 an hour. At the same time ministers are preparing to rush through a bill to ratify any Brexit deal Mr Johnson is able to agree this week in Brussels in time for Britain to leave on the EU on October 31.
The law and order package includes a bill to “drastically” increase the sentences for foreign criminals who return to the UK in breach of a deportation order, a move ministers say will help disrupt the activities of international crime gangs. Proposed legislation will make it easier for police to arrest internationally wanted fugitives who are the subject of an Interpol Red notice without the need to apply for a UK arrest warrant, a process that can take a minimum of six to eight hours. Initially it will only apply to those issued by a limited number of countries with trusted justice systems, the other members of the Five Eyes intelligence group, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and two non-EU European states, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. However the Government will be able to add other countries by statutory instrument. The programme includes a “Helen’s Law” bill, named after 22-year-old Helen McCourt who was murdered in 1988, to deny parole to murderers who withhold information about their victims. The Government will also bring back the Domestic Abuse Bill which fell as a result of Mr Johnson’s unlawful suspension of Parliament last month.
Other measures in the speech include:
– Environment Bill setting legally binding targets to reduce plastics, restore biodiversity, improve water quality and cut air pollution.
– Immigration and Social Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill to end freedom of movement and introduce a points-based immigration system from 2021.
– Railway reform with a white paper setting out proposals to overhaul the current system of franchising and creating a new commercial model.
– Action on building standards in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire with the establishment of a new regulator with powers to impose criminal sanctions for breaches of building regulations.
– NHS Health Investigations Bill will create a new independent body with legal powers to ensure patient safety.
– Mental health reform to reduce the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act by ensuring more people get the treatment they need.
And that is without the surprise news earlier that Chancellor Sajid Javid announced he is planning to hold a Budget just six days after the UK’s scheduled Brexit date.
All good stuff. I can't wait.
