Queen’s speech: Boris Johnson ‘bereft of ideas’ to tackle cost of living crisis
Boris Johnson was accused of being “bereft of ideas or purpose,” after a Queen’s speech that included 38 new bills but offered no specific measures to tackle the immediate cost of living crisis.
Instead, the speech, delivered by the Prince of Wales amid the pomp of the state opening of parliament, included plans to tear up the Human Rights Act, make it harder for councils to rename streets and privatise Channel 4.
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said the speech showed the government had no guiding principle, while Torsten Bell, the director of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, was equally withering.
“British politics is out of ideas,” he said. “Further action has been promised on the cost of living, but there certainly wasn’t any in the Queen’s speech. It rightly highlighted the need for growth – the essential precondition for ending our living standards stagnation – but did little to actually bring it about.”
With the Queen unable to give the address for the first time in almost 60 years, Prince Charles began by saying: “My government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families”.
However, Johnson’s programme for the new parliamentary session included a string of well-trailed and controversial plans, including banning disruptive protests and preventing universities from no-platforming speakers; but few new policies likely to boost the economy in the short term.
Instead, the government emphasised help it had already provided, including the temporary energy bill rebate and the cut to the universal credit taper rate.
Government sources claimed two-thirds of the planned new laws were aimed at boosting economic growth in the medium and long-term, pointing to the energy security
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