Debate on the Address

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice—the House and the country should rejoice that this is the last time that the present occupant of No. 10 Downing street will have any hand whatever in the Gracious Speech. I have spoken on the first day of every Queen’s Speech debate in my time in the House and, having sat here since 2.30 pm, I can say that today has been very grim indeed. The Gracious Speech represents 10 years of failures and, just like the previous nine, it represents missed opportunities too. There are 27 Bills and four draft Bills before us, and I am sure that, at the end of the parliamentary year, the House will once again come to the conclusion that the Prime Minister has not delivered what he promised us in the Queen’s Speech. Every year, there are the same promises, and the same failures. This is the fourth Queen’s Speech promising action on immigration, the fifth promising to tackle antisocial behaviour, and the seventh promising House of Lords reform, and there have been more than 50 Home Office Bills. As the Leader of the Opposition told the House earlier, 110 of the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 are still not in force, 17 were repealed before they came into force, and another 39 were repealed subsequent to coming into force. To turn to the Gracious Speech—I have to say, it seems that not everyone has addressed their remarks to the speech today—first, we were told that the"““Government will pursue policies aimed at meeting the challenges which the United Kingdom faces at home and abroad.””" Judging by the previous nine years, I—and, I have no doubt, the country—have no confidence whatever that the Government are capable of facing the challenges before us, at home and abroad. Next, we are told:"““A stable economy is the foundation of a fair and prosperous society.””" We all agree with that, but the speech goes on to mention"““low inflation, sound public finances and high employment.””" I wonder how many hon. Members have followed recent economic statistics, because inflation, interest rates and unemployment are increasing, and there is now a huge trade gap, too. Next, we are told in the Gracious Speech that the Government will"““address the threat of terrorism.””" I am absolutely certain that the Government, through their actions, have made terrorism a greater threat than it would have been if they had behaved differently. I challenge the Prime Minister and his Ministers to tell us what they regard the deterrent to be against people who are prepared to take their own lives; I think that they would have no answer whatever, and the nonsense that we have heard today about the lack of security in key Departments must fill the general public with great alarm.