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Queen's Speech: Iain Duncan Smith accuses David Cameron of ditching legislation to boost Remain vote chances Queen's Speech: Iain Duncan Smith accuses David Cameron of ditching legislation to boost Remain vote chances
(35 minutes later)
The depth of the rift within the Conservative Party over Europe has been exposed by a former minister's furious response to the absence of a Sovereignty Bill in the Government's agenda for the coming year, set out by the Queen in her annual address to Parliament. David Cameron has been accused of “jettisoning” and “diluting” new laws to change Britain in the “helter skelter pursuit” of winning next month’s EU referendum.
Former cabinet minister and prominent Leave campaigner Iain Duncan Smith accused David Cameron of ditching the proposal - along with other key elements of the Tories' programme - in order to improve the chances of a Remain vote in the June 23 referendum. The former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith made the claim after the Government unveiled its legislative programme for the next year.
Follow the latest live updates here Mr Duncan Smith was particularly angry at the omission of a Sovereignty Bill - promised after the EU renegotiation deal as a way of bringing power back to the UK. 
With the political world gripped by the struggle over EU membership, the Queen's Speech set out a relatively modest agenda of 21 bills which focused on reforms to prison, adoption and universities and largely avoided the kind of contentious legislation which might fuel opposition to the government during the referendum period. Mr Cameron said back in February that the measures - designed to tackle European Court of Justice powers - would "put beyond doubt" the UK parliament's sovereignty.
Reading out the Speech amid the traditional lavish ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament, the Queen made only a fleeting direct reference to the subject dominating politics, stating simply that her Government "will hold a referendum on the membership of the European Union". Plans for a new British Bill of Rights were also left deliberately vague while the new Counter Extremism Bill – expected to be one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in the next session of Parliament – also had key details missing.
In what may be seen as an attempt by Mr Cameron to signal that remaining in the EU does not mean giving up the UK's independence, she added: "My ministers will uphold the sovereignty of Parliament and the primacy of the House of Commons." Tories in favour of Brexit believe that the Government is intent on shelving any kinds of controversial legislation in the run up to next month’s referendum for fear of alienating support for the remain campaign.
But there was no mention of a Sovereignty Bill to assert the primacy of UK courts over the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which was floated as a constitutional safeguard during the Prime Minister's renegotiation of Britain's EU membership earlier this year. But equally it reflects the Government’s narrow majority in the House of Commons which limits its room for manoeuvre. 
Mr Duncan Smith - who quit the Cabinet in March shortly after declaring he would campaign for EU withdrawal - described it as the latest in a string of climbdowns aimed at smoothing the way to a Remain vote. "Many Conservatives have become increasingly concerned that in the Government's helter-skelter pursuit of the referendum, they have been jettisoning or watering down key elements of their legislative programme," he said.
"Many Conservatives have become increasingly concerned that in the Government's helter-skelter pursuit of the referendum, they have been jettisoning or watering down key elements of their legislative programme," said the former work and pensions secretary. Mr Duncan Smith cited recent Government climb downs on Trade Union reform and changes to the BBC as evidence of Government ‘caution first’ approach.
"Whether it is the Trade Union Bill or the BBC Charter proposals, it seems nothing must stand in the way of winning the referendum. “Whether it is the Trade Union Bill or the BBC Charter proposals, it seems nothing must stand in the way of winning the referendum,” he said.
"Yet to compound that, now it appears the much-vaunted Sovereignty Bill, key to the argument that the PM had secured a reform of the EU, has been tossed aside as well. "Yet to compound that, now it appears the much-vaunted Sovereignty Bill, key to the argument that the PM had secured a reform of the EU, has been tossed aside as well."
"The fear in Government must be that, as no-one in Britain buys the idea that the EU has been reformed, the Sovereignty Bill would draw the public's attention back to that failure. After all if the EU Court of Justice is supreme and can strike down our laws, the British people would have just laughed at the idea Britain can be sovereign unless we leave the EU." The Essex MP added: “The fear in Government must be that, as no-one in Britain buys the idea that the EU has been reformed, the Sovereignty Bill would draw the public's attention back to that failure. After all if the EU Court of Justice is supreme and can strike down our laws, the British people would have just laughed at the idea Britain can be sovereign unless we leave the EU.”
Although he never publicly committed the Government to legislation to assert UK sovereignty, Mr Cameron said earlier this year that there was "a good case" for such a bill. In what was seen as a last-ditch effort to woo Boris Johnson over to the Remain camp, he told MPs in February that he was ready to take action to "put beyond doubt that this House is sovereign". But the current Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb denied that plans for a Sovereignty Bill had been "tossed aside".
PA “What we don't want to be doing is rushing forward and bringing forward proposals that are unworkable,” he said.
“We have had our fingers burnt before when we have done that.”
The Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said the speech was simply evidence that one year into Government the Conservatives were “running out of steam”.
"30 announcements, but 28 have been made before,” he said.
"The Queen’s Speech is a stop-gap to give the warring factions of the Tory party a couple of day’s respite from the referendum. It does nothing to address the key issues at stake.”