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| David Cameron places social reform at centre of Queen's speech | David Cameron places social reform at centre of Queen's speech |
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| David Cameron is seeking to look beyond divisions in the Conservative party over Europe by promising to “increase life chances” through a programme of social reform in the Queen’s speech, including changes to prisons, schools and adoption. | David Cameron is seeking to look beyond divisions in the Conservative party over Europe by promising to “increase life chances” through a programme of social reform in the Queen’s speech, including changes to prisons, schools and adoption. |
| Related: Queen's speech 2016: monarch unveils 20 bills to parliament – live | Related: Queen's speech 2016: monarch unveils 20 bills to parliament – live |
| The government’s annual legislative programme includes 20 bills, on topics ranging from streamlining housebuilding to tackling extremism – as well as three carried over from the previous session, including the investigatory powers bill, which will make it easier for public bodies to monitor communications. | The government’s annual legislative programme includes 20 bills, on topics ranging from streamlining housebuilding to tackling extremism – as well as three carried over from the previous session, including the investigatory powers bill, which will make it easier for public bodies to monitor communications. |
| But the agenda was immediately criticised by former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith for deliberately avoiding controversy. | But the agenda was immediately criticised by former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith for deliberately avoiding controversy. |
| The Queen said: “My government will use the opportunity of a strengthening economy to deliver security for working people, to increase life chances for the most disadvantaged and to strengthen national defences.” | The Queen said: “My government will use the opportunity of a strengthening economy to deliver security for working people, to increase life chances for the most disadvantaged and to strengthen national defences.” |
| With just weeks to go before the hard-fought referendum on Britain’s future in the European Union, which has seen senior Conservatives repeatedly clash, the prime minister is keen to show that he has a legislative agenda beyond campaigning against Brexit. | With just weeks to go before the hard-fought referendum on Britain’s future in the European Union, which has seen senior Conservatives repeatedly clash, the prime minister is keen to show that he has a legislative agenda beyond campaigning against Brexit. |
| In briefing notes, Cameron said: “In the past six years, whether in education or welfare, this government has consistently demonstrated that we will take on difficult arguments, make difficult choices and undertake big and bold reforms to spread opportunity. This Queen’s speech is no different.” | In briefing notes, Cameron said: “In the past six years, whether in education or welfare, this government has consistently demonstrated that we will take on difficult arguments, make difficult choices and undertake big and bold reforms to spread opportunity. This Queen’s speech is no different.” |
| Iain Duncan Smith, the Eurosceptic former work and pensions secretary, accused Cameron and his colleagues of watering down potentially controversial changes, to avoid confrontation in the run-up to the 23 June vote. | Iain Duncan Smith, the Eurosceptic former work and pensions secretary, accused Cameron and his colleagues of watering down potentially controversial changes, to avoid confrontation in the run-up to the 23 June 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. Whether it is the trade union bill or the BBC charter proposals, it seems nothing must stand in the way of winning the referendum.” | “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. 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 also lamented the absence of proposals on underlining the supremacy of parliament, mooted earlier this year in a bid to placate Eurosceptics. | He also lamented the absence of proposals on underlining the supremacy of parliament, mooted earlier this year in a bid to placate Eurosceptics. |
| Related: Cameron's attempt to bury the austerity legacy - Queen's speech verdict | |
| “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,” he said. | “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,” he said. |
| There is also little detail on a promised British bill of rights, which is expected to be published after the referendum, and will stoke controversy on government backbenches, with some Tories – including the home secretary, Theresa May – believing it should supplant the European convention on human rights. | |
| The government’s legislative plan is also smattered with consumer-friendly pledges, from rolling out high-speed broadband nationwide to allowing local authorities to force bus firms to run more frequent services. | |
| However, opposition parties complained about the lack of radicalism in the legislative programme. Labour pointed to the Conservatives’ repeated pledges to reform prisons and the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said: “This speech should have been about laying out a bold plan for the future but it’s not. It smacks of a prime minister desperate to create a legacy. Frankly, that is just vain and will be vain. He won’t be remembered as a social reformer but as the man who trashed the legacy of the coalition and put Britain’s place at the world at risk.” |