Birmingham Liberal Democrats

The Queen's Speech - Labour is still failing to listen

The Queen's Speech - Labour is still failing to listen

The Liberal Democrats, have today following the Queen's Speech, accused Labour of not giving no respect to the electorate who had hoped the Government would listen more. Tony Blair has pledged to create a "culture of respect" as he put moves to tackle crime and disorder at the heart of his third term agenda.

Public service reform also figured prominently in the Queen's Speech, outlining the government's programme for the new Parliament. The speech included 45 bills for MPs and peers to debate by November 2006. They include ID cards, a new offence of incitement to religious hatred and an EU constitution referendum. There are also plans for a ban on smoking in some public places, measures to tackle hospital-acquired infections and to boost school standards in a packed legislative programme.

Matthew Taylor, Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party said "The Government are talking a lot about respect, but by re-hashing the same old policies Labour are giving no respect to the electorate who cut their majority in the vain hope the Government would listen more.These are the same old policies from the same old spin doctors, with nothing to address the real issue hitting families like high council tax bills, overcrowded schools, or poverty in old age. With Tony Blair pressing ahead with controversial, expensive and ineffective policies like ID cards, there is a clear opportunity for them to be defeated. The Liberal Democrats will provide a united and effective opposition, and we will defeat the Government if Labour rebels have the courage of their convictions, and the Conservatives overcome their divisions."

On Education, Edward Davey MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, said "Today's proposals totally fail to offer parents and pupils meaningful choice in education. This is not an agenda to restore parents' faith in the state system. The widely praised Tomlinson Report gave the Government the chance to offer new choice and diversity in the curriculum, but they failed to grasp the opportunity. A secondary diploma would have helped transform secondary education but Ministers have not had the courage to take a lead. Instead, we are left with measures almost entirely focused on a few City Academies, offering absolutely nothing to the millions of parents and pupils elsewhere in our secondary schools."

Mr. Davey concluded by saying "Children only get one chance at education, and this Queen's Speech suggests yet another generation of children will be let down."

On Health, Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, said "This Queen's Speech appears to contain few measures that will reform the NHS to help it to tackle key problems such as long waiting lists and cancelled operations. We will closely scrutinise plans for more private sector involvement in the NHS to ensure that the taxpayer is getting good value for money. Patients should have the choice of quality healthcare conveniently provided."

On action to tackle MRSA, Mr Webb said "Action on hospital hygiene is long overdue, but solutions must be evidence based and not simply designed to grab headlines."

On smoking in public places, Mr Webb added "We support a ban on smoking in enclosed public places, but cannot see the logic in excluding pubs which do not serve food. Passive smoking is a health risk wherever it happens, and the Government must have the courage of its convictions on this issue."

On Welfare Reform, David Laws MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said ""The test will be in the substance of the new proposals rather than in the Government's spin. The Government has long talked about pensions reform, reform of incapacity benefit and housing benefit without achieving much."

On Incapacity Benefit Reform, Mr. Laws said "Recent signals from David Blunkett suggest that the Government remains unclear about its so-called "reform agenda. Reform must offer real help for those able to return to work, and must change the benefits system so it reflects the sometimes complex nature of people's physical and mental disabilities. We believe that a partial capacity benefit should be considered for those people whose capacity to work inevitably varies due to the nature of their condition."

On a Pensions Reform, Mr. Laws said "The existing pension system is deeply flawed and unsustainable. We hope that Mr Blunkett will succeed in sweeping away much of the Chancellor's means-tested mess of a pensions system. The Turner recommendations should be used to establish a cross party consensus on long term pension reform."

On a Housing Costs, Mr. Laws said "Simplifying Housing Benefit, giving claimants genuine choice, and work are reforms that are long overdue.However, the early findings from evaluation of the Local Housing Allowance pilots have not been promising and searching questions need to be asked about the detailed proposals."