This week we take a look at the Queen’s speech, what it means for the year ahead and consider any potential pitfalls the Conservatives may have laid for themselves. We’ll also touch on the aftershocks from last week’s local elections, the COVID inquiry and the latest Greensill Capital scandal.
The Queen’s speech
On Tuesday, the state opening of parliament took place, with the customary Queen’s speech taking an uncustomary socially distanced twist. The Queen opened by stating that “My government will level-up opportunities across all parts of the UK”, proving that not even the monarch is safe from the government’s effective, but vapid, buzzword of the moment. It also shows that the government is looking to shore up its new ‘red wall’ seats, with the recent announcement of a levelling-up white paper coming later this year.
Health and social care were at the forefront of the Queen’s speech, which included reference to additional funding for the NHS, as well as a commitment to bringing forward legislation to empower the NHS to innovate and embrace technology. This is in reference to the health and care bill, which will implement the proposals set out in the NHS reform White Paper published earlier this year. However, the speech revealed that there is still no formal plan to reform social care, outlining that proposals on social care “will be brought forward”, with no detail or timetable given. The Labour leader, Sir Kier Starmer, admonished the government’s lack of plans, going on to say that the “failure to act for a decade was bad enough. But failure to act after the pandemic is nothing short of an insult.”
The government will also introduce a dissolution and calling of parliament bill, which will remove the fixed five-year period between general elections and return the power to call early elections to the prime minister. In addition, there is concern from some parties around the plan to introduce a bill which would make photo ID compulsory in elections. Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, said “it’s really bizarre coming from this government that they have made it so much more difficult for people in this country to vote over recent years, but they have taken absolutely no action to defend our democracy from attacks overseas.”
The one bill that may prove contentious though, particularly for some of the government’s core home county voters, is the planning bill, which aims to stop local opponents blocking development in designated “growth zones”, while making it easier for the government to hit its house-building targets. Former prime minister Theresa May argued the plans would “reduce local democracy” and lead to “the wrong homes being built in the wrong places”, going on to say that “this is less, I fear, about modernisation than about giving developers greater freedom.”
Lack of leadership
As was to be expected, the 2021 local elections proved to be an enormous test for Labour, and one which the party failed to pass. In what appears to be a hangover from the Conservative’s emphatic general election win in 2019, the Tories made further gains in Labour’s former heartlands winning Derbyshire's Amber Valley Borough Council and taking Durham County Council to no overall control. In the much anticipated Hartlepool parliamentary by-election, the Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer defeated Labour rival Dr Paul Williams by nearly 7,000 votes. This is the first time in the current constituency's history that it has elected a Conservative. The scale of the loss and the further crumbling of the ‘red wall’ has led many to question the leadership of Sir Kier Starmer. This was further escalated after he sacked Angela Rayner, Labour deputy leader, from her position as party chair and national campaign coordinator following the defeats. Needless to say, the sacking didn’t have the intended affect and after a swift outcry from all sections of the party, Starmer was forced to U-turn. Rayner ended up with the roles of shadow secretary of state for the future of work, deputy leader of the official opposition, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The pandemic hasn’t exactly been the most fertile ground for an opposition party, especially with the government’s hugely successful vaccination programme. However, Labour now needs to seriously look at itself as a party and consider who it truly hopes to represent.
COVID inquiry… but not just yet…
On Wednesday, Boris Johnson announced an independent public inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The inquiry is set to be launched in spring 2022, with the prime minister justifying this delay so as to avoid putting too much stress on the NHS, advisers and government while there remains the risk of a winter surge later this year. Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the announcement of the inquiry, however, he queried “why can’t it start earlier?”
Aside from the above reasons set out by Johnson, it may also be the case that this later date will give the prime minister time to pull together a ‘three-pronged’ defence, in anticipation of an onslaught by his former No.10 advisor, Dominic Cummings. Cummings may have some very damaging things to say as part of an inquiry, including allegations that Johnson was too slow to trigger the first lockdown in March last year, and that the decision not to impose a lockdown in September as cases rose contributed to a rapid rise in infection rates prior to the third lockdown. However, other areas of contention could focus on the failure to adequately control the borders during the first peak and the alleged Johnson quote “I would rather let bodies pile high in their thousands” than impose a third lockdown.
Cameron’s capital conundrum
Not corruption again we hear you cry! Yes, former prime minister David Cameron was scrutinised by the Commons Treasury and Public Accounts Committees. Over the course of the two sessions, he admitted “great regret” over the demise of Greensill Capital, and accepted that he had a “big economic investment” in the company, although he wasn’t at liberty to divulge how much. He also conceded that in future “prime ministers should only ever use letter or email, and should restrict themselves far more”. However, Cameron rejected claims that his persistent lobbying of ministers and officials on behalf of Greensill Capital was motivated by fear that his personal stake in the company was at risk. In direct reference to his contact with ministers, he said it had been “appropriate” for him to call and text ministers and officials directly, as financial schemes were being designed quickly at a “time of extraordinary crisis”.
Overall, this sorry affair leaves the former prime minister’s reputation in tatters, particularly after he said in 2010: “secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics.” We also shouldn’t forget that the collapse of Greensill Capital could end up costing the UK taxpayer up to £5bn due to unpaid state-backed loans and social support for thousands of steelworkers. In 2016, Dennis Skinner, the former MP for Bolsover was famously kicked out of the commons for labelling the then prime minister 'dodgy Dave' over his personal finances. Perhaps ‘dodgy Dave’ is quite a fitting moniker after all.
A look ahead
Next week marks a crucial point in the road out of lockdown. Hugging’s back. We’ll also be able to eat indoors in restaurants or pubs and go to the cinema, museums and children’s play areas again. Up to six people or two households will be able to meet indoors and up to 30 people outdoors. However, there are concerns over the Indian coronavirus variant (B.1.617.2), which is “beginning to spread increasingly rapidly in certain areas of the country,” according to the Department of Health and Social Care. Elsewhere, the Labour party will continue its next round of soul searching in a bid to work out just what has gone so wrong for the party, while the Conservatives will likely keep on cruising, perhaps wondering if anything can really touch them. We reckon the SNP might have something to say about that though.