I had planned to spend Tuesday May 25th, 2010 watching Durham progress in the County Cricket Championship for the third year in succession. Instead I will watch the ceremony in which Parliament is opened by Queen Elizabeth and presents the government programme of 21 Bills to be debated during the first 500 days of the new Parliament until the Autumn of 2011.The usual situation is for a government reception to be held at Downing Street on the evening beforehand at which the programme is revealed to Ministers. This time the full programme found its way to two national newspapers and led to a formal rebuke by the re-elected Speaker who also agreed that the decision to announce the list of departmental reductions should have first been made to Parliament and not to the media.
This morning the new Minister for Schools announced that a letter was being sent to every secondary school in the country inviting them to become academies independent of Local Education Authorities. This means that the sum of 10% of budget will no longer be top sliced to pay for local authority services to the individual school and which can work out as much as £500000 to £600000 for the head and senior staff to provide their own support such as what is now called human resources and was known as Management and Personnel in my day. The Minister will argue that the measure was announced in the Queen’s speech although the usual way was for the opposition to be allowed to give their views and for other Members to ask questions and make comments. The government then went ahead as planned regardless of what was said.
I did watch the usual ceremony which took place at great cost in which the Queen rides to Parliament in a State coach accompanied by horse guards in their livery and the aristocracy get the opportunity out on their robes of state and invited guests from embassies and families get the opportunity to sit in the corridors to watch the Queen and her entourage go back and forth and Members of the House of Commons, led by Government and Opposition Ministers proceed to the bar of the House of Lords to stand and listen to the Queen reading the speech which was prepared by the Prime Ministers and announced to his Ministers the night before so everyone found out what everyone else would be doing in their Ministries and in Parliament and give support as appropriate even when they are individually unhappy about a piece of legislation or aspects of the measures which it contains. There was also the splendid sight of Ken Clark dressed in his robes of Lord Chancellor walking forward and then backwards to present the speech to Queen contained in a ceremonial gold purse, or bag as it is. The whole thing should be scaled down, with the head of state sitting at a desk on which is laid the speech for her to announce the formal opening of the Parliament and confirming the list of measures of the government together with the brief political points about the subjects of the legislation. There should also be the opportunity to announce any State visits being made to Britain and by Britain to other nations. These should be limited to situations where it in the long term interests of the two countries for the visits to be made.
The present performance cannot be justified and should be abolished along with the aristocracy in terms of national and local government and other public bodies. I am not advocating that the private use of such titles should be abolished or taking away by the state of land, property and bank balances as in reality such families have created more effective and profitable businesses, providing good remuneration and conditions of services for their employees than the commercial companies that have moved into running sporting and recreational estates and agriculture.
In the afternoon two backbench members of Parliament, one Conservative and one Liberal democrat attempted to make humorous speeches after which Ms Harriet Harman the interim Leader of the Opposition made a powerful statement of the response of her Political Party to the new Government, indicating those aspects of the programme which it would support, those which will be opposed or seek to modify. As Mr Cameron suggested it is odd that she is not standing for the Leadership, especially as her husband is a leading figure in the Unite Trade Union which is expected to cast 2 million votes in the ballot.
There has been two other political events which set the scene for what is usually a ritualistic opening few days of the Parliamentary year.
Mr Cameron, as leader of the Conservative Party, has exerted his authority by abolishing the right of 1922 backbench committee to meet without the presence of any member of the government, including the government Whips. The Committee has an established reputation as a forum for the dissatisfied and malcontents in the Parliamentary Party, including Ministers or Shadow Ministers who have fallen out with the leadership or other Party governing colleagues. Mr Cameron arranged for a vote which he knew he would win although there was substantial opposition of around 100 which could explain his constitutional and other measures to try and take control to prevent these dissenters from derailing the Coalition at the first opportunity by defeating measures required by the Liberal Democrats.
The Coalition and the expenses scandal and the apparent public acceptance of the need for a stable and strong government, designed to hand substantial rights and responsibilities to the people, means that the House of Commons first, and then the House of Lords, following, will be put in their respective place in relation to the Government of this day. There was little talk, if any, of strengthening Parliament against the Executive during the General Election in the Queen‘s speech or by the new leadership in their statements to-date. Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg mean business. The opposition to them will be formidable, especially as the Labour Party in the House of Commons has always enjoyed Opposition more than it has government. There is to be a Bill on the Reform of Parliamentary Privilege
On Thursday May 20th the Coalition published the extended agreement which will cover the life of a five year Parliament commencing officially with the Queens speech, and ending approximately one month before the next General Election planned for May 10th 2015. Ms Harman has said her Party will seek to reduce the period to 2014.
The agreement, increased in size from seven to over thirty pages, can therefore be regarded as having greater weight than the original Manifesto’s of the two parties and in fact is peppered with the injunction- We will.
Immediately the commentators homed in on the dissent which has already been expressed and at the launch media event, Mr Cameron, in particular, while recognising there were those who are disappointed, emphasised that new thinking is required to match the new situation and new politics and that the Coalition with its potential majority of 80 could confidently proceed. However, priority is to be given to be given to the decentralization of government, empowering people and involving them through new processes.
This is positive for the general public but will as mentioned help to arm the Coalition against those who want to put Party political interest before the national. All governments in the past have felt constrained by their Manifestoes which have included measures which lack majority popularity and are therefore damaging to the Party retaining support of the middle ground, or measures which during the detailed preparations have raised major question about their likely effectiveness to achieve objectives and avoid damaging unintended consequences. Governments are also faced with international events, political and economic, which requires instant decision taking and immediate action and which affect resources in such a way to derail other legislative, policy and resource plans.
Another example of the media trying to create a story when there is not one is that the new Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Overseas Development secretaries went on a joint visit to Afghanistan to meet the political leadership, the Generals and the front line troops. At the press conference there was questioning of the Ministers were saying different things which appeared to be in conflict with each other. This was not true and blatant mischief making decidedly not in the national interest. Overseas Development have a different role from Defence and the Foreign office and all that the Ministers were doing was to express their different perspectives as Departmental chiefs. There are those on the right that want to see the budget for overseas aid slashed whereas it has been ring fenced from the major cuts although greater value for money will still apply. Equally there are those on the right who are concerned at the plans to streamline the forces to meet the challenges of the contemporary world and Britain’s new place. This is the argument for retaining the nuclear, so called deterrent, if in other respects we reduce our military strength, especially in the air and on the high seas, or reducing the development of tanks and other heavy equipment when the only enemy is likely to be a guerrilla one.
The second scene setting event was the decision of the national executive of the Labour Party to hold a prolonged debate on the future of the Party until the autumn when there will be a ballot to elect a new leader. This is odd given that Ms Harman has to be given authority if she is to be effective as Opposition Leader, and not become answering to the bevy of contenders reflecting a very wide spectrum of opinion. I cannot see this situation working with three men, former advisers and Ministers, the leading contenders, South Shields MP David Miliband, his brother Ed, another Ed, Ed Balls and two other backbenchers including Diane Abbot. However with David already getting over 100 other members of the House of Commons in support, his brother and Ed Balls collecting the required 33 votes for official nomination, the other two will find it difficult to get past the first hurdle. It is difficult to see how the Party will survive this situation unless the Coalition has an early disaster. None of the candidates appear to have the leadership qualities or the vision necessary to unite the Parliamentary Party in one direction which will also have a more general public appeal in the manger of Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg. I suspect whoever wins will be an interim leader until one or two new faces emerges from those recently elected, or perhaps Ms Harman is playing the long game?
The full Coalition agreement is available online as is now the Queen’s Speech although I shall also try and purchase a copy of the published Coalition document which should come to be regarded as an important historical document. I will only highlight those measures which are of interest to me and my approach to political and economic matters.
The Agreement is divided into 31 sections commencing with Banking and Business and I applaud the inclusion of the banking levy and a commitment to tackle the system of bonuses. There are 11 plans for Banking and 20 on the promotion of business, covering taxation, paperwork, resources, and widen opportunity including enabling participation in government contracts. I like the move to enable Social Housing tenants to be able to start businesses from their homes. The overall intention to is change the balance between public and private expenditure, something which Canada achieved when facing a similar financial situation before, according to Michael Portillo during the weekly politics show. He is in his element as the Coalition follows the pathway he has advocated over the past decade. A bill on broadband infrastructure will be introduced later in the session.
There is to be legislation to create the Office of Budget Responsibility together with the National Audit Government Bill. A Treasury Bill. The Treasury is also introducing one of the subjects which has concerned me over the past decade is the question of civil liberties in the context of freedom to as well as freedom from to be known as The Great Repeals Bill. I share the view that civil privileges, as I would prefer they were called, must accompany civil responsibilities. This aspect is covered by the proposed Commission to investigate the creation of British Bill of Rights where the paragraph adds- We will seek to promote a better understanding of the true scope of these obligations and liberties. There is also to be an Identity Document Bill.
Given my background I was pleased to note the plan to restore rights to civil protest, a commitment which I must have missed when reviewing the original manifestoes. There is also be a review of the laws on libel to ensure the freedom of speech and a number of measures to reverse recent trends. I have always accepted that the first duty of any government is to protect the lives of its people and striking a balance in situations when lives are randomly threatened using information technology and on the shelf ingredients to make explosives is difficult. There is a particular problem when intervening to stop individuals from committing terrorist crimes prevents their prosecution and ideally when such individuals come from other countries they should be expelled. However there limitations and often a prosecution is difficult because of how the information was obtained. The solution is the expensive 24 hour monitoring of such individuals. I have no objection to control orders in such circumstances as long as the whole raft of other restrictions on the liberty of everyone else are lifted.
The 4th section of the Agreement is a headed Communities and Local Government. Here the approach appears to be one of strengthening the political role of local authorities by removing regional and other non elected bodies and their controls and by giving authorities greater flexibility of how they use their allocated resources. There is to be a review of local government finance which suggest the government has changes in mind. This approach is to be extended to community groups. The is to be a Bill to stop the development of one tier Government affecting Norwich and Exeter.
There are several measures to create more affordable housing including giving permission to land owners to convert buildings on farms in areas otherwise protected from new developments. There are to be referendums for the creation of Elected Mayors in the 12 largest cities but also powers to enable Council’s to return to the Committee system if they wish, instead of the present Cabinet Government style and which therefore appears to be facing in opposite directions at the same time. Councillors will be allowed to vote on large salary packages for unelected officials, The one concern I have is in relation to proposed cuts in the Inspection of local authority activities in relation to their child care and protection duties although there has been a problem in the effectiveness existing local and national bodies.
There are a number of measures to protect and further the interests of consumers which I support without exception, notably there will be on to make the bills of energy companies more uniform and comprehensible. There will be legislation to compensate Equitable Life savers. There is to be a Financial Services Regulation Bill.
There was a time when the Tory Party prided its self as being Party of leading the fight against crime with strong policing. This tended to mean an authoritarian approach with the strongest action against the petty criminal and a tendency to be ineffective against the crime bosses and their enterprises. It could be said that over the past three decades the a balance has shifted but reality its has not within the prison population doubling and full of those who have not committed offences of violence or major property thefts, while international and national crime organisations have flourished. Measures to combat international terrorism at home has led to local authorities and public bodies have unprecedented rights to surveillance and entering of properties without warrants. The ability to use discretions over prosecutions both to give cautions and to proceed with prosecutions and shifted between the police and the separate prosecutions service who are accused of only going for prosecutions when there is a certainty of success. There are good measures proposed to cover people who defend their homes and themselves from intruders and attackers. There are moves to take better control of anti social behaviour caused by cheap alcohol and review of the extradition law with the USA which I previously mentioned appears unbalanced. There is to be a Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.
On Sport, Media and Culture there is concern that the blanket percentage reduction will affect the quality and extent of future major events such as the Olympics, the Rugby League and Union World Cups and the Commonwealth games. There are commitments to retain the free entry to museums and national art galleries. There is going to better control over the National Lottery and an emphasis on sports, the arts and heritage away from other good causes as well as a curb on administrative expenditure to 5%.
The government has already announced measures to remove the target six thousand million from the ongoing capital and revenue budgets of Government departments and local authorities. In fact a greater amount has been identified although some of this will be used to meet new expenditure commitments and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can defer commencement of identified cuts until the next financial year, although they will in effect have to find double the amounts where the reductions are ongoing. The full extent of priority given to deficit reduction will not be known until the interim budget and the autumn review when the revised expenditure targets will be set for the following financial years. There is a major political motive behind the measures already proposed which is to shift economic activity and employment from the public to the private sectors. There is to be a Bill on further devolution to Scotland.
One the biggest sections of the document containing the largest groups of measures is on Energy and Climate change which appears to have brought together all the measures included in the two manifestoes. The creation of extra runways at Heathrow and Stansted have already been stopped and the development of other airports to increase the number of flights will also have to be reviewed. Association with this section is another on Environmental Food and rural affairs with twenty measures which sound good. The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill will be first considered after the summer recess.
Plans in relation to Transport also are designed to take account of climate change and the further prevention of damaging developments The intention to develop a high speed rail link is included
The previous administration, as did the administration before, did make progress in many areas to promote various form of equality in society and one of my first jobs in senior management was to plan the implement the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act in Cheshire with the start of the then new Social Service Departments in 1971. One of the significant failures of the efforts of the administrations is the continuation of unequal pay, sometimes significant unequal pay between woman and men. The new government is commitment to making progress.
I am writing this listening to William Hague, the New Foreign Secretary reviewing the policy and approach of the new government as part of the Queens Speech debates and going on to explain at the end of his statement, the joint approach to the formal European Community. I thought what he said was full of statesmanship, paying personal respect to David Miliband the Member for South Shields and the previous Foreign Secretary, and to the policies and approaches of Labour Administration. He stressed all the areas of continuity and even where there were changes these were listed as improvements, as making greater progress if possible and on exploiting the opportunities of a new administration to bring fresh impetus. I was disappointed by the response of Mr Miliband who appeared too intent on striking a position as the front runner in the Labour Leadership context and in making party political points, sometimes rather snide and petty political points. It will be interesting to see what impact his speech has on the media but I fear that if he fails to gain the leadership he will have damaged his overall political career. I hope I am proved wrong.
The Section on Foreign Affairs in the joint Manifesto is limited for as revealed by Mr Hague, the coalition only tackled the issues of potential conflict between the two Parties and is only now settling down to review its detailed position on the many subjects covered. I thought David was wrong to criticise the increase in the number of Minister from four to six as this highlights recognition of the importance of international relationships in sustaining Britain position in the world. There is to be Terrorist Assets Freezing Bill.
The same debate covered International Development where the Manifesto commits to retention of the .7% of Gross National Income to service expenditure, much to the disappointment of some Conservatives as expressed by questions in the debate. There has been good work by the Labour Government in ensuring the proper and agreed use of expenditure to avoid the misuse into the pockets of some politicians or use for counterproductive purposes such as the purchasing of arms.
One of the contributions in the debate came from former Military office Bob Stewart who was the incident office the night six of his men were killed and 30 wounded together with civilians in one of many Northern Ireland bombings. He spoke with moving knowledge and conviction about the impact on the lives of those permanently injured and on their families and those who died as well as on the mental health of servicemen.
What is proposed for the Ministry of Defence is significant with a 25% reduction proposed in its running costs which will mean major structural changes in organisation and maintenance of operational ships and air force as well a military hardware, concentrating on the pay and conditions of service men, especially those who engage in active service. While retaining the nuclear deterrent there is to be a scrutiny of the Trident replacement in terms of Value for Money. The special defence review will include public participation.
The Manifesto announced under National security the immediate establishment of a National Security Council which continues to puzzle me as to why one did not exist before. Elsewhere the Manifesto explains that it will repeal many of the measures introduced to combat terrorism which have affected the rights of everyone else. There is to be a Police Reform and Social Responsibilities Bill
On immigration the Tory measure is not as significant as its selection propaganda suggested and applies only to non European Community applications. There is the commitment to end the detention of children for immigration purposes although this raises the issue of whether they are to separated from one or both parents which could have just as damaging implications.
Rightly the manifesto places importance on the maintenance and development of opportunities for citizens to undertake paid work, I emphasise British citizens because of the extent to which illegal immigrants obtain employment as well as citizen of Europe and other countries. I was saddened that welfare payments were included in the same section as well as emphasise on curtailment and installation of hurdles. What has always worried me is that while there is widespread abuse where the worst offenders somehow manage to escape detection it is those at the margin of eligibility who suffer with every cut back and clamp down. However I was delighted to see support for the continuation of the National Minimum Wage in the Manifesto given tot eh extent to which Conservatives opposed the development arguing it would lead to widespread unemployment as businesses were unable to meet the requirements and make their desired profits. A Welfare Reform Bill will be introduced after the summer
The separate section on pensions contain the important announcement that the state pension will from 2011 be increased by two and half percent or by the general increase in prices or earnings whichever is greater. There is also to be protection of fuel allowances, TV licences and travel, free eye tests and prescriptions. The Pensions and Savings Bill will be considered after the summer recess.
There are interesting proposals under Justice to make punishment more effective in terms of rehabilitation and reformation and the proposed greater emphasis on the position of victims is most welcome.
It is of particular interest that in protecting the overall expenditure programme of the National Health Service the Coalition is making the largest numbers of commitments for change in its Manifesto over 30 in total. There is a commitment to cut down the number of Health quangos and I remember when visiting the Health Department in relation to the death of my care mother that there was an excess and overlap of inspection bodies. A Public Bodies Bill will be introduced in the session. There are separate proposals in relation to Public Health.
This morning the new Minister for Schools announced that a letter was being sent to every secondary school in the country inviting them to become academies independent of Local Education Authorities. This means that the sum of 10% of budget will no longer be top sliced to pay for local authority services to the individual school and which can work out as much as £500000 to £600000 for the head and senior staff to provide their own support such as what is now called human resources and was known as Management and Personnel in my day. The Minister will argue that the measure was announced in the Queen’s speech although the usual way was for the opposition to be allowed to give their views and for other Members to ask questions and make comments. The government then went ahead as planned regardless of what was said.
I did watch the usual ceremony which took place at great cost in which the Queen rides to Parliament in a State coach accompanied by horse guards in their livery and the aristocracy get the opportunity out on their robes of state and invited guests from embassies and families get the opportunity to sit in the corridors to watch the Queen and her entourage go back and forth and Members of the House of Commons, led by Government and Opposition Ministers proceed to the bar of the House of Lords to stand and listen to the Queen reading the speech which was prepared by the Prime Ministers and announced to his Ministers the night before so everyone found out what everyone else would be doing in their Ministries and in Parliament and give support as appropriate even when they are individually unhappy about a piece of legislation or aspects of the measures which it contains. There was also the splendid sight of Ken Clark dressed in his robes of Lord Chancellor walking forward and then backwards to present the speech to Queen contained in a ceremonial gold purse, or bag as it is. The whole thing should be scaled down, with the head of state sitting at a desk on which is laid the speech for her to announce the formal opening of the Parliament and confirming the list of measures of the government together with the brief political points about the subjects of the legislation. There should also be the opportunity to announce any State visits being made to Britain and by Britain to other nations. These should be limited to situations where it in the long term interests of the two countries for the visits to be made.
The present performance cannot be justified and should be abolished along with the aristocracy in terms of national and local government and other public bodies. I am not advocating that the private use of such titles should be abolished or taking away by the state of land, property and bank balances as in reality such families have created more effective and profitable businesses, providing good remuneration and conditions of services for their employees than the commercial companies that have moved into running sporting and recreational estates and agriculture.
In the afternoon two backbench members of Parliament, one Conservative and one Liberal democrat attempted to make humorous speeches after which Ms Harriet Harman the interim Leader of the Opposition made a powerful statement of the response of her Political Party to the new Government, indicating those aspects of the programme which it would support, those which will be opposed or seek to modify. As Mr Cameron suggested it is odd that she is not standing for the Leadership, especially as her husband is a leading figure in the Unite Trade Union which is expected to cast 2 million votes in the ballot.
There has been two other political events which set the scene for what is usually a ritualistic opening few days of the Parliamentary year.
Mr Cameron, as leader of the Conservative Party, has exerted his authority by abolishing the right of 1922 backbench committee to meet without the presence of any member of the government, including the government Whips. The Committee has an established reputation as a forum for the dissatisfied and malcontents in the Parliamentary Party, including Ministers or Shadow Ministers who have fallen out with the leadership or other Party governing colleagues. Mr Cameron arranged for a vote which he knew he would win although there was substantial opposition of around 100 which could explain his constitutional and other measures to try and take control to prevent these dissenters from derailing the Coalition at the first opportunity by defeating measures required by the Liberal Democrats.
The Coalition and the expenses scandal and the apparent public acceptance of the need for a stable and strong government, designed to hand substantial rights and responsibilities to the people, means that the House of Commons first, and then the House of Lords, following, will be put in their respective place in relation to the Government of this day. There was little talk, if any, of strengthening Parliament against the Executive during the General Election in the Queen‘s speech or by the new leadership in their statements to-date. Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg mean business. The opposition to them will be formidable, especially as the Labour Party in the House of Commons has always enjoyed Opposition more than it has government. There is to be a Bill on the Reform of Parliamentary Privilege
On Thursday May 20th the Coalition published the extended agreement which will cover the life of a five year Parliament commencing officially with the Queens speech, and ending approximately one month before the next General Election planned for May 10th 2015. Ms Harman has said her Party will seek to reduce the period to 2014.
The agreement, increased in size from seven to over thirty pages, can therefore be regarded as having greater weight than the original Manifesto’s of the two parties and in fact is peppered with the injunction- We will.
Immediately the commentators homed in on the dissent which has already been expressed and at the launch media event, Mr Cameron, in particular, while recognising there were those who are disappointed, emphasised that new thinking is required to match the new situation and new politics and that the Coalition with its potential majority of 80 could confidently proceed. However, priority is to be given to be given to the decentralization of government, empowering people and involving them through new processes.
This is positive for the general public but will as mentioned help to arm the Coalition against those who want to put Party political interest before the national. All governments in the past have felt constrained by their Manifestoes which have included measures which lack majority popularity and are therefore damaging to the Party retaining support of the middle ground, or measures which during the detailed preparations have raised major question about their likely effectiveness to achieve objectives and avoid damaging unintended consequences. Governments are also faced with international events, political and economic, which requires instant decision taking and immediate action and which affect resources in such a way to derail other legislative, policy and resource plans.
Another example of the media trying to create a story when there is not one is that the new Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Overseas Development secretaries went on a joint visit to Afghanistan to meet the political leadership, the Generals and the front line troops. At the press conference there was questioning of the Ministers were saying different things which appeared to be in conflict with each other. This was not true and blatant mischief making decidedly not in the national interest. Overseas Development have a different role from Defence and the Foreign office and all that the Ministers were doing was to express their different perspectives as Departmental chiefs. There are those on the right that want to see the budget for overseas aid slashed whereas it has been ring fenced from the major cuts although greater value for money will still apply. Equally there are those on the right who are concerned at the plans to streamline the forces to meet the challenges of the contemporary world and Britain’s new place. This is the argument for retaining the nuclear, so called deterrent, if in other respects we reduce our military strength, especially in the air and on the high seas, or reducing the development of tanks and other heavy equipment when the only enemy is likely to be a guerrilla one.
The second scene setting event was the decision of the national executive of the Labour Party to hold a prolonged debate on the future of the Party until the autumn when there will be a ballot to elect a new leader. This is odd given that Ms Harman has to be given authority if she is to be effective as Opposition Leader, and not become answering to the bevy of contenders reflecting a very wide spectrum of opinion. I cannot see this situation working with three men, former advisers and Ministers, the leading contenders, South Shields MP David Miliband, his brother Ed, another Ed, Ed Balls and two other backbenchers including Diane Abbot. However with David already getting over 100 other members of the House of Commons in support, his brother and Ed Balls collecting the required 33 votes for official nomination, the other two will find it difficult to get past the first hurdle. It is difficult to see how the Party will survive this situation unless the Coalition has an early disaster. None of the candidates appear to have the leadership qualities or the vision necessary to unite the Parliamentary Party in one direction which will also have a more general public appeal in the manger of Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg. I suspect whoever wins will be an interim leader until one or two new faces emerges from those recently elected, or perhaps Ms Harman is playing the long game?
The full Coalition agreement is available online as is now the Queen’s Speech although I shall also try and purchase a copy of the published Coalition document which should come to be regarded as an important historical document. I will only highlight those measures which are of interest to me and my approach to political and economic matters.
The Agreement is divided into 31 sections commencing with Banking and Business and I applaud the inclusion of the banking levy and a commitment to tackle the system of bonuses. There are 11 plans for Banking and 20 on the promotion of business, covering taxation, paperwork, resources, and widen opportunity including enabling participation in government contracts. I like the move to enable Social Housing tenants to be able to start businesses from their homes. The overall intention to is change the balance between public and private expenditure, something which Canada achieved when facing a similar financial situation before, according to Michael Portillo during the weekly politics show. He is in his element as the Coalition follows the pathway he has advocated over the past decade. A bill on broadband infrastructure will be introduced later in the session.
There is to be legislation to create the Office of Budget Responsibility together with the National Audit Government Bill. A Treasury Bill. The Treasury is also introducing one of the subjects which has concerned me over the past decade is the question of civil liberties in the context of freedom to as well as freedom from to be known as The Great Repeals Bill. I share the view that civil privileges, as I would prefer they were called, must accompany civil responsibilities. This aspect is covered by the proposed Commission to investigate the creation of British Bill of Rights where the paragraph adds- We will seek to promote a better understanding of the true scope of these obligations and liberties. There is also to be an Identity Document Bill.
Given my background I was pleased to note the plan to restore rights to civil protest, a commitment which I must have missed when reviewing the original manifestoes. There is also be a review of the laws on libel to ensure the freedom of speech and a number of measures to reverse recent trends. I have always accepted that the first duty of any government is to protect the lives of its people and striking a balance in situations when lives are randomly threatened using information technology and on the shelf ingredients to make explosives is difficult. There is a particular problem when intervening to stop individuals from committing terrorist crimes prevents their prosecution and ideally when such individuals come from other countries they should be expelled. However there limitations and often a prosecution is difficult because of how the information was obtained. The solution is the expensive 24 hour monitoring of such individuals. I have no objection to control orders in such circumstances as long as the whole raft of other restrictions on the liberty of everyone else are lifted.
The 4th section of the Agreement is a headed Communities and Local Government. Here the approach appears to be one of strengthening the political role of local authorities by removing regional and other non elected bodies and their controls and by giving authorities greater flexibility of how they use their allocated resources. There is to be a review of local government finance which suggest the government has changes in mind. This approach is to be extended to community groups. The is to be a Bill to stop the development of one tier Government affecting Norwich and Exeter.
There are several measures to create more affordable housing including giving permission to land owners to convert buildings on farms in areas otherwise protected from new developments. There are to be referendums for the creation of Elected Mayors in the 12 largest cities but also powers to enable Council’s to return to the Committee system if they wish, instead of the present Cabinet Government style and which therefore appears to be facing in opposite directions at the same time. Councillors will be allowed to vote on large salary packages for unelected officials, The one concern I have is in relation to proposed cuts in the Inspection of local authority activities in relation to their child care and protection duties although there has been a problem in the effectiveness existing local and national bodies.
There are a number of measures to protect and further the interests of consumers which I support without exception, notably there will be on to make the bills of energy companies more uniform and comprehensible. There will be legislation to compensate Equitable Life savers. There is to be a Financial Services Regulation Bill.
There was a time when the Tory Party prided its self as being Party of leading the fight against crime with strong policing. This tended to mean an authoritarian approach with the strongest action against the petty criminal and a tendency to be ineffective against the crime bosses and their enterprises. It could be said that over the past three decades the a balance has shifted but reality its has not within the prison population doubling and full of those who have not committed offences of violence or major property thefts, while international and national crime organisations have flourished. Measures to combat international terrorism at home has led to local authorities and public bodies have unprecedented rights to surveillance and entering of properties without warrants. The ability to use discretions over prosecutions both to give cautions and to proceed with prosecutions and shifted between the police and the separate prosecutions service who are accused of only going for prosecutions when there is a certainty of success. There are good measures proposed to cover people who defend their homes and themselves from intruders and attackers. There are moves to take better control of anti social behaviour caused by cheap alcohol and review of the extradition law with the USA which I previously mentioned appears unbalanced. There is to be a Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.
On Sport, Media and Culture there is concern that the blanket percentage reduction will affect the quality and extent of future major events such as the Olympics, the Rugby League and Union World Cups and the Commonwealth games. There are commitments to retain the free entry to museums and national art galleries. There is going to better control over the National Lottery and an emphasis on sports, the arts and heritage away from other good causes as well as a curb on administrative expenditure to 5%.
The government has already announced measures to remove the target six thousand million from the ongoing capital and revenue budgets of Government departments and local authorities. In fact a greater amount has been identified although some of this will be used to meet new expenditure commitments and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can defer commencement of identified cuts until the next financial year, although they will in effect have to find double the amounts where the reductions are ongoing. The full extent of priority given to deficit reduction will not be known until the interim budget and the autumn review when the revised expenditure targets will be set for the following financial years. There is a major political motive behind the measures already proposed which is to shift economic activity and employment from the public to the private sectors. There is to be a Bill on further devolution to Scotland.
One the biggest sections of the document containing the largest groups of measures is on Energy and Climate change which appears to have brought together all the measures included in the two manifestoes. The creation of extra runways at Heathrow and Stansted have already been stopped and the development of other airports to increase the number of flights will also have to be reviewed. Association with this section is another on Environmental Food and rural affairs with twenty measures which sound good. The Energy Security and Green Economy Bill will be first considered after the summer recess.
Plans in relation to Transport also are designed to take account of climate change and the further prevention of damaging developments The intention to develop a high speed rail link is included
The previous administration, as did the administration before, did make progress in many areas to promote various form of equality in society and one of my first jobs in senior management was to plan the implement the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act in Cheshire with the start of the then new Social Service Departments in 1971. One of the significant failures of the efforts of the administrations is the continuation of unequal pay, sometimes significant unequal pay between woman and men. The new government is commitment to making progress.
I am writing this listening to William Hague, the New Foreign Secretary reviewing the policy and approach of the new government as part of the Queens Speech debates and going on to explain at the end of his statement, the joint approach to the formal European Community. I thought what he said was full of statesmanship, paying personal respect to David Miliband the Member for South Shields and the previous Foreign Secretary, and to the policies and approaches of Labour Administration. He stressed all the areas of continuity and even where there were changes these were listed as improvements, as making greater progress if possible and on exploiting the opportunities of a new administration to bring fresh impetus. I was disappointed by the response of Mr Miliband who appeared too intent on striking a position as the front runner in the Labour Leadership context and in making party political points, sometimes rather snide and petty political points. It will be interesting to see what impact his speech has on the media but I fear that if he fails to gain the leadership he will have damaged his overall political career. I hope I am proved wrong.
The Section on Foreign Affairs in the joint Manifesto is limited for as revealed by Mr Hague, the coalition only tackled the issues of potential conflict between the two Parties and is only now settling down to review its detailed position on the many subjects covered. I thought David was wrong to criticise the increase in the number of Minister from four to six as this highlights recognition of the importance of international relationships in sustaining Britain position in the world. There is to be Terrorist Assets Freezing Bill.
The same debate covered International Development where the Manifesto commits to retention of the .7% of Gross National Income to service expenditure, much to the disappointment of some Conservatives as expressed by questions in the debate. There has been good work by the Labour Government in ensuring the proper and agreed use of expenditure to avoid the misuse into the pockets of some politicians or use for counterproductive purposes such as the purchasing of arms.
One of the contributions in the debate came from former Military office Bob Stewart who was the incident office the night six of his men were killed and 30 wounded together with civilians in one of many Northern Ireland bombings. He spoke with moving knowledge and conviction about the impact on the lives of those permanently injured and on their families and those who died as well as on the mental health of servicemen.
What is proposed for the Ministry of Defence is significant with a 25% reduction proposed in its running costs which will mean major structural changes in organisation and maintenance of operational ships and air force as well a military hardware, concentrating on the pay and conditions of service men, especially those who engage in active service. While retaining the nuclear deterrent there is to be a scrutiny of the Trident replacement in terms of Value for Money. The special defence review will include public participation.
The Manifesto announced under National security the immediate establishment of a National Security Council which continues to puzzle me as to why one did not exist before. Elsewhere the Manifesto explains that it will repeal many of the measures introduced to combat terrorism which have affected the rights of everyone else. There is to be a Police Reform and Social Responsibilities Bill
On immigration the Tory measure is not as significant as its selection propaganda suggested and applies only to non European Community applications. There is the commitment to end the detention of children for immigration purposes although this raises the issue of whether they are to separated from one or both parents which could have just as damaging implications.
Rightly the manifesto places importance on the maintenance and development of opportunities for citizens to undertake paid work, I emphasise British citizens because of the extent to which illegal immigrants obtain employment as well as citizen of Europe and other countries. I was saddened that welfare payments were included in the same section as well as emphasise on curtailment and installation of hurdles. What has always worried me is that while there is widespread abuse where the worst offenders somehow manage to escape detection it is those at the margin of eligibility who suffer with every cut back and clamp down. However I was delighted to see support for the continuation of the National Minimum Wage in the Manifesto given tot eh extent to which Conservatives opposed the development arguing it would lead to widespread unemployment as businesses were unable to meet the requirements and make their desired profits. A Welfare Reform Bill will be introduced after the summer
The separate section on pensions contain the important announcement that the state pension will from 2011 be increased by two and half percent or by the general increase in prices or earnings whichever is greater. There is also to be protection of fuel allowances, TV licences and travel, free eye tests and prescriptions. The Pensions and Savings Bill will be considered after the summer recess.
There are interesting proposals under Justice to make punishment more effective in terms of rehabilitation and reformation and the proposed greater emphasis on the position of victims is most welcome.
It is of particular interest that in protecting the overall expenditure programme of the National Health Service the Coalition is making the largest numbers of commitments for change in its Manifesto over 30 in total. There is a commitment to cut down the number of Health quangos and I remember when visiting the Health Department in relation to the death of my care mother that there was an excess and overlap of inspection bodies. A Public Bodies Bill will be introduced in the session. There are separate proposals in relation to Public Health.
The proposals on Families and Children are full of commonsense, aimed at balance and fairness and also redirecting resources to those with the greatest needs and intractable of problems. Associated with this and my own position I was interested in the section on Government Transparency. There will be new protection for whistleblowers in the public sector and the publication of a all serious case reviews without identifying information.
My impression is that the most radical part of the Coalition programme is in relation to schools with already the announcement of the provision of legislation to enable secondary level schools to become Academies and opt out of the local education authority direct control. The Academies Bill is to be considered before the summer recess. There is also to a premium payment for disadvantaged pupils to ensure they also have the same opportunities as others.
In relation to Further Education and Universities there is the proposal to increase apprenticeships by 50000 as well as internships and work pairings. There is a previously commissioned report already underway in to the funding of Higher education
There is a Social Action section which are mentioned when reviewing the original manifestoes can be interpreted in two ways. The Government intends to provide more people to undertake voluntary work and to contribute to their local community and society in general, or to become volunteer substitutes for work previously undertaken by paid public service. A good proposal is to further cooperatives, mutuals and charities and other social enterprises which provide paid employment but without the profit motive. This proposals includes the right of public sector workers to form employee owned cooperatives. The National Citizens service is to be introduced.
There is going to be a commission to consider long term care issue to report within a year, including ideas such as voluntary insurance and partnership. schemes.
A major Liberal Democrat commitment was raise the amount of earnings before tax is paid to £10000. The allowance is to be raised from next April with the aim to achieve the target over other tax cuts including the Inheritance Tax changes. The National Insurance Bill will be introduced before the summer recess. A financial services Bill is to be introduced later in the session.
I have left until last the section on Political Reform with today the announcement that there is to a new House of Commons standing committee to review the work of the Deputy Prime Minister who is in charge of the reform programme and he proposed legislation which is one of the priorities announced in the Queen’s Speech. Already the division are merging with Ms Harman announcing the full support of her party with those within other Parties who oppose the proposal to make a 55% majority before the House of Commons can bring a fixed term Parliament to a premature end. This is rich from a party which introduced the 65% majority to bring to a premature end the devolved Scottish Parliament. The issue is bringing an end to an end the fixed Term Parliament, and not a particular government measure or a government if it loses a vote of confidence, leading to an attempt for someone else to form a Coalition. There are 30 measures listed in the section and I look forward with interest to seeing how many reach the statute book and are then implemented as intended. The Parliamentary Reform Bill is another Bill to be introduced before the recess. A decentralization and Localism Bill will be introduced Later There is to a Local Government Bill
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