Stripped down plans

Shambolic Theresa May was forced to ditch huge chucks of her manifesto from the Queen’s Speech today.

The blundering Prime Minister had to present a stripped-down plan for the next two Parliaments after calling a general election that lost the Tories their Commons majority.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said the Speech was more concerned with providing a “lifeline for Theresa May than offering the meaningful life changes the people of this country need”.

The instability afflicting the Tories was even evident in the minutes preceding the Speech, when it emerged May’s head of policy, John Godfrey, is leaving his position less than a year after taking up the post.

Brexit dominated the hollowed-out Speech, which omitted most of the Conservatives major manifesto pledges and contained only a few domestic policies.

May abandoned deeply unpopular plans to implement a dementia tax, bring back fox hunting and re-introduce grammar schools.

Blueprints for cutting free school meals for infants were also shelved, as were plans to scrap winter fuel payments for pensioners. The Speech made no mention of the Tory promise to cap energy prices.

The Queen outlined a small number of domestic policies, including changes to technical education, plans to reduce car insurance by clamping down on whiplash claims and closing a loophole that allows victims of domestic violence to be cross examined by their alleged attackers in family courts.

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire there were also plans to “introduce an independent public advocate for all public disasters, who will act on behalf of bereaved families and also support them at public inquests”.

Humiliated

In a written foreword to the Speech, a humiliated May acknowledged her bruising at the ballot box has hobbled the Tories.

She said,“The election result was not the one I hoped for, but this government will respond with humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent.”

May said the Speech was “about recognising and grasping the opportunities that lie ahead for the United Kingdom as we leave the European Union”.

Despite the emphasis on Brexit there was little detail on the immigration, trade or customs policies the beleaguered Tories aim to introduce.

In a sign the government is becoming less confident of its Brexit approach the Great Repeal Bill to move EU rules into British law – which contains so-called “Henry VIII Clauses” that can be used to attack workers’ rights – was renamed the Repeal Bill during the Speech.

In her foreword to the Speech, May insisted her minority government was committed to “putting ourselves at the service of millions of ordinary working people for whom we will work every day in the national interest.”

Rubbished

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey rubbished the claim.

“The nation needed a Queen’s Speech that offered hope and the promise of an economy with decent secure jobs and wages that people can live on,” McCluskey said.

“Instead we got a Queen’s Speech, which devoid of the contents of the Tories’ toxic manifesto, is more an attempted lifeline for Theresa May than offering the meaningful life changes the people of this country need.”

He added, “The Tories had a chance today to show that they understand the issues of this country – growing poverty, insecurity, the need for decent work, public safety and a chance for our young people.

“They failed. The sooner they are gone, the better.”

MPs will vote on the Queen’s Speech next Monday. May is hoping she can secure a tiny parliamentary majority by entering into a “confidence and supply” agreement with the 10 MPs of the Democratic Unionist Party.