Queen's Speech December 2019 - Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Queen’s Speech will deliver Brexit on 31 January and allow the Government to deliver on people’s priorities and unleash the country’s potential.

The Government's first priority is to deliver Brexit on 31 January and to negotiate an ambitious free trade agreement with the EU that benefits the whole country. This Queen’s Speech sets out how we will seize the opportunities created by Brexit:

• ●  The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will ratify the deal secured by the Government in October, delivering Brexit.

• ●  The Agriculture Bill will reform UK agriculture by improving environmental protections and strengthening transparency and fairness in the supply chain.

• ●  The Fisheries Bill will enable us to reclaim control over our waters, ensuring the sustainability of our marine life and environment.

• ●  The Trade Bill will establish the Trade Remedies Authority to protect UK industry from unfair trading practices.

• ●  We will end free movement and pave the way for a modern, fairer points- based immigration system.

• ●  A Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Bill will provide a clear framework for cross-border resolutions for individuals, families and UK businesses involved in international legal disputes.

• ●  We will provide certainty, stability and new opportunities for the financial services sector.

  The Speech sets out a number of proposals to invest in and support our public services:

  • ●  Legislation will enshrine in law the largest cash settlement in the NHS’s history and we will deliver the NHS Long Term Plan in England to ensure our health service is fit for the future.

  • ●  A Medicines and Medical Devices Bill will ensure that our NHS and patients can have faster access to innovative medicines, while supporting the growth of our domestic sector.

  • ●  We will also pursue reforms to make the NHS safer for patients.

  • ●  We will provide extra funding for social care and will urgently seek cross-party

    consensus for much needed long-term reform so that nobody needing care

    should be forced to sell their home to pay for it.

  • ●  We will continue work to modernise and reform the Mental Health Act to

    ensure people get the support they need, with a much greater say in their

    care.

  • ●  We will increase levels of funding per pupil to ensure all children can access a

    high quality education.

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The Speech sets out a variety of measures to support workers and families:

• ●  An Employment Bill will enhance workers’ rights, supporting flexible working, extending unpaid carers’ entitlement to leave and ensure workers keep their hard earned tips.

• ●  A Renters’ Reform Bill will enhance renters’ security and improve protections for short-term tenants by abolishing “no-fault” evictions and introducing a lifetime deposit.

• ●  To ensure residents are safe in their homes, we will bring forward measures to implement the most urgent recommendations from the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. We will also publish a draft Building Safety Bill to implement the recommendations of Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations.

• ●  Recognising our commitment to making the UK the safest place to be online, we will continue to develop an Online Harms Bill.

• ●  The Pension Schemes Bill will enable people to better plan their saving for later life and improve the protection of people’s pensions, strengthening the regulator’s powers to tackle irresponsible management of pension schemes.

• ●  We will reduce the cost of living, including through increases to the National Insurance threshold and the National Living Wage.

  The Speech reaffirms our commitment to strengthening the criminal justice system, ensuring it keeps people safe:

  • ●  A Counter Terrorism (Sentencing and Release) Bill will ensure the most serious and dangerous terrorist offenders stay in prison for longer.

  • ●  A Sentencing Bill will ensure the most serious and violent offenders serve more of their sentences in custody.

  • ●  A Serious Violence Bill will place a duty on public bodies to work together to identify and tackle early factors that can lead to crime and ensure the police can more easily stop and search habitual knife carriers.

  • ●  A Police Powers and Protection Bill will establish a Police Covenant and ensure the police are able to fully conduct their duties by providing them with additional support and protection.

  • ●  Recognising the pain felt by victims and their families when offenders refuse to disclose certain information about their crimes, the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Bill will require the Parole Board to take this into account - a version of “Helen’s Law”.

  • ●  The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill will remove unnecessary conflict during the divorce process, in which children are so often caught up, while ensuring that divorce remains a carefully considered decision.

  • ●  We will re-introduce the Domestic Abuse Bill, strengthening protections for victims and providing new enforcement mechanisms.

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• ●  The Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill will empower police officers to immediately arrest someone wanted for a serious crime committed in a trusted country, without having to apply to a court for a warrant first.

• ●  We will consider proposals to deal more effectively with foreign national offenders, including increasing the maximum penalty for those who return to the UK in breach of a deportation order.

• ●  We will set up a Royal Commission to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice process.

  The Speech sets out how we will improve our infrastructure and level up opportunity across the country:

  • ●  We will invest in public services and infrastructure while keeping borrowing and debt under control and will publish a National Instructure Strategy.

  • ●  We will accelerate the delivery of fast, reliable and secure broadband networks to millions of homes, with legislation to make it easier for telecoms companies to install digital infrastructure and to ensure all new homes are built with reliable and fast internet.

  • ●  The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, will maintain our position as a world-leader in aviation by modernising our airspace, making journeys quicker, quieter and cleaner whilst also tackling the unlawful use of unmanned aircraft (drones).

  • ●  Legislation will be brought forward to ensure that minimum levels of service are maintained during transport strikes so that hard-working commuters can still get to work.

  • ●  We will develop measures to ensure people can get home quickly when an airline goes bust.

  • ●  In response to the Williams Review, we will publish a White Paper containing reforms that address passengers needs while providing value for the taxpayer and delivering economic benefits across the UK.

  • ●  A draft National Security and Investment Bill will strengthen the Government’s powers to investigate and intervene in business transactions (takeovers and mergers) to protect national security.

  • ●  To maintain the UK’s position as a global science superpower, we will boost public R&D funding, launch a comprehensive UK Space Strategy and develop proposals for a new funding agency.

  • ●  We will publish a White Paper to reiterate our commitment to levelling up opportunities and investment in the regions across England.

  • ●  We will reform business rates to protect high streets and communities from excessive tax hikes and keep town centres vibrant. We will bring forward the next business rates revaluation and make future revaluations in England more frequent.

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This Queen’s Speech deepens our commitment to safeguarding the natural environment for future generations:

• ●  Our landmark Environment Bill will protect and preserve the planet for generations to come. It will establish a new Office for Environmental Protection, increase local powers to tackle air pollution, introduce charges for specified single use plastic items, and ban exports of polluting plastic waste to non-OECD countries.

• ●  We will also continue to take steps to meet the world-leading target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

• ●  We will introduce legislation to promote and protect animal welfare, including measures to increase maximum sentences for animal cruelty, to ensure animals are recognised as sentient beings, and ban the import and export of trophies from endangered animals.

  The Government will continue to work to strengthen the bonds between the different parts of the UK and to safeguard its constitution and democratic processes:

• ●  We will continue to uphold the constitutional integrity of the UK, working constructively with the devolved administrations and their legislatures to ensure our Union continues to flourish.

• ●  We will urgently pursue the restoration of the devolved power-sharing government at Stormont to ensure the people of Northern Ireland have the political leadership of their elected local representatives.

• ●  We will set up a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission to consider the relationship between Government, Parliament and the courts and to explore whether the checks and balances in our constitution are working for everyone.

• ●  We will take forward work to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

• ●  We will protect the integrity of our democracy and elections, tackling electoral

  fraud through the introduction of voter ID and banning postal vote harvesting.

  The Speech confirms our determination to celebrate and support the work of our courageous armed forces and to retain and enhance the UK’s global status and reach as we leave the EU:

  • ●  We will continue to invest in our Armed Forces and honour the Armed Forces Covenant.

  • ●  We will continue to uphold the NATO commitment to spend at least two per cent of national oncome on defence.

  • ●  We will legislate to bring an end to the unfair pursuit of our Armed Forces through vexatious legislation.

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• ●  We will seek the prompt implementation of the Stormont House Agreement to provide both reconciliation for victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and greater certainty for military veterans.

• ●  The Prime Minister will undertake an Integrated Defence, Security and Foreign Policy Review – the deepest review of these issues since the end of the Cold War.

• ●  We will secure ambitious new trade deals with our international partners across the world.

• ●  We will take forward our commitment to ban public bodies from imposing their own direct or indirect boycotts, divestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries.

• ●  Finally, this Government will champion Conservative values and put a strong United Kingdom front and centre in the world. We will champion the UK’s interests and uphold our values of the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the importance of human rights on the international stage. We will continue to work alongside our international partners to tackle the most pressing global challenges, including terrorism and climate change.