The government has announced a proposed legislative programme dominated by post-Brexit bills and a renewed focus on law and order in an unusual Queen’s speech, one mainly used by Boris Johnson as a preview of the Conservatives’ election manifesto.
The summary of planned new laws read out by the Queen to mark the new session of parliament contained 26 new or returning bills, more than a third of which relate to new arrangements following departure from the EU.
Other key elements of a speech widely trailed in advance included plans for tougher jail sentences and controversial proposals to oblige people to show photographic ID before they are allowed to vote.
The pre-election feel was increased earlier on Monday when, ahead of the Queen’s speech, the chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced plans for a budget on 6 November, days after what the government insists will be the 31 October Brexit date.
Johnson, in a written introduction to documents explaining the legislative plans, said they were aimed at using Brexit as “a defining opportunity for us to set a new course and a new direction for our country”.
But with the departure date likely to be delayed beyond 31 October, and an election imminent, the prime minister has faced criticism for calling a new session of parliament largely so the monarch can read out a preview of the Tories’ likely manifesto.
Even if an election did not take place, the government has no majority in the House of Commons, meaning passing any bills would be a struggle.
The bills and plans for later proposed laws read out by the Queen included no surprises, and a number of measures in the works for many months, such as post-Brexit bills on fisheries, agriculture and trade.
A new immigration bill would make EU citizens “subject to the same UK immigration controls as non-EU citizens”, thus ending free movement, and introduce a points-based entry system, while another bill would update or replace EU regulations on financial markets.
A full seven bills outlined were devoted to law and order, heralding what seemed to be a key Conservative election message based around tougher jail sentences, a direction that has prompted alarm from prison reform charities.
Under one measure, violent and sexual offenders would serve a minimum of two-thirds of their sentence before becoming eligible to be released on licence, compared with half under current guidelines.
Another would significantly increase the six-month maximum jail term for foreign offenders who returned to the UK in breach of deportation orders.
Critics of the proposals have warned they would impose extra pressure on overcrowded jails and that the public was being misled into believing sentencing policy was softer than in reality.
Other pledges of future bills in the speech covered areas also likely to feature strongly in the Conservative manifesto, such as increased schools funding and more free schools, as well as legislation intended to help the rollout of faster broadband.
Another element likely to feature in Johnson’s campaigning was an environment bill outlining post-Brexit policies in areas including plastic, biodiversity and air quality.
In his introduction to the speech, Johnson called this “a momentous new environment bill a lodestar by which we will guide our country towards a cleaner and greener future”.