Thursday, 19 May 2016

PM Accused Of 'Watering Down' Queen's Speech


The Queen has set out the Government's agenda amid claims the PM "tossed aside" key measures in pursuit of the EU referendum.
David Cameron's attempt to carve out a social reform agenda with his "One Nation" Queen's Speech has been overshadowed by claims he watered down key measures.
Ex-Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith accused the Prime Minister of "tossing aside" important elements of the legislative programme in his "helter-skelter pursuit of the Referendum".
Mr Duncan Smith, who dramatically resigned over welfare reform in March, said there was "increasing concern" among many Conservatives over the "jettisoning" of proposals.
Missing from the 21-Bill speech was the Sovereignty Bill, which was promised after the EU renegotiation deal as a way of bringing power back to the UK.
State Opening of Parliament 2016
Mr Cameron had told the House of Commons in February that the measures, designed to tackle the powers of the European Court of Justice, would "put beyond doubt" the sovereignty of UK parliament.
The Prime Minister said he would look to introduce the measure at the same time as the conclusion of the negotiations, leading politicians to believe it would be in the Queen's Speech.
In addition, the long-awaited Bill of Rights was scant on details and only a consultation on proposals, which are to be "published in due course".
The Conservative manifesto had promised to "break the formal link between British courts and the European Court of Human Rights" and to ensure the UK Supreme Court was the "ultimate arbiter of human rights matters".
It also pledged to scrap the Human Rights Act.


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