British PM dilutes list of reforms
Parliament opens as PM details legislation needed for Brexit
LONDON // Prime minister Theresa May yesterday unveiled a diluted plan of action that included the legislation needed to take Britain out of the EU.
The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth II came after tragedies that have shaken the nation, and the disastrous election on June 8 in which Mrs May’s Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority.
The queen, at an event without its usual pageantry, read out the watered-down list of proposed legislation and members will spend the next few days debating before bringing it to a vote.
Mrs May could be forced to resign if she loses the vote, expected on June 29, as the country embarks on highly sensitive negotiations for Brexit.
After four terrorist attacks and a fatal tower block blaze that darkened the national mood, antigovernment protesters are also planning a Day of Rage outside parliament, with temperatures forecast to hit 34°C – London’s hottest June day since 1976.
The enfeebled premier, who is still locked in difficult talks with a Northern Irish party to prop up her administration, says the programme is about seizing opportunities offered by Brexit.
The queen said: “My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union.”
She said that the government would seek “to build the widest possible consensus on the country’s future outside the European Union”, amid divisions in Mrs May’s cabinet over the best strategy. The speech announced eight bills to implement Brexit, and new laws aimed at tackling extremist content online after the terrorist attacks.
But the speech was also notable for what it did not contain. There was no mention of Mrs May’s hugely controversial invitation to US president Donald Trump to make a state visit to Great Britain.
Also missing were key pledges that the Conservatives had made in their manifesto for the recent election, such as reform of social care for the elderly and more shake-ups in schools.