LET’S BOUNCE FORWARD
We must cash in on the spirit we learned in Covid fight, says Boris in rallying cry for a new future
A PACKAGE of new legislation will help Britain ‘bounce forward’ from the pandemic, Boris Johnson said yesterday.
He warned that the public will ‘not settle for going back to the way things were’ before Covid-19 struck.
In an introduction to the Queen’s Speech, the Prime Minister pledged to mobilise the ‘extraordinary spirit’ displayed during the pandemic in order to ‘unleash our nation’s full potential’.
But there was a warning that taxes may have to rise in the long term to pay for the vast spending during the pandemic.
The Queen’s Speech pledged to return the public finances to a ‘sustainable path’ once the economic recovery is ‘secure’.
Accompanying documents said big business and individuals will be asked to ‘contribute a little more in order to continue to fund excellent public services and investment’. Yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, including almost 30 pieces of legislation, was skewed towards hitting Tory manifesto pledges which have been left on the backburner as result of the Covid crisis.
Mr Johnson said the measures would release the ‘suppressed fizz’ of the economy and ensure that Britain ‘bounces, not back, but forward’.
He added: ‘We must harness the ingenuity and resolve that has been revealed in the struggle against Covid-19 and use it to create a stronger, healthier and more prosperous nation. We have been given an historic opportunity to change things for the better, (and) level up opportunities across the whole of the United Kingdom.’
Major pieces of legislation aimed at ‘leveln ling up’ include a Planning Bill to create a ‘ simpler, faster’ system to get new homes and infrastructure projects built more quickly.
The proposals will force local authorities to establish new zones for housing and remove their power to reject housing developments provided they meet certain standards.
The PM said it was vital to ‘modernise’ a system ‘most of which remains unchanged since the 1940s’.
But the proposals have alarmed some campaigners and Tory MPs.
Former PM Theresa May said the stripping back of local control would result in ‘ the wrong homes in the wrong places’. Countryside charity CPRE warned the proposals could lead to a ‘free-for-all’.
Yesterday’s package included legislation to establish eight new low-tax ‘freeports’ and measures to create a new state aid regime that will allow ministers to bail out struggling sectors facing unfair competition.
It also promised to invest heavily in ‘catch-up’ programmes in services hit by the pandemic, including tackling NHS waiting lists, helping millions of children who have missed out on education and clearing the backlog of court cases. The Queen’s Speech also revived pledges to tackle the ‘broken’ asylum and immigration system. New legislation will make it harder for people to claim asylum if they have arrived in the country illegally.
A Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill carried over from the last parliamentary session will introduce tougher sentences for serious violent offences and make it easier for the police to clamp down on disruptive protests by groups such as Extinction Rebellion.
The PM also pressed ahead with legislation to scrap the controversial Fixed Term Parliaments Act. The move will restore the power to call elections to the Prime Minister, prompting speculation he could call an election as early as 2023.