So where’s the big plan for social care?

THE most significant omission from yesterday’s Queen’s Speech is the introduction of a costed plan to deal with social care for the elderly.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed once and for all.

Back in the 2017 General Election campaign, the Conservative Party hastily withdrew a proposal that had been dubbed by its opponents as a “death tax”.

The issue of how to pay for the care of the elderly has been kicked into the long grass by successive governments for many years.

It seems that no one wants to take responsibility for making a proposal likely to prove controversial.

The Welsh Government is unable to come up with an independent proposal of its own for how the issue could be resolved in Wales until it can be sure of how much money it is likely to receive as the result of funding decisions made at Westminster.

There is likely to be considerable further controversy relating to a number of the proposals, including in particular plans to crack down on public protests.

The idea smacks of legislation introduced by authoritarian regimes in eastern Europe, and raises concerns about the degree to which the UK Government may be seeking to curtail democratic freedoms that have been accepted as part of our society for many years.

Equally, the proposal that could make it more difficult to challenge the UK Government by judicial review risks damaging the balance that should always exist between the powers of the executive and the legal system.

Clearly Boris Johnson strongly disliked the legal challenge he was subjected to when he took the decision to prorogue Parliament unlawfully during the Brexit showdown that was eventually resolved by the 2019 General Election.

It cannot be right that citizens should be prevented from taking legal action against a government that is acting in a high-handed and undemocratic fashion.

Some of the legislative proposals are positive, like the move to increase child protection in the context of the internet.

It is also good that the UK Government is planning to step up the roll-out of 5G.

With its big majority, any changes to Mr Johnson’s contentious plans will only be possible if pressure comes from within his own party.