Queen’s speech sets sombre tone

British politics was radically recast on June 8. The new political landscape is different in almost every way bar the names of the two main party leaders. The Conservatives are in office but not in power. Labour is in one-more-heave mode for the first time since the 1990s. In this hung parliament, shaped by what is now a minority government, this was a queen’s speech from a humbled Tory party under a leader whose authority has suddenly drained away.

Everything about the first day of the new parliament underlined the fragile conditionality of the new order. The queen dispensed with the usual robes and symbols, sporting instead a hat that echoed the European flag and set Twitter chirping. The speech was short and would have been lightweight, especially for a mooted two-year session, were it not for the Brexit legislation that bulked it out.

When a government has a majority, a queen’s speech sets out the ways it seeks to change the country. This one, by contrast, contained only what the whips think they can get away with to stay in office. The list of bills was a radically emaciated version of the Conservative manifesto: grammar schools dumped; the scrapping of the Serious Fraud Office abandoned; foxes left to run free; the winter fuel allowance surviving; and prison reform pointlessly scrapped.

On the two great issues of the moment Prime Minister Theresa May said little that was new. Brexit will dominate the legislative agenda, but the once-trumpeted repeal bills are now shrouded in extra layers of uncertainty. The government’s EU goals remain obscure, so the legislation will contain as many unresolved clauses as there are holes in a Swiss cheese until they are clarified.

The queen’s speech reveals a government without a clear mandate, lacking a clear plan and led by a prime minister whose stock is on the floor. /London, June 22.