Early elections and voter ID expected in Queen’s Speech

BORIS JOHNSON could secure the power to call an early general election before 2024 under plans to be unveiled in the Queen’s Speech as MPs return to parliament today.

Her Majesty will lay out bills covering education, planning, policing and the environment in her first major public appearance since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed the government would axe the Fixed Terms Parliament Act, which would allow the prime minister to call an election without the support of MPs.

‘It will ensure we have the constitution acting properly and don’t have the absurd shenanigans we had in 2019,’ Mr Rees-Mogg told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

Anyone voting in the next election will be expected to produce proof of their identity under the terms of the Elections Integrity Bill.

However, civil liberties campaigners, including senior Tory MP David Davies, have called voter fraud a ‘non-existent problem’. The speech will address the PM’s ‘levelling-up agenda’ with plans to ease planning restrictions on homes, discounts of at least 30 per cent to first-time buyers and a loan scheme for adults wanting to retrain.

‘These new laws are the rocket fuel that we need to level up this country and ensure equal opportunities for all,’ Mr Johnson said last night.

The controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will return to parliament, allowing police greater powers to shut down protests.

There could be a ban on gay conversion therapy and Michael Gove hinted the PM’s long-standing promise for social care reform could be also be addressed.

Also expected is a bill to improve building regulations in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire and an attempt to limit future prosecutions of British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland.

An environment bill, coming before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow this November, will aim to set legally binding targets.