The Queen’s Speech today laid out the legislation that the Government plans to introduce over the next year.

The Speech covered a broad-range of issues, including maintaining defence spending above 2% of GDP, introducing a new system of allocating funding for schools and making the UK’s economy more competitive by investing in digital infrastructure, cutting business rates and building 1 million new homes.

The Speech also promised to tackle a broad range of social issues and acknowledge a more holistic view of poverty, looking at factors such as family breakdown, drug addiction and ‘problem debt’ as well as the biggest overhaul of the prisons system since the Victorian era.

 

Adam Afriyie, the MP for Windsor, has said:

“This was a Queen’s Speech that puts a fairer society, social justice and security at the forefront. The Government has shown that it has a clear programme of social reform as well as balancing the books.

“To become a society more at ease with itself we have to broaden the view on poverty to factors like family breakdown and drug addiction rather than a narrow focus on higher taxes, spending and welfare.

“The first major overhaul of the prisons system to stop them becoming warehouses for criminals is also proof that whereas ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ was merely a soundbite for Labour, it is a policy programme for the Conservatives.

“It was also fantastic to see that the Government is keeping its eye on the technology world with promises to make the UK a world leader in driverless cars, FinTech and investing in broadband in the new Digital Economy Bill.”