A FRESH START - THE QUEENS SPEECH

Last week’s Queen’s Speech is the biggest event in the Parliamentary year.  It marks the start of a new Parliamentary term and it is when the Government announces its shopping list of the new legislation which will be debated over the coming year.  If Parliament approves these Bills, they will then become Acts of Parliament.  But the Queen’s Speech is also a time for pomp and ceremony and a celebration of our parliamentary tradition. It is also worth noting that reform of the House of Lords is still very much on the agenda and all that is needed is a consensus of what changes are needed to our second chamber.

This year’s speech saw the announcement of Bills in almost all areas of Government work.  Many of them will be to do with crime and security, on a local, national and international level. The Government has a responsibility to make sure that the right laws are in place so that the police and the security services can protect us as we go about our everyday lives.

But the biggest threat that we face isn’t from crime, anti-social behaviour or terrorism; it’s from the changing climate.  The pollution that we have put into the atmosphere is starting to change the weather. If we don’t do something now, then this will have calamitous effects.

So I was pleased to see a Climate Change Bill in the Queen’s Speech.  This has the potential to be a really key piece of legislation, where the Government sets short term targets to reduce carbon emissions.  Some have called for these targets to be annual – so that one year’s emissions are 3% lower than the previous year.  For me the most important thing is that absolutely everything is done to make dramatic reductions of emissions possible.  Britain can then be a true international leader and encourage other countries around the world to do the same.

As the Environment Secretary, David Milliband said:

“The important point about the Bill is obviously to set the trajectory for the reduction of UK carbon emissions down to the sixty per cent reduction by 2050.  The enforcement will obviously come through the policies that we pursue.  Those are in part international policies, notably around Europe on issues to do with the control of business emissions and energy efficiency.  But also the policies that we pursue at home in respect of renewable energy and household energy efficiency or transport.”

Making a change is not just the right thing to do. It also makes economic sense. The recent Stern report underlines that, no matter what the cost of taking action now, the cost of delay will be many times more.

I shall certainly be keeping a close watch on this Bill as it goes through Parliament.  If any constituent would like to know more about what I am doing in this area, then please be in touch. I am also very happy to provide any constituent with details on what they can do to reduce their own carbon footprint.  This is a global problem, which means that each and every one of us needs to do our bit.

The Bills to be introduced by the Home Secretary are intended to safeguard the law-abiding public, victims of crime, and vulnerable people. We should not lose sight of the fact that although the chance of being a victim of crime is now the lowest for 25 years, crimes like identity fraud are on the rise and that international crime poses great threats. The Government has a responsibility to make sure that action can be taken to stop this, so there will also be new summary powers to enable law enforcement agencies to respond in new ways.

Then there will be a Bill to extend the free bus travel for pensioners to cover the whole country, rather than just be confined to one local council area.  This way pensioner’s bus travel will be paid for by the Treasury.

If you live in the constituency and would like to know more about the Queen’s Speech, then do be in touch.  Meanwhile this is the month when I will be launching my own annual report.  It is important to keep in touch with constituents on the work that I am doing.