UK government agenda focuses on the economy and immigration
Source: Agencies |
May 9, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
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THE message was one of thrift and austerity, but the messenger was opulence incarnate.
Britain's Conservative-led government yesterday announced a modest program of legislation to tighten immigration rules, curb welfare expenses, encourage business and invest in infrastructure - in a speech read by a monarch wearing a crown studded with 3,000 diamonds.
The contrast was part of the state opening of Parliament, an annual pageant of pomp and politics centered on the Queen's Speech, a legislative program written by the government but read out by the monarch before a crowd of lawmakers, ermine-robed peers and ceremonial officials in bright garb evoking centuries past.
The event's mix of extravagant surroundings and prosaic content was starker than usual at a time of spluttering economic growth. Britain's economy has been through two periods of recession since the global financial crisis hit in 2008, and grew by only 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, said in an introduction to the speech that Britain still faced big challenges, but "our resolve to turn our country around has never been stronger."
The queen delivered the speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords.
It promised "an economy where people who work hard are properly rewarded," with laws to "reduce the burden of excessive regulation on businesses" and enshrine consumer rights.
There was no hint of deviation from the government's commitment to deficit-reducing spending cuts, but the speech announced infrastructure investment in energy and the water system, and a bill to start building a high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham, and northern England.
The government also threw a few nuggets to taxpayers wearied by rising prices and stagnating salaries. It promised better and cheaper childcare, a simpler state pension system and a cap on long-term care bills.
On immigration, the speech said the government would make Britain a country that "accepts people who will contribute and deters those who will not."
Proposed immigration measures would limit newcomers' access to health care, fine businesses that employ people illegally working in Britain and make it easier to deport foreign citizens convicted of crimes.
The measures are intended to counter impressions that some migrants get a free ride on the welfare state - a perception that has fueled support for the anti-Europe UK Independence Party, a threat to Cameron's Conservatives.
Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, condemned the measures as "a shrill and desperate cry to satisfy the extremes of the Tory Party."
Britain's Conservative-led government yesterday announced a modest program of legislation to tighten immigration rules, curb welfare expenses, encourage business and invest in infrastructure - in a speech read by a monarch wearing a crown studded with 3,000 diamonds.
The contrast was part of the state opening of Parliament, an annual pageant of pomp and politics centered on the Queen's Speech, a legislative program written by the government but read out by the monarch before a crowd of lawmakers, ermine-robed peers and ceremonial officials in bright garb evoking centuries past.
The event's mix of extravagant surroundings and prosaic content was starker than usual at a time of spluttering economic growth. Britain's economy has been through two periods of recession since the global financial crisis hit in 2008, and grew by only 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, said in an introduction to the speech that Britain still faced big challenges, but "our resolve to turn our country around has never been stronger."
The queen delivered the speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords.
It promised "an economy where people who work hard are properly rewarded," with laws to "reduce the burden of excessive regulation on businesses" and enshrine consumer rights.
There was no hint of deviation from the government's commitment to deficit-reducing spending cuts, but the speech announced infrastructure investment in energy and the water system, and a bill to start building a high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham, and northern England.
The government also threw a few nuggets to taxpayers wearied by rising prices and stagnating salaries. It promised better and cheaper childcare, a simpler state pension system and a cap on long-term care bills.
On immigration, the speech said the government would make Britain a country that "accepts people who will contribute and deters those who will not."
Proposed immigration measures would limit newcomers' access to health care, fine businesses that employ people illegally working in Britain and make it easier to deport foreign citizens convicted of crimes.
The measures are intended to counter impressions that some migrants get a free ride on the welfare state - a perception that has fueled support for the anti-Europe UK Independence Party, a threat to Cameron's Conservatives.
Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, condemned the measures as "a shrill and desperate cry to satisfy the extremes of the Tory Party."
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