Queen's speech begins election countdown
Updated on 18 November 2009
A commitment to halve the public deficit in four years and a promise of free personal care for the elderly and disabled form the centrepiece of today's Queen's speech.
It is possible none of the Bills will become law before this session of parliament is dissolved but Gordon Brown has used the speech to announce several populist policies.
There will be free personal care for 280,000 elderly and disabled people, more guarantees for healthcare and education and there will be a crackdown on "risky" bank bonuses.
One unnamed minister said before the speech that it would be "the most political Queen's speech in 12 years".
Conservative leader David Cameron has described the speech as "little more than a Labour press release on Palace parchment", while Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg thinks it should be dropped altogether.
Much of the attention is on the social care bill which will allow thousands of people to receive care in their own homes.
It is a contrast with the Conservative party proposal to offer ongoing care to people who pay a voluntary contribution of £8,000 when they retire.
A health bill will establish the right of NHS patients to treatment within 18 weeks of referral by a GP, with suspected cancer sufferers being seen within a fortnight.
An education bill sets out guarantees of what parents and pupils can expect from the school system.
A fiscal responsibility bill will write into law the Government's pledge to halve the deficit in the public finances in four years, while a financial services bill will enable the Financial Services Authority to tear up bank contracts that encourage excessive risk-taking.
Those proposals have already come under fire from the Tories, who said that the FSA already had the powers it needed to curb bank bonuses and that they would not affect the big payouts expected this Christmas.
Full list of the bills in the Government's legislative programme
- Fiscal responsibility bill
- Personal care at home bill
- Children schools and families bill
- Crime and security bill
- Digital economy bill
- Energy bill
- Flood and water management bill
- Equality bill
- Child poverty bill
- Constitutional reform and governance bill
- House of Lords reform draft bill
- Bribery bill
- Cluster munitions (prohibitions) bill
