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Key Points
The full text of the 2006 Queen's Speech can be found here but this summary looks at the speech in terms of priorities for democratic reform.
The Government will
- "continue its programme of reform to provide institutions that better serve a modern democracy"
This includes commitments to
- work to build a consensus on reform of the House of Lords and bring forward proposals;
- a local government Bill; and
- a Bill to give enhanced powers to the Mayor and Assembly for London.
The Government's commitment to ID cards was also restated.
The Debates
House of Lords reform
David Amess MP said opposed House of Lords reform stating that this was the seventh Queen's speech to refer to House of Lords reform.
- "the Government could not build a consensus on anything, and the thing that they are least capable of is building a consensus on reform of the House of Lords. They should never have messed up the House of Lords in the first place if they did not have a clear vision of what it should look like if they got their way. It is now a complete and absolute shambles, and I for one will not support an elected second Chamber that is in competition with the House."
Identity Cards
Tony Baldry MP questioned whether identity cards would, in fact, be compulsory.
- "On identity cards, I simply do not understand the situation. We will have biometric passports; if one wants to prove one's identity, one can simply produce a biometric passport. So what is the point of having an ID card, unless carrying it is going to be compulsory? To put that another way, will it be a criminal offence not to carry one's ID card? Otherwise, what is the point of having an ID card?"
Local Government Reform
Baroness Scott of Needham Market made a number of criticisms of the Government white paper and emphasised the need to decentralise power,
- "Independent academic studies have shown that we live in the most centralised state in Europe, with the exception of Malta. The past 30 years have seen a steady erosion of local powers and an increasingly centralised system of finance, controls and regulation. The result is that decisions are often made in order to conform to Whitehall imperatives and not those of local people, and so accountability has been lost. What follows from that is an increasingly disillusioned electorate."
In the Commons David Amess commented that
- "We are then told that the Government are going to reform local government. God help us. They have taken all the powers away from local government already; everything is controlled centrally. Local government is becoming no more than a talking shop"
