At first glance the Queen’s Speech may look perfectly harmless. The Prime Minister has tried to cloak himself in the language of fairness and ‘one nation’. But the rhetoric is just the tip of a Conservative iceberg – with 90 per cent of their real agenda hidden below the surface, invisible from public view, but no less dangerous for that. It is there, beneath the waterline, that British values of community and decency collide with the prejudices and politics of the Conservative Party.
The Government hopes to distract attention from their still unexplained cuts to public services which, combined with a mass of unfunded election pledges, represent a hidden threat to working households and the public services upon which they depend.
My fear is that Ministers are planning to hit those on middle- and low-incomes again, while threatening to undermine basic human rights and deepening the crisis in affordable housing.
That’s why David Cameron’s tax pledges should be greeted with a pinch of salt. Their tax ‘lock’ offers no real guarantees that other taxes won’t rise by stealth. The Government must not repeat the mistake of the last Parliament which saw those on the very highest incomes – on six or seven figure salaries – prioritised for a tax cut. We hope this legislation is not merely a device to hide such an unfair, skewed priority again.
And their pledge to exempt from income tax those working 30 hours on the minimum wage? No change here – because this is already the case. In fact, those who typically work more than 30 hours a week on the minimum wage will wonder why they have been left out.
And, on social security, it is important to have a household benefits cap so people are always better off in work rather than on benefits. But there are enormous costs for the welfare bill from a low wage, high rent economy and there is precious little in the Queen’s Speech to address these massive underlying causes of higher spending.
The economy remains fragile and Britain’s output per worker continues to lag behind that of other major developed nations. Stagnating productivity has harmed living standards and made it harder to reduce the deficit. The Conservatives have failed to build the productive economy that the country needs. George Osborne has failed to prioritise infrastructure investment, done too little to raise skills and presided over a stop-start approach to supporting business investment.
The Chancellor’s emergency Budget in July will need to address these fundamental questions as well as the pressures facing many working people in what is still a fragile recovery. Living standards have stagnated for too long and gone backwards for too many. The number of people having to work a second job has increased significantly in recent years and the number of pensioners going back to work has also risen dramatically.
So the government should make help for the majority of households the core focus of the Emergency Budget in July. Any scope for tax cuts must be entirely for those on middle- and lower-incomes. The test for the Government is simple: whether help is directed towards supporting the many, or to multi-millionaires.
And we will hold the Government to account over its plan to introduce “right to buy” for housing association tenants.
We support people’s right to buy their homes – but every housing expert has said the Tories’ plan is unworkable, half-baked and unfunded.
Ministers have been unable to say how the new right to buy scheme will work so, without the detail, we can only judge them on their record. It is a history of failure, with affordable house building currently at its lowest level for at least five years.
The Queen’s Speech was a missed opportunity. Britain needs a government focused on productivity and providing genuine help for people on middle and lower incomes.
This speech left more questions than answers about the Government’s agenda – and it is our job as the official Opposition to expose the reality beneath the rhetoric and expose the risks of this looming Conservative iceberg.
Chris Leslie is shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer