QUEEN’S SPEECH REVEALS TORIES’ ALARMING AND DISAPPOINTING AGENDA

In response to the Queen’s speech last week, which sets out the UK Government’s plans for the next parliamentary term, I challenged the Tories on their empty plans that will do nothing to improve the lives of hardworking people throughout the UK.

The speech included no plans to use the UK Government’s reserved powers over the welfare system to tackle the UK’s shocking levels of child poverty and failed to address the social care crisis in England. In contrast, the Scottish Government has pledged to double the Scottish Child Payment and create a National Care Service.

In truth, the only concrete proposals in this largely empty programme for Government are extremely concerning. The Procurement Bill will continue the Tories attempts to privatise Scotland’s NHS in order to impose the will of a government rejected by the Scottish people.

There is also the deeply concerning proposal to require photo ID in order to vote, a move that will potentially disenfranchise around 3.5 million people. While acting to suppress votes, it should not be ignored that the Tories have no plans to tackle the murky world of political lobbying and dark money in politics; issues which threaten the very fabric of democracy.

This programme for Government reveals the damage that will be done to Scotland by the Tories over this parliamentary term. Scotland can do better than this.

You can watch my speech below.