The Queens Speech

The Queen's Speech

Today's queen's speech reaffirmed that the NHS is our number one priority which is why we will become the first ever Government to enshrine the increased NHS budget of an extra £33.9 billion per year into law.

The Queen's Speech also set out our plans to:

  • Get Brexit DONE! We want to leave the EU at the end of January.  Our great new deal is ready to go.  We will avoid the trap of further dither and delay and rule out any further extensions to the implementation period beyond 2020.
  • Make it easier for more qualified doctors and nurses to work in our NHS, ensure that hospitals can access the most innovative medicines and abolish hospital car parking charges for those who need it the most.
  • Deliver on our plans for 50,000 more nurses, 50 million more GP appointments, 40 new hospitals and 20 hospital upgrades.
  • Modernise and reform the Mental Health Act to give people greater influence on the type of care they receive.
  • Increase levels of funding per pupil in every school, to ensure every child receives the best possible education, no matter where in the United Kingdom they grow up.
  • Tackle violent crime and make our streets safer with new legislation to ensure terrorists spend longer behind bars and make it easier for the police to stop and search known knife carriers.
  • Safeguard the natural environment for future generations through our Environment Bill, establishing a new Office for Environmental Protection and additional legislation for animal welfare.  We will also ban exports of polluting plastic waste to non-OECD countries.
  • Strengthen the Union, invest in transformational infrastructure and bring forward proposals to stop vexatious claims against members of our Armed Forces - something I know local forces veterans have been requesting for a long time.

There were many other fantastic plans set out in the Queen's Speech, from improving environmental protections and strengthening transparency in the supply team, regaining control of our waters, ending free movement and introducing a points based immigration system.  The Government aims to support workers and families by enhancing worker's rights, supporting flexible working and extending unpaid carers' entitlement to leave an issue I know will benefit many local people.  We will also reduce the cost of living through increases to the NI threshold and the National Living Wage.

A Renter's Reform Bill is also planned to enhance renter's security and improve protections for short-term tenants by introducing a lifetime deposit and ending 'no fault' evictions.  To fully implement the most urgent recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry as well as introducing a Building Safety Bill to review all building regulations.

Looking at pensioners, the Pensions Schemes Bill is aimed at enabling people to better plan their saving for later life and strengthen the pension regulator's powers to tackle irresponsible management of pension schemes.

Crime is high on our agenda with bills set out to ensure the most serious offenders stay in prison for longer, that all public bodies work to identify and tackle factors which lead to crime.  We will enhance police stop and search powers, establish a Police Covenant and implement a version of 'Helens Law' to require the Parole Boards to recognise the pain felt by victims and their families when offenders refuse to disclose certain information about their crime.

Bills on divorce, domestic violence, extradition and deportation of migrant offenders and setting up a Royal Commission to improve the effectiveness of our criminal justice process is also planned.

Considering our armed forces, we will continue to invest in our military and honour the Armed Forces Covenant, continue to uphold the NATO commitment of spending AT LEAST 2% of our national income on defence, looking to implement the Stormont House Agreement and undertaking an Integrated Defence, Security and Foreign Policy review, the deepest review since the end of the Cold War.

Finally we will take forward work to repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act so we will never again be in a position where parliament is at a complete stalemate, do more to identify and tackle electoral fraud and set up a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission to consider the relationship between Government, Parliament and the Courts.

And yes there's still more packed in on education, infrastructure, transport, science, broadband, business rates and regenerating the high street! 

I have no doubt that next year will be a rather busy one but you can read more about the Queen's Speech by using the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/queens-speech-december-2019-background-briefing-notes

 

 

 

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  • Deliver A Successful Brexit

    I have no intention of stopping, delaying or reversing the United Kingdom's exit from the EU. The British people voted in an historic referendum in 2016 to leave the EU and reassert our sovereignty.

  • Support Our NHS

    Demand for the NHS only continues to rise, and as the population ages, there are a growing number of widespread chronic conditions which will be increasingly expensive and challenging to address, without a credible and effective plan to fund the NHS and social care. 
     

  • Promote Tamworth Jobs and Tourism

    Tourism is currently worth £127 billion to Britain’s economy and as Britain’s seventh largest export industry, inbound tourism’s economic contribution is currently valued at £26.2 billion. We are lucky to have so much on our doorstep that I want to continue to promote. 

  • Supporting Great Schools In Tamworth

    My colleagues in the Department for Education are committed to ensuring that everyone can have the best start in life, and go as far as their talents and hard work can take them.

  • Promote The Right Development

    Everybody needs a place to live and this Government is committed to trying to fix the housing market. For many, property prices have become unattainable and it is important to keep building new, quality homes to meet this need. 

  • Improving Tamworth Town Centre

    I am working with local traders and the local authority to make ambitious plans for our town centre a reality.  I back enterprise partnerships and am in support of Tamworth's bid for Future High Street Funding.

  • Save School Crossing Patrols

    We want our children to be able to walk to school but we know how difficult that journey can be.  Not only does your child need some road safety awareness but there's also worries about pavement parking, speeding drivers and safe places to cross.

  • Honour our heroes

    I am calling on the people of my constituency to help name all those Tamworth heroes who have fought and died since serving in our armed forces since WW2.

    Working with Rev Alan Gordon and Tamworth District and Civic Society, we aim to build a memorial to them.

  • Highlighting Defibrillators in Tamworth

    Recent research shows that your best chances of survival from a cardiac arrest is to receive a cardiac shock within three minutes. Every minute afterwards decreases your chance of survival by 10%.

  • Reducing The Cost of Living

    Keeping prices low is incredibly important, though more people are in employment and education than ever before, cost of living is still a key issue for many of my constituents.

  • Backing our pubs

    Pubs and breweries are a vital part of our town centres and villages.  From multinational brewers to microbreweries like the Tamworth Tap, the drinks industry employs hundreds of people across my constituencies and thousands more all over the United Kingdom.

  • Supporting rural communities

    I work to support rural communities and businesses.  As the MP for the constituency of Tamworth I also represent the surrounding villages so helping rural areas thrive is high on my agenda. 

  • Improving The Welfare Benefits System

    Getting benefits right is a concern of mine, the benefit system is there as a safety net for those who need support and should not be abused.  However it is also important that for benefit claimants, the system is actually helping, not hindering their progress. 

  • Getting tough on crime

    The increase in serious violence is worrying and sadly some people living in our area do not feel as safe as they should.

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The Government has expanded testing so that anyone aged 5 and above with symptoms can now get tested for Coronavirus – as we continue to scale up our capacity.