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Parliament opens for business
The Queen today set out the government's plans for the coming Parliament. In a long 18-month session there are set to be 44 bills and 6 draft bills.
Despite a majority of fewer than 70 and staunch opposition from some of his own backbenchers, Tony Blair seems keen to press ahead with controversial proposals ranging from ID cards to welfare reform.
Key bills mentioned in the Queen's Speech include:
A Charities Bill, designed to boost the voluntary sector. With many students' unions across the country having established themselves as charities, this is potentially one to watch.
An Electoral Administration Bill which would see the age at which people can stand for Parliament lowered from 21 to 18.
The proposed Equality Bill would establish a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, designed to promote and ensure equality for all.
A Mental Health Bill will aim to establish a legal framework to treat those with a mental health disorder without their consent, when it is proved that they pose a risk to themselves or others. Previous mental health legislation along these lines has come in for criticisms from the NUS Students with Disabilities campaign.
An Olympics Bill will be introduced if Britain wins the rights to the 2010 games, creating an Olympic Delivery Authority, outlawing ticket touting and giving more power to the London mayor.
A Violent Crime Bill will in part aim to tackle the problems of binge drinking, as well as tackling the "yob culture" seen by some as causing major problems in town centres.
The verdict
As Tony Blair promised during the election campaign, this is undeniably a New Labour package. Reform to incapacity benefit, increased use of the private sector to provide public services and the supposedly new idea of ensuring "respect" among younger people suggests that the Government is likely to face stiff opposition, a lot of which is likely to come from Labour's own backbenchers.
The Labour victory also made the introduction of top-up fees a certainty, but there were no plans mentioned in the Queen's Speech for further reforms. The Education Bill appears to focus only on schools, meaning that universities are off the agenda – for the time being.
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