Starmer says Queen"s speech shows government is "bereft of ideas" Starmer says Britain can do more than just “get Brexit done”. But the country needs more than what this government is offering. He says the Queen’s speech was “thin” and “bereft of ideas or purpose, without a guiding principle, or a roadmap for delivery”. He says he would like to think the worst is over. But the country is “staring down the barrel of something we haven’t seen in decades - a stagflation crisis [rising inflation and rising unemployment].” The government should be introducing a windfall tax, he says. UPDATE: Starmer said: As we emerge from the pandemic, find a new place in the world outside the European Union and transition to a carbon neutral economy, our country faces great challenges. But, at the same time, great opportunities are within our reach. We can rebuild stronger, learning where our society and our services need more resilience. We can do more than just get Brexit done, we can ensure Britain is in the best position to thrive outside of the European Union. And we can lead the world in zero carbon industries, generating high skill, high wage jobs across our country. But for that to happen we need a government of the moment with ideas that meet the aspirations of the British public. This thin address, bereft of ideas or purpose, without a guiding principle or a roadmap for delivery, shows just how far this government is from that. Too out of touch to meet the challenges of the moment. Too tired to grasp the opportunities of the future. Their time has passed. Afternoon summary Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson’s government was “bereft of ideas or purpose” after a Queen’s speech that included bills to overhaul the planning system and rewrite human rights law, but few new measures to tackle the cost of living crisis. The Treasury has quashed a suggestion from Johnson that a significant government announcement about extra help for people with the cost of living is due imminently. (See 4.05pm.) The European Union has said renegotiation of the Northern Ireland protocol is “not an option”. In a statement issued this afternoon Maroš Šefčovič, the vice-president of the European Commission, said: The protocol, as a cornerstone of the withdrawal agreement, is an international agreement. Its renegotiation is not an option. The European Union is united in this position. Šefčovič said the EU was open to negotiating with the UK on how the protocol was implemented, but, for these talks to succeed, that would require “the UK government to show the same level of determination and creativity [as the EU]”. He also said that if the UK were to take “unilateral action” – ie, to abandon parts of the protocol – this would make the situation more difficult. He said: Only joint solutions will work. Unilateral action by the UK would only make our work on possible solutions more difficult. Earlier Johnson refused to give his Irish counterpart, Micheál Martin, an assurance that the UK will not unilaterally abandon the protocol. (See 11.20am.) In fact, the Queen’s speech contained a strong hint that legislation that would allow the protocol to be ditched is being prepared behind the scenes. (See 12.11am.) In the Commons a few minutes ago Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said he intended to stay as an MP, instead of leaving parliament to take up his seat in the Northern Ireland assembly (he was elected last week), until the protocol issue is resolved. Rishi Sunak has moved to weaken regulation of financial services brought in after the 2008 crash amid fears he is aiming to make London into a post-Brexit “Singapore-on-Thames” pushed by Tory donors. Environmental campaign groups have hit out at the “draconian” protest crackdown bill announced in the Queen’s speech. Ports and unions have cast doubt on the viability of legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech to ensure P&O Ferries and other ferry operators pay seafarers the minimum wage. The government’s proposed ban on conversion practices intended to change people’s sexuality will in fact only fully cover under-18s, Downing Street has confirmed, saying it had to “strike the right balance” on outlawing the much-condemned practice. Detectives investigating Keir Starmer’s alleged breach of lockdown rules are considering interviewing the Labour leader face to face, with his Beergate agony likely to last at least a month before a decision on a fine is made. Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has joined Theresa May, the Conservative former prime minister (see 4.36pm), in welcoming the inclusion of the renters reform bill in the Queen’s speech. It will abolish so-called “no fault” section 21 evictions. Khan’s office said: The mayor welcomes the government’s decision to finally introduce long-promised legislation to ban section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. This commitment is testament to the dogged work of tenants and campaigners who have been waiting three long years for ministers to honour their previous promises. However, the government should have used the Queen’s speech to address the eye-watering costs of renting by giving the mayor powers to introduce a two-year rent freeze in London, as a first step towards delivering rent controls that would make renting more affordable. Shelter welcomed this bill and the social housing regulation bill, which will increase the powers of the regulator of social housing. Polly Neate, the charity’s chief executive, said: Today’s Queen’s Speech shows the government has listened to the voices of renters, who have been fighting for a long time to be heard. For years private renters have said they need more security, so they don’t have to live in constant fear of a no-fault eviction. And for years social renters have tirelessly campaigned to be taken seriously when they say something is wrong. It’s been five years since the fire at Grenfell Tower, and we’re now one step further on the road to justice. These are from Jayne Ozanne, founder of the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition, on the watered-down plans for a bill banning conversion practices in the Queen’s speech. (See 2.06pm.) Green campaigners were dismayed at the lack of action on insulation in the Queen’s speech, which they said was a way to bring down energy bills quickly for hard-hit households, and by the abandonment of animal welfare measures. Juliet Phillips, of the E3G thinktank, praised the government’s move to a new “market mechanism” that would encourage the take-up of heat pumps. She said: Clean, efficient electric heat pumps have a critical role to play in helping UK families get off expensive fossil gas. The proposed low-carbon mandate on heating appliance manufacturers could spur innovation and investment in UK heat pump manufacturing. This could bring new green jobs to the UK, she added. But Greenpeace’s head of politics, Rebecca Newsom, was more scathing, accusing the government of giving up on the cost of living crisis. She said: With this Queen’s Speech Boris Johnson is throwing in the towel on some of the biggest challenges our country faces and pandering instead to the whims of his backbenchers. There’s not a single extra penny of support for households struggling with energy bills and no serious plan to fix our heat-wasting homes and get the country off fossil gas. Katie White, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, said: To level up the UK while levelling down energy bills, we cannot afford for the environment to be an afterthought, but today the UK government has failed to set out the transformative changes that are needed to address the food and fuel crises, build long-term resilience, deliver on net zero and restore nature. This is from Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, on the Treasury briefing saying there are no plans for an imminent announcement about helping people with the cost of living, as Boris Johnson implied. (See 4.05pm.) McFadden said: Families need a government with a plan for the cost of living crisis and a plan for economic growth. Instead, we’ve got a government devoid of ideas, and a chancellor and prime minister who can’t even agree on the emergency budget the country sorely needs. Every day this government chooses not to act, working people suffer, and we get one step further into an economic trap with low growth, low wages, and high taxes. Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is speaking in the debate now. He says the Lib Dems want an emergency cut in VAT. Theresa May says it would be mistake for government to legislate to ditch parts of Northern Ireland protocol On Northern Ireland, May says there was no reference in the Queen’s speech to a Northern Ireland protocol bill. She says a bill of the kind the government is said to be considering, giving it the power to ditch parts of the protocol (see , would not be a good idea. She goes on: I think the government needs to consider not just the immediate issues, but also the wider sense of what such a move would say about the United Kingdom and its willingness to abide by treaties which it has signed. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, says the Northern Ireland protocol has to be dealt with. May says she put forward a Brexit plan that would have avoided new checks at the Northern Ireland/Great Britain border. But the DUP opposed that plan, she says. She also says she is disappointed there is no employment bill in the Queen’s speech. That would have allowed the government to legislate to allow waiters and waitresses to keep their tips. And she says she is disappointed the government is not legislating to set up an independent public advocate - something the Tories promised in their 2017 manifesto. After backbench speeches from Sir Peter Bottomley and Meg Hillier, Theresa May the former prime minister is speaking now. She says she is glad the government now seems to be addressing the problem of no-fault evictions. She says her government wanted to address this. But she says she is concerned by reports that Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, favours letting people in a street vote to decide whether a housing application in their street should be allowed. She says she can see that plan backfiring. Lewis Goodall from Newsnight says the claim from Boris Johnson that his Rwanda asylum plan is just a rehash of a New Labour proposal (see 3.39pm) is highly misleading. Treasury quashes suggestion from PM that announcement coming shortly about help for people with cost of living This is from my colleague Heather Stewart, confirming that when Boris Johnson said in his speech that the government would be saying more about helping people with the cost of living in the days to come (see 3.32pm), he almost certainly meant months not days.