‘Rotten Government’ :Amess’s damning assessment of the Queen’s Speech

Last night in the House of Commons, David Amess MP spoke of the failures of the Government in his response to the Queen’s speech on the opening day of Parliament.

27 Bills and 4 draft Bills were set out by the Queen yesterday (15th November 2006) in her speech on the programme of her Government for the next Parliamentary session. David Amess MP was as damning of these proposals as he was the legacy of the outgoing Prime Minister, commenting on his departure by saying- ‘Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice’.

The main focus of this years Queen’s speech was law and order, to which Amess responded,

‘It beggars belief that the Government should have the absolute cheek to bring forward more Home Office legislation.’

Amess particularly highlighted the Home Office’s mismanagements of our Police and Immigration system, the failed plan to merge Police forces that has cost Essex £169,000 and the state of our boarder controls saying,

‘The immigration and asylum system is a shambles. The Government say that the immigration service is going to police the country’s borders and tackle immigration crime, but it is too late.’

On Pensions, Amess attacked the legacy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
‘who raided pension funds to the tune of £5 billion in his first Budget. The whole problem started in the Chancellor’s very first Budget.’

The Queens speech also introduced a Bill to allow Councils to have more control over private bus companies to ensure that they are meeting local needs. This would be welcomed in Southend but on free bus travel Amess said,

‘it will be no use whatsoever in Southend, because we do not have any buses. Thanks to this Government, 20,000 people were left off the register in the census in Southend, so we receive funding for 20,000 fewer people than live in the constituency. Bus subsidies have gone, and my constituency, which contains the most senior citizens out of any in the country, has few bus services to enjoy. That particular proposal in the Gracious Speech will not cheer up my constituents.’
Mr Amess ended his speech with an assessment on the state of the war in Iraq saying,

‘Until the day I die, I will regret that I ever voted for the war with Iraq… I am not a military expert, but on the Opposition side, many of my colleagues possess great expertise in such matters. I listened to what the Prime Minister said, and I believed it! I really thought that Iraq had the capability to deploy weapons of mass destruction that could be aimed towards Europe and at this country…We pay tribute to the men and women who have been killed in active service and then we move on. I believe that this war is a total and absolute disaster and the arrogance of the Government is incredible.’
Amess concluded his damning assessment of the Government’s programme with a direct critique of the Prime Minister’s legacy.
‘I believe that this is a dreadful and rotten Government. We have heard much about the legacy of this Prime Minister. I think that he will be viewed in the history books as a highly successful politician, but he will not be seen as a great leader or great Prime Minister. Most damning of all, he will leave office with the standing of this country that I love greatly diminished.’