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The Queen’s Speech to parliament 2001 |
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| 20th June 2001 |
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My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
My Government's central objectives are economic stability, and investment
and reform in public services, leading to a more prosperous and inclusive
society. To this end, my Government will continue to secure low inflation
and sound public finances.
My Government's main priorities for the forthcoming Session will be
reform in education, health, crime and welfare.
My Government will introduce legislation to reform education. An education
Bill will be introduced to promote diversity and higher standards,
particularly in secondary schools. It will provide new opportunities
for school sponsorship, more options for tackling failing schools,
and greater freedom for successful head teachers and governors.
My Government will introduce legislation to reform health services.
A Bill will decentralise power and direct resources to National Health
Service staff, give patients greater influence on the running of the
NHS, and strengthen regulation of the health professions. Legislation
will be drafted to reform the provision of health services in Wales.
Legislation will be brought forward to reform sentencing and rules
of evidence, with measures to tackle corruption and sex offenders.
A Bill will be introduced to increase powers against money laundering,
establish a criminal assets recovery agency, and make it easier to
recover the proceeds of crime and drugs.
Legislation will be brought forward to help the police fight crime,
ensure that they can co-operate effectively across police force boundaries
and establish a new complaints system. Legislation to reform the criminal
courts system will be drafted in the light of the forthcoming recommendations
from the review by Lord Justice Auld. Legislation will be introduced
to extend the life of the Football (Disorder) Act.
My Government will introduce legislation to reform the welfare system.
A Bill will include measures to help more people back into work. Legislation
will also be brought forward to introduce the new tax credits system,
and to establish the new pension credit for pensioners.
My Government will introduce legislation to encourage enterprise,
strengthen competition laws, and promote safeguards for consumers.
A draft Bill to create a single regulator for the media and communications
industries and reform the broadcasting and telecommunications regulations
will be published.
Members of the House of Commons,
Estimates for the public service will be laid before you.
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
In Northern Ireland, my Government will continue to work closely with
the political parties and the Irish Government to secure the full
implementation of the Belfast agreement.
My Government maintain their commitment to devolution in Scotland
and Wales.
Following consultation, my Government will introduce legislation to
implement the second phase of House of Lords reform.
My Government will prepare legislation to allow political parties
to make positive moves to increase the representation of women in
public life.
My Government will publish draft legislation to take forward the recommendations
of Lord Cullen's inquiry into rail safety.
Legislation will be introduced to reform the system of land registration
to promote greater electronic conveyancing. The Bill to reform the
purchase of freeholds by leaseholders and to create commonhold, a
new form of tenure for flat owners, will be reintroduced.
My Government will introduce legislation to make the age entitlement
for concessionary travel fares the same for men and women at the age
of 60.
A Bill will be introduced to reform adoption law to make children's
interests paramount, and tackle inter-country adoption.
My Government will enable a free vote to take place on the future
of hunting with dogs.
Other measures will be laid before you.
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
The Duke of Edinburgh and I were delighted to pay a state visit to
Norway at the end of May. Similarly, we were pleased to receive the
state visit of His Excellency the President of South Africa and Mrs
Mbeki last week.
The Duke of Edinburgh and I look forward to attending the Commonwealth
Heads of Government meeting in Australia and subsequently visiting
New Zealand in October. We also look forward to receiving a state
visit by the King and Queen of Jordan this autumn.
My Government will work with our partners to make sure that Europe
has the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. They
will work for rapid progress on the enlargement of the European Union
and will introduce legislation to enable the United Kingdom to ratify
the Treaty of Nice and implement the Berlin Own Resources decision
on the Union's future funding.
NATO will remain the cornerstone of Britain's national security, and
my Government will work for a still more effective alliance defence.
In this context, and to enable the European Union to act where NATO
chooses not to do so, my Government will work to improve the European
Union's capacity, and member states' capabilities, for humanitarian,
peacekeeping and crisis management tasks.
Legislation will be introduced to improve the transparency of export
controls and to establish their purpose.
Tackling climate change and making a reality of sustainable development
will be a priority for my Government. They will fulfil the United
Kingdom's international obligations arising from the Kyoto Protocol.
My Government will work for an early and comprehensive world trade
round, which will benefit industrialised and developing countries
alike.
In the United Nations, my Government will support a more modern and
representative Security Council, and work to make conflict prevention
and peacekeeping more effective.
My Government will work to encourage universal observance of human
rights, including throughout the Commonwealth.
My Government will continue to work for a more effective global effort
to reduce poverty, and will reintroduce their Bill to entrench and
strengthen the poverty focus to development work.
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.
House adjourned during pleasure.
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