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The Queen’s speech to parliament 1997 |
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| 14th
May 1997 |
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My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,
The Duke of Edinburgh and I look forward to receiving State Visits
by His Excellency the President of Brazil in December and by Their
Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan next year. We also look
forward to our visit to Canada and to our State Visits to Pakistan
and India.
My Government intends to govern for the benefit of the whole nation.
The education of young people will be my Government’s first priority.
They will work to raise standards in schools, colleges and universities
and to promote lifelong learning at the workplace. They will cut class
sizes using money saved as a result of legislation phasing out the
assisted places scheme. A further Bill will contain measures to raise
educational standards, develop a new role for local education authorities
and parents, establish a new framework for the decentralised and equitable
organisation of schools, propose reforms to the teaching profession,
and respond positively to recommendations from the National Committee
of Inquiry into the future of higher education.
The central economic objectives of my Government are high and stable
levels of economic growth and employment, to be achieved by ensuring
opportunity for all. The essential platform for achieving these objectives
is economic stability.
To that end a Bill will be introduced to give the Bank of England
operational responsibility for setting interest rates, in order to
deliver price stability and support the Government’s overall
economic policy, within a framework of enhanced accountability. My
Government will also ensure that public borrowing is controlled through
tough fiscal rules and that the burden of public debt is kept at a
stable and prudent level. They will aim to deliver high and sustainable
levels of growth and employment by encouraging investment in industry,
skills, infrastructure and new technologies; by reducing long-term
unemployment, especially among young people; by promoting competition;
and by helping to create successful and profitable business. These
policies will enhance Britain’s position as a leading industrial
nation.
My Government has pledged to mount a fundamental attack upon youth
and long-term unemployment and will take early steps to implement
a welfare-to- work programme to tackle unemployment, financed by a
levy on the excess profits of the privatised utilities which will
be brought forward in an early Budget.
A new partnership with business will be at the heart of my Government’s
plans to build a modern and dynamic economy to improve the competitiveness
of British industry. They will bring forward legislation to reform
and strengthen competition law and introduce a statutory right to
interest on late payment of debts. My Government is committed to fairness
at work and will introduce a national minimum wage.
Legislation will be brought forward to amend criminal law and to combat
crime, including reform of the youth justice system and measures against
anti-social behaviour. A Bill will be introduced to prohibit the private
possession of handguns.
My Government will improve the National Health Service, as a service
providing care on the basis of need to the whole population. They
will bring forward new arrangements for decentralisation and co-operation
within the service and for ending the internal market. Legislation
will be introduced to clarify the existing powers of NHS Trusts to
enter into partnerships with the private sector. A White Paper will
be published on measures to reduce tobacco consumption, including
legislation to ban tobacco advertising.
My Government will contribute to the achievement of high standards
of food safety and protection of public health throughout the food
chain, will ensure openness and transparency of information to consumers,
and will consult widely on recommendations for a Food Standards Agency.
A Bill will be introduced to ensure that as many people as possible
have access to the benefits of the National Lottery including for
health and education projects.
Measures will be introduced to enable capital receipts from the sale
of council houses to be invested in housebuilding and renovation as
part of my Government’s determination to deal with homelessness
and unemployment.
My Government is committed to open and transparent Government. They
will introduce a Bill to strengthen data protection controls. They
will enhance people’s aspirations for better, more accessible
and accountable public services, using Information Technology to the
full. A White Paper will be published on proposals for a Freedom of
Information Bill.
A Bill will be introduced to incorporate into United Kingdom law the
main provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Decentralisation is essential to my Government’s vision of a
modern nation. Legislation will be introduced to allow the people
of Scotland and Wales to vote in referendums on my Government’s
proposals for a devolved Scottish Parliament and the establishment
of a Welsh Assembly. If these proposals are approved in the referendums,
my Government will bring forward legislation to implement them. Legislation
will be introduced to provide for a referendum on a directly elected
strategic authority and a directly elected mayor for London. A Bill
will be brought forward to establish Regional Development Agencies
in England outside London.
In Northern Ireland my Government will seek reconciliation and a political
settlement which has broad support, working in co-operation with the
Irish Government. They will work to build trust and confidence in
Northern Ireland by bringing forward legislation to deal with terrorism
and to reduce tension over parades, and other measures to protect
human rights, combat discrimination in the workplace, increase confidence
in policing and foster economic development.
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 the European Union, my Government will take a leading role. They
will seek to promote employment, improve competitiveness, complete
the Single Market and opt into the Social Chapter. They will seek
further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to secure lower food
prices for consumers and save money, support the rural economy and
enhance the environment. They will seek changes to the Common Fisheries
Policy to conserve fish stocks in the long-term interest of the UK
fishing industry. They will play a full part in the debate about Economic
and Monetary Union.
My Government will work for the early and successful enlargement of
the European Union. They will pursue an outcome to the Intergovernmental
Conference and use their Presidency in the first half of 1998 to strengthen
European co-operation while advancing the United Kingdom’s interests
and to make the Union more open, democratic and efficient. A Bill
will be introduced to amend the European Communities Act if necessary.
My Government will ensure a strong defence based on the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation, and promote international peace and security.
They will play a major role in decisions to shape NATO’s future,
including enlargement, and to include Russia in a wider security framework.
To ensure that the United Kingdom’s defence capabilities are
matched to the changing strategic setting, my Government will reassess
our essential security interests and defence needs.
My Government will retain strong armed forces, including the nuclear
deterrent. Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
will be a priority.
My Government will work for reforms to make the United Nations more
effective and for an early resolution of its funding crisis. My Government
will continue to support peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They will
work for a settlement in Cyprus. They will promote efforts for a durable
peace in the Middle East.
My Government will work on behalf of Hong Kong’s people to achieve
a successful transition which preserves their way of life and promotes
their continued stability and prosperity.
Preparations will continue for the G7 Summit to be held in Birmingham
and the second Asia-Europe Meeting in London in 1998. My Government
will host the meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in October
1997 and seize the opportunity to increase co-operation between the
United Kingdom and other members of the Commonwealth.
My Government has established a Department for International Development.
They will publish a White Paper setting out how, through more coherent
policies, they will tackle global poverty and promote sustainable
development. They will rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation.
My Government will promote open markets around the world, while ensuring
that the interests of developing countries and the global environment
are fairly reflected.
The promotion of human rights world-wide will be a priority, as will
the fight against terrorism, organised crime, money laundering and
drug misuse and trafficking at home and abroad.
My Government will seek to restore confidence in the integrity of
the nation’s political system by upholding the highest standards
of honesty and propriety in public life. They will consider how the
funding of political parties should be regulated and reformed.
They will programme House of Commons business to ensure more effective
scrutiny of Bills and better use of the time of Members of the House
of Commons. During the course of the session, my Government will also
publish in draft for public consultation a number of Bills, which
it intends to introduce in subsequent sessions of this Parliament.
They will propose the establishment of a new Select Committee of the
House of Commons to look at ways of making Parliamentary procedure
more effective and efficient.
Other measures will be laid before you.
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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