The Queen has set out a new legislative agenda for a government that can’t govern
Yesterday’s grand state occasion had all the hallmarks of a normal Queen’s Speech, including the fabulous pomp, the Monarch’s gracious address and the reciprocal speeches in the Commons, but it was not a normal Queen’s Speech.
The chances of this government successfully passing any of the bills it outlined yesterday are slim, at best. It has no majority and is trapped in limbo.
For this reason, Downing Street insiders admit the newly unveiled legislative agenda is little more than a piece of theatre.
But, they insist, it is theatre with a purpose. Owing to the proximity of an election, the government — and opposition parties — have become obsessed with focus groups.
Yesterday’s speech was, as one Number 10 insider put it, the biggest focus group yet. “They’re putting loads of stuff in there, to test what will happen,” says a source.
Another figure familiar with the Tory election strategy backs this up. “Some of it might seem a bit mad, but they’re testing to see what sticks.”
This kitchen sink approach allows the government to see how policies land with the public, avoiding a rerun of the embarrassment that was the 2017 election, where Theresa May’s dementia tax torpedoed her campaign.
Labour is also attempting to get match fit and is gearing up for a winter election. John McDonnell is seizing control and their own messages are being tested with voters.
If, as many ministers now expect, Brexit Day is delayed again, the Tory campaign will seek the seemingly impossible double victory of wining back Tory Remainers as well as Labour Leavers and supporters of the Brexit Party.
There will be targeted messages delivered to different groups — but a broad theme will stress that all alternative roads lead to Corbyn.
Brexit uncertainty clouds everything, but a majority of 20 in the current climate would be, according to one source, equivalent to “a majority of 100 under Thatcher”, allowing Johnson to push forward with Brexit on his terms while also building on the policies outlined yesterday by Her Majesty.
However the talks in Brussels go this week, Johnson’s aides are hoping that yesterday’s theatrical spectacle was a key step towards breaking the paralysis of the last few years.
Main image: Getty