James O'Brien's Immediate Reaction To Law And Order Bills In The Queen's Speech
14 October 2019, 12:44 | Updated: 14 October 2019, 12:59
James O'Brien took apart the crime and justice bills in the Queen's Speech, saying they are purely for the headlines.
The Queen has opened the new session of Parliament - with the government promising 26 bills, seven of which are related to tackling serious crime, law and order.
Immigration and the environment also formed major elements of the legislative agenda, as well as investment in the NHS.
"26 putative bills, seven of which address issues of crime and justice. I'm intrigued to know whether or not the crime and justice ticket works after nine years in government as well as it does when you're coming in after a Labour government.
"Those nine years in government for the Conservatives have seen government deliberately and consciously reduce police numbers by about 20,000 and utterly filleted the criminal justice system.
"But it doesn't matter about reality. All that matters is Sun headlines."
Theo agreed, adding: "That was a problem at the Conservative Party Conference. Boris Johnson visited the Royal Manchester Infirmary and doctors and nurses told him they couldn't do their jobs properly because facilities weren't good enough and he likened that to Premier League footballers having to play on a ploughed field.
"The government who is responsible for that was David Cameron's government in 2010. It's impossible to say it was the last lot who did it."
One bill that did catch James's eye is the tougher stance on violent and sexual criminals - a law that already exists.
He explained: "This legislation is entirely unnecessary because of the existence of extended determinate sentences.
"But we're not supposed to point that out because that is designed for tomorrow's headlines.
"And also in the event of the Queen's Speech being voted down next week, the Conservatives can pretend that they believe that parliament has voted down tougher sentences for paedophiles. It will play quite well in focus groups no doubt, despite being completely false."
