Much ado about nothing

The dust has settled on the Queen’s Speech. Now that the ceremonial robes have been returned to the back of the wardrobe, what do we have to show for the state opening of parliament?

James Staunton
15th May 2013
James Staunton -  Wriglesworth
Well, not much.  The whole affair was very thin on policy.  It seemed to be a lot of fuss about nothing.

At best, we got a few modest tweaks to policy.  Tenants will only have to live in a council house for three – not five – years to be able to purchase their home under right to buy.  Right-to-buy has had a huge impact on Britain's housing market and it’s good to see it being extended.

The National Insurance cut was hailed as “good news” by The Sun.  While small firms of conveyancers and introducers will benefit from the £2000 lump sum cut, I fear it’s too complicated – and it was first announced at the Budget anyway, which is cheating.

I am utterly torn on help to buy.  On the one hand, these policies will prop up house prices which any broker, IFA, surveyor, lawyer or estate agent – in fact anyone remotely connected to the mortgage and property markets – should be keen on.  On the other, the monetarist puritan in me hates the subsidised credit.

The main problem was that Her Majesty read out a speech that named economic strength as the priority but didn’t contain anything that might improve the outlook for the economy, stimulate growth, and bring about the elusive recovery.  As readers of Financial Reporter will be all too well aware, the initiative and the decisions that count currently rest with the Bank of England.  The bank rate, QE and inflation are all within the bank’s purview.

Similarly, there was no news on planning reform – which means the supply of new homes won’t increase.

Elsewhere some of the other ideas were positively bonkers.  The maddest was coercing private landlords into checking that the tenants who rent their buy to let properties are living in the UK legally.  Call me old fashioned, but I rather thought that the government might be expected to police immigration…

In short, our industries didn’t do very well.  I suppose we weren’t the only ones; there were few real winners other than the aristocracy who continued to enjoy a truly magnificent set of jobs for the boys in the form of the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's office, the Queen's Bargemaster, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod and the Earl Marshall – an office currently held by Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk.

And the Queen came out smiling.  When she attended Cabinet in December – as part of the Diamond Jubilee festivities – she playfully requested that her speech at the State Opening of Parliament be kept short.  With few policies of note and just eight minutes speaking time, she, at least, should be well satisfied.
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