Friday, 29 May 2015

Queens Speech Volume 2 - constitutional matters feature strongly

The constitutional matters feature strongly in the second set of the Governments manifesto and I have set the res of the measures out in detail below: it is fair to say that the Scotland and EU referendum Bills have to come first for a variety of reasons:
  • Scotland Bill – delivering in full the recommendations of the Smith Commission Agreement by transferring new tax and borrowing powers.
  • EU Referendum Bill – giving the British people a voice and a real choice on Europe in a referendum by the end of 2017
  • Wales Bill – securing a strong and lasting constitutional settlement and devolving wide-ranging powers to Wales. 
  • Northern Ireland Bill – providing full and independent investigations into unsolved Troubles-related deaths; enabling victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information, and creating a new independent Oral History Archive.
In addition there are a few other Bills on law and order, crime and justice matters
  • Extremism Bill – delivering new powers to tackle extremists who reject our values of democracy, equality, free speech and respect for minorities.
  • Investigatory Powers Bill – updating legislation to ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the powers and capabilities they need to keep Britain safe.
  • Policing and Criminal Justice Bill – continuing to reform policing to give police officers more freedom to do their job of making our streets safer, whilst at the same time ensuring that they are accountable to the communities they serve.
  • Psychoactive Substances Bill – making it an offence to produce or supply ‘legal highs’, restricting their supply and ensuring that people have less opportunity to get them. It will also give powers to the police to seize and destroy ‘legal highs’.