The Queen's speech today will set out the Government's programme of legislation for this year. But critics say they haven't accomplished much from their last one.
Political Correspondent Tamara Cohen looks at the few of the major policy U-turns from the past year, and how damaging they have been.
:: Tax credits
The Conservatives promised during the election campaign to slash a massive £12bn from the welfare budget, but without spelling out where the axe would fall.
In George Osborne's emergency Budget last July, he announced he had found £4.4bn of this from tax credits, which subsidise the income of the lowest-paid.
The Chancellor said he was making the system more "affordable," but many Tory backbenchers were nervous and the plans were embarrassingly defeated in the House of Lords.
His own colleagues said the move was punishing those going out to work and doing the right thing
Result: by November the Chancellor had "listened" and made a total climbdown.
Damage rating: 7/10
:: Disability benefit:
Without the windfall from tax credits, ministers were on the hunt for more welfare cuts and took the axe to the personal independence payment (PIP) - a benefit for the severely disabled.
Officials were concerned about how quickly the bill for this weekly benefit was rising. But those affected included 640,000 people who need help dressing and using the bathroom.
It also jarred with the offer of middle-class tax breaks in the same Budget, and in the storm which followed Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith dramatically resigned saying the cuts were "indefensible".
Five days later, new work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb torpedoed the plan, warning: "Behind every statistic is a human being and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that." Ouch.
Damage rating: 9/10
:: Trade union crackdown
After an expected victory at the General Election, how better to keep the Thatcherite flame ablaze than with a crackdown on trade unions which organised public sector walkouts under the Coalition.
Thresholds for strike action were to rise. Labour party members could no longer be automatically enrolled in unions and there was talk of a ban on mentioning strikes on Twitter and workers on picket line having to wear armbands.
What happened? The EU referendum campaign and ministers needing to get Labour supporters and trade union members to turn out and vote to stay in the European Union.
Armbands and Twitter bans were dropped, the funding changes were watered down. The Tory Right was unimpressed.
Damage rating: 2/10
refugees
David Cameron vowed Britain would fulfil its "moral responsibility" last September by taking in 20,000 vulnerable refugees from the camps around Syria to start new lives in Britain.
But the charity Save the Children had wanted the Government to aid some 3,000 unaccompanied children who had travelled to Europe already and were living in squalid conditions in Greece and Calais.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats backed the call, but ministers stood firm insisting it would only provide a "pull factor" for people to make dangerous journeys by sea.
That was until Labour peer Alf Dubs got involved - an 84-year-old rescued from the Nazis on the Kindertransport who said the 3,000 must be let in.
As it became clear Tory backbenchers were wavering, David Cameron accepted defeat, although would not commit to a specific number.
Damage rating: 3/10
:: Forced academisation
The Conservative party manifesto talked about "turning every failing and coasting school into an academy" - run directly from Whitehall, rather than by local councils.
Then in his March 2016 Budget the Chancellor announced every single school would have to become an academy by 2022 "to give headteachers more control over budgets and the curriculum".
A fierce backlash ensued, as former minister Tim Loughton said he thought Conservatives believed in choice, others worried small rural schools would be forced to close and MPs asked why something not broken needed fixing.
As Labour took the heat for poor local election results, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced a U-turn. The bill will be in the Queen’s Speech but with a series of concessions.
Damage rating: 5/10
:: Fox hunting
The Conservatives opposed the ban on fox hunting imposed by Tony Blair's government, and in a boost to their rural supporters, promised MPs would have a free vote.
They knew Labour MPs would vote against it, but didn’t bank on the Scottish Nationalists - who have already banned fox hunting in Scotland – voting against the measure applying in England.
With a slim majority of 12, it appeared the Conservative party had changed over the past decade with 50 Tory MPs also opposed. Having misread the mood, it was one of the first U-turns in July last year.
Damage rating: 4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment