Last week Andrew Lansley refused to rule out scheduling the Queen’s speech during pre-election purdah, giving the impression that the government are still considering ignoring conventions and politicising the Queens’ speech. Now reports have suggested that the state opening might be delayed until well into June because the coalition parties have no idea what their legislative programme will be for the final year of this parliament. This feels increasingly like a zombie government marking time to the next general election. We all know this coalition of convenience is heading rapidly towards an inevitable and messy divorce. I asked Andrew Lansley to clear up the confusion and tell the House when the Queen’s speech will be.
I reminded the House that when this government aren’t fighting each other they’re fighting among themselves. Last week 95 Tory backbenchers signed a letter demanding the prime minister deliver an impossible veto on all EU legislation. This week they were denounced by an unnamed Tory minister who called them ‘thick’. On top of that Nicky Morgan MP, a Treasury minister, complained that the Tory message was far too negative, confirming what we all know already: that the nasty party is well and truly back.
By comparison, the Liberal Democrats have been having a quiet time… Nick Clegg has been denounced by one of his most eminent colleagues for acting like a mixture of Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell and North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un. Lib Dem peers in the Lords seem to think the arty is in need of a truth and reconciliation process similar to that used in post apartheid South Africa. It’s clear that Nick Clegg has no authority over his own party, so I asked Andrew Lansley to arrange a debate on whether he is capable of running the country!
I finished by attacking the government for their woeful record when it comes to burying reports and ignoring the facts. This week alone we’ve learned that they are sitting on a report on EU migration because it doesn’t support the nasty caricatures demanded by Lynton Crosby to fit in with his nasty election campaign plans. They’ve had to correct their misleading figures on flood defence spending. The crime figures have lost their kitemark because they can’t be trusted. This morning NAO have said that NHS waiting list figures can’t be trusted either and there’s still no sign of the reports on foodbanks, on garden cities, or the risk assessment for help to buy.
This government has been ticked off for fiddling the figures more times than the chancellor has had to amend his plans to balance the books, they’ve sat on more reports than the Lib Dems have sat on fences, and they’ve flip-flopped so many times I keep thinking summer has come early. Although, having listened to Ukip’s flood warnings last week, I now realise why summer will never come for me.
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Angela Eagle is MP for Wallasey, shadow leader of the House of Commons and writes the weekly Business of Parliament column for Progress. She tweets @AngelaEagle