Clashes over tuition fees and reform of the House of Lords look set to dominate the next parliamentary session, after the government unveiled its legislative programme yesterday.

The seventh Queen's Speech since Tony Blair became prime minister included 23 Bills, with measures on asylum, domestic violence, pension funds and traffic congestion all being allocated parliamentary time.

The plan to allow universities to charge students up to £3,000 a year has already come under fierce attack from within the Labour Party.

More than 120 Labour MPs had signed a Commons motion by last night opposing them.

Former Cabinet ministers Nick Brown, Clare Short, Robin Cook, Chris Smith and Frank Dobson were all believed to be signatories.

The government also used the Queen's Speech to confirm its intention to remove the remaining 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Lord Strathclyde, the Conservative leader in the upper house, described the move as a "mean and vindictive measure".

Meanwhile, Labour backbenchers reacted angrily to the absence of a hunting bill.

However, they later received reassurance from the prime minister, who said: "We have said that we will resolve the issue this parliament. We will resolve the issue this parliament."

Writing in the Guardian, David Blunkett has defended the government's asylum proposals, insisting that he "is not King Herod".