John Redwood

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Queen's speech

John Redwood, speaking on the first day of the Queen's speech debate, called on the government to grant a referendum on the EU Constitution and to offer justice to England within the Union.

He welcomed the stated government aim, to return power to Parliament and people, but pointed out this Queen's Speech did the opposite. It will transfer substantial power to the EU and to various new quangoes, denying us the referendum Labour MPs promised electors before the last election.

He summed up his critique of the Queen's speech by saying:

"I will vote against the Queen's Speech because I see nothing in it to solve the main problems facing the country. I will vote against it because it does not strengthen our democracy; it undermines it further. I will vote against it because it does not tackle the lack of trust in politics; it accentuates it by not offering us a referendum or sorting out the English problem. I will vote against it because I do not think it contains solutions to the problems in our large public services, and because I do not believe it truly meets the aspirations of the British people"