Queen's Speech 2012

The Government's priorities for the coming parliamentary year have this afternoon been set out in the Queen's Speech 2012.

At the official State Opening of Parliament, the Queen's Speech highlighted the Government's priorities of economic growth and deficit reduction.

Some of the Bills laid out in the Speech were:

• Public Service Pensions Bill - will reform public service pensions in line with the recommendations of the report prepared by the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission.
• Enterprise, Employment, Regulatory Reform and Repeals Bill - will promote enterprise and fair markets, including provisions on a Green Investment Bank, a new Competition and Markets Authority and reforming employment tribunals. Banking Reform Bill - will put into law the ring-fencing of retail banking and its separation from investment banking
• Families and Children Bill - will improve the lives of children, young people and families, especially those coping with special educational needs.
• Pensions Bill - will reform the state pensions system, creating a fair, simple and sustainable foundation for private saving.
• Energy Bill - will reform the electricity market.
• Crime and Courts Bill - will establish the National Crime Agency to tackle serious, organised and complex crime and strengthen border security.
• Justice and Security Bill - will provide for strengthened oversight of the security and intelligence agencies; to provide for closed material procedures in certain civil proceedings; and to prevent disclosure contrary to the public interest of certain material in judicial proceedings, including material shared with us by our allies.
• House of Lords Reform Bill - will change the composition of the House of Lords
• Royal Succession Bill - will remove the rule under which a younger son displaces an elder daughter in the line of succession to the Crown, permit a person who marries a Roman Catholic to succeed to the Crown and replace the Royal Marriages Act with narrower provisions.
• Electoral Administration Bill - will introduce individual electoral registration and make improvements to other areas of electoral administration.

For more information on the Queen's Speech please visit the Downing Street website

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George Osborne: Budget boosts business, supports families and rewards work

Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled a raft of measures in his Budget that rewards work, boosts business and helps those who aspire to do better for themselves and their families.

In his Budget speech, George Osborne said:

"This Budget supports working families and helps those looking for work. It unashamedly backs business. And it is on the side of aspiration: those who want to do better for themselves and for their families.

"This Budget reaffirms our unwavering commitment to deal with Britain's record debts. But because we've already taken difficult decisions, this can also be a reforming Budget that seeks to repair the disastrous model of economic growth that created those debts."

He added:

"Last year, the personal allowance rose by £1,000. In two weeks time, it will go up by another £630 to £8,105. Together, these increases have taken over a million low income people out of tax. And today, I want to go much further and much faster.

"I am announcing the largest ever increase in the personal allowance - the amount people can earn tax free. From next April that amount will increase by £1,100. Every working person on low or middle incomes will benefit. People will be able to earn up to £9,205 before they have to pay any tax. Millions of working people will be £220 better off every year. That's £170 better off after inflation.

"Because higher rate earners will also benefit, 24 million people earning less than £100,000 a year will gain from this measure. We are in touching distance of the goal of £10,000 personal allowance that we all share.

"And I can tell the country that as a result of our Budgets, people working full time on the minimum wage, will have seen their income tax bill cut in half. And this coalition Government will have taken two million people on the lowest incomes out of tax altogether.

"In the middle of this Parliament, in difficult economic times, this coalition Government has not settled for a "do nothing" Budget. We have not ducked the difficult choices - we've taken them head on."

In his 2012 Budget the Chancellor revealed that:

• 24 million ordinary families will benefit from the largest ever increase in the personal tax allowance, with most basic rate taxpayers gaining £220 every year. In total the Government will have taken two million low paid people out of tax altogether.
• To boost business there will be an additional one per cent cut in corporation tax - a sign that Business is open for business
• Child Benefit is to remain in full for all families with earners on £50,000 or less. The withdrawal will be gradual and only those households where someone who earns more than £60,000 will lose all of their child benefit.
• The Government will reinvest £100 million to improve armed forces service accommodation and there will be a doubling of the families' welfare grant, which is used to provide additional support to families left behind
• The 50p top rate of tax will be abolished and from April 2013 will be reduced to 45p
• The Government will crack down on stamp duty avoidance and will introduce a new Stamp Duty Land Tax rate of seven per cent for residential properties over £2 million, which will raise £300 million a year by 2016

For more information please click here

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The Prime Minister: true compassion means making tough decisions

Addressing the National Conservative Convention, the Prime Minister said that "true compassion" means taking tough decisions.

Mr Cameron told activists that government cuts were being made because the party "cares" about the country and that only by taking "tough and bold action" would the UK be "stronger and fairer" and not by "playing it safe".

The Prime Minister said he wanted a "strong Britain. A fair Britain. A Conservative Britain" but that in order to get there we have "huge challenges to confront".

David Cameron said: "People say Conservatives in government are taking tough action because they don't care. But the opposite is true. We're taking those decisions because we do care.

"We care about the kind of country our children are going to grow up in and we do not want to burden them with debts that we are too timid to pay back.

"We care about giving people dignity in old age, which is why we're making difficult decisions today – so we can actually afford our pensions system tomorrow.

"We care about keeping a health service that is truly there for all and free for all, which is why we're reforming the NHS to prioritising prevention and not just treatment.

"It's only by taking tough and bold action that we will make our country stronger and fairer. True compassion isn't wearing your heart on your sleeve. It's rolling up those sleeves and taking the long-term decisions that will really change our country for the better. That's what I want this party to be about and what I want this government to be about."

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Starting up in business in 2012: how this government is encouraging people to go for it

I set up my first small business after having been a partner in a major firm of accountants and consultants for a number of years. One day I was surrounded by sophisticated accounting and expenses systems, secretaries and administrative support; the next I had to do it all myself. I remember my then business partner and I going to our first sales pitch and ending up afterwards in a rural post office in Kent where the manager kindly let us have a table on which to stuff envelopes with our first mail shot and post them. Setting up your own business can be a lonely affair and it is nice when someone's on your side.

As this was the dark days of the last Labour Government, I knew that the then Government was not on my side. How much easier life would have been, for example, if the previous Government had been as serious about cutting red tape as is our current Government. Mark Prisk's article today on Conservative Home reinforces this point: http://bit.ly/zxSJDc. Red tape not only costs cash; it costs time. That is something you do not have lots of when you are setting up your own business and when you need to keep your focus on winning new work.

For all businesses, of course, cash is king. Being experienced in international trade, I set out to ensure that each year at least half our income was generated in foreign markets with which we were familiar, including the Middle East. Good prices; but perhaps with more difficult cash flow implications! To be fair, our bank was reasonably understanding at the time but something like the National Loan Guarantee Scheme would have helped. Under this scheme, the Government will allow participating banks to raise up to £20 billion of cheaper funding over the next two years under a Government guarantee provided that the lower cost of funding is passed on to small businesses.

Finding funding other than from the banks has always been a problem for small businesses. Schemes like the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which provides tax breaks on investments in early stage start-ups would have been something we would have seriously looked at to encourage venture capital and diversify rather than rely purely on bank loans.

If Government measures to help get money in to the business would have helped us, so would measures to limit the money going out. For many small businesses, business rates make up a significant chunk of expenditure. Doubling small business rate relief for two and a half years is a measure which I know from small businesses in my own constituency has brought real help. And when it comes to tax, a combination of the corporation tax cut for small businesses to 20%, the doubling of tax relief for entrepreneurs and the simplification of the tax system are all most welcome.

Whether you set up your own company or you chose the route of self-employment, this is not just about the Government encouraging growth and business for their own sake and that of the economy, important though they are. This is also about encouraging aspiration and helping those that wish the exciting challenge of living their dream through business to do so in the knowledge both that Government is on your side and that the Conservative Party has MPs who understand what you are going through because they have been there and done it.

John Howell OBE MP is the Member of Parliament for Henley and PPS to the Leader of the House and to the Minister of Decentralisation and Cities. He was formerly a partner in Ernst & Young before setting up two small businesses in the media sector.

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Co-operatives Bill to help build a fairer economy

The Prime Minister has announced plans to introduce a Co-operatives Bill that will cut red tape and help to build a fairer economy.

Legislation governing co-operatives and mutuals into a single statute will be put before parliament before the next election.

The Co-operatives Bill will help employees take a greater stake in their companies. Mr Cameron said they were key to "popular capitalism" and for "everyone to share in the success of the market".

The Prime Minister also said he wanted to encourage firms to show social responsibility and that the Chancellor was considering new tax rules to prevent abuse.

David Cameron said: "We know that breaking monopolies, encouraging choice, opening up new forms of enterprise is not just right for business but the best way of improving public services too.

"There are over 12 million co-op members in the UK. That's more people than there are shareholders in the economy.

"But right now there are too many barriers in the way... so today I can announce they will all be brought together and simplified in a new Co-Operatives Bill that will be put before parliament."

Welcoming the announcement, Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, added: "The new act is intended to make it as easy and natural to form a co-operative as any other form of business. We are delighted to see the Coalition taking action to put co-operative businesses on an equal footing and create a diverse economy.

"Co-operatives, as well as being widely recognised for their ethical business practices, are a vital part of the British economy, employing more than 235,000 people, turning over more than £33 billion each year and generating a significant amount of wealth for the country."

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