No cost-of-living aid details in Prince Charles speech – latest

The Irish deputy prime minister warned the UK government not to take unilateral action to get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“We cannot have any unilateral action from the UK. This is an international agreement, they have to fulfill their obligations. I was at the Wirral with Boris Johnson. I know what he agreed to,” said Tanaiste Leo Varadkar.

Varadkar was the Irish prime minister in October 2019 when he met Boris Johnson at a hotel in the Wirral to agree on the outlines of the Brexit exit agreement.

He told RTE radio that there is a majority of MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly who support post-Brexit arrangements for the region.

“The people of Northern Ireland voted and did not vote for the majority of MLAs who want the protocol scrapped. So the British government has to take that into account.”

Downing Street has advocated not using the Queen’s Speech to introduce measures to help the short-term cost of living crisis.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The public understands that we have already acted to address some of the immediate challenges facing the public.

“The prime minister and the chancellor are very clear that no one government could address all these global pressures that we are seeing.

He said the focus was “to create the conditions for more people to have high-paying, highly-skilled jobs.”

Boris Johnson acknowledged that families were “anxious about the future” and promised to monitor the situation in the coming months, but warned that any measures to ease the burden of rising inflation would have to be balanced against the need to keep public finances in check. “sustainable” level. foot”.

His spokesman said: “It is an important point to make clear that we must always strike the right balance. We spent £400bn during the pandemic, have put £22bn towards immediate cost of living pressures and are paying down our debt which stands at over £80bn.

“It’s an important point for the public to understand that our ability to pump money is finite and that we have to make some key decisions about how we use that funding.”

Unions have said the government has failed to address the reality of the cost of living crisis with the measures announced in the Queen’s Speech.

The Trades Union Congress said “bad bosses will be pleased” and there was no mention of the long-awaited jobs bill that was announced in December 2019 to protect low-paid and gig workers.

Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said the government had “run out of ideas”, adding: “Ministers have not grasped the seriousness of the situation…Nothing announced today will make an iota of difference.” for the millions crushed by the rising cost of living. ”

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham asked: “Where are the laws to stop speculation and prevent attacks on workers? Where is the help for the millions already faced with the shocking decision to heat or eat?

The prime minister told Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, that “repeated efforts” to reach an agreement with the EU had failed, and accused Brussels of not having taken “the necessary steps”.

Legislation to undo the Brexit deal, which could trigger a hugely damaging trade war with the EU, could be published next week, allies of Liz Truss suggest.

Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrickreports:

Labor MP Andy McDonald has called the legislation announced in the queen’s speech “reactionary” and “authoritarian”.

The Middlesborough MP also took to Twitter to express his dismay at the lack of action to support struggling households during the devastating cost of living crisis.

Liz Saville Roberts MP, leader of Plaid Cymru Westminster, said today that the queen’s speech was a “disappointing series of platitudes from a completely unrealistic government”.

The speech, written by the UK government and delivered by Prince Charles in the Queen’s absence, did not mention Wales once.

She said: “This speech from the queen was a disappointing series of platitudes by a government completely out of touch with reality. This legislative agenda will do nothing to address the worsening cost of living crisis and will only deepen divisions by persevering with an increasingly authoritarian agenda.

“After a resounding election result for the Conservatives, the Prime Minister should have stepped back and recognized that the people of Wales have completely lost faith in their government and reject its divisive agenda. What we needed was an emergency package to provide much-needed support to households and small businesses, and accelerate our green transition.

“Wales was not mentioned once in today’s speech, it proves once again that this tired government has nothing to offer the people of Wales. It is in stark contrast to plans announced today by Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government to create a stronger, fairer and more representative parliament for Wales. It is becoming increasingly clear that we must look to our Senedd for solutions, not to Westminster.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer pictured walking together ahead of the Queen’s speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

The government has been accused of “turning its back” on workers after a promised jobs bill was left out of the queen’s speech.

Unions and Labor criticized Prime Minister Boris Johnson, accusing him of “misleading” workers.

Unions have been waiting for legislation for years, saying a bill is needed to tackle unsafe work and improve conditions for workers.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said bad bosses will celebrate the absence of a jobs bill, adding: “The prime minister promised to make Britain the best place in the world to work, but he has given back to the workers.

“No employment bill means that the vital rights ministers promised, such as default flexible working, fair tips and protection against pregnancy discrimination, are at risk of being abandoned forever.

“It means not taking action against the scourge of insecure work and ending exploitative practices like zero-hour contracts and firing and rehiring.

“After the P&O scandal, dragging our outdated employment laws into the 21st century has never been more urgent, but by shelving the Employment Bill ministers have sent a signal that they are happy to see rogue employers trample on rights from the workers.

“This is a government that just doesn’t understand, from the cost of living emergency to the insecure work epidemic.”

Theresa May first outlined proposals in April 2019 that seek to repeal section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, which allows landlords to evict tenants without cause and with just eight weeks’ notice.

The promise was also included in Johnson’s 2019 election manifesto, with him promising to introduce a tenants reform bill in the queen’s speech the same year, some 29 months ago.