With one relic replacing another (Her Maj was off sick with “mobility issues“), prince Charles filled in for his mum at the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday 10 May. However, the future king was merely a mouthpiece for the Tory government’s ongoing games of class war and corporate fascism. The legislation he revealed will further the UK’s descent into both.
Queen’s speech: the takeaways
As PA reported, the main takeaways from the Queen’s Speech were:
- More anti-protest laws, including prison sentences for people “locking on” or gluing themselves to things.
- A “register” of home-schooled kids to keep tabs on parents.
- A bill which will allow councils to privatise public services more easily.
- Allowing schools to become parts of council-formed academies – cementing the corporate takeover of education.
- Not banning conversion therapy for trans people.
- Setting fire to remaining EU laws, like environmental ones, while watering-down our human rights.
- Pushing forward with the ridiculous HS2 project.
- Privatising Channel Four.
- An obvious dig at Scottish independence.
- Banning public bodies from supporting Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movements like ones against the Israeli state.
- Creating more debt for students by allowing adults to take out £37k loans for higher education.
- Controlling what we do on the internet via the Online Safety Bill.
OK, so there were a few good points – namely action on the P&O Ferries workers’ scandal and a ban on “no-fault” evictions. But overall, the Queen’s Speech was little more than an all-out assault on our freedoms. It also had no action for the poorest people in the UK.
Cementing corporate fascism
As The Canary has been reporting, the Tory-led government has all the signs of a corporate fascist regime. This is:
a form of oppressive regime that removes civil liberties while handing corporations huge wealth from the public purse as well as giving them power and control over all of us.
The government has already brought in legislation that is corporate fascistic in nature. For example:
- The Health and Care Act will speed up NHS privatisation.
- The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act introduces new protest powers and is incredibly racist against the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) Community.
- The Elections Act means that voters have to show ID.
- The Nationality and Borders Act punishes refugees and allows the government to strip people of their citizenship.
Now, with the Queen’s Speech, it’s nearly job done for the Tories. The proposed laws will need organised and radical opposition that aims to disrupt the entire system the government operates within. As The Canary said in February:
We need to trespass. Take direct action. Occupy property. Watch the cops. Stop evictions. Fight deportations. Block infrastructure. And ultimately disrupt the system the Tories are part of.
Now, all of that needs to go up a gear.
Featured image and additional reporting via PA
By Steve Topple
This post was originally published on The Canary.
