Queen’s speech 2013: Reactions
James Lowman, chief executive, Association of Convenience Stores
"We welcome the focus on delivering growth and reducing burdens on everyday entrepreneurs like local shops owners who trade in every community across the country. We will continue to work closely with Government to ensure that the proposals included in today’s speech help our members to grow, invest and create jobs."
Peter Facey, director, Unlock Democracy
"We are of course disappointed that the government has missed what is possibly its last opportunity to keep David Cameron’s promise to sort out corporate lobbying.
"The last three years have proven David Cameron’s dire warnings before the general election to be correct: with Liam Fox’s resignation, lobbying was indeed the ‘next big scandal waiting to happen’. The case for greater lobbying transparency is now stronger than ever, but all we’ve seen from the government is dither and delay."
Ceri Goddard, chief executive, Fawcett Society
"Today’s speech was widely trailed as 'aimed at women', and plans on pensions and to some extent social care reform are on target – but elsewhere they remain very wide of the mark.
"Women’s unemployment is now at a 26 year high and if the drive to grow the private sector is not to leave women behind we will need much more robust plans to support women entering and progressing in the workforce.
"If planned deregulation means further erosion of workplace rights and protections, this won’t only expose thousands more women to unfair discrimination, it is a false economy when we need the full talents and skills of or workface – men and women – contributing to growth.
"Until governments plans advance women's equality both at home and at work their programme won’t just stall progress, it will undermine it."
Carwyn Jones, spokesperson, First Minister of Wales
"The First Minister welcomes the indication he has been given today that the Draft Wales Bill could be a potential vehicle for implementing the recommendations from Silk Part One. With regards to electoral arrangements, we believe these should be dealt with in Wales by Assembly Members."
Katie Ghose, chief executive, Electoral Reform Society
"Recall is not the great leveller. It would give moneyed elites an even greater grip on our politics. No one wants to see the Tax Payers Alliance and Unite spending millions chasing signatures on their latest recall petition."
Matthew Sinclair, chief executive, TaxPayers’ Alliance
"Sadly [the Government is] still planning enormous increases in the amount of money taken from British families and spent on often wasteful and corrupt foreign aid projects, but at least they are not writing that mistake in law. They are also pressing ahead with their great vanity project, a high speed rail line which is poor value compared to more affordable alternatives, but there is still time to reconsider that white elephant as well.
"Despite some important progress in this speech, ministers still have a lot of work to do if they really want to ease the enormous pressure on family budgets and create the simpler, fairer and more competitive tax system that they claim to be trying to achieve."
Frances O’Grady, general secretary, TUC
"Three years on from the last general election, when ordinary working people are facing the biggest squeeze on their living standards in a generation, the government should really have used today to call time on its failed austerity experiment and change course.
"What we really needed to hear today were bold plans for a stimulus package to boost our growth, create decent jobs for those out of work and investment in our creaking infrastructure, and a jobs guarantee to offer hope to the many for whom work is still but a distant dream."
Christine Blower, general secretary, National Union of Teachers
"Plans to deregulate teachers' pay will create unnecessary work for individual schools and head teachers. This is a chaotic approach to teachers' pay. It will be an inefficient bureaucratic mess and will lead to unfairness, divisiveness and arbitrary decisions.
"The pace of change to children's education and teachers' pay and conditions, on the basis of no informed evidence or advice is quite simply unacceptable. The NUT is determined to act with others to expose the need for changes to the curriculum and for a fair, coherent national pay policy.
"Michael Gove does not have the monopoly of wisdom on either the curriculum or teachers' pay. He must listen to the profession."
Richard Jones, policy director, Residential Landlords Association
"The [immigration] proposal will not work in practice. Employers have been required to make similar checks, but it has made no real difference to the numbers of illegal immigrants in the Country.
"For a government committed to reducing the burden of regulation it is ironic that they are now seeking to impose a significant regulatory burden on landlords making them scapegoats for the UK Border Agency’s failings.
“Greater risks will be associated with renting a property out at just the time that we need to make investment in the sector far more attractive."
Phil Blythe, chairperson, Institution of Engineering and Technology
"Progressing with the HS2 project in this piecemeal fashion creates a large amount of uncertainty and risks phase 2 never getting further than the drawing board. This risk is important to minimise, as only in phase 2 will the main benefits of HS2 be delivered.
"The government must show its commitment to the entire route if HS2 has any chance of being the much needed spine for successful transport integration."
Chris Keates, general secretary, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers
"This announcement is welcome in that it is at least as sign that historic exposure to asbestos is at last being taken seriously.
"But we should also be remembering that buildings, and in particular many school buildings, still contain asbestos and leave pupils and those that teach and otherwise work with them at risk of contracting this terrible disease.
"Steps need to be taken to obviate this risk for the future through a programme of asbestos removal from schools and other public buildings."
