'Nothing to offer' Lib Dem MP slams weakness of Queen's Speech

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The Liberal Democrat MP criticised the traditional Queen’s Speech delivered to outline the annual government focus.

Alistair Carmichael said the announcement, delivered by the Prince of Wales, lacked direction and failed to address major concerns in the UK and internationally.

“Yesterday’s Queen’s speech, generally from your point of view, overriding impression?” asked Talk TV host Jeremy Kyle.

Mr Carmichael replied: “The over-riding impression was two-fold.”

The MP continued: “First of all it had very little, frankly nothing, to offer people for the here and now.

“The real challenges that they’re facing about the need to put food on the table and, later in the year, to start heating their house again. 

“The other thing, and I’ve seen quite a few Queen’s Speeches over the years, was there was a total lack of any sort of overall strategy or, as the politicians call it, narrative.

“It just looked like somebody had done a ring around of the different government departments at Whitehall and said have you got anything we could put in the Queen’s Speech?”

Mr Carmichael said: “You got a whole load of very desperate measures.

“Actually, at a moment like this, internationally we’ve got some massive challenges and at home we’ve got a cost of living crisis and energy prices are going through the roof.”

The Lib Dem representative suggested the UK population had hoped the Queen’s Speech would offer a reassurance of coming improvements for the economy among other political concerns,

He continued: “They really want to hear that the government has got a grip on what they’re facing and that they’re going to do something about it. 

“The impression we were left with yesterday was, well, no not really.”

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The MP suggested the Speech had highlighted the failures of the current Tory government.

Mr Carmichael drew attention to the inflation rates driving the cost of living crisis and the international fears surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The address to Parliament is given annually by the Monarch but, due to the Queen’s health concerns, Prince Charles delivered the speech.

In the opening line of the speech, The Prince of Wales outlined: “Her Majesty’s Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families.”

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The Lib Dem MP claimed the list of concerns outlined in the speech had served to highlight issues overlooked by the government so far.

Mr Carmichael continued to draw attention towards the failure of the Conservative government to address the economic crisis at the earliest opportunity.

He added: “So much of this was foreseeable especially, because this lies at the heart of so much of it, the cost of energy going through the roof.”

He suggested the Queen’s address had unnerved the nation by offering the impression that the government had some serious policy issues that needed rapid attention.

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