The legislative programme for what could be the last session of parliament with the current Labour government will be announced by the Queen on 18th November. With a general election expected in May 2010, the legislative timetable will be tight and many of the expected bills may never make it through parliament to Royal Ascent.
In what will become a General Election battleground, the legislation announced may define Labour for decades. The PM had already given a flavour of what to expect when he published ‘Building Britain’s Future’ in June of this year.
In summary, the following 11 bills are expected:
· Constitutional Renewal Bill
· Financial Services and Business bill
· Digital Economy Bill
· Energy Bill
· Flood and Water Management Bill
· Equality Bill
· Policing, Crime and Private Security Bill
· Child Poverty Bill
· Animal Health Responsibility and Cost Sharing Bill
· Cluster Munitions Prohibitions Bill
· Improving schools and safeguarding children bill
Two of the significant bills expected are the Financial Services and Business Bill and the Digital Economy bill. With the former aimed at tackling the ‘bonus culture’ in British banks and strengthening the role of the FSA. Expect a number of vote winning measures to be introduced, to ensure that Labour is deemed the party that punished the banks for causing the financial crisis.
The Digital Economy Bill will detail how Britain will become a leader in the global digital economy. This will include several commitments that were laid out in the Digital Britain report including; a commitment to universal to 2mb broadband access, new curbs on illegal file sharing, a new system of videogames classification and enhancement of OFCOM.
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