WITH all the pomp and theatre of the State Opening of Parliament and the world watching, the Government launched its manifesto by announcing plans more fit for a Party Political Broadcast than for the dignity of occasion.

Rather than being a positive forward-thinking plan tackling the problems of climate change, housing, the NHS, education, it was an admission of failure.

In total there were seven Brexit Bills. If nothing else this showed that if a leaving deal is struck Brexit will only be the beginning and will continue to dominate Parliament for a long time.

MPs will still be dealing with Brexit rather than the issues that are affecting everyone’s daily lives. Apart from Brexit there were seven Bills relating to law and order.

Following a decade of severe cuts, we are facing a sharp rise in crime, overcrowded prisons and a police force so overstretched that it cannot meet the ever increasing demands placed on it and the Government has just realised this and is only now trying to deal with it .

But we should be giving more priority to our core public services, the climate emergency and the housing crisis, none of which got even a mention in the Speech.

It is evident from the Queen’s speech that after a decade of austerity, the inequality which has affected Britain will continue unless a Labour Government is elected.

We see this inequality here in York with the Council’s obsession for building luxury flats.

Ignoring the desperately needed council and affordable homes which Labour and the people of York are all calling for, week after week. The Lib Dem/ Green Council together with the Government are letting York down.

They are failing the people of York. They are not looking to use the space on York Central to create new jobs opportunities on a site conveniently close to York station York could become the UK centre of excellence for Bioscience, part of the Green New Deal helping to solve the climate crisis; York could become the Yorkshire, if not the UK’s, capital for film, media arts, the digital creative sector and culture; York has a powerful railway heritage.

We should be looking to start to repower the future of the rail industry, here in our city.

But all this potential is being sacrificed to developers who are only interested in making money out of land that is currently held in public hands.

We have lost other opportunities because of delays, hesitations and not looking forward.

The Council missed vital deadlines for securing Bootham Park for the interests of the city.

We need a Labour Government and a Labour Council too. We won’t play into the vested interests of the privileged few, but will restore opportunity for everyone.

I was very disappointed with this Queen’s Speech and the lack of vision but I am looking forward to the next Queen’s speech, which may only be a few weeks away.

Yes, we will sort Brexit, giving everyone a final say, and then we will fix Britain with our programme which has the solutions to the crisis we face.

At the heart of Labour’s agenda is a serious response to the climate emergency; belief, support and investment in our public services as well as in jobs and the infrastructure.

More than any Party of opposition, Labour will mend our broken politics by placing our trust in people and local communities by redistributing power and decision making back to them.

It is time for a Government which will focus on the needs of our community.

Let’s work together to make this a reality.