The Queen’s Speech today provides the agenda which David Cameron will turn to post-referendum to try and unite the Tory party. The social reforms proposed are important. Cameron hopes that they will be a central plank of his legacy, which is why he wants to stay in Number 10 for a few more years yet. In terms of post-referendum unity, it is helpful that prison reform is at the centre of this social reform programme—as Michael Gove, the most prominent Cabinet outer, is the man in charge of it.
A lot of this agenda is about, as the speech put it, helping the ‘hardest to reach’ in society. As one Cameron loyalist points out, the Children and Social Work Bill will help children in care by making it easier for them to be adopted. It will also ensure that they continue to receive help even after they leave care. The counter-extremism bill is meant to help protect Muslims in isolated communities from extremists.
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