Queen's Speech a disappointment for Birmingham

9.22.07pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 6th Nov 2007

"A disappointing string of announcements with no vision" - that's the verdict of Liberal Democrats in Birmingham as local residents digest the contents of the Queen's Speech, the government's plans for the coming year.

Thousands of residents of Birmingham are hit hard by council tax, the unfairest tax around. But there was no mention of scrapping it and replacing it with a fairer system based on ability to pay.

Many people in Birmingham are unable to live in a home of their own because the government has failed completely over the past decade to ensure there is enough affordable housing. Yet the measures in the Queen's Speech on housing will only scratch the surface of the problem.

Over the last few years, parts of Birmingham has suffered from extreme weather conditions such as a tornado and flooding. Global warming and climate change, caused by carbon emissions, will make these more likely, but the government is only proposing a weak Climate Change Bill that lacks targets and the real action needed to tackle the problem.

Lib Dem councillor Dave Radcliffe commented:

"Gordon Brown has been at the heart of the Labour government since it came to power over ten years ago. He has now been Prime Minister for four months. Yet there is little in the way of a vision in the Queen's Speech of where he wants to take the country."

"Much of it is a collection of knee jerk reactions, rather than a picture of where Labour wants to take the country. And much of the rest is about grabbing headlines by trying to look as if problems that Labour have failed to tackle over the past decade are now being taken seriously."

"Many people in Birmingham will be disappointed by this Queen's Speech from the government. What could have been a great stride forward for both Birmingham and the country has turned out to be a timid mishmash that will get us nowhere."