Queen's Speech a Disappointment for Kensington & Chelsea

7.04.45pm GMT Thu 8th Nov 2007

Local campaigner Peter Kosta

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

Reacting to the Queen's Speech, local Lib Dem campaigner Peter Kosta said, "Many homes in Kensington & Chelsea have suffered from flooding this year, caused by extreme rainfall, a result of global warming and climate change which is caused by carbon emissions. Yet the government's response is to bring in a weak Climate Change Bill that lacks targets and the real action needed to tackle the problem.

"Thousands of residents in this Borough 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 which is what we have consistently argued for.

"Many people in Kensington & Chelsea 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.

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