Thread by @swardley

X : Thoughts on the Queen's speech?
Me : It was fine? What are you after?
X : Any alarm bells?
Me : Oh. There are some ... can we talk about the good first?
X : Prefer the alarm bells.
Me : Hmmm ... ok ...

1) "Patients will receive more tailored and preventative care" ... this could be a step towards patient budgets, a fast track way to privatise healthcare. Keep an eye on the legislation around this, especially ideas on promoting patient choice.

2) "legislation to establish an advanced research agency" ... the moonshot approach of DARPA. We tried that with track and trace. Awareness of context is really important for the type of investments and so don't expect much here, UK isn't playing with China's skill.

3) "extend 5G mobile coverage and gigabit capable broadband" ... I'm sure that'll cheer some encumbents but what about satellite? Given Moore's law is going into space then we should be focused up there.

4) "Laws will simplify procurement in the public sector" ... I'd be wary here. If this means no spend control then that's a retrograde step. Challenge is good. Part of the contract mess was lack of challenge - the NAO was clear enough on that.

5) "modernise the planning system, so that more homes can be built" ... Eek. Could be a problem. The bottleneck in housing has not been planning application. This might turn out badly if standards are dropped and we don't deal with unactioned planning permission and land banks.

6) "to ensure the integrity of elections" ... this is of concern given that we don't have a problem with voter fraud. It raises quite a few flags over disenfranchisement. Not a good move.

7) "Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bil" ... well, let us hope that this time they remove the anti-democratic restrictions on protests and excessive protection for statues.

8) "Armed Services with the biggest spending increase in thirty years" ... I do hope this means investing in the armed forces and not using the armed forces as a window shop for export sales. I'd want to see the details.

... look, there's some good stuff in there, the devil will be in the details and there are some things to keep an eye on. The Queen's speech is often like that.

X : What did you think to Starmer's response?
Me : I don't care. I'll work with my CLP on local issues. The only thing I want to hear from Starmer is "I take responsibility and I resign".

X : Who do you think should replace Starmer?
Me :
@AndyBurnhamGM (I'm biased, I knew from Fitz).
@SarahChampionMP (I'm biased, I knew from school).
@lisanandy (I'm biased, I voted for last time).
... all are good.