20 December 2019

On 19 December 2019, the Queen opened a new session of parliament and set out the recently elected Conservative government’s policy objectives in her speech.

Unsurprisingly, the speech did not contain any new substantive information in regard to Brexit and proposed changes to the UK immigration system. Instead, it mirrored recent government announcements that:

• the priority is to deliver the UK’s exit from the EU on 31 January 2020;
• the government will then negotiate and aim to secure a free trade agreement with the EU whilst also commencing trade negotiations with other leading global economies;
• they will introduce a new NHS visa which will offer fast-track entry to the UK for eligible healthcare professionals; and
• a new points-based immigration system will be introduced to “welcome skilled workers from across the world”.

Now that the Conservative government possess a sizeable majority and are thereby free from the parliamentary chains they have been shackled by in recent years, it will be interesting to monitor the extent and effectiveness of the objectives listed above by the time of the next Queen’s speech.