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Day of Rage protests - live updates: Hundreds march on Downing Street demanding Theresa May quits

Follows slimmed-down Queen's Speech as Tories struggle to secure majority needed to pass legislation

Benjamin Kentish,Maya Oppenheim
Wednesday 21 June 2017 13:18 EDT
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Queen's Speech in 90 seconds

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Hundreds of protesters are marching from west London to Parliament calling for Theresa May to resign over her handling of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The demonstration comes as the Queen delivered the 2017 Queen's Speech, which Conservative sources have told The Independent could be Theresa May's first and last as Prime Minister.

As the Prime Minister struggles to cobble together a parliamentary majority, there was no mention of many of the Tories’ key manifesto pledges.

Plans to axe universal free school meals, scrap the triple lock on pensions and lift the ban on new grammar schools now all seem likely to be ditched.

Instead, the speech focused on Brexit, with the Prime Minister under mounting pressure to abandon her plans for a hard Brexit that could result in Britain leaving the EU without a trade deal.

Other measures include new laws to improve protections of domestic violence, protect private renters from irresponsible landlords, tackle extremist ideologies, and protect people's online data.

The Government will also act to reduce motor insurance premiums and lower energy prices. The National Living Wage will be raised.

The speech included no mention of Donald Trump's scheduled state visit, fuelling reports that it may not happen. The US President is reported to be concerned about public protests in the UK should he visit.

Theresa May's Queen's Speech 'will be her first and last', Tories admit, as PM proposes plan filled with U-turns

Queen's Speech could be delivered without majority as Theresa May's DUP talks falter

Thousands to march on Downing Street in bid to 'bring down' Theresa May's government

Queen's Speech scaled back as Theresa May's legislative agenda unveiled amid uncertainty

Tory-DUP deal thrown into fresh doubt as deputy PM Damian Green says agreement only a 'possibility'

The Queen delivered her speech alongside Prince Charles, after Prince Philip was admitted to hospital 

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:00

The Queen has finished speaking and MPs are filing back to the House of Commons where Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will both give responses to the address.

Ms May is expected to promise "humility and resolve" and pledge to "see Brexit through".

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:02

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has responded to the Queen's Speech. He said: “This slimmed down Queen’s Speech shows a government on the edge.

“Having dropped everything from the Dementia Tax to fox hunting I assume the only reason they have proposed a Space Bill is so they can shoot their manifesto into space and pretend it never existed.

“People up and down the country are seeing our schools and hospitals in crisis. Proposed Tory cuts will leave our children in overcrowded classes in underfunded and crumbling schools, the sick left on trolleys in hospital corridors and the vulnerable without the vital services they rely on. This speech is bereft of any real solutions to these issues.

“The only thing that stayed the same was the Torie’s obsession with Brexit. Instead of tearing up our membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union, with all the consequences that will have for the economy, jobs and prices in the shops, they should be trying to bring the country together.

"Theresa May should ask all parties to come together and negotiate the best possible Brexit deal for the whole country.”

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:04

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:05

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas says the Queen's Speech is "stunningly unambitious" and a sign of a Prime Minister who has "lost authority".

She said: "This hollowed out Government has produced a stunningly unambitious Queen’s speech at a time when Britain desperately needs a change of direction. Failing to propose any meaningful plans to tackle climate change is a near-criminal act of political vandalism, and refusing to give our hard pressed NHS workers the pay rise they deserve reveals a Government utterly out of touch. The proposed immigration clampdown sees an increasingly hardline Government doubling down on plans they know will wreck our economy.

“Though climate-deniers in the DUP might be celebrating this Queen’s Speech, it simply isn’t a serious programme of Government. This speech should have included an Environmental Protection Act and a guarantee for EU Nationals that their rights would be protected, but these basic Brexit laws were nowhere to be seen.

“While some proposals in the Queen’s speech deserve praise – in particular plans to help people suffering from mental health problems – the overall picture is one of a Government which has run out of steam, and a Prime Minister who has lost authority.”

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:08

Labour MP Mary Creagh tells the BBC  the slimmed down Queen's Speech is a sign of a Prime Minister who is "in office but not in power".

Opposition parties have highlighted that the address contained relatively few new measures, and barely any of the core pledges the Conservatives had included in their election manifesto. Key plans to lift the ban on grammar schools, remove the triple lock on pensions and hold a vote on bringing back fox-hunting all appear to have been ditched.

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:26

Other critics have pointed out that there was virtually nothing in the Queen's Speech relating to the NHS.

Janet Davies, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Theresa May had an opportunity to show that she had listened to public concern over the future of the NHS. By scarcely mentioning its patients and workforce today, the Government made clear that nothing will change.

"Nursing staff and others across the NHS hoped to hear a new tone. Theresa May's below-inflation cap on their pay does nothing to help fill the 40,000 vacant nurse jobs in England. It should have been scrapped today.

"Hospitals and community services are already short of the nursing staff needed to provide safe care. They are being driven out by poor pay and the unprecedented strain. Health and care services must fast become a priority for this Government."

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:27
Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:33

Downing Street officials are denying reports that Donald Trump's state visit has been cancelled. They say the invitation has been issued and accepted and that this has not changed. A date is yet been set, however - raising the prospect that thte trip could be delayed indefinitely.

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:39

The Government is planning to introduce eight separate parliamentary bills related to Brexit. In addition to the Great Repeal Bill, which will transfer all EU law into British law, there will also be legislation on immigration, international sanctions, nuclear safeguards, agriculture, fisheries, trade and customs.

Kristin Hugo21 June 2017 12:49

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