The Queen’s Speech will be delayed until Brexit is delivered, it has been revealed.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said on Monday that the parliamentary set-piece outlining the government’s legislative agenda would be delayed.
The last Queen’s Speech was in June 2017, when an extended two-year parliamentary session was introduced in order to deal with Brexit.
Asked when the next Queen’s Speech would be, Theresa May’s spokesman said the government was focused on passing the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB).
He said: “What we are focused on is the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, because that is the legislation which is necessary in order to ratify our withdrawal from the EU.
“That is part of the current Queen’s Speech cycle and we need to finish that work.
“The government is always bringing forward legislation in order to allow it to deliver on its agenda.
“In relation to the current session, obviously it was an extended session to allow us to deliver on Brexit. The work to secure the WAB remains ongoing.”
Mrs May knows that, without agreement on a compromise deal with Labour, the WAB will be defeated – which would force her to begin a new parliamentary session and potentially trigger a mass Tory rebellion.
Her spokesman was unable to say whether the government would bring any fresh proposals to the talks with Labour, or even whether the key controversy of a customs union would be discussed.
He also refused to set a deadline for abandoning the cross-party effort, amid suspicions it is neither party’s interest to pull the plug, even if no progress is being made.
The European Commission’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas made clear on Monday afternoon that no new proposals would be coming from the continent.
He said: “The European Commission is on a Brexit break. I don’t like the term but this is where we are
“There is nothing else we can do. There is nothing else we can say.
“I will not speak on Brexit again unless there is something new and according to my information there is nothing new.”
