Government promises to tackle ‘unfair practices’ in Queen’s Speech

Conservatives to honour pre-election pledge to cut energy bills

The government has told parliament that it will implement its pledge to crack down on what it describes as “unfair practices” in the energy market.

The Queen’s Speech, which outlined the government’s legislative programme, says that in recognition of its commitment to create “fairer markets for consumers”, ministers will bring forward measures to “tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills”.

The measures will fulfill the Tory manifesto promise to introduce a “safeguard tariff cap” that would extend existing price protection for customers on pre-payment meters and for micro-businesses.

However, there were no details in the speech, regarding what this cap might look like or how it would work. There was also no mention of the energy cost review promised in the party manifesto.

Measures to crack down on energy bills attracted broad cross-party support at Westminster, unlike many of the more controversial manifesto promises that the Conservatives have dropped following their failure to win a majority in the recent general election.

In addition, the Queen’s Speech contained promises to introduce legislation to facilitate the uptake of electric cars and it said the government will bring forward props to implement its manifesto pledge to safeguard national security by protecting “vital national infrastructure” from being acquired by hostile foreign powers.

It also revealed that government will delay the deadline for the smart meter rollout by five years. The move follows widespread calls from industry for flexibility in the rollout target. Some industry figures have even expressed concerns that sticking to the original 2020 date might increase the risk of saftey compromises.

Other elements of the Queen’s Speech confirmed the government will press ahead with its modern industrial strategy, which was being consulted on in the run up to the calling of the general election.

The Queen’s Speech covers the next two years as opposed to the normal one due to the heavy programme of legislation that will be required to implement Brexit.