The British Labour government's legislative programme announced yesterday in the queen's speech to parliament is a case of steady as she goes for prime minister Gordon Brown and his cabinet. It would have been a more urgent programme had it been presented ahead of the general election Mr Brown was widely expected to have called just over a month ago.
That was not to be, as his Conservative opponents bounced back and polls turned against him. Mr Brown should now be judged by the desire he expressed then for "more time to set out my vision for the country" and his promise yesterday to meet the "rising aspirations" of the British people.
Bills on education, health, anti-terrorism, carbon emissions, energy, affordable housing and banking are promised. Most of the highlights were set out in Mr Brown's first speech as leader to the Labour Party conference on September 24th. Speaking then of "a Britain of mutual obligation" he concentrated on equal and accessible educational and health services, citizenship, economic stability and good management, environmental protection and climate change and the need for international involvement and competitiveness in a global age.
This legislative programme closely reflects those political priorities; but they will now be judged above all on how well they are delivered upon. Mr Brown has learned a few hard lessons over the last month. He was justifiably criticised for allowing intense speculation about an early general election, only to decide against it in an obvious response to the sudden Conservative buoyancy. Since then the polls have gradually settled down to a pattern similar to when Mr Brown succeeded Tony Blair last June. His good political start over the summer months has been obscured by the widespread impression of opportunism and indecisiveness about whether to call an early election.
Mr Brown yesterday hailed the proposed Bills on climate change, housing, anti-terror measures, education and citizenship and said they would create a fairer society. Now he must deliver on that promise over the next couple of years if he is to remain credible. He has the dedication and thoroughness to do that - and British politics would benefit from such a period of solid achievement if he can manage it effectively. Politically it is the only way he can escape from jibes like the one thrown at him in the Commons yesterday by Conservative leader David Cameron, who said he could only deliver "short-term tricks instead of long-term problem solving".
An important theme of Mr Brown's is how to recast Britishness as a relevant set of values in a rapidly changing United Kingdom. Yesterday he rejected SNP calls that as a Scottish MP he should abstain from voting on English matters, and instead attacked Conservative calls for only English MPs to decide on laws affecting England. Such demands illustrate how neuralgic these issues have become and how they could threaten Labour's role as the principal unionist party in Britain.