Queen's Speech: Corbyn attacks 'Government without majority'

An embattled Theresa May faced accusations of having a "threadbare legislative programme" and no political credibility left after she tore up much of the Conservative manifesto in the Queen's Speech.

The blueprint for the next two years delivered at the opening of Parliament focused largely on Brexit, and stayed away from flagship policies in the Tory manifesto.

Jeremy Corbyn called it a "threadbare legislative programme from a Government that has lost its majority and apparently run out of ideas altogether".

During a heated parliamentary debate, the Labour leader focused on what was not in the Queen's Speech, and criticised the Government and its public sector cuts.

"This is a Government without a majority, without a mandate, without a serious legislative programme, led by a Prime Minister who's lost her political authority and is struggling even today to stitch together a deal to stay in office," Mr Corbyn said.

:: Queen's Speech: What's in and what's out

"Austerity and inequality are choices, they are not necessities," he said. "They are a choice to make life worse for the many to maintain the privilege of the few."

Emboldened by a better than expected election result, Mr Corbyn said his party was "not merely an opposition: we are a government in waiting".

Mrs May sought to strike a humble tone as she set out her legislative programme, saying she would listen more closely to Parliament and businesses' concerns about Brexit.

In the debate, she issued an apology for the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Prime Minister called for "compassion, unity, resolve" as she said: "This is a difficult time for our country, but we are a resilient country."

And she said it was important to have a Government that would act in the national interest.

Brexit dominated the Queen's Speech: out of 27 Bills and draft bills unveiled in the address, eight were devoted to divorce procedures, including a Repeal Bill to overturn the 1972 Act which took Britain into what was then the European Economic Community.

In the wake of the Grenfell blaze and the terror attacks, Mrs May also announced plans for a civil disaster taskforce and a new commission for countering extremism, as well as a review of counter-terror strategy.

The speech was as notable for what it omitted as for what it included.

It did not mention a reform of social care funding, which opponents branded a "dementia tax", the scrapping of universal free school lunches or means-testing of the winter fuel payment.

There was also no mention of the promised free vote on fox hunting or of a state visit by Donald Trump.

Outgoing Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said a "slimmed down Queen's Speech shows a Government on the edge".

As MPs debated, a few hundred protesters gathered for a so-called "Day of Rage" outside Parliament, with a few scuffles breaking out.

The programme goes to a vote in the Commons next week, which amounts to a de-facto confidence vote in the Prime Minister.

Mrs May has yet to seal a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up her minority government, but a DUP MP said after the Queen's Speech that progress was being made.

"We have identified the key issues that will form part of the confidence-and-supply arrangements that we want to put in place for a five-year Parliament," Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told Sky News.

"I'm confident we can get an agreement."