Queen's Speech a Triumph of Fear over Hope

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 23rd Nov 2004

Commenting on the legislative programme laid out in today's Queen's Speech, Malcolm Bruce, Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon, commented:

"This is a triumph of fear over hope. Most of the bills will apply to Scotland. I do not believe that Scots will welcome identity cards which will not deter terrorists or criminals but will cost £3 billion that could be better spent on policing. What would be preferable? ID cards or 100 extra police for Grampian? I certainly would prefer police to plastic.

"It is absurd to believe that we could pass 32 bills by a May election. This is window dressing for the pre-election campaign. I can support some of these measures but know that rushed legislation too often is bad legislation."