Last modified on Sun 9 May 2021 23.37 EDT
Britons will have to show photo ID to vote in future general elections, ministers are poised to confirm this week, as a means of tackling fraud which critics claim could deter poorer and ethnic minority voters from taking part in democracy.
The proposal is to be included in Tuesdayâs Queenâs speech, which will set out the governmentâs post-pandemic priorities and the laws it intends to pass in the forthcoming parliamentary session.
However, the dozens of announcements are unlikely to include details of long-awaited reforms to funding for adult social care, a 2019 Conservative manifesto promise which has been parked pending cross-party discussions.
A failure to act on long-promised social care reform will be a “bitter blow” for care staff and the millions they help, councils have warned.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech and the spending review later this year are “key opportunities” for the Government to make good on its promise to “fix” the sector.
Care groups, charities and politicians have been long calling for a plan, as promised by the PM in his first speech after being elected in July 2019.
During that speech, Mr Johnson said he was “announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared”.
The UK has confirmed another 2,357 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and four deaths – all four in Wales
Both figures mark increases on last Monday s daily Covid numbers, although that was a bank holiday
Health chiefs say infections, hospital admissions and deaths have fallen consistently over the past months
The move means coronavirus is now only in general circulation and transmission is no longer high or rising
No such plan has yet been published.
On Monday, health minister Nadine Dorries told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there would be a mention of social care in the Queen’s Speech but that she was unable to give further details.
When asked last week the PM did not guarantee that proposals will be detailed in the speech, instead saying these will be brought forward in the “next few months”.
In a letter to the Chancellor and ministers for health, care and housing, the LGA says one-off Government grants and the social care council tax precept are “sticking plaster solutions” when long-term funding is needed.