Labour values on display in the Queen’s speech

I am at an event of great pomp, majesty, ancient tradition.

Peter Mandelson is giving us an off-camera briefing at Labour’s HQ near Victoria Station on what the Queen’s speech really means. (Actually, he hasn’t changed into his noble robes but admits he is looking forward to it.)

He says the programme of government to be read out by the Queen at 11.30 proves that it has not run out of ideas.

He says this Queen’s speech is not about “dividing lines” but about “the people”.

He says the Tories are behaving as if they’ve already won the election. Yvette Cooper, John Healey and Andy Burnham are also speaking. A lot of the briefing is about the government’s record in managing the recession and minimising the pain, less about the forward offer beyond 2010.

Peter Mandelson says the electorate should look at the Labour values on display in the Queen’s speech.

He says Ed Balls – reported to be putting in for a 4 per cent real-terms budget increase – is on the record talking about being focused on re-prioritising spending in his department making efficiencies to put frontline services first (a swipe?).

It sounded like the Business Secretary just signalled an end or scaling back of the trade credit guarantee scheme (not much used) to be announced in the PBR.

He says he’s “not the Minister for Information” and has “quite enough titles” as it is.

They are now showing us a party political broadcast to be transmitted tonight… Labour’s role in the history of social justice from Keir Hardie to Gordon Brown.

I wondered whether a repeat so soon in the schedule was a sign money is really tight.

But I hear Labour has been focus-grouping it and that jaded voters, cynical about whether politicians ever achieve anything, said it reminded them – images of suffragettes, the end of apartheid, Northern Ireland – that they sometimes do.

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