The Queen's Speech

Today, proposed new laws will be described in the Queen’s Speech to ensure the UK builds back better and stronger from the pandemic.

  • The government's new legislative programme will be focused on supporting the nation’s recovery. Now more than ever the NHS is our top priority – tackling backlogs and improving patient care is at the heart of that.
     
  • And to we further to unite and level up the country; delivering on the promises made to the British people in the Conservative manifesto, the government will be:

    • Supporting jobs, businesses and our economy;
    • Creating safer streets and neighbourhoods;
    • And working to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, for a cleaner, greener UK.
       
  • Today’s Queen’s Speech will not only address the legacies of the pandemic, but will go further to unite and level up the country, spreading opportunity across the country as we build back better.

Comments

Gary Bullivant said…
Ah yes, good old "Build Back Better". A cliche whose time has finally come.

The idea is as old as the hills but in recent times the UN has adopted it and, because English is the working language of nearly all UN development and reace building operations, encapsulatyed it in a catchy thre word alliteration. It was in use before 2006 in Liberia, where colleagues brought it from Java and then took it on to Haiti and beyond. It is closely linked with the UN Strategic Development Goals and saw service in West Africa with Ebola as reported here by UNDP.

"July 27, 2017

While supporting ongoing efforts to reach zero cases and GO BEYOND ZERO in the future, UNDP is supporting respective government counterparts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help the three most affected countries 'build back better'. We do so, by supporting them to mitigate the impact of future crises, by starting early to focus on early recovery and achieve a rapid return to sustainable development pathways in the next 6-18 months."





10:48 am
Chris Whiteside said…
It has been used by current political leaders the world over, yes.

I cannot see that this is a problem.
8:46 pm
Gary Bullivant said…
It's only a problem if the Prime Minister claims credit for it as a slogan first identified by his government. Which he did.
11:40 am
Gary Bullivant said…
Oh, and it's a cliche so the overuse eventually devalues the semantic message it seeks to convey to those who hear it.
12:18 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Nonsense.

I've heard him joke on live TV about the fact that governments all over the world are using the slogan. Didn't sound like he was claiming exclusive credit to me.
11:50 pm
garyb said…
Who said anything about exclusivity? It was originality he was claiming in his joking G7 intervention.

"Boris claims Joe Biden 'nicked' his 'building back better' slogan at G7 Summit"

I'm saying they all nicked it from the United Nations and for some of us it's already a cliche that only serves to highlight that what usually happens when it is deployed in hope is that things usually go back to pretty much the way they were. But without the overt and extensive violence in my experience I'm delighted to say.

8:59 am
Chris Whiteside said…
In the immortal words of Plautus:

"If a thing is spoken in jest it is not fair to turn it to earnest."
4:29 pm
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