Bring the country together to get the best Brexit deal for Britain say the Liberal Democrats

Theresa May should ask all parties to come together and negotiate the best possible Brexit deal for the whole country rather than pressing ahead with their extreme version of Brexit despite failing to get a mandate for it from the British people and a continued lack of clarity over the Brexit this government is pursuing means, say the Liberal Democrats.

What does success look like? What does a bad deal look like? Nobody knows, because the government's plan is as clear as mud, and the only detail we've had are empty platitudes.

The Government today has presented the country with a number of so-called Brexit bills: immigration, customs, agriculture. But how on earth can we be expected to support these things when we have no idea of the end goal? It would be dangerous for us to support these Brexit bills without full details of what they mean for our borders, our trade, our security and our jobs.

The minority Tory government has announced 24 bills and a further 18 non legislative measures today in the Queens Speech.

Missing from the speech were previous promises made by the Tories during the election:

* Grammar schools - unnecessary and divisive
* Pension triple lock - which is Liberal Democrats policy
* Fox hunting free vote - unnncessary and divisive
* Ending free school meals - which would have hit the poorest hardest

Commenting on the Queen's Speech, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:

"This slimmed down Queen's Speech shows a government on the edge.

"Having dropped everything from the Dementia Tax to fox hunting I assume the only reason they have proposed a Space Bill is so they can shoot their manifesto into space and pretend it never existed.

"People up and down the country are seeing our schools and hospitals in crisis. Proposed Tory cuts will leave our children in overcrowded classes in underfunded and crumbling schools, the sick left on trolleys in hospital corridors and the vulnerable without the vital services they rely on. This speech is bereft of any real solutions to these issues.

"The only thing that stayed the same was the Tory obsession with Brexit. Instead of tearing up our membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union, with all the consequences that will have for the economy, jobs and prices, they should be trying to bring the country together."