We have been here before. Gordon Brown announced in July most of the legislative plans revealed on Tuesday. As an agenda for Mr Brown’s first term as UK prime minister, they amounted even then to a solid rather than ambitious programme. The addition of an English language requirement for migrants from outside the European Union looks like an opportunistic bolt-on. If these are the plans that would have loomed large in the Labour manifesto for the November election that never was, then Mr Brown’s judgement in ducking that contest – albeit at political cost – is vindicated.

The prime minister was right to tear up more than 100 years of Westminster tradition dictating that the Queen reveals the government’s list of bills at the start of the parliamentary year. There was, therefore, little chance that the proposals would receive the same welcome reheated that they did when fresh. That said, there are still some worthwhile measures in the mix, such as reform of the planning regime for large infrastructure projects, and moves to reduce the regulatory burden on business.