The forthcoming session of Parliament will last for two years as it was announced that there will be no Queen’s speech in 2018.

The move was justified in anticipation of a swathe of Brexit legislation that will be brought forth before the UK formally withdraws from the EU in March 2019. According to Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House of Commons, this will give MPs more time to scrutinise proposed laws.

Some, however, have criticised the decision and suggested that the prime minister is worried that by the time the next Queen’s Speech comes around it may not have the support of a majority of MPs. Another issue is that the government’s legislative programme will not be subject to scrutiny and more controversial proposals will be eased through.

I decided I was going to be shit at my job for the next 2 years so I told my boss I cancelled my annual review. #QueensSpeech #jc4pm

— Whatwouldthefoxsay (@WWTheFoxSay) June 18, 2017

At the risk of appearing as a sceptic, the government’s reasoning feels rather weak. Brexit negotiations have already been disrupted because of an election that was called by the Conservatives and it is not really clear how much time will be saved in 2018 by the decision.

In an ideal world next year’s Queen’s Speech would have been a good opportunity to review where we are with Brexit on the domestic front and to carefully consider a path forward ahead of concluding negotiations.

If the prime minister, however, thinks that the cancellation will mean less scrutiny of both Brexit plans and her own premiership then that is wishful thinking. Getting rid of this pit-stop will not remove the yellow flags being waved by the opposition, her own MPs and the press every step of the way.