THE QUEEN'S SPEECH LIVE
'Backing everyone who wants to get on in life': Queen's Speech to promise bigger pensions, cheaper childcare and more rights for low paid workers
- Slimmed-down slate of 12 new Bills for the Coalition's last year in power will be revealed by Her Majesty today
- Labour today accused the Tories and Liberal Democrats of overseeing a 'zombie government' - one without new ideas
- But the Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg insist that after four years they are still reforming
- Big pensions changes on withdrawing lump sums and Dutch-style schemes will be introduced in Queen's Speech
Announcing the Coalition’s last year of law-making, the Queen said a key priority would be to ‘build an economy that rewards those who work hard’.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg admitted there is still a ‘long way to go’ to rebuild Britain, but insisted they have not run out of ideas after four years in power.
A slimmed-down slate of just 12 new bills include major pension reforms, tax-free childcare, help for small business and legal crackdowns on trafficking, criminal gangs and parents who starve their children of love.
But to the surprise of some, there is no new legislation on schools or the NHS and no mention of tackling immigration.
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Annual speech: Announcing the Coalition¿s last
year of law-making, the Queen said a key priority would be to ¿build an
economy that rewards those who work hard¿
Leaders: Prime Minister David Cameron stands
alongside his deputy Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband as they
listen to Her Majesty's speech
Arrival: Her Majesty and her husband entering
Parliament - this year her annual speech was delayed until today to
prevent a clash with the local and European elections
Grandure: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of
Edinburgh proceed through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of
Parliament today
In a moment of drama, a page boy appeared to collapse while the Queen was addressing MPs and peers.
Witnesses described hearing a 'loud thud' as a young member of the procession fell to the floor to the right of the throne.
Prince Charles and Camilla looked on with concern as footmen rushed to the boy's aid, before apparently carrying him out of the Lords chamber.
Amid the pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament, the government hopes to show that with another year until the general election it has not lost its reforming zeal.
In her address to the MPs and Peers, the Queen said: ‘My government’s legislative programme will continue to deliver on its long-term plan to build and stronger economy and a fairer society.
‘To strengthen the economy and provide stability and security, my ministers will continue to reduce the country’s deficit, helping to ensure that mortgage and interest rates remain low.’
The Queen travelled to the Palace of Westminster in a new state coach, which incorporates fragments of the Mary Rose, timber from the Western Front and a musketball from Waterloo.
After arriving in the Lords, Black Rod was sent to the Commons to summon MPs to hear the speech.
Labour MP Dennis Skinner, who has made a tradition of making a joke at this stage in the ceremony, today declared the raft of laws the ‘Coalition’s last stand’.
The government placed heavy emphasis on new efforts to help business, ease the squeeze on families, boost private pensions and crackdown on criminal gangs and people traffickers.
Fell ill: In a moment of drama, one of these
page boys appeared to collapse while the Queen was addressing MPs and
peers in the House of Lords
A major package of measures aimed at boosting the economy will ‘help make the United Kingdom the most attractive place to start, finance and grow a business’.
A Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will help small firms by ‘cutting bureaucracy and enabling them to access finance’ from the banks.
The government said it wants to ‘back entrepreneurs who run our small business – the backbone of our economy – and those who are looking for work’.
There will also be new rules forcing ministers to set a target for cutting red-tape, while delays in employment tribunals will be cut.
Low paid workers will get more protection, with £20,000 fines for employers who do not pay the minimum wage and a crackdown on abuses of zero hours contracts.
Big pay-offs given to public sector workers as ‘golden goodbyes’ will be clawed back if they get another state-funded job.
In a foreword to the Queen’s Speech, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg said they wanted to ‘secure the recovery for our country’.
‘We want a Britain that earns its keep and makes its way in the world, with a strong economy, a fair society and peace of mind for all that live here.’
There said their ‘guiding principle’ was to ‘back everyone who wants to get on in life’.
‘We may be two parties, with two different philosophies, but we understand one thing: countries rise when their people rise.
‘So this Queen’s Speech is unashamedly pro-work, pro-business and pro-aspiration.’
The Infrastructure Bill will offer new incentives to encourage the exploration of shale gas through fracking, including amending trespass laws to allow pipelines under private homes.
Official studies suggest the equivalent of an extra 3-4billion barrels of oil could be recovered over the next 20 years, worth £200billion to the economy.
The Highways Agency will become a government-owned company to better plan Britain’s roads.
The planning process will be speeded up, while public bodies and state agencies will free up land for house building.
All homes must be zero-carbon, but new rules will allow developers to off-set the environment impact of construction on a different site.
A ‘revolution’ in pensions forms the centrepiece of the Government’s final legislative programme.
The Pensions Tax Bill will allow people to withdraw their funds when they retire, instead of being forced to take out an annuity which pays a guaranteed income until they die.
Critics say it risks some people spending all of their nest egg at once, leaving them cash-strapped in their retirement.
But Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg said: ‘By no longer forcing people to buy an annuity, we are giving them total control over the money they have put aside over their lifetime and greater financial security in their old age.’
A separate Private Pensions Bill will create Dutch-style ‘collective schemes’ which allow members of a pensions fund to ‘pool risk’ and potentially increase incomes by up to 30 per cent.
While there is no new education bill, the Queen’s Speech did include existing commitments to open more Free Schools in England, continue the overhaul of GCSE and A level exams and provide free school meals to under-7s from this September.
Royal visit: The Queen and Prince Philip travel
in the new Diamond Jubilee State Coach to deliver her speech for the
State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords at the Palace of
Westminster today
As Black Rod entered the Commons to summon MPs
to hear the speech, Labour MP Dennis Skinner branded it ¿the Coalition¿s
last stand¿.
Pageantry: Her Majesty set off from Buckingham
Palace for Parliament in her glorious new Diamond Jubilee state coach,
which contains pieces of artefacts from throughout Britain's history
‘COALITION’S LAST STAND’ LABOUR MP SKINNER MAKES TRADITIONAL GAG
The
State Opening of Parliament is a day steeped in tradition and custom.
Some date back centuries, others – like Labour MP Dennis Skinner’s
annual quip - are more recent.
Today the 82-year-old MP for Bolsover did not disappoint, declaring the final bundle of laws until the election: ‘The Coalition’s last stand.’
There was much laughter from MPs on all sides.
Each year, Black Rod walks from the House of Lords to the Commons to summon MPs to hear the Queen’s Speech.
As he approaches the Commons, the door of the Chamber is slammed in Black Rod's face to demonstrate the supremacy of the Lower House over the Lords.
He knocks three times with his Black Rod, from which he derives his name, and is finally admitted.
He says: '’Mr Speaker. The Queen commands this Honourable House' - bowing to the left and to the right as he does so - 'to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers.'
At this point, almost every year since 1987, it has become something of a tradition that at this point Mr Skinner regularly provides a quip.
Last year he remarked ‘Royal Mail for sale. Queen's head privatised.’ And in 2006 he said: ‘Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?’
Today the 82-year-old MP for Bolsover did not disappoint, declaring the final bundle of laws until the election: ‘The Coalition’s last stand.’
There was much laughter from MPs on all sides.
Each year, Black Rod walks from the House of Lords to the Commons to summon MPs to hear the Queen’s Speech.
As he approaches the Commons, the door of the Chamber is slammed in Black Rod's face to demonstrate the supremacy of the Lower House over the Lords.
He knocks three times with his Black Rod, from which he derives his name, and is finally admitted.
He says: '’Mr Speaker. The Queen commands this Honourable House' - bowing to the left and to the right as he does so - 'to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers.'
At this point, almost every year since 1987, it has become something of a tradition that at this point Mr Skinner regularly provides a quip.
Last year he remarked ‘Royal Mail for sale. Queen's head privatised.’ And in 2006 he said: ‘Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?’
All families are promised nursery bills under the Childcare Payments Bill. Parents will receive tax relief on money spent on childcare, worth up to £2,000 per year per child to help them to ‘go out to work if they want to and provide security for their families’.
For every £8 that a parent pays for childcare, the government will pay £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 for each child.
It will be launched in autumn 2015 for all children up to the age of 12, scrapping a plan to limit it to under-5s in the first year.
A Modern Slavery Bill will ensure victims of trafficking forced into beg or the sex trade will escape prosecution.
People traffickers will face ‘suitably severe punishments for these appalling rims – including life sentences’, the government said.
Perpetrators will also have to pay compensation to their victims.
A new law will protect have-a-go heroes and volunteers if they are later sued. The Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill will ensure that ‘where a person acts heroically, responsibly or for the benefit of others, this will be taken into account by the courts’.
It follows fears that some people are put off volunteering or intervening to help those in need because of fears of being sued.
The Service Complaints Bill will improve the complaints system in the Armed Forces, creating a new ombudsman to stamp out bullying, harassment and discrimination.
A Serious Crime Bill will tackle child neglect, disrupt organised crime and increase powers to seize the proceeds of crime.
It includes a US-style anti-mafia law will prosecute lawyers, accountants and couriers who work for crime lords while paedophiles who download manuals on how to groom their victims to be treated like terrorists who possess bomb making guides.
There will also be tougher laws to tackle sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation, while a Cinderella Law will target parents who starve their children of love and affection.
There will also be new powers to deal with the threat from Britons returning home after fighting in Syria.
Corrupt MPs face being kicked out of the Commons under the Recall of MPs Bill.
New vehicle: The royal couple travelled in the
new Diamond Jubilee state coach, which features fragments of historic
buildings, objects and artefacts in its bodywork
House of Lords: The Lords wait for the Queen,
where her speech is delivered to the throne by the Lord Chancellor in a
special silk bag
House of Lords: Her Majesty waits as her speech is delivered to the throne by the Lord Chancellor in a special silk bag
It includes where an MP is jailed for less than 12 months or if the Commons votes for a recall petition.
The Wales Bill will offer more power over taxation and investment to Wales while ministers will continue to make the case for Scotland to remain in the UK ahead of September’s independence referendum.
The coalition remains split on Europe, with the Lib Dems refusing to back Tory calls for a law to be passed now guaranteeing an in-out referendum by 2017.
However, the Queen did say: ‘My government will work to promote reform in the European Union, including a stronger role for member states and national parliaments.’
Both parties want to see ‘red cards’ to allow national governments, working together, can block new laws from Brussels, and ‘green cards’ to allow member states to make changes to existing legislation.
There are three draft bills: to allow direct elections to the bodies which run national parks; to improve compensation paid to people and business who suffer losses caused by riots; and t tackle abuse of charities.
Tradition: The Yeomen of the Guard, the oldest
of the royal bodyguards always search the cellars of the Palace of
Westminster, a practice which dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of
November 5 1605
Defence: David Cameron and Nick Clegg have today insisted the Coalition was still taking 'bold steps' after four years in power
Brand new: The new Diamond Jubilee state coach
is being used for the state opening of Parliament for the first time and
is made up of items from throughout Britain's history
Symbolism: A part of the Stone of Destiny which is placed in a capsule beneath the seats in the new Diamond Jubilee state coach
and the panelling wood from the Mayflower, a rivet from the Flying
Scotsman, slivers of Scot's Antarctic sled, wood from Sir Isaac Newton's
apple tree and the beams of most of our great cathedr
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