THE QUEEN is getting ready to leave Buckingham Palace to open Parliament this morning, and will reveal Boris Johnson’s fresh law and order crackdown.
Her Majesty will deliver the Queen’s Speech just after 11.30am today with 22 new bills the PM hopes to push through Parliament.
It will include a raft of measures the Tories will use to start the firing gun on an election campaign, which is expected in the coming months.
But with Boris’ majority now in the negative figures, there’s a huge question over whether MPs will vote it through or not – and many of the bills may never become law.
“Getting Brexit done by 31 October is absolutely crucial,” Boris said ahead of today’s Queen’s Speech.
“But the people of this country don’t just want us to sort out Brexit… this optimistic and ambitious Queen’s Speech sets us on a course to make all that happen, and more besides.”
The speech is set to include:
BREXIT
The Government will introduce a bill on Brexit, to be pushed through before 31 October.
It will sign off a transition period too until 2021.
It will also include similar bills on agriculture and fishing to make sure that the right systems are in place for after we leave the EU.
IMMIGRATION
The Queen’s Speech will reveal more details of Boris Johnson’s plan for an Australian-style points based immigration system for after Brexit.
Freedom of movement will end after we leave.
NHS
A pledge to update the Mental Health Act.
Plans for an independent NHS investigations body with legal powers to improve patient safety.
CRIME
There will be tougher penalties for foreign national offenders who try to return to the UK after being deported.
And violent and sexual criminals will have to serve at least two thirds of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
Yobs who attack police will get even more time in jail.
TRAINS
Scrapping the franchising system of contracts.
Reforms to get trains to run on time and more simple fares system.
GRENFELL LAW
Plans for a new building safety regulator in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
The regulator could be able to apply criminal standards to building owners who break tough new rules.
ENVIRONMENT
A new environment bill is on the cards setting legally binding targets to reduce plastic and cut air pollution.
VOTER ID
Measures to tackle voter fraud are set to be revealed to cut the number of frauds.
What happens in today's Queen's Speech
THE ceremonial event will begin with the Queen’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster, during which she will be escorted by the army’s Household Cavalry.
The 93-year-old monarch will enter Westminster through the Sovereign’s entrance, located at the base of Victoria Tower, and move to robing room.
While wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State, she will lead the procession through the Royal Gallery to the House of Lords.
It is here that one of the more unusual traditions begins.
Black Rod, the House of Lords official, will summon the House of Commons to the Lords, but during this process the doors to the Commons chamber will be shut in her face.
It is a practice that dates back to the Civil War and is said to symbolise the Commons’ independence from the monarchy.
Black Rod will have to strike the door three times before it is opened.
Members of the House of Commons then follow Black Rod and the Commons Speaker to the Lords chamber to listen to the speech.
While sitting on the throne in the House of Lords, the Queen will read the Queen’s Speech, which is written by the Government.
Once the Queen leaves, Parliament will go back to work, with each house meeting separately to begin debating the content of the speech.
Four bills from the last session of Parliament are set to be carried over too – including legislation on domestic abuse, HS2 and the Commonwealth games.
The Queen’s Speech comes after Boris tried to shut down Parliament for five weeks last month.
But the Supreme Court overruled him and said it was null and void.
He then shut it down a second time last week – but only for a few days – so he can push through his plans for new laws.
The Sun says
MAKE no mistake, todays Queens Speech will bear no relation to what the Government expects it can actually achieve.
After all, it has no majority in Westminster, and is continually blocked by an unholy alliance of opposition MPs and Tory rebels putting political opportunism ahead of the national interest.
It will, instead, be a Conservative Party manifesto for a general election that surely cannot be far away.
There will be a barrage of eye- catching crime fighting initiatives; a promise of better-funded schools; the hope of a world-class infrastructure to help Britain prosper; and confirmation of greater investment in the NHS, thanks to the Brexit dividend.
It will be a tantalising glimpse of a brighter future, with long-neglected domestic issues finally getting attention.
But voters must know these are things they can look forward to only if two things happen. The first is Brexit. The second is the ending of this rotten parliament. Neither can come soon enough.
Expect hopeless puppet Jeremy Corbyn and those pulling his strings to try to block both.
