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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Queen's speech 2017: Dodds tells Commons DUP 'will vote to strengthen union' – as it happened

Queen’s speech debate.

That’s all from us today - thanks for reading and do join us again on Thursday.

For all of the day’s political stories click here for the Guardian’s Politics page.

Of the interviews Boris Johnson has done tonight, the toughest was with Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4’s PM in which he struggled to explain the key points of the Queen’s speech, repeatedly pausing and saying “hang on a second” as he could be heard rifling through papers.

Johnson was asked about what measures the speech contained to tackle the “burning injustices” that have been identified by Theresa May.

Mair began by asking the MP what the Queen’s Speech would do to tackle discrimination against black people in the criminal justice system - a problem identified by the prime minister when she took office last year.

Johnson replied hesitantly: “Well, there are measures, I believe, in the bill on the courts which I think is supposed to address some of those issues. I think one thing in particular that we are looking at is measures to ... hang on a second ... there are all sorts of measures that we want to take to ensure that we do not discriminate against everybody.”

Theresa May faces a fresh constitutional battle with the Scottish government after conceding that the Holyrood parliament could be allowed to vote on her Brexit plans.

Speaking as she debated the Queen’s speech at Westminster, the prime minister said her government was considering whether to offer Holyrood the right to vote on the repeal bill that will enact the UK’s departure from the EU.

Scotland’s Brexit minister, Mike Russell, warned May that his government would ask the Scottish parliament to vote against that so-called legislative consent motion unless it was happy with its main measures.

That threatens to open up a series of conflicts between Westminster and Holyrood over which powers and policies now controlled in Brussels would be handed to Holyrood, and to the devolved parliaments in Cardiff and Stormont, and which would be kept in Whitehall.

More here:

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson. Photograph: Niklas Halle'N/AFP/Getty Images

Boris Johnson has had a busy evening - as well as Sky News he’s also been on Radio 4’s PM and now Channel 4 News, where he claimed that Brexit could be finalised in two years with no transitional deal.

“What I certainly think we can do is get the best of both worlds,” the foreign secretary said. That would mean “frictionless, tariff-free trade”, while “also being able to do free trade deals”.

On Tuesday chancellor Philip Hammond stressed the importance of transitional arrangements to avoid a “cliff edge” Brexit, including the maintenance of “frictionless” customs union border arrangements for an “implementation period” after leaving the EU. But Johnson said today: “I think we have got to come out of the customs union.”

Asked if that meant in 2019 he said “yes”, but added: “Obviously there will be discussion about how long it will take to get the free trade deal. I think you can do it fast.”

Johnson, regarded by some as a potential successor to Theresa May, insisted he was not about to challenge her for the Tory leadership. Asked if he was ruling out standing for the leadership until Brexit was delivered in 2019, he said: “Yes, we have got to get on and deliver on the priorities of the people.”

Updated

Emmanuel Macron.
Emmanuel Macron. Photograph: Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images

Emmanuel Macron has given his first interview since being elected as French president last month. He tells the Guardian and seven other European papers that “pragmatism will determine our new relationship” with Britain.

Asked if the door really remained open for Britain to go back on Brexit – after his recent remarks, taken as an encouraging sign by opponents of a hard Brexit, that there may be room for compromise – Macron said: “The door is open until the moment you walk through it. It’s not up to me to say it’s closed. But from the moment things are engaged with a timescale and an objective, it’s very hard to go back, we can’t lie to ourselves.”

Macron was firm on the Brexit negotiation process that began this week. He said: “I want the discussions that have just started to be perfectly coordinated at a European level. I do not want bilateral discussions, because the interests of the EU must be preserved in the short, medium and long term.”

Updated

Some interesting comments on Brexit from Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary and MP for Sutton Coldfield.

Speaking in the Queen’s speech debate in the Commons, he calls for an end to “undue noises off” about Brexit negotiations so that David Davis can get on with it undisturbed.

However, he then adds that the scope should be widened so business can to contribute their expertise to the Brexit talks.

And in a slightly sinister tone, Mitchell reminds his Tory colleagues that if there is seen to be an economic cost to the country from Brexit, “the eyes of the electorate will narrow” and the consequences at the ballot box will be severe.

Updated

A rare cross-party tribute in the Queen’s speech debate in the Commons.

Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East, paid tribute for former chancellor George Osborne for introducing a “sugar tax” before he decided to step down as an MP earlier this year.

Vaz also quipped: “He’s not gone to the other place ... but a higher place - the editorship of the London Evening Standard.”

Dodds says the DUP is about strengthening the union, delivering Brexit, defending the country and creating prosperity for Northern Ireland.

He ends his speech by saying his party will therefore act and vote in accordance with those goals over the next five years of this parliament.

Dodds tells the House: “Strengthening the union must be one of the overarching aims of this government.”

The country has voted for Brexit and this parliament must deliver it, Dodds says. He welcomes the drive to find sensible solutions to problems such as land border with the republic.

When people voted for Brexit, they voted to leave the single market and the customs union, and Nothern Ireland must do likewise, he says.

There cannot be borders between Northern Ireland and rest of UK, and the DUP wants “as frictionless a border as possible” with the republic.

Dodds begins by saying it is “sad” that some elected MPs from Northern Ireland do not take up their seats in Westminster and represent their constituents accordingly.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s Westminster leader and MP for North Belfast, has just started speaking in the Commons.

Updated

More from Boris Johnson, who tells Sky News that no one is pretending that the Tories got the election result we wanted. Neither was there everything in the Queen’s speech the the government would have liked, but he maintained that the legislative programme was still “very considerable”.

The foreign secretary also said the government has to get Brexit “done well” and that people need to be “more positive and optimistic” about the UK’s prospects once the country leaves the European Union because those prospects are “considerable”.

Johnson also seemed to suggest that the controversial visit by President Donald Trump will go ahead later this year. He says a date was not mentioned in the Queen’s speech today because a date is yet to be agreed with the White House.

Updated

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has been on Sky News and Beth Rigby, Sky’s chief political correspondent, tweets:

Number 10 has said that some parts of what used to be called the “great repeal bill” (in the Queen’s speech it is just the “repeal bill”) will need legislative consent in Scotland. That would mean the Scottish parliament getting to vote on them.

This is a consequence of what is known as the Sewel convention, which says the Westminter parliament should not legislate on matters devolved to Scotland without the Scottish parliament’s approval.

Tom Newton Dunn, the Sun’s political editor, responded by tweeting this.

William Bain, a former shadow Scottish secretary, took issue with him.

Newton Dunn then clarified the position with this tweet.

However, it is not entirely clear what would happen if the Scottish parliament tried to block aspects of the “repeal bill”. This Commons briefing paper (pdf) says Westminster could over-ride the Scottish parliament.

If, as the white paper implies, the bill provides for a continuing effect in respect of EU law on devolved matters, then this would imply that consent motions would be required from the devolved legislatures so long as the government chooses to abide by the Sewel convention. This is because the UK parliament would still be legislating on devolved matters, even though the effect would be to preserve the status quo.

Equally if, on the other hand, the bill changed any existing EU law on devolved matters, then it would also be doing something that usually brings the Sewel convention into play.

However, the Sewel convention, even in its statutory form, includes a rider that the government will not “normally” legislate with regard to devolved matters without consent.

The briefing also says the supreme court in the article 50 case ruled that the Sewel convention was not legally binding. The court said it was “a political convention that does not give rise to a legal obligation that can be enforced in the courts.”

That’s all from me for today.

My colleague Chris Johnston is taking over now.

Updated

Downing Street claims that the Salisbury convention - which says the Lords will not vote against measures in the manifesto of the governing party - will apply to the Queen’s speech. The prime minister’s official spokesman told journalists:

The convention reflects the primacy of the House of Commons as the elected chamber. The view of government lawyers is, as it stands, the Salisbury convention would apply in relation to the manifesto and the House of Lords.

The abolition or radical slashing of air passenger duty (APD) is back on the agenda in the Democratic Unionist-Tory negotiations aimed at putting a minority Conservative government in power.

DUP and airline sources in Northern Ireland confirmed on Wednesday that APD is one of the demands the Ulster party is making in its discussions with both Downing Street and Treasury officials. Graham Keddie, the managing director of Belfast international airport, said the removal of the tax would have a profoundly positive effect on the local economy.

All three of the region’s airports – BelfastiInternational, George Best/Belfast City and City of Derry airport – have to complete with Dublin airport, which has no APD because it was abolished in the Irish Republic.

Keddie said:

I’m delighted the DUP realises the harm that the tax is doing, and is working to persuade the government to do what’s right. Mrs Foster and her negotiating team have our wholehearted backing, and my hope must be that they are successful.

A reduced APD would help us compete more effectively with the Republic of Ireland. Airlines would add very significant additional capacity into the market and more than 1,000 new jobs would be created.

APD is putting a brake on further substantial investment by airlines but if the tax was cut or, ideally, axed, we’d see a massive increase in passenger numbers. That, in turn, would push us up the rankings where new airline and route possibilities would be opened up not only for Northern Ireland passengers, but passengers from the entire northern half of the island of Ireland.

We await developments in London with keen interest.

Airline industry sources believe the total abolition of APD would bring a million new passengers through local airports and create more than 1,000 new jobs.

Updated

Corbyn v May verdict

The most perceptive intervention came from the Labour MP Toby Perkins. Comparing the MPs returning to parliament with pupils returning to school after the summer holidays, he told Theresa May:

I couldn’t help but notice, as the prime minister and the leader of the opposition went off to listen to the humble address, to think back to when I was at school and I didn’t see people for six weeks. And then they came back and you thought ‘has she shrunk, or has he grown?’

The answer, obviously, is both, but Jeremy Corbyn was the figure who seemed most transformed. Until the general election campaign his performance in the Commons as Labour leader had been mixed. He had had some good PMQs, but his speeches in debates had generally been underwhelming.

Jeremy Corbyn criticises Theresa May’s ‘threadbare’ legislative programme – video

Today, as a direct result of what happened in the election, he was a much more substantial figure. You might argue that the sort of things he was saying this afternoon were the things he was saying 12 months ago, but your standing as a politician depends on whether people are listening to your arguments and taking them seriously, and today that was happening in a way it just wasn’t before

It helped that his speech was polished, with all the anger of his campaign rallies distilled into parliamentary language, and a nice, withering passage about the emptiness of the Queen’s speech. This will be the first parliament in which Corbyn is sure to be a commanding figure.

And May, obviously, is diminished. But not totally crushed. With expectations low, she actually managed to strike the right note. She offered a proper apology to the Grenfell Tower survivors. She said at one point she was speaking with “humility”. (Number 10 press released this last night, but there was some doubt as to whether she would actually say it.) She told a self-deprecating joke about her failure to win a majority. And she took a great many interventions.

May apologises for government response to Grenfell Tower fire – video

In the Sun on Monday, Trevor Kavanagh, the paper’s well-connected former political editor, said that May “tearful and distraught, doesn’t want to stay” and that her husband “can’t bear to see her suffering”. But she did not look like that this afternoon; she was “just about managing”, to coin a phrase.

What was really, striking, though is how the comprehensively the May project has collapsed. At one point she launched into an argument she has used many times before about how the EU referendum was a vote for change and how she wanted to make the country work for everyone. There was a genuine, “red Tory” May agenda that went with this (even if, when she was forced to make hard policy choices, she could not always deliver).

But Mayism has now disappeared, because there was none of this left in what was, essentially, a lowest common denominator Queen’s speech. May must know this, although in her speech today she claimed otherwise. It all smacked of wishful thinking.

Updated

May is winding up now.

She says Britain has faced tough challenges before and thrived.

The Queen’s speech will not solve every problem. Not every problem can be solved by an act of parliament. But this government is determined to build a better future, she says.

And that’s it. Her speech is over.

I will be posting more on the Corbyn and May speeches shortly.

May says she will not be following Labour’s policies.

There is nothing fair about punitive taxes that cost jobs and push up prices.

And there is nothing fair about wracking up debts for the next generation, she says.

This is from the Independent’s John Rentoul.

And this is from Sky’s Beth Rigby.

John Penrose, a Conservative, asks May for an assurance that she will press ahead with plans for a cap on energy bills.

May says she is determined to address the issue of energy prices.

Labour’s Kevin Brennan calls May the “interim prime minister”. He asks how May can negotiate Brexit with the EU if she cannot negotiate a deal with the 10 DUP MPs.

May ignores the DUP point and pays tribute to David Davis’s work as Brexit secretary.

Labour’s Wes Streeting says May turned the election into a vote on her leadership. Since she did not win a majority, when will she go?

May points out that the Tories got more votes than Labour.

What Theresa May said in her Grenfell Tower apology

May apologises for government response to Grenfell Tower fire – video

Updated

The Green party’s Caroline Lucas congratulates Theresa May for turning up, unlike during the election, when she did not turn up to the leaders’ debates. Yet there is nothing about climate change in the Queen’s speech. Is that because she has been influenced by the DUP “dinosaurs”.

The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson uses a point of order to complain about Lucas calling the DUP “dinosaurs”. He says the DUP’s energy policy represents what people in Northern Ireland want.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says the term “dinosaur” is not unparliamentary. He says dinosaurs survived for very many years.

Updated

May says the EU referendum vote was not just a vote to leave the EU. It was a vote to change the way the country is run.

She says this Queen’s speech marks the beginning of a programme to make sure the country works for everyone.

Updated

May says “with humility and resolve” she will attempt to tackle the problems facing the country in the national interest.

She says she took action on stop and search, even though Labour did not.

And she says the government is committed to a racial disparities audit.

May says it is good that more young people voted in the general election, even if they did not vote for her party.

She says that Jeremy Corbyn fought a spirited campaign, and came a good second.

The Labour MP Toby Perkins says he recalls being at school. You would come back after the holidays and look at other people and think, ‘Has he shrunk or have they grown?”

May chooses not to respond.

May pays tribute to Jo Cox and Sir Gerald Kaufman, the two MPs who died over the past year.

And she thanks Richard Benyon and Kwasi Kwarteng for their speeches. Kwarteng wrote a book about the first female prime minister’s worst six months. His next book (about May’s worst six months) may be longer, she jokes.

Updated

The “day of rage” protest is getting a little tense, according to the Mirror’s Andy Lines.

Updated

May apologises for how Grenfell Tower survivors were let down by her government

May turns to Grenfell Tower.

She says the support offered to families afterwards was not adequate.

That was a failure by the state, local and national, she says.

She apologises for that.

(May said on Saturday that the response to Grenfell Tower was “not good enough”, but at the No 10 briefing yesterday her spokesman refused to say whether May was referring to central government as well as local government when she made that comment. Now she is accepting central government – ie, her government – was at fault.)

UPDATE: Here is the full quote.

Updated

Labour’s Pat McFadden asks May if she accepts that abolishing control orders when she was home secretary was a mistake.

May says control orders, introduced by Labour, were increasingly being knocked down by the courts. The government replaced them with Tpims (terrorism investigation and prevention measures) and those have been enhanced. The government will now look at giving the police further powers, she says.

Labour’s Seema Malhotra asks May if she will reverse police cuts.

May says she has protected counter-terrorism policing, and is spending more on armed police. And she says the government protected police budgets.

(Malhotra is speaking about the period from 2010. May is talking about from 2015. That is why their comments appear to contradict each other.)

Updated

Theresa May's speech

Theresa May is speaking now.

She starts by offering her best wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh.

And she joins Jeremy Corbyn in condemning the attack at Finsbury Park. She praises Corbyn, who is the local MP, for working through the night to deal with it.

She summarises the proposals in the Queen’s speech to tackle extremism.

Maria Miller, a Conservative, uses a point of order to complain about Corbyn not taking interventions. Jacob Rees-Mogg, another Conservative, says Corbyn said some time ago that he was winding up, but has not finished.

Jeremy Corbyn says he has taken questions from Tory and Labour MPs.

He says Labour will obstruct the government. It is a government in waiting with a policy programme.

And that’s it.

Updated

Corbyn says Labour would end austerity by making different choices. It would ask big business and the rich to pay a little more.

Austerity is a choice. It is a choice to make life worse for the many to protect the lifestyle of a few, he says.

Austerity and inequality are choices, they are not necessities; they are not unfortunate outcomes.

They are a choice to make life worse for the many to maintain the privilege of the few.

He says this is a government without a majority, without a mandate, without a programme, led by a prime minister trying to stitch together a deal to keep her government together.

Updated

Corbyn asks if the government’s domestic violence plans include restoring legal aid for victims.

Will the government abandon the public sector pay cap?

Some nurses have been forced to use food banks, he says.

Public servants and those earning below the living wage deserve better.

Labour won almost 13m votes, he says. That is because it offered hope.

Theresa May said she would have lost the election if she lost just six seats. But she lost four times that many to Labour alone.

Corbyn says by no stretch can the government be described as strong and stable.

If you want to improve pay, the best way to do that is to have effective trade unions. So Labour would repeal the Trade Union Act, he says.

Updated

Corbyn says what happened in Grenfell Tower is terrifying. It shows what happens when you cut local authority spending to the bone.

He says the residents were ignored when they raised questions about fire safety, and ignored by a Conservative-controlled council.

We cannot have public housing and public services on the cheap, he says.

John Prescott, the Labour former deputy prime minister, thinks Corbyn is being treated as a prime ministerial figure.

Corbyn says the last home secretary (Theresa May) accused the police of crying wolf when they complained about police cuts.

He says he hopes the prime minister will undo the mistakes made by the previous home secretary.

Police budgets have suffered a £2.3bn cut in recent years, he says.

He says firefighters did an outstanding job at Grenfell Tower. But they worked very long hours, because their numbers have been cut by 600. He says Boris Johnson cut their numbers when he was mayor of London.

He asks for an assurance that the government will make emergency funds available to enable councils to check cladding and install sprinklers.

Corbyn says the Human Rights Act must remain completely intact.

Labour wants powers over agriculture repatriated from Brussels to be given to the devolved assemblies.

Corbyn asks May to update MPs on whether President Trump will visit the UK any time this year, or any time in the future.

Updated

Asked what Labour’s position is on the single market and the customs union, Corbyn says it has been absolutely clear; he wants tariff-free access to the single market.

Corbyn says the UK is leaving the EU.

But the government could have opened negotiations on a better footing by guaranteeing EU citizens the right to stay. He hopes the government will consult parliament more.

Andrew Bridgen, the Tory MP, asks Corbyn to rule out a second referendum on Brexit.

Corbyn says he would negotiate an exit deal and then bring it back to the Commons.

No deal is not better than a bad deal, he says. He says having no deal would be a very bad deal.

Immigration policy must be decided by what the economy needs. It should not be determined by Lynton Crosby’s “dog-whistle” politics, or by hate campaigns run by sections of our national press who are so patriotic they are based in tax havens.

Updated

Corbyn is now thanking the two MPs who gave the opening speeches.

He tells Benyon that his mother was at Greenham Common, and that he visited her there.

He jokes about being glad Benyon had time to be here. Benyon was able to take time off from looking after his property, he says. (Benyon is a major landowner.)

Turning to the Queen’s speech, he says it would be a thin Queen’s speech for a one year session. But it is supposed to cover two years.

Corbyn says he welcomes what is not in it. There is no mention of abandoning the triple lock, or taking the winter fuel payment away from pensioners. The social care plans aren’t included. And there is nothing in it about scrapping free school meals for infants.

Theresa May also seems to have dropped plans to extend grammar schools, he says.

And he says there seems to be good news for “our furry friends”. Will May confirm that she does not plan to ban fox hunting?

Jeremy Corbyn's speech

Jeremy Corbyn is speaking now.

He says by tradition he starts the debate by paying tribute MPs who have died. But he must also commemorate those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire. At least 79 people have died. Something went terribly wrong, he says. This must not be allowed to happen again.

He says the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester were terrible. Hate has no creed, and violence no religion.

Last night, at Finsbury Park, people from all communities met to show their opposition to violence.

Jo Cox was murdered a year ago by someone driven by hate. Jo was driven by love, he says.

And he pays tribute to Sir Gerald Kaufman who died earlier this year too.

The Tory/DUP talks process looks set to run and run. According to Ulster TV’s Ken Reid, we may have to wait until next week for a resolution.

Kwarteng (a leave supporter) says the repeal bill will be a great landmark in the constitutional history of our country.

He says the last few months have been horrific. He never expected to see barriers on Westminster bridge.

The appalling scenes in West London will never be forgotten, he says.

It is in a sombre mood that he commends the gracious speech, he says.

And that’s it.

Kwasi Kwarteng, a Conservative backbencher, is speaking now. He says his great-great-grandfather never received a letter from Disraeli.

It is nice to come back and see everyone in their place, he says.

When the election result was declared, there were gasps of despair and deep disappointment. And that was just the parliamentary Labour party.

A government was formed. And we could follow it all in the strictly impartial pages of the Evening Standard.

He says his parents were immigrants from Ghana. His mother never expected to see him become an MP.

(I’m not so sure about that. He was a scholar at Eton.)

Updated

Benyon says too often MPs, and the people who report on them, are obsessed with the politics of Brexit. He says his constituents are more interested in the reality of Brexit.

He says he voted remain. But we have to make the best of it, he says. He says he wants to be part of a parliament that made it work.

He says at time the problems they face seem massive. But MPs have a means of keeping themselves grounded. They can visit an inspring school or charity, or speak to someone like a veteran, as he did. It is the “quiet but determined doers” he meets regularly who make him optimistic, he says.

He says 27 years ago John Major spoke about creating “a nation at ease with itself”. He says the resonated with him a lot.

And that’s it. He has finished.

Benyon jokes that Greenham Common in his constituency has made it a regular tourist destination for the leader of the opposition.

And he refer to his constituency, Newbury, being wealthy. Someone once joked that deprivation in West Berkshire is when Waitrose runs out of balsamic vinegar, he says.

But is not all like that, he says. He praises Theresa May for saying she wanted to make Britain fairer in her first speech as prime minister.

Richard Benyon, the Conservative former environment minister, is now moving the humble address to the Queen (a thank you note to her for turning up this morning).

He starts by speaking about the “terrible tragedies” that have hit the UK recently.

He says he is not the first Benyon to be asked to move the loyal address. His great, great grandfather was an MP. But he never spoke in the Commons. He was asked to move the loyal address in 1879, but turned down the invitation from Disraeli.

Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, moves a motion giving the speaker the power to appoint three temporary deputy speakers until full-time ones are elected.

John Bercow, the speaker, starts, as is customary, by reading out a spiel about what is effectively the MPs’ code of conduct.

It is a bit like the emergency evacuation instructions at the start of a flight. For example, Bercow has just said MPs should wear their passes when they are in the parliamentary estate. Very few of them every do ...

This is from Labour’s Ian Austin.

Queen's speech debate

The Queen’s speech debate is about to start.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, has been touring the broadcast studios following the Queen’s Speech. The former Tory leadership contender was asked on the BBC’s World at One whether she might stand again. She replied: “That’s an entirely hypothetical question”, adding fuel to speculation that the prominent Brexiteer is manoeuvring for the top job.

Leadsom added that she did not have a “crystal ball” over the question of whether Theresa May would still be in place in 2019, but that it was her “sincere hope” that she would be.

Leadsom also claimed that the Tories will balance books “by the end of the parliament” - despite them not being committed to it until the middle of the next decade.

Interviewed later by Adam Boulton on Sky News, Leadsom contrasted the Conservatives economic policies with those of Labour and said: “My absolute hope and determination would be to keep this government going.”

Here is my colleague Polly Toynbee on the Queen’s speech.

The debate on the Queen’s speech will start at 2.30pm. For MPs it is very much “the first day of term” and the debate tends to combine a broad argument between government and opposition about policy with quite a lot of good humour, and tributes to MPs who have died.

By tradition the debate is opened by two government backbenchers, a veteran and a rising star. Today they are (respectively) Richard Benyon and Kwasi Kwarteng.

After the 2010 and the 2015 general election the highlights of the state opening debate were the speeches from Harriet Harman. As acting leader of the Labour party she was standing in for first Gordon Brown and then Ed Miliband, and she basically gave the same speech, advising new MPs to speak out and to make a fuss. It was a version of a speech she gave to new MPs at an induction session in 2010. She writes about it in her autobiography, A Woman’s Work, and it is worth posting at length.

Remembering the lack of encouragement I was given [when I was a new MP], I urged them to be bold, telling them to ignore whips and senior members, who would inevitably tell them to keep their heads down, that they had to learn the ropes for at least 10 years. I said that they, having been elected, were not apprentice MPs or trainee MPs but the real thing. As the one and only MP for their constituency, they counted every bit as much as an MP who might have been there for decades; they had to blaze a trail so their constituents could see them fighting on their behalf. I told them there was no right or wrong way to be an MP. They would do it differently from the way in which we’d done it in the past and each of them had to do it in the way they felt was best. They should not get too worried about the complex rules of speaking in the chamber; the important thing was to get their own voice heard, in their own way ...

I urged the new MPs to be high profile - there was no point in being an anonymous MP: everyone would be keen to see what they were doing and everything they did would matter. I told them that the previous week in my constituency I’d met a young woman coming out of the supermarket with a child in a buggy. She stopped me to tell me that I’d helped her mother when she was a child. One action, taken three decades ago, was still valued and had been passed on to a third generation. I warned the new MPs that they were not ‘only a backbencher’: as an MP, they held a public office and everything they did would be scrutinised. I said it was a noble thing to be an MP, something to be proud of, and they should remember to enjoy it. No doubt because of the excitement of being newly elected, they cheered wildly.

A Woman’s Work is a wonderful memoir, honest and inspiring. I’d recommend it highly.

To coincide with the Queen’s speech, the Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary is holding a “day of rage” protest.

Protesters march towards Westminster during a “day of rage” anti-government protest organised by the Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary.
Protesters march towards Westminster during a “day of rage” anti-government protest organised by the Movement for Justice By Any Means Necessary. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

My colleague Nadia Khomami is with them.

Updated

Here is the Press Association on how this year’s Queen’s speech was a dress-down affair.

The stripped-down Queen’s speech still offered a ceremony bursting with pomp and parliamentary pageantry as Theresa May sought to lay out her programme forgovernment.

As temperatures soared outside, peers donned their traditional red robes, trimmed with ermine, while bishops and wig-wearing judges jostled together in the House of Lords chamber for the speech, watched by representatives from nations including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, France and Germany.

Eschewing her traditional ceremonial robes for a royal blue hat and coat, the Queen was preceded to her golden throne by peers carrying the Cap of Maintenance and the Great Sword of State, symbols of the sovereign’s power and authority.

May’s husband Philip was in the gallery to watch as the crown, which was chauffeured to the Palace of Westminster in its own car, was brought into the Lords chamber and placed on a cushion on top of a table to the right of the Queen.

In an unusual turn of events, the Prince of Wales accompanied the Queen to the state opening as her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, is being treated in hospital for an infection.

Updated

Here is my colleague Jonathan Freedland on what he thinks the Queen’s speech should have said.

Four of the major teaching unions have put out a rare joint statement reacting to the Queen’s speech, accusing the government of “not listening to voters” over school funding in England.

The statement reads in part:

The problems in schools and sixth form colleges are real and immediate. £2.8bn has been cut from school budgets in the last two years. Schools are struggling to afford materials, sending out begging letters to parents and even considering closing earlier in the day to save money.

Today was a golden opportunity for the new government to show they’ve understood the scale of the problem in education funding by announcing immediate plans to provide the additional funding needed. The lack of urgent action is deeply disappointing.

The suggestion that government guidance to schools on financial health and efficiencies is the answer when schools are so starved of funds, will be greeted with dismay by all the school staff and school governors who are working so hard to protect pupils from the damaging cuts.

But the statement - signed by the general secretaries of the Association of School and College Leaders, National Association of Head Teachers, National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers - also welcomed the culling of attempts to open more grammar schools, saying the government failed to produce “a shred of evidence” to support the move.

Updated

DUP sources are casting doubt on claims they are demanding £1bn for the NHS and a further £1bn for infrastructure (see 12.02pm) as part of their deal with the Tories.

The same sources have some interesting things to say about the Queen’s speech. They told the Guardian that it was “worth noting” that much of what is in an otherwise thin speech sits with the DUP’s last election manifesto.

In national terms they say the 2% spend on defence and the military covenant were “key planks in our manifesto”.

DUP sources also point out that there was no mention of winter fuel payments being means tested and no removal of the triple lock on pensions. These proposals were in the Tory manifesto, but the DUP has pledged to oppose them.

Updated

Here is my colleague Adam Vaughan, the Guardian’s energy correspondent, on the omission of the energy price cap from the Queen’s speech. (See 11.42am.)

Whether or not the Queen deliberately chose to give her speech in a hat bedecked with EU colours, there is no doubt about the sharp reduction in her government’s swagger over Brexit.

Even its key enabling legislation is no longer called the “great” repeal bill, having seen the bragging prefix quietly dropped in favour of a more circumspect-sounding “repeal bill”. Legal purists may have always intended to strip away the political spin once it headed closer to the statute book, but the symbolism is as stark as the yellow stars on her majesty’s blue hat. In the white paper published in March, it was referred to 36 times as “great”, but not once in the 80 pages of notes published alongside the Queen’s speech.

More significant signs of growing hesitancy were apparent in the government’s explanation of what the bill was intended to do. While insisting it would “allow for a smooth and orderly transition as the UK leaves the the EU”, there was an important new caveat. “The bill does not put any constraints on the withdrawal agreement we will make with the EU and further legislation will be introduced to support such an agreement if and when required,” insisted the government in its executive summary.

In the context of a furious battle within the Conservative party over the type of Brexit that should be pursued, the “no constraints” line is recognition that, as David Davis is now fond of saying, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. For those, such as chancellor Philip Hammond, who would prefer to see a lengthy transition phase before Britain leaves the single market, this clause is a reminder that it could take more than a few days for the ink to dry on the goatskin parchment of the Queen’s speech.

The electronic version of the document appears to have been an even more last-minute affair. Eagle-eyed readers spotted that the document containing the government background note appears to have been created at 11.30pm the night before the speech and was still being amended two hours before release.

Updated

Here is Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, on the Queen’s speech.

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.

Updated

Some reports are noting that Jeremy Corbyn did not bow to the Queen as he entered the Lords ahead of the Queen’s speech, styling this as a snub from the long-time republican. Theresa May did give a brief bow.

Jeremy Corbyn not bowing to the Queen.

However, a source close to the Labour leader argues that it is May who got the protocol wrong, and that traditionally, only the officials at the head of the procession do so.

Footage of the May 2016 state opening of parliament shows that neither David Cameron or Corbyn bowed, so Labour might seem to be correct on this.

David Cameron not bowing to the Queen.

The Evening Standard splash is highlighting the fact that the Queen’s speech did not commit the government to getting annual net migration below 100,000. George Osborne, the Standard’s editor and the former Tory chancellor, is strongly opposed to the target and wants the government to ditch it.

But the Standard seems to be reading too much into the fact that the target did not get a mention. The prime minister’s spokesman has insisted the government is sitting to the Conservatives’ manifesto target of cutting immigration to the tens of thousand.

Asked at a briefing with journalists why it was not specifically mentioned in the Queen’s Speech, he said:

It’s not disappeared; we are absolutely committed to that. The prime minister has said it may take some time to achieve it, but that commitment remains, and there is in the Queen’s Speech an immigration bill which will allow us to have control over the numbers who enter from the European Union, and that’s obviously an important piece of work towards hitting the target.

Here is my colleague Dan Roberts, the Guardian’s Brexit editor, on the Queen’s speech.

Dan is referring to this line in the official notes on the Queen’s speech.

The [repeal] bill does not put any constraints on the withdrawal agreement we will make with the EU and further legislation will be introduced to support such an agreement if and when required.

Summary of bills in the Queen's speech

The government briefing document accompanying the Queen’s speech lists 21 full bills proposed by the government and three draft ones, as well as saying that three finance bills are in the pipeline. So we are talking about 27 bills in total.

Here is a full list of the bills.

Brexit legislation (9 bills)

These are the bills that will implement Brexit.

A repeal bill - This will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and transpose current EU laws into UK law, to ensure legal continuity when the UK leaves the EU.

A customs bill - This will replace EU customs rules and allow the UK to impose its own tariffs after Brexit.

A trade bill - This will allow the UK to operate its own trade policy after Brexit. This may face opposition from those MPs determined to keep the UK in the EU customs union.

An immigration bill - This will allow the UK to set its own immigration policy.

A fisheries bill - This will enable the UK to take control of its fishing waters after Brexit and to set fishing quotas.

An agriculture bill - This will set up a system to support farmers after Brexit takes them out of the common agriculture policy.

A nuclear safeguards bill - This will set up a nuclear safeguards regime to compensate for the fact that Brexit will take the UK out of Euratom, a separate treaty governing safety in the civil nuclear power industry.

An international sanctions bill - This will allow the UK to continue applying international sanctions, because after Brexit it will no longer be bound by EU sanctions policy.

An EU (approvals) bill - This is a technical bill, implementing changes to treaties involving the EU, the UK and non-EU countries.


Consumer legislation (5 bills or draft bills)

These are bills intended to help consumers. They tend not to be party political, and ministers hope they will be popular.

A draft tenant’s fees bill - This will ban landlords from charging tenants “letting fees”.

A civil liability bill - This will tighten the rules on whiplash claims, and the government says this could save motorists £35 a year through cheaper car insurance as a result.

A data protection bill - This will update data protecting laws, including giving people the right to force social media companies to delete information held about them at the age of 18.

A travel protection bill - This will update travel protection law involving ATOL (the air travel organisers’ licence) so that it applies properly to the online travel market.

A goods mortgage bill - This will modernise the law on goods mortgage lending.


Vanilla legislation (7 bills or draft bills)

These are also bills that are relatively non-political. They are the sort of measures that could just as well turn up in a Labour Queen’s speech.

A draft domestic violence and abuse bill - This will establish a domestic violence and abuse commissioner and set out a legal definition of domestic abuse.

A financial guidance and claims bill - This will tighten the regulation of claims management companies, and create a new organisation offering financial advice, replacing the three existing publicly-funded bodies providing financial advice.

A space industry bill - This is intended to make the UK an attractive place to launch commercial satellites.

An automated and electric vehicles bill - This will set up a network of charging points for electric cars and make insurance compulsory for self-driving cars.

A courts bill - This will modernise courts, and stop domestic violence victims being cross-examined directly by their alleged abusers in family courts.

An armed forces bill - This will allow flexible working in the armed forces.

A draft patient safety bill - This will set up an independent health service safety investigation body.


Continuity legislation (6 bills)

These are bills the government has to pass just to carry on with normal government, or with decisions already taken

A high speed rail (West Midlands to Crewe) bill - This will allow HS2 to be build from the West Midland to Crewe.

A smart meter bill - This will enable the government to continue the roll-out of smart metering.

A national insurance contributions bill - This will legislate for changes to national insurance contributions announced in 2016.

Three finance bills - These will implement budget decisions.

Updated

Here is footage of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn talking as they headed to the Lords to hear the Queen’s speech.

This is about the only time in the parliamentary calendar when you see the prime minister and the leader of the opposition having to make small talk. They know they are on camera. When Gordon Brown was prime minister, he tended to put on a minor show of dominance by talking at David Cameron at some length, as if to show who was in charge. I seem to remember Cameron trying the same trick with Ed Miliband.

May and Corbyn started off in awkward silence, as if they were ignoring each other. At this point May seems to be asking Corbyn if he arranged for his wife to watch the Queen’s speech from the gallery. Corbyn says he should have arranged tickets and didn’t, and grimaces in mock embarrassment.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn

My colleague Anushka Asthana is discussing the Queen’s speech now on a Guardian Facebook live stream.

Updated

Brandon Lewis, the Home Office minister, has just told the BBC that nothing should be read into the fact that the Queen did not mention President Trump’s proposed state visit. (See 11.46am.) He said the invitation had been made and accepted. It was not mentioned because a date for it has not been fixed, he said.

Here is the 82-page government briefing note on the speech (pdf), containing the text of the speech and all the background notes to the proposed bills prepared by government departments.

Updated

The proposed Tory deal with the DUP won’t come cheap, according to the latest briefing from Northern Ireland. This is from the BBC’s Norman Smith.

The Queen has now left parliament. As Dennis Skinner pointed out earlier, she is now off to Royal Ascot, an engagement she will probably enjoy much more. She is said to like horses much more than parliamentarians.

(It is not that she doesn’t like parliamentarians, at least as far as we know. But she is really, really passionate about horses.)

Updated

That was the 64th time the Queen has delivered the Queen’s speech, according to the BBC’s Huw Edwards.

She concludes:

Members of the House of Commons

Estimates for the public services will be laid before you.

My lords and members of the Commons

Other measures will be laid before you.

I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

Analysis: The bit about “estimates” (spending) is only addressed to MPs because peers do not vote on budgets. The final line is the customary reminder that, despite this being a list of things the government plans to do, life changes, the unexpected happens, and governments always end up introducing new bills they had not planned at the time of the Queen’s speech.

She goes on:

My ministers will ensure that the United Kingdom’s leading role on the world stage is maintained and enhanced as it leaves the European Union.

As a permanent member of the United Nations security council, committed to spending 0.7% of national income on international development, my government will continue to drive international efforts that increase global security and project British values around the world.

My government will work to find sustainable political solutions to conflicts across the Middle East. It will work to tackle the threat of terrorism at source by continuing the United Kingdom’s leading role in international military action to destroy Daesh in Iraq and Syria. It will also lead efforts to reform the international system to improve the United Kingdom’s ability to tackle mass migration, alleviate poverty, and end modern slavery.

My government will continue to support international action against climate change, including the implementation of the Paris agreement.

Prince Philip and I look forward to welcoming their Majesties King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain on a state visit in July.

My government will host the Commonwealth summit in April next year to cement its relevance to this, and future generations.

Analysis: The Queen does not mention President Trump making a state visit. That is the closest we have come to official confirmation of Patrick Wintour’s Guardian story – which has not been denied – about Trump telling Theresa May that he does not want to come “until the British public supports him coming”. Which means he could be waiting some time …

Updated

She goes on:

My government will bring forward proposals to ensure that critical national infrastructure is protected to safeguard national security.

A commission for countering extremism will be established to support the government in stamping out extremist ideology in all its forms, both across society and on the internet, so it is denied a safe space to spread.

In the light of the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, my government’s counter-terrorism strategy will be reviewed to ensure that the police and security services have all the powers they need, and that the length of custodial sentences for terrorism-related offences are sufficient to keep the population safe.

She goes on:

A new law will ensure that the United Kingdom retains its world-class regime protecting personal data, and proposals for a new digital charter will be brought forward to ensure that the United Kingdom is the safest place to be online.

Legislation will also be introduced to modernise the courts system and to help reduce motor insurance premiums.

My government will initiate a full public inquiry into the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower to ascertain the causes, and ensure that the appropriate lessons are learnt.

To support victims, my government will take forward measures to introduce an independent public advocate, who will act for bereaved families after a public disaster and support them at public inquests.

My ministers will continue to invest in our gallant Armed Forces, meeting the Nato commitment to spend at least 2% of national income on defence, and delivering on the armed forces covenant across the United Kingdom.

Analysis: The Queen is referring to a data protection bill, which will implement the Conservative manifesto proposal to allow people to force social media companies to delete information held about them at the age of 18. There will also be a courts bill, which will stop domestic violence victims being directly cross-examined by their perpetrators in the family courts, and a civil liability bill, to make the system for personal injury compensation payments fairer.

And there will be an armed forces (flexible working) bill to allow flexible working arrangements in the armed forces.

Updated

She goes on:

My ministers will work to improve social care and bring forward proposals for consultation.

My government will ensure fairer markets for consumers, this will include bringing forward measures to help tackle unfair practices in the energy market to help reduce energy bills.

A priority will be to build a more united country, strengthening the social, economic and cultural bonds between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

My government will work in cooperation with the devolved administrations, and it will work with all of the parties in Northern Ireland to support the return of devolved government.

Analysis: The Queen says the government will bring in measures to cut energy bills. This is a reference to one of the high-profile Tory manifesto promises, for a cap on energy bills. But, interestingly, the government is not promising a bill on this, or even a draft bill. It has been reported that Philip Hammond, the chancellor, wants May to ditch this plan, and all that is being promised is a green paper on the subject (not even a white paper, a more definitive consultation document) and the government is saying it might help people on poor-value tariffs by getting the regulator to act instead of by legislation. The plan for a price cap may will be ditched.

She goes on:

My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

Legislation will be brought forward to protect the victims of domestic violence and abuse.

My Government will reform mental health legislation and ensure that mental health is prioritised in the National Health Service in England.

Proposals will be brought forward to ban unfair tenant fees, promote fairness and transparency in the housing market, and help ensure more homes are built.

Analysis: The Queen is referring to the draft domestic violence and abuse bill and the draft tenants’s fees bill which were publicised by the government in the note they released overnight. (See 9.15am.)

She goes on:

My government will continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded. My ministers will work to ensure people have the skills they need for the high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future, including through a major reform of technical education.

The national living wage will be increased so that people who are on the lowest pay benefit from the same improvements in earnings as higher paid workers. My ministers will seek to enhance rights and protections in the modern workplace.

She goes on:

My government will continue to improve the public finances, while keeping taxes low. It will spread prosperity and opportunity across the country through a new modern, industrial strategy.

My government will work to attract investment in infrastructure to support economic growth. Legislation will be introduced to ensure the United Kingdom remains a world leader in new industries, including electric cars and commercial satellites. A new bill will also be brought forward to deliver the next phase of high-speed rail.

Analysis: We knew we were leaving Europe. But are we really heading for space in the hope of forging a new trade deal?

The Queen is referring to a space industry bill. Sadly, it’s not a Liam Fox initiative, but something mainly to do with making the UK an attractive place to launch commercial satellites. But it will also licence spaceflight, including rockets, which may cover Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic – a new service for those not deterred by their experience of the east coast mainline.

The Queen is also referring to an automated and electric vehicles bill, which will set up a network of charging points for electric cars and make insurance compulsory for self-driving cars. There will also be an HS2 bill allowing HS2 to be build from the West Midlands to Crewe.

Updated

She goes on:

My ministers will strengthen the economy so that is supports the creation of jobs and generates the tax revenues needed to invest in the National Health Service, schools, and other public services.

She goes on:

A bill will be introduced to repeal the European Communities Act and provide certainty for individuals and businesses. This will be complemented by legislation to ensure that the United Kingdom makes a success of Brexit, establishing new national policies on immigration, international sanctions, nuclear safeguards, agriculture, and fisheries.

My government will seek to maintain a deep and special partnership with European allies and to forge new trading relationships across the globe. New bills on trade and customs will help to implement an independent trade policy, and support will be given to help British businesses export to markets around the world.

Analysis: The Queen starts with the issue that will dominate parliamentary business over the next two years and here she refers to eight separate pieces of legislation that will implement the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. They are:

A repeal bill - This will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and transpose current EU laws into UK law, to ensure legal continuity when the UK leaves the EU. Ministers used to refer to it as the “great repeal bill”, but now it has just become the “repeal bill”. (Parliamentary clerks don’t let ministers include propagandist language in the official titles of bills.)

A customs bill - This will replace EU customs rules and allow the UK to impose its own tariffs after Brexit.

A trade bill - This will allow the UK to operate its own trade policy after Brexit. This may face opposition from those MPs determined to keep the UK in the EU customs union.

An immigration bill - This will allow the UK to set its own immigration policy. The government is saying that free movement will go but, beyond saying that the new system will be “fair and sustainable”, it does not seem to be giving any new details today of what will be in the legislation. This is likely to be of the most contentious bills of the session.

A fisheries bill - This will enable the UK to take control of its fishing waters after Brexit and to set fishing quotas. But the government does not seem to be saying anything new today on the tricky issue of what compromises it might strike to allow EU boats to fish in UK waters.

An agriculture bill - This will set up a system to support farmers after Brexit takes them out of the common agriculture policy. But the government seems to be saying almost nothing today about how it will operate, or how generous it will be.

A nuclear safeguards bill - This will set up a nuclear safeguards regime to compensate for the fact that Brexit will take the UK out of Euratom, a separate treaty governing safety in the civil nuclear power industry.

An international sanctions bill - This will allow the UK to continue applying international sanctions, because after Brexit it will no longer be bound by EU sanctions policy.

The Queen delivers the Queen's speech

The Queen is now giving her speech.

My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union. My ministers are committed to working with parliament, the devolved administrations, business and others to build the widest possible consensus on the country’s future outside the European Union.

MPs head for the Commons chamber, led by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. Normally the PM and leader of the opposition exchange small talk, but May and Corbyn are mostly ignoring each other.

Black Rod is in the Commons now summoning MPs to attend the Queen in the Lords.

Like Black Rod, another ancient fixture of our constitution is the Labour MP Dennis Skinner, a republican, who by tradition always makes a joke at this point. This time it’s rather a good one – a reference to the fact the Queen is heading for Royal Ascot later.

Get your skates on. First race is at half past two.

Updated

The Queen and Prince Charles.
The Queen and Prince Charles. Photograph: BBC

The Queen in the royal gallery of the Lords.
The Queen in the royal gallery of the Lords. Photograph: BBC

This is the royal gallery in the Lords.

Royal gallery.
Royal gallery. Photograph: BBC/Royal gallery in the House of Lords

The Queen is in the building. Prince Charles is with her.

Members of the Household Cavalry arriving at parliament earlier for the state opening.
Members of the Household Cavalry arriving at parliament earlier for the state opening. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/AP

The Queen is leaving Buckingham Palace now for the state opening.

The crown has already arrived. (See 11.19am.)

Here is Theresa May leaving No 10 earlier for the Queen’s speech.

Updated

The Democratic Unionist party’s ruling executive is scheduled to meet in Belfast on Thursday evening, adding to expectations that a deal might be completed tomorrow with the Conservatives.

Some DUP sources are indicating that they are “95% there” regarding an arrangement with the Tories that would shore up a minority Conservative government. The DUP executive would be expected to rubber stamp any deal the party negotiators seal with Theresa May and her team.

They also dismissed reports in the local press today that it was Northern Ireland Office officials who were holding up the deal being discussed with Downing Street. The sources said there had been some problems with the Treasury in regard to concessions the DUP is seeking for the Northern Ireland economy, including the abolition or radical cutting of air passenger duty tax. The DUP is still due to allow its 10 MPs to back the Queen’s speech when it is put to a vote in the House of Commons next week.

Yesterday the DUP said it “would not be taken for granted” in the discussions and complained that the negotiations were not proceeding as they had expected –political code for frustration in the party that Downing Street officials were mishandling the talks in London.

Updated

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s crown is driven to the state opening of parliament.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s crown is driven to the state opening of parliament. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Here is more on the Duke of Edinburgh. This is from the Press Association.

The Duke of Edinburgh has been admitted to hospital as a ‘precautionary measure’ for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition, Buckingham Palace said.

Philip was supposed to be accompanying the Queen to the state opening of parliament on Wednesday but his place has been taken by the Prince of Wales.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII hospital in London last night, as a precautionary measure, for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition.

“Prince Philip is in good spirits and is disappointed to be missing the state opening of parliament and Royal Ascot.

“The Prince of Wales will accompany the Queen to the state opening.

“Her Majesty is being kept informed and will attend Royal Ascot as planned this afternoon.”

Updated

The Press Association has just snapped this.

The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital last night as a ‘precautionary measure’ for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition, Buckingham Palace said.

Updated

Theresa May's head of policy at No 10 quits

John Godfrey, head of policy at No 10, is leaving, BuzzFeed is reporting. The Guardian has had the news confirmed.

This is from the BuzzFeed story.

Following the disastrous June election result for the Conservatives, Theresa May’s joint chief of staff – and longtime key advisers – Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy resigned, while the Financial Times revealed last week that Godfrey’s deputy at the policy unit Will Tanner was departing.

When Theresa May announced her snap election, No 10 director of communications Kate Perrior and prime minister’s spokesperson Lizzie Loudon also announced their departures.

The flurry of departures mean virtually none of the top team brought into No 10 by Theresa May just 11 months ago now remain.

Updated

The Queen’s speech will include plans for “a publicly funded advocate to act on behalf of families involved in a Hillsborough-style tragedy”, PoliticsHome is reporting.

Updated

Damian Green, the first secretary of state (in effect, the deputy PM) told the Today programme this morning that there was still “every possibility” of the Conservatives striking a deal with the DUP, my colleague Peter Walker reports.

Updated

A fitter putting down a carpet last week at the Sovereign’s Entrance gate in the House of Lords in preparation for today’s state opening.
A fitter putting down a carpet last week at the Sovereign’s Entrance gate in the House of Lords in preparation for today’s state opening. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Sir Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former communications chief, has just started tweeting. Theresa May once made him the subject of a surprisingly brutal public joke, and he does not seem minded to be complimentary about her PR efforts.

McDonnell says Tories have no right to govern

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, told the Today programme this morning that the minority Conservative government has “no right to govern” and that it should stand aside to let Labour run the country. He said:

[The Conservatives] haven’t got an overall majority. So, yes, they have got the right to bring forward their own programme, but I don’t believe, actually, that they are legitimate in the sense that they have got a mandate that they asked for.

We are now in a situation where I don’t think they have got the right to govern. However, they are now bringing forward their programme. We’ll seek to amend it. I think there is such disarray now, in the interest of the country, they should stand down and give Labour the opportunity of forming a minority government.

They have actually junked the manifesto on which they fought the election, so they have now got no manifesto.

Overnight Number 10 listed four bills that will be in the Queen’s speech. Here they are.

A civil liability bill - This will tighten the rules on whiplash claims, and the government says this could save motorists £35 a year through cheaper car insurance as a result. It says:

[The bill} will will address the rampant compensation culture and reduce the number and cost of whiplash claims by banning offers to settle claims without the support of medical evidence and introducing a new fixed tariff of compensation for whiplash injuries with a duration of up to 2 years.

A financial guidance and claims bill - This will tighten the regulation of claims management companies, and create a new organisation offering financial advice, replacing the three existing publicly-funded bodies providing financial advice. The government says:

The bill will strengthen the regulation of claims management companies by transferring the regulatory responsibility to the Financial Conduct Authority, and ensuring the FCA has the necessary powers to implement a robust regulatory regime, including a duty to cap fees. This will help tackle widespread malpractice across the claims management companies sector, such as nuisance calls and encouragement of fraudulent claims.

A draft domestic violence and abuse bill - This will establish a domestic violence and abuse commissioner and set out a legal definition of domestic abuse. The government says:

It will also ... create a consolidated new domestic abuse civil prevention and protection order regime; and ensure that if abusive behaviour involves a child, then the court can hand down a sentence that reflects the devastating life-long impact that abuse can have on the child.

A draft tenant’s fees bill - This will ban landlords from charging tenants “letting fees”.

It’s the state opening of parliament, but a slimmed-down, ceremony-lite, pomp-free version. The Queen will be arriving at the House of Lords in a car, not a carriage, and she won’t even be wearing the imperial state crown. Apparently that’s because the snap election meant there was a clash with other royal pageants, like Trooping the Colour, and so the Household Cavalry or whoever would not have had time to practice for it. But it is hard not to read this as a verdict on the quality of our governance. After all, if Theresa May couldn’t secure a majority, why should the Queen see fit to bother with a crown.

According to the briefing released overnight, May acknowledges her failure to win the election outright. The Number 10 press notice quotes her saying:

The election result was not the one I hoped for, but this government will respond with humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent. We will work hard every day to gain the trust and confidence of the British people, making their priorities our priorities.

But that was a “prime minister said” quote from the press release, not a “prime minister will say” quote - ie, a quote on paper, not something actually she has actually said. Whether or not she will use the word “humility” remains to be said.

The Queen’s speech list the bills the government hopes to pass over the next session of parliament, lasting (unusually) two years. It will be dominated by Brexit measures. Otherwise interest will focus on what is in (May’s non-Brexit priorities, and proposals that are non-contentious) and what’ out (anything for which there is not a Commons majority, which includes most of the headline measures in the Tory manifesto).

Here is our overnight preview story.

Here is the timetable for the day.

11.25am: MPs assemble in the Commons before processing to the Lords to hear the Queen’s speech.

2.30pm: MPs begin the Queen’s speech debate, with the main opening speeches coming from Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another after the Davis/Barnier press conference.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

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