Peter Vaines explains the Queen’s speech
Knock knock knock! Was this the porter from Macbeth or a reference to For Whom the Bell Tolls? Actually it was Black Rod knocking at the door of the House of Commons, but the message was the same.
Come in number 99 your time is up. Gordon Brown did not look happy.
He should have been.
This was effectively the first speech of the election campaign and he had the Queen of England reading it for him. She did not look very happy about it either but she is much too polite to say so.
The State Opening of Parliament is one of our great state occasions dating back to the 16th century. It encapsulates centuries of tradition and the relationship between the Monarch and Parliament.
It culminates in the delivery of the Queens Speech when the Monarch outlines the governments programme for the coming session. However, this was never going to be a speech of substance.
There is practically no chance that anything mentioned in the
