State Opening of Parliament 2015

The State Opening of Parliament took place on Wednesday 27 May 2015. State Opening marks the formal start of the new 2015-16 parliamentary session. The primary purpose of this colourful state occasion is to set out the Government's legislative agenda in the Queen's Speech.

The State Opening of Parliament is the most colourful event of the Parliamentary year.

It is also the most important, because it brings together the three elements of the legislature (the House of Commons, the House of Lords and The Queen). The ceremony therefore represents the Crown in Parliament.

As Head of State, it is the duty of The Queen formally to open each new session of Parliament.

Her Majesty has only missed two Opening of Parliament ceremonies during her reign. The first time was in 1959 when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and the second in 1963 when she was expecting Prince Edward.

After the introduction of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, the State Opening of Parliament takes place every year in May.T

 Before The Queen travels to Parliament from Buckingham Palace, certain traditional precautions are observed.

A detachment of The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard searches the cellars of the Houses of Parliament.

This tradition dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes was arrested whilst preparing to blow up Parliament. Today, the Yeomen of the Guard continue this historic search, in addition to the security checks by police.

Another tradition is the 'hostage' MP, a Government whip who is held at Buckingham Palace to guarantee the safe return of the monarch.
The custom dates back to centuries when the monarch and Parliament were on less cordial terms.

Once these precautions have been taken, The Queen travels from Buckingham Palace in a State coach to the Palace of Westminster, usually accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Imperial State Crown travels in its own carriage, ahead of The Queen, escorted by Members of the Royal Household.

On arrival, The Queen puts on the Imperial State Crown and her parliamentary robe ready for the ceremony itself. This takes place in the House of Lords.

Some 250 representatives of the House of Commons are summoned by Black Rod, who acts as The Queen's Messenger.

By tradition, the door of the House of Commons is slammed in Black Rod's face. It is then reopened to enable Black Rod to convey the Sovereign's summons to the Speaker.

This tradition is a reminder of the right of the Commons to exclude everyone but the Sovereign's messengers.

No monarch has set foot in the Commons since Charles I entered the Commons and tried to arrest five Members of Parliament in 1642.

Spectators can view the procession to Parliament from Buckingham Palace in The Mall and Whitehall.

The ceremony is also broadcast live on BBC television.

SOURCE:  OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE BRITISH MONARCHY
http://www.royal.gov.uk/RoyalEventsandCeremonies/StateOpeningofParliament/State%20Opening%20of%20Parliament.aspx

Scottish devolution: What next for Scotland?

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-32810553

As the new majority Conservative government gets down to business, the BBC's Hayley Jarvis looks at the plan for Scotland and what might happen next.

 27 May 2015

What powers are heading to the Scottish Parliament?

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During the election campaign Conservative leader David Cameron pledged to give more powers to Scotland within 100 days of winning the election. He promised to create "the strongest devolved government anywhere in the world with important powers over taxation".
These new powers for Scotland were outlined in the Queen's Speech.
The Scotland Bill will be based on recommendations made by the Smith Commission - the cross-party group formed after the independence referendum to look at what additional powers might be handed to Scotland.
If the legislation makes it over the usual parliamentary hurdles, new powers will include;

• setting income tax rates and bands
• controlling a proportion of VAT raised in Scotland
• fully controlling air passenger duty
• creating new benefits in devolved areas and making discretionary welfare payments
• managing the assets of the Crown Estate

In addition, the Scottish Parliament has already been given the power to extend voting to 16 and 17 year olds in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections.


Is everyone happy with the proposals?

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The Scotland Bill will be based on draft legislation, or a "command paper", which was published by the previous Tory/Lib Dem coalition government in January. But a committee of MSPs at Holyrood, where the SNP is in government, said the powers plan "fell short" of recommendations made by Smith Commission.
SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had called for a new Scotland Bill that would go beyond Smith.
She wants additional powers, including control of:

• National Insurance
• the minimum wage
• Corporation Tax
• full control of welfare and employment
• trade union law

None of these feature in the forthcoming Bill which is one of 21 proposed by the majority Conservative government.
Nevertheless, the Scottish government will be seeking assurances that UK ministers cannot veto any of the powers already promised to Scotland in the draft legislation, such as changes to benefits.
Full fiscal autonomy - the responsibility for all areas of tax and spending except defence and foreign affairs - remains a key goal for the SNP, but not yet.
During an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr, Ms Sturgeon said she would be pressing the Prime Minster to give Scotland greater financial control, but "clearly that will take a number of years to implement".

Why is it important that David Cameron delivers on this?

Just two days before people in Scotland cast their votes in the Scottish independence referendum, the leaders of the three Unionist parties - David Cameron (Conservatives); Ed Miliband (Labour) and Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) - made a public "vow" to give Holyrood more powers.
On 18 September 2014, the electorate voted 55% to 45% against independence and Mr Cameron promised the day after the referendum that if he won the 2015 General Election he would deliver the "vow".

Would David Cameron go further in the future?

The general election saw the SNP win 56 of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats which prompted party leader Ms Sturgeon to pledge that her MPs would provide the loudest ever voice for Scots in the House of Commons.
Following the election, Mr Cameron met with Ms Sturgeon who called their talks "constructive and business like".
While the PM has said he would look at "sensible suggestions" for more powers, he has given no indication he would go beyond Smith.
The new Scottish Secretary David Mundell has also said he believed the Smith proposals were the "right package" for the country.
He too signalled the UK government would be prepared to listen to calls for more powers, but as part of usual parliamentary procedures.

What's the story for England, Wales and Northern Ireland? 

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After the Scottish independence referendum, Mr Cameron made a speech outside No 10 Downing Street in which he said the UK needed, not only a new deal for Scotland, but for the "millions of voices in England" to be heard. So, what has happened since September last year?

• ENGLAND - Before the election, Mr Cameron tasked the then Leader of the Commons William Hague to draw up plans enabling only English MPs to vote on English matters. During the election campaign, Mr Cameron pledged that an English rate of income tax would feature in the first budget of new Conservative government. This Queen's Speech outlined that changes would be made to the standing orders of the House of Commons -basically the rules that govern the way laws are passed - ensuring that only MPs representing English constituencies could vote on legislation affecting England alone.
• WALES - The new government's programme details further devolution of powers to Wales, including a new reserved powers model to clarify the division of powers between the Welsh Assembly and parliament. The assembly will also be given more powers over energy, transport and local government elections in Wales.
• NORTHERN IRELAND - Devolution of powers has been suspended and reinstated several times since its Assembly was created following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It has control over areas such as agriculture, education, health and social services, economic development and the environment and in March 2010 an agreement was passed to transfer powers of justice and policing. Although there is no big devolved power heading to Northern Ireland, a Bill is in the pipeline which will provide for full and independent investigations into "unsolved Troubles-related deaths".