{"id":70613,"date":"2016-05-17T08:27:18","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T08:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ee3235155f7c18996833154526c887bb"},"modified":"2016-05-17T08:27:18","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T08:27:18","slug":"news-story-queens-speech-explainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=70613","title":{"rendered":"News story: Queen&#8217;s Speech explainer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>The Queen\u2019s Speech takes place at the start of each Parliamentary session and forms the central part of the State Opening of Parliament. It sets out the government\u2019s policies and proposed legislative programme for the new parliamentary session.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Black Rod knocks on the door to the Commons\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/52451\/960BlackRodParliamentCopyrightJessicaTaylor.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption>Copyright UK Parliament \/ Photography by Jessica Taylor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It is given in the presence of members of both Houses, the Commons being summoned to hear the speech by an official known as \u2018Black Rod\u2019.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"who-writes-the-speech\">Who writes the speech<\/h2>\n<p>Although the speech is delivered by the Queen, the content of the speech is entirely drawn up by the government and approved by the Cabinet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Queen delivers the speech. It is written by the government and sets out its agenda for the parliamentary year\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/52449\/QueensSpeechParliamentCopyrightHouseofLords2015PhotographyRogerHarris.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption>Copyright House of Lords 2015 \/ Photography by Roger Harris. Parliamentary copyright.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-happens-after-the-speech-is-given\">What happens after the speech is given<\/h2>\n<p>Following the State Opening, the government\u2019s programme is debated by both Houses. In the Commons the first motion is that the House send an address to the Queen thanking her for the speech.<\/p>\n<p>The subsequent debate, which lasts several days, is a chance for MPs to speak on any matter of government.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arrival of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Sovereign\u2019s Entrance\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/52454\/QueenArrivalParliamentCopyrightHouseofLords2015PhotographyRogerHarris.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption>Copyright House of Lords 2015 \/ Photography by Roger Harris. Parliamentary copyright.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-the-process-is\">What the process is<\/h2>\n<p>The State Opening of Parliament takes place when Parliament reassembles after a general election, and then at the start of each new Parliamentary session.<\/p>\n<p>The Queen drives in state from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. The Imperial State Crown, the Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance are transported to London by coach ahead of her. Only the monarch can call a Parliament together and no business can take place until the Queen reads her speech.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arrival of the Imperial State Crown\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/52456\/ParliamentCopyrightCrown.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption>Copyright House of Lords 2015 \/ Photography by Roger Harris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"further-information\">Further information<\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.royal.gov.uk\/\">The British Monarchy<\/a><br \/>\n<a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/\">UK Parliament<\/a><br \/>\n<a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/number10gov\/sets\/72157629592295094\/\">Flickr: The Queen and her Prime Ministers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Find out more about the Queen&#8217;s speech: who writes it, what the process is and what happens after the speech is given.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}