{"id":4527,"date":"2015-05-27T17:56:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T16:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=4527"},"modified":"2015-05-27T17:56:14","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T16:56:14","slug":"cameron-outlines-plans-in-queens-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/cameron-outlines-plans-in-queens-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameron outlines plans in Queen\u2019s Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cameron<\/a>Britain\u2019s first all-Conservative government in two decades unveiled its plans for power Wednesday, including laws to hold a referendum on European Union membership, give Scotland more autonomy and toughen immigration policies.
\nThe list of proposed legislation was read by Queen Elizabeth II at the State Opening of Parliament, an annual blend of politics and pomp replete with gilded throne, diamond-studded crown and officials in antiquated garb.
\nIt follows a May 7 election that unexpectedly gave Prime Minister David Cameron\u2019s center-right Conservatives a parliamentary majority \u2014 and with it the power to implement a political agenda without coalition compromises.
\nThe Queen\u2019s Speech, delivered by the monarch but written by the government, included legislation to cap welfare benefits, freeze some taxes for five years and hold a vote on EU membership by the end of 2017 \u2014 all key Conservative election promises.
\nThe queen said the government would adopt a \u201cOne Nation approach, helping working people get on.\u201d
\nThe speech promised legislation to cut red tape for small businesses and freeze income and sales tax rates until 2020. There was also a right-to-buy plan to help thousands of tenants become homeowners.
\nThe unemployed face a lower cap on benefits, while the government plans to make it harder for unionized workers to strike.
\nCameron\u2019s \u201cOne Nation\u201d may well have looser bonds. Scotland is getting more powers to raise and spend taxes, fulfilling a promise made by Cameron before last year\u2019s Scottish independence referendum. Wales will also gain more autonomy, and there was a promise to reduce the say of Scottish lawmakers over policies that affect only England and Wales.
\nDetails of that plan, known as \u201cEnglish votes for English laws,\u201d are likely to prove contentious \u2014 one of several pieces of legislation the government may struggle to pass.
\nCameron\u2019s majority is small, just 12 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. An election vow to replace the Human Rights Act \u2014 which has a European court as its top arbiter \u2014 with a British bill of rights was reduced to a promise of \u201cproposals\u201d rather than legislation. The plan is opposed by some Conservatives as well as opposition parties.
\nThere will also likely be battles in Parliament over promised legislation to crack down on extremism and take a more unwelcoming approach to immigration.
\nIn a ceremony she has enacted 61 previous times in her reign, the 89-year-old queen delivered the speech in the House of Lords \u2014 Parliament\u2019s unelected upper house \u2014 to a tightly packed audience of lawmakers in ordinary clothes and peers in red robes trimmed with ermine.
\nSince King Charles I tried to arrest members of the House of Commons in 1642 \u2014 and ended up deposed, tried and beheaded \u2014 the monarch has been barred from entering the Commons chamber.
\nThe queen arrived from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, pulled by two white horses and escorted by cavalry whose silver helmets gleamed in the spring sunshine.
\nInside the Lords, she sat on a gilded throne wearing the Imperial State Crown, encrusted with almost 3,000 diamonds.
\nThe annual pageant draws heavily on the history of the power struggle between the monarchy and Parliament. Lawmakers were summoned from the House of Commons by Black Rod, a security official \u2014 but only complied after first slamming the door in his face to symbolize their independence.
\nIn another symbol of the traditional hostility between Commons and crown, a lawmaker was held at Buckingham Palace as a \u201chostage\u201d during the ceremony to ensure the monarch\u2019s safe return.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\r\n