UK Parliament opens with pomp, problems for Boris Johnson
ABC News
Britain’s Parliament is opening a new year-long session with Prime Minister Boris Johnson trying to re-energize his scandal-tarnished administration and address the U.K.’s worsening cost-of-living crisis
LONDON -- Britain’s Parliament opens a new year-long session on Tuesday with a mix of royal pomp and raw politics, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to re-energize his scandal-tarnished administration and address the U.K.’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.
Johnson’s Conservative government will set out the laws it plans to pass in the coming year at the tradition-steeped State Opening of Parliament. The ceremony will take place without 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who has pulled out of the ceremony because of her mobility issues.
Instead her son and heir, Prince Charles, will read the Queen’s Speech, which is written by the government but traditionally read out by the monarch. Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, will also attend.
The queen has only missed two previous state openings during her 70-year reign, in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with sons Andrew and Edward, respectively.
