With pomp but no queen, UK govt sets out the year's agenda
ABC News
Britain’s Conservative government has set out its agenda for the next year, with sweeping promises to cut crime, improve health care and revive the U.K.’s pandemic-scarred economy
LONDON -- Britain’s Conservative government set out its agenda for the next year on Tuesday with sweeping promises to cut crime, improve health care and revive the U.K.’s pandemic-scarred economy — but no new help for millions of Britons struggling to pay their bills as the cost of living soars.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine had caused economic turmoil, but said “no government can realistically shield everyone from the impact.”
The government set out its legislative plans during a ceremony steeped in tradition, but without Queen Elizabeth II, who was absent for the first time in six decades.
The 96-year-old monarch pulled out of reading the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament because of what Buckingham Palace calls “episodic mobility issues.” Her son and heir, Prince Charles, stood in, rattling through a short speech laying out 38 bills the government plans to pass.
