Top of Boris Johnson's to-do list will be a bill to ratify the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union. (AFP Photo/JESSICA TAYLOR)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his plans for the government on Thursday following a sweeping election win, focused on delivering Brexit and supporting the health service.
Queen Elizabeth II will open parliament in a lavish ceremony where she will read out the Conservative leader’s legislative programme for the months ahead.
But in a sign of a looming constitutional battle, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was to stake her claim for a new vote on independence, just before the monarch’s address.
Top of Johnson’s to-do list will be a bill to ratify the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU, which he negotiated in October but could not get through parliament.
Equipped with a majority of 80 in the 650-seat House of Commons, he hopes to push through the deal in time to “Get Brexit Done” on the next EU deadline of January 31.
He has also vowed to address concerns about public services, particularly among the many working-class voters who backed the Tories for the first time in this election.
There will be a bill to enshrine in law spending increases for the state-run National Health Service, which has faced cuts during a decade of Conservative austerity measures.
The Queen’s Speech normally takes place about once a year but there was one in October, following Johnson’s election as Conservative leader in July.
Rebellions over Brexit left him without the support in the Commons he needed to govern, so he called a snap election – and won a landslide.
As a result, Thursday’s speech will be scaled down, with the 93-year-old monarch eschewing her horse-drawn carriage for a car and her crown for a hat.
But it will still be rich in pageantry.
The highlight will be the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) to ratify the terms of Brexit, which will be put to a first vote among members of Parliament on Friday.
It covers Britain’s financial obligations to the EU, the rights of European expatriates and new arrangements for Northern Ireland.
The bill will also enshrine the dates of a transition period, which will keep EU-UK ties largely unchanged until December 31, 2020, to allow both sides to sign a new trade deal.
The period can be extended for up to two years, but London insists this will not be necessary.
Johnson was a leading figure in the 2016 referendum vote for Brexit and says it is time to end years of political wrangling over the result.
But the EU has warned the timetable is extremely tight to agree to a new relationship after Britain leaves the bloc’s single market and customs union.
“In case we cannot conclude an agreement by the end of 2020, we will face again a cliff edge,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
“This would clearly harm our interests but it will impact more the UK than us.”
The WAB will also include plans to allow courts other than the Supreme Court to overturn European Court of Justice rulings, to ensure Britain can more swiftly extricate itself from European case law.
