The Queen’s Speech will contain new measures to “dynamise” the UK to ensure people can pay the bills, a Government minister has said.
But while policing minister Kit Malthouse acknowledged Government “alarm” at predictions of soaring inflation, he downplayed hopes of rapid help being announced on Tuesday.
The Prince of Wales will read the Queen’s Speech for the first time as the monarch misses the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in almost 60 years.
The Queen, 96, pulled out of the ceremonial occasion – when she reads out the Government’s legislative programme for the forthcoming parliamentary session – as she continued to experience “episodic mobility problems”.
In the Queen’s absence, Charles will take on the head of state’s major constitutional duty, in a move which will be interpreted as a significant shift in his responsibilities as a king-in-waiting.
The Duke of Cambridge, also a future monarch, will attend the State Opening, the first time he has done so, with the royal function of opening a new parliament delegated to…