In a grand show of pomp of circumstance in London today, Queen Elizabeth will enter the Palace of Westminster, walk to the House of Lords and, before the assembled members of the House of Commons and the peers of the House of Lords, will deliver the Speech from the Throne. The document she will read will lay out the legislative plans and priorities as penned by Prime Minister David Cameron for his next five years in office.
High on the list will be a proposal to hold an “in-or-out” referendum, on United Kingdom’s future in the European Union — a short-sighted move that less than one voter in five at present actually endorses. And Cameron also plans to limit the right to vote in that referendum to UK citizens and mostly those from Commonwealth nations residing there.
In Scotland, there will be careful attention paid to any mention of greater fiscal powers for north of the border. Given that all but three of the 59 MPs from Scotland are separatists from the Scottish National Party, they will be clamouring for greater powers — with the right to raise revenue there being the most pressing.
Cameron too will need to ensure that the demands of England are also satisfied, with some form of accommodation for English MPs voting for English laws. He may have won the election, but Cameron’s hardest challenge now lies before him. Today’s speech will set the tone for how he will proceed.
