I am not a fan of the political ventriloquism of how the Queen’s speech works. It is a good thing to have some pomp, ceremony and history associated with the opening of Parliament. But a better approach would be for the Queen to be able to speak as Head of State about the value of Parliament and the democratic process...

I wondered this morning when I read about Prince Charles giving what was a clearly political speech in Brussels how he could balance the non-political protocols of the Royal Family with the desire to speak out on the defunct global warming platform. Today Cranmer gives us the answer. It is not the answer I wanted to hear but unfortunately the one which I had expected. Our Queen is no longer our Qu...

I'm intrigued by Christine Grahame's call for the remains of Mary, Queen of Scots to be repatriated to Scotland from their current resting place of Westminster Abbey. I can understand this opinion - after all Mary was Queen of Scots, she was murdered in England and it seems tactless to keep her remains in England. However Mary requested in her will that she be buried in France and her so...

I think it's incredible that this was allowed to happen, I mean it didn't last year did it! Surely there is some technicality that can be used to make sure they don't go, but then the trick is how to avoid the BNP appearing like martyrs and yet the Queen making it clear she is not supportive of them or their policies. Its difficult, but perhaps the way forward is to arrange it so sh...

One of the things that is most bizarre about Nulabour spin is the way they tell the opposition about the traps they are digging for them. Today we learn that this will be the most political Queen’s speech ever. We are told that each Bill is

Caption Competition Throughout her reign, the Queen had never held an audience with a governor of the Bank of England – untill yesterday

The Queen has signalled the start of a protracted general election campaign by announcing a nakedly political government legislative programme at the state opening of parliament

Well having now heard the Queen + Paul Rodgers studio album, Queen's first in over a decade, I have to say I quite enjoyed it, albeit with one or two reservations. And those are reservations to be expected from any Queen fan, of which I am one. For a start, as brave and difficult as it undoubtedly was. A Queen album minus, not only Freddie Mercury, but also John Deacon, was always going to ha...

The Queen has set out a packed legislative programme for the new coalition government, with a range of bills intended to restore order to the public finances, reform the political system and devolve power to people

The British government’s Queen’s Speech will be read out today in what is becoming an increasingly ridiculous tradition in which the Queen reads out a carefully prepared script witten entirely in the bullshit dialect of management-speak. Most of the content of the Queen’s Speech is, as usual, on devolved matters over which the Scottish Prime Minister