Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth gave the Queen’s
Speech this morning to a joint meeting of the United Kingdom’s House of
Commons and the House of Lords. In this ancient tradition, the Queen reads a
speech prepared for her by the Prime Minister – in this case conservative Boris
Johnson. It functions something like the State of the Union speech that
American presidents give every January to a joint session of Congress.
Following a parade and extensive ritual, the Queen puts on her royal robe and crown, and
delivers her speech among much pomp and circumstance. Because the Queen no
longer has much political power, she is expected to read the Prime Minister’s
speech word for word. She performed her duty, perhaps with an extra scowl on
her face.
So, the Queen laid out a conservative legislative program some of
whose provisions probably horrify her, while giving the impression (because the
Prime Minister wrote the speech that way) that she endorsed the policies that
he hopes to implement. However, Johnson does not control a majority in the
House of Commons, and it is therefore unclear that he can pass any of his
proposals. The most controversial is Brexit: United Kingdom’s voted in a plebiscite
to withdraw from the European Union, largely at the behest of the United
Kingdom’s notoriously irresponsible conservative newspapers, and, so far, all attempts to
negotiate a
deal for the withdrawal have failed.
Let’s look at a few of the ritualistic ways that the speech was
phrased to create the false but culturally important impression that the Queen
was not merely the head of state, but also the government’s leader. She
(speaking for Johnson) started with Brexit:
“My Government’s priority has always been to secure the
United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 31 October. My Government
intends to work towards a new partnership with the European Union, based on
free trade and friendly cooperation.”
Interesting phrasing, is it not? “My
government’s priority has always been…”
The Queen (speaking for Johnson) made this sound like a long-standing policy,
which it certainly is not. But the Queen’s speech is all about tradition, so I
guess it fits in that sense.
Similarly…
“My Government will bring forward proposals to reform adult
social care in England to ensure dignity in old age.”
“My Ministers will ensure that all young people have access
to an excellent education, unlocking their full potential and preparing them
for the world of work. My Government will take steps to make work fairer,
introducing measures that will support those working hard.”
“My Government will continue to invest in our gallant Armed
Forces.”
And so on as she laid out Johnson’s
program.
“My government … my government … my ministers ... my government.” The
Queen is still head of state, which differs from the American system in which
the president of the United States serves both as head of state and head of the
government. She took ownership of the government's policies, putting her own privately-held political views aside.
The Queen’s speech seems curious, and the British
public seems to find it as curious as the rest of us. Still, this ritual serves
important functions. Those functions make little difference to policy, which
Johnson seems to be too inept to implement in any case, and everything to do
with reinforcing the British system of government:
First, during the Queen’s speech, the British
government affirms a sense of unity and tradition. That sense doesn’t exist in
real life, but it is reassuring to pretend that it does.
Second, the Queen publicly endorsed the government’s
policies. Her endorsement was purely theoretical, since the Queen has little
political power, but, again, it reinforces British social and political cohesion.
The British government, which has become as divided and dysfunctional as the
United States government today, badly needs cohesion. So, that’s a good thing.
Finally,
by meekly subordinating her own views to
those of the elected government, the Queen implicitly reminded her
subjects
that she reigns but does not rule, and that elected Members of
Parliament, not
the hereditary monarch, control the kingdom’s affairs. She called it "my
government," but the ritual made it clear to everyone that she did not
control the government. Adding to this, the
leader of the House of Lords has the door of the Commons symbolically
(and literally) slammed in
her face before she is admitted, proclaiming that the elected Members of
Parliament are now supreme over those who inherited their seats. That seems a
bit unfriendly, but there you go.
Since most of the British Constitution is
unwritten and exists merely as tradition, the ritual of the Queen’s Speech
reinforces the United Kingdom’s role as one of the world’s oldest democracies.
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