A look back at the official opening of Parliament – in video excerptspublished at 18:58 on July 17
It was a grand and political day in Westminster for the State Opening of Parliament – we’ve rounded up all the highlights in a series of short clips below:
The King’s speech began with the monarch declaring that his government’s legislative agenda would be “mission-driven.”
The speech presented 39 bills that ministers want to pass in the next parliamentary session. More details on this can be found here.
King begins delivering speech to open 2024 Parliament
A debate on the government’s plans then took place in the House of Commons.
Opposition leader Rishi Sunak used his speech to urge Prime Minister Keir Starmer to spend 2.5% of national income on defence by 2030 – a Conservative campaign promise.
Sunak urges PM to commit to increasing defence spending by 2030
Starmer later said his government plan would “lift Britain’s spirits” and put the country on a “path to national renewal”.
The new prime minister also said there would be “no miracle solution” and warned against “the deceptive charm of populism”.
Starmer: Labour elected to ‘deliver national renewal’
We’re wrapping up our live coverage soon. To finish, we bring you a final analysis from our political editor Chris Mason.
This page was edited by Owen Amos, Marita Moloney, Nadia Ragozhina, Francesca Gillett, Nathan Williams and Emily Atkinson. The authors are Kathryn Armstrong, Thomas Mackintosh, Suneil Asar, Alex Smith, Ben Hatton, Emily McGarvey, Jessica Rawnsley and Emma Rossiter.
