MPs are now in the Lords for the speech.
Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer are leading MPs into the Lords. From the TV feed, we can see them talking to each other, and smiling. It may not have been particularly sincere, but it did look amicable. Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May used to process together in virtual silence.
Sarah Clarke, Black Rod, has just summoned MPs to attend the House of Lords.
Labour says abandoning Northern Ireland protocol would trigger trade war with EU
Labour says abandoning parts of the Northern Ireland protocol (see 11.20am) would start a trade war with Europe. This is from Jenny Chapman, Labour’s Brexit spokesperson.
The government’s threat to tear up the protocol risks a trade war during a cost of living crisis.
Instead of negotiating practical fixes that would benefit businesses and communities, the government plans to break the agreement they themselves negotiated and sold to the British public. Tensions are high in Northern Ireland while families across the country face rising prices and higher bills. There is no consensus to scrap the protocol in cabinet, let alone in Northern Ireland.
The last thing the country needs is more instability and a damaging trade dispute with our nearest trading partners.
This is from Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP, on the public order bill proposals briefed by the government overnight.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, is now precessing into the Commons chamber ahead of the State Opening ceremony.
Johnson refuses to assure Irish PM that UK won’t unilaterally abandon Northern Ireland protocol
The Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, urged Boris Johnson in a phone call this morning not to take unilateral action over the Northern Ireland protocol. (See 10.26am.) Downing Street has just released its version of the call, and it makes it clear that Johnson refused to give Martin the assurance he wanted about not abandoning the protocol.
A No 10 spokesperson said:
Following last week’s Northern Ireland assembly elections, [Johnson and Martin] both agreed on the vital importance of restoring the devolved institutions, both the assembly and executive, as soon as possible. The prime minister said that the UK government would remain in close contact with the parties following initial engagement yesterday.
The prime minister made clear that the situation in respect of the Northern Ireland protocol was now very serious. The balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement was being undermined and the recent elections had further demonstrated that the protocol was not sustainable in its current form.
Despite repeated efforts by the UK government over many months to fix the protocol, including those sections related to the movement of goods and governance, the European Commission had not taken the steps necessary to help address the economic and political disruption on the ground.
The prime minister reiterated that the UK government would take action to protect peace and political stability in Northern Ireland if solutions could not be found.
The Prince of Wales has now arrived at the Houses of Parliament ahead of the State Opening.
As Caroline Davies reports, the Prince of Wales will be reading out the Queen’s speech on behalf of his mother. It will be the first time Charles has performed this role at the ceremony, and a harbinger of what we can expect at some point in the years ahead when he takes the throne.
The Queen, who is 96, has only missed the State Opening twice before, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward in 1959 and 1963 respectively.
The Queen is understood to be watching the proceedings on television from Windsor Castle, PA Media reports. She will have her weekly phone audience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday.
The Regalia – the Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and Sword of State – were transported to the Palace of Westminster in three state limousines ahead of the Queen’s speech, PA Media reports. In past years the symbolic items would have travelled in a carriage but this year vehicles are being used and a state limousine will also carry the royal party later.
