The cellars will be scouted for gunpowder, the Queen will rock up in a gilded coach, and then Black Rod will tap. The high ritual of parliament’s state opening seems out of kilter with the usual list of bills on public services and crime, but this time there is high politics to match. The sovereign’s scroll will touch on Britain’s place in the world, via the EU referendum, on fundamental human rights, and, through Scotland’s post-referendum reforms, the integrity of the kingdom itself. For a few hours, the bread and butter questions might almost be forgotten. And yet the need for citizens to keep themselves in bread and butter will certainly not go away.
With petrol cheaper than it was, and with Labour still mistrusted with money, David Cameron’s pitch that he could lead the voters back to prosperity proved to be just persuasive enough. But had his win been more widely expected, his promise of a “recovery [that] benefits every one of our citizens, at every stage of their lives” might have been more widely interrogated. Stagnant nominal wages are one reason to doubt such sunny predictions, and for very many families – and the poor especially – the Conservative vow to lop £12bn annually off “welfare” in just two years will be just as important.
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