growing as we can see. later on the queen will be sending her attendant to the commons to summon the m.p.'s to hear the speech, and he will perform one of the most famous duties of the ceremony. he will bang on the door of the commons to demand entry. the latest holder of this post is lieutenant general freddy figures. i asked him about his post. >> the title derives from a black rod, which we have here? >> yes. >> explain a little about it? >> this rod dates from 1883. it has been passed on now since then to me. it is made of ebony. it is about three feet long. you can hit doors with it and it won't snap. that is my nightmare scenario,

that the rod snaps. at the top is a lion with a shield. the gold orb, which is strength, and the big end is in a gold cup, the gold sovereign, which dates from 1904. >> that is the bit that dents the door. >> yes. >> to most people it is a fantastic show of pageantry and ceremony. for others it is a political event. >> this is the biggest event in the year for this place, and it has to be right. i have said to everyone working here for me, perfect will do. we have to ensure that we treat it as a new event every year. >> you are really the most prominent actor in this show, if i can put it like that, because you have a very big duty. >> there is a direct link, over 350 years, the relationship

between the monarch as the head of state and her government. it is very important that we remind ours about -- ourselves about why we are the way we are. the way our democracy and government has grown up. so yes, it is very high profile, but i wasn't to state too much my role in it. >> a very modest black rod. chatting to some of the harolds of arms, and they will be playing a prominent part today, too. that is buckingham palace, the queen and duke of he had inborrow are heading that way. they are traveling in the irish state coach.

>> the queen will be making her way this way, by which time everything will be ready. the crown is being taken to the reason can't room. that is to the left of the royal gallery, and that is where the queen will prepare for that procession in state. that is a good look for us. the cap and the spord. these two are on display in the gallery as well as symbols of the sovereign's authority. the cap of maintenance as it is called. tradition has it this was the kind of cap given by the pope to monarches that he favored. henry the eighth received one of these caps. so the cap is still around as one of the symbols of power. the sword of states were first used at the coronation of james

the second. plenty of color. >> i think the thing that curse to me now of all times is the role of the military in every aspect of this. they take those great like black rod. they are a part of parliament at a time when politicians and the country are agonizing about the sacrifices these people are making in afghanistan, iraq and elsewhere. it is striking to see the central role they still play certainly in the national life of parliament. >> this is where all the talk of modernizing comes to a grinding halt. they enjoy this. >> it is not about the pomp that people want modernized. it is about the actuality of how the m.p.'s respond to the people, whether they are genuinely accountable to people. those are the things that the people want reforming. that great symbolism of the

black rod become -- banging on the door and summoning the m.p.'s. i would like to see the independence of m.p.'s made more important. in particular on a day like this when we are enacting supposedly the pomp of the independence of m.p.'s when in fact the m.p.'s are not very independent because of the power of the whip. we have the earl marshall there greeting lord mannedleson. he is here for the first time in his role as lord president of the council. this is the first time in 40 years or so that the lord president of the council is not a leader of the chamber leader of the commons or chamber leader. and he is following in the footsteps of his grandfather

who between 1945 and 1951 was also lord president. so a bit of a family fedex, too. we are looking at him there, quite a remarkable transformation. >> extraordinary. it is unthinkable that he would be back in the cabinet, let alone effectively deputy prime minister. what was not on camera this morning, thought well known, is that peter went straight from the radio and television studios to hold an election style news conference. it looks like one, sounds like one? it is one. they want the campaign to begin because they think it is a big choice. >> the lord speaker is on her way. she has been in the post since 2006. a rather different role to the speaker in the house of commons.

but the baroness has different duties. she is progressing through the gallery, and she, too, will be in that welcoming party for the queen at the staircase itself. there will be quite a big gathering there when the queen arrives. i am interested. as we look at these pictures, that intervention, if i may put it that way, or the conference held this morning, it does strip away any pretense we are starting election campaigns. >> we are not starting an election campaign, but we are setting out for people in this country what the government has done, and what the government has done very particularly to protect people at a time of unprecedented economic downturn. that is the purpose, making sure that people understand that there is a role and purpose for government on the day of the queen's speech, which launches the legislative

program. >> chris? >> the reality is this is a government that has been in power for 12 years. much of what we are going to hear today we have heard many times before. it is a government that has run out of steam and moving on to a general election campaign. they will challenge the opposition to rush these measures through before the general election comes. this is a government that has had 12 years to do the things it thought were necessary. the changes it is bringing forward is an admission of its failure. >> you have to make a long journey from a position where there were outside lavatories for children in primary schools in 1997 when we were elected to a position today where we can say that parents whose children are not succeeding at school will have an indictlement for those children. >> 25% of young people leaving school today after 12 years in government, 15 years after tony blair said education, we still have a substantial block of

young people leaving school unable to read and write properly. >> let me take you to a school in my district. this year it was 771%. >> if we are serious about improving standards, we can reduce class sizes. that would make a real difference rather than a piece of legislation. >> we will be back with you in a second. the lord chancellor is on his way. he is taking his place as well at the head of the welcoming party. a very important role for him because he is the one who is carrying the speech itself, or at least he will be later. he has someone to help him at this stage, a purse bearer, but later on he will present the speech to the queen, a speech

written by the government. he will deliver the speech to her majesty as she takes her place on the throne, and he will retrieve it afterwards. we can see now that the queen is on her way. we can see that people are preparing for that arrival here. the prime minister, his wife, leaving downing street. i would give more than a penny for his thoughts today because it is, as we have been recognizing here, everyone recognizes, even though owe possessing the government, to be launching a legislative program within months of changing government is not an easy thing. that will be part of the debate continuing over the next few days in the house of commons. he is talking to the earl marshall, the duke of norfolk, a very important figure in all

of these ceremonial occasions. he organizes coronations, big state funerals and has a bill role to play on -- a big role to play on state opening day. patiently waiting. hundreds in the house of lords. remember after the reforms in 1999, there are 92 hereditary left in the house. the speech will have a line in it about abolishing that hereditary element. he was a lord chancellor in the days when the lord chancellor was a powerful figure. the chief rabbi is here, and lord clinton davis is on the right. i think that is lord west, the security minister on the left. lord steele, the former democratic leader, and lord morris, the former attorney

general. there we have another view of the church leaders. they are chatting in a friendly way to some of the senior judges. >> you get a septembers that nothing changes because the robes are the same. but when you look around the house, it is clear it has. there is a supreme court where there wasn't before. the judges will no longer sit on the benches in the horse of lords to give their rulings. one of the interesting things will be whether there is any appetite to do it. it is clear david cameron doesn't want to get to grips with house of lords reform. he has pledged to do it, but he has said jokingly it will be a third term priority. >> let's enjoy the scene outside the palace of

westminster. we have four divisions of the household cavalry guards on the way. they are escorting the queen and the duke. they come down towards the entrance. the guard of honor today providing by the nimegan company of grenadier guards. as we enjoy the scene, let's just reflect on one remarkable statistic, that this is the 58th state opening of the queen's arena. she first -- in the queen's

arena she first opened parliament in 1952. she prepares to open parliament of the 15th parliament of her reign. ♪

>> the great advantage of our studio here because we have a bird's view, a direct view really of what is going on at the victoria to your. we have the tunics of the cavalry as the queen prepares to enter the palace of westminster. when she does so, the sovereign standard will be unfurled, and the union flag will be tan down.

♪ >> lort gray chamberlain has welcomed the queen and the

duke, and the heralds of arms now making their way into the royal gallery. the heralds in a distant age were royal messengers. today they are in charge of the new arms. you see the lord speaker, the lord president, and the lord chancellor. there we have on the left, the earl marshall, and the lord gray chamberlain, and the queen, preparing for yet another state opening. they turn to go into the reasonning room, where the imperial state crown will be ready. she is wearing the george the

fourth die democrat, but she will be wearing the state crown in the procession into the house of lords. so, as the heralds make their way through the royal gallery, let's think that very soon we will see another first because the new speaker will be taking part in the state opening as he processes to the commons. he is just five months into the job after being elected in june. i spoke to him about the important tabs of what is happening today. >> i think the event is important. i think it does have merit. it can continue to be a reminder of how parliament ought to be and what it's constitutional significance is. if, however, we were simply to preserve the traditional occasion, but to do nothing to atone for the since which have

-- sins which have caused massive public angst, that would be disastrous. i think you can preserve the tradition and underline your respect for the best of the part, but more importantly, you have to demonstrate that you are tackling the problems of the present, recognizing for the need for wholesale and irreversible change in the way we manage our affairs. >> a year ago, you are thinking about what you would be doing opening day, and what you are doing now. it is a big change. how do you feel about it? >> i am slightly nervous. it is my first state opening. a year ago of his in parliament. i had no role in the proceedings at all. i simply attended the event with every other colleague.

i am anxious. i want to put my best foot forward. i want to be a decent ambassador for the house. and above all, i am absolutely passionate about parliament. so i want this to be the start of a session in the course of which we begin to put in place those building blocks of recovery. we start the process of restoring our trust, restoring the public's sense that parliament is upright, honest and doing a worthwhile job. >> the words of mr. speaker, john bercow, looking forward to his first state opening, being honest in saying he was nervous but hoping it will go well. >> this is the scene in the central lobby, where we will be seeing the policeman telling the public to remove their hats.

that is when we will see the speaker's procession go through the hallway, readying for black rod to bang on the door and tell everybody the queen is ready and waiting. he really is the emblem of lots of the change that has happened. >> he is becauses only in the job because the government turned out speaker martin because he had failed to do what was necessary to restore the house of commons. this is far from over. sorry if you are bored with this, but you will hear more. you will hear the amounts that every m.p. has been asked to pay back. you will have a debate about whether those people who refuse, and there may and a -- and there may be a handful that do, to have their redundancy curbed. and then the discussion on how

expenses should actually be reformed. but that will take us all the way through to christmas and beyond. >> there is a real sense in talking to m.p.'s over the past few months, some saying we have to go along with it, but it has gone too far. you can't really expect us to be doing our job properly if we are having lots of legitimate expenses occur tailed in this way. that is a fairly general view or what? >> we have to risk or confidence in parliament. when you talk about the speaker being the emblem of change, i don't think any one person is the emblem of change. we all have to be. we have to have a new system fully in place, and the second is we have been through an a election and every m.p. has sought re-election. those are the two steps that have to happen. the things we should look for

in the queen's speech is do we have in it the next steps to finish the job. if they are not there, if the government has left them out, the government will have some explaining too do. >> if we have not voted down the proposal put before the house 18 months ago, we wouldn't have to be doing it in a hurry now on the back of a great deal of public anger. so we have ourselves to blame. i still remain frustrated that kelly was unwilling to deal with the issues around the flipping of mortgages, which was among the worst of offenses that was committed. it is a shame that he wasn't prepared to look at that, and the public will be frustrated by that. >> just chatting to m.p.'s over the last few months, they are saying look, we accept change has to come. the change cannot hamper our ability to do the job properly. that is view that is held in the palace at westminster. >> i agree with chris on this.

the kelly parolesals have got to be implemented. this one end with the implementation of kelly and the partment area standards beginning their work. i think we will see this process of change continue over the next parliament. >> some smiles in the central lobby because the policeman is just waiting for the speaker's procession. it is on its way. >> hats on strangers!

>> the hats are off, and the speaker is on his way to the chamber of the house of commons, led by the sergeant at arms. the speaker, members of his steff and the speaker's chaplain. into the members' lobby. mr. speaker wearing the grand reason. he was keen to tell us that he is not wearing the stockings and the rest of it. he is wearing a morning suit under the reason, which is an

element of modernization. and we can see dennis skinner there ready to probably give black rod a bit of a welcome a lot later on. the chancellor is waiting at the dispatch box. that is in place and ready and waiting. ready for the signal. there is black rod. with a gray view right up to the throne of the house of lords. it gives you a sense of the perspective there. and the patient wait in the royal gallery, ready for the marshall and the lord gray chamberlain to signal that the

queen is ready to start the procession. jack straw and peter mannedle son, in their place in the procession. the doors at the far end are the doors to the reasonning room. and when the queen emerges, the state trumpeters and the house cavalry will sound a fan fare, and that procession will begin. that will happen in just a few minutes' time. as soon as it does, we will head back into the grand gallery. it is a special sight because we don't see that procession of state at any other event other than the state opening day. i can see that the lord gray chamberlain is emerging from the reasonning room and is making his way into the royal

gallery. he is the one who will tell everyone that her majesty is ready. ♪ >> the queen, wearing the imperial state crown, which we saw on display earlier, with the duke, attending her 56th state opening. there have been 58 in the

queen's reign. and here we have the procession which is formed of the great officers of state, including the lord president, the lord chancellor, and the lord marshall and the gray chamberlain. and now we see the cap of maintenance and the sword of state being carried in the procession, carried by lady royal, the leader of the house of lords, and the sword of states being carried as well by one of the senior military figures involved in the procession itself. the queen and the duke, followed by the pages of honor.

into the chamber of the house of lords. the queen will take her place on the throne. the throne based on the design of the coronation chair of edward the first. lord craig of radomskily, marshall of the royal air force, carrying the sword of states. and lord craig and the baroness taking their places on either side of the throne. when the queen is ready, she will ask members of the house of lords to be seated, and they will give her signal for black rod to be dispatched to the commons.

>> you may be seated. . . he will have to knock in order to gain entrance.

>> mr. speaker, the queen commands this honorable house to attend her person immediately and the house of lords. it in the house of lords. >> the sergeant of arms leads the party out of the chambers of

commons. >> royal expenses along the way. >> the great fun of this procession -- you can usually tell by the expression on their faces. >> and the crash is under way. -- and the crush is under way. gordon brown looking very serious. alistair darling and other senior members of the commons.

there is no room for 650 mp's and house of lords so they will have to crowd up to what they call the bar to listen to the queen's speech itself. it is a bit of a crush. >> many times, it is the first time that they will have seen a queen. dollars you stand at the back and peer over other people's head. >> as a cabinet minister, what is the experience like when you get in? >> as he said, is a bit of a crush. i am 5 foot 3, but i have to stand on my tiptoes. at the state opening, this is the best deal i have had as a member of parliament. -- the best view i have had as a

member of parliament. >> let's take a look at the scene inside the house of lords. gordon brown, the speaker, david cameron, nick cleeg, all waiting period and one that seat jack straw preparing to deliver the speech to the queen. the signal being given by the lord and the earl marshal tells the lord chancellor that the queen is ready to receive the speech. and yet another break with recent tradition, the lord chancellor steps backwards. always a point of interest.

>> my lords and members of the house of commons, my government's overriding priority is to ensure sustained growth to deliver a fair and prosperous economy for families and businesses, as the british economy recovers from the global economic downturn. through active employment and training programs, restructuring the final sectors, strengthening the national infrastructure, and providing responsible investment, my government will foster growth and employment. my government will also strengthen key public services, ensuring that individual entitlements guarantee good services, and will work to build trust in democratic institutions.

my government will seek effective global and european collaboration through the g-20 and the european union to sustain economic recovery and to combat climate change, including at the copenhagen summit next month. the dewpoint -- the duke of edinburgh and i look forward to our visit to bermuda and our state visit to trinidad and tobago and to the commonwealth heads of government meeting in this, the commonwealth's 60th anniversary year. we also look for to receiving the president of south africa next year. my government will continue to reform regulation of the financial services industry to ensure greater protection for savers and taxpayers. legislation will be brought forth to enhance the governance of the financial sector and to

control the system of rewards. as the economic recovery is established, my government will reduce the budget deficit and ensure that national debt is on a sustainable path. legislation will be brought forward to halve the deficit. my government will introduce a bill to enable the wider provision of free personal care to those in highest care need. legislation will be brought forward to introduce guarantees for pupils and parents to raise educational standards. my government will legislate to protect communities by ensuring that parents take responsibility for their children's antisocial behavior and by tackling youth gang crime. my government will introduce a

bill to ensure the communications infrastructure supports future economic growth, delivers competitive communications, and enhances public service broadcasting. legislation will be brought forward to support carbon capture and storage and to help more of the most vulnerable households with their ene bills. my government will respond to proposals for high-speed rail services between london and scotland. the selection will be introduced to protect communities -- legislation will be introduced to protect communities against flooding and to improve the management of water supplies. my government is committing to ensuring everyone has a fair chance in life and will continue to take forward legislation to promote equality, narrow the gap between rich and poor, and

tackle discrimination. the bill would also introduce transparency in the workplace to help address the differences in pay between men and women. my government will continue to enshrine in law its commitment to abolish child poverty by 2020. my government will legislate to provide agency workers with the right to be treated equally with permanent staff on pay, holidays, and other basic conditions. legislation will be continued to be taken for unconstitutional reform. my government will also publish draft legislation on proposals for a reformed second chamber of parliament with a democratic mandate. a bill will be introduced to strengthen the law against bribery. my government will continue to

work closely with the devolved administrations in the interest of all people of the united kingdom. my government is committed to the northern ireland political process and will continue to work with northern ireland's leaders to complete the devolution of policing and justice and to ensure its success. in scotland, my government will take all or proposals in the final report of the commission on scottish devolution. my government will continue to devolve more powers to wales. members of the house of commons, estimates for the public services will be laid before you. my lords and members of the house of commons, my government will work for security, stability, and prosperity in afghanistan and pakistan and for

peace in the middle east. legislation will be brought forward to ban cluster munitions. my government will work toward creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons, including addressing the challenges from iran and north korea. draft legislation will be published to make binding my government's commitment to spend 0.0 -- 0.7% of gross national income on international development by 2013. other measures will be laid before you. my lords and members of the house of commons, i pray that the blessings of almighty god may rest upon your counsels.

>> that completes the queen's speech for 2009, the current session of the current parliament, the 15th parliament of the queen's reign. the queen and the duke leave the chamber of the house of lords and will pass through the princess chamber, the small room next door to the house of lords

-- the prince's chamber, the small room next door to the house of lords. that is the signal for members of the house of commons, led by the speaker and the sergeant at arms -- serjeant-at-arms, to return to their chamber to debate the queen's speech today and in the days ahead. the herald's ahead of this proposed -- of this procession through the royal gallery board craig -- lord craig with the sort of state.

-- sword of state. and among those processing, the head the armed forces -- the head of the armed forces. underlining what we said earlier on about the nature of today's events, the military presence is elegant -- is evident at almost every stage. c-net the other end of the palace of westminster and far more relaxed, david cameron and gordon brown, knowing that the

next queen's speech will be after the next election, next june or july. well, we enjoyed the ceremony. plenty for us to talk about. you first of all, pick out what you think of the most notable elements of the speech. >> i will pick one other notable thing first. something called gordon brown to smile and laugh. i know for a fact that one of his aide said, you do realize the only image television will use is you looking grumpy. i don't know what a joke it was. i think we will notice the continuing debate about how to cut the financial deficit. we now have a bill with the government commits itself to do so, and half in four years, but we do not have the measures. but we will get those on december 9, as we have been

promised in the chancellor's budget report. we know that the debate about how regulate the financial industry is very important. for many people, the reforms to education will be a central part of the debate. whether the government will deliver them, or parents and teachers are best to deliver them themselves. and the beginning of debate about the care for the elderly. it will be very important her the truth is, the government has relatively small, but at the proposal if they reelected, to find a way to cover assault for the costs if we or our loved ones get ill. that would require other -- either of vast tax increase or national insurance for some mechanism that has not yet been proved -- revealed. but today, is a relatively small proposal. but these the debating -- the debates in meetings that will live in the months to come.

>> people are talking about blocking things about -- in the house of lords. potentially improving care for the elderly and those who are vulnerable, it is seen by some as a rather ballpark initiative. >> we've not seen it in the bills' head so we have not seen the details. what people expect this parliament to submit measures to proper scrutiny. just one example, the question of social care. the government is planning to pay for the reforms that it is bringing for today by cutting benefits for the disabled, cutting disability allowances and other benefits. we think that is wrong and we will oppose that because it is wrong to pay for this set of reports by cutting benefits for the disabled. i think that is of use shared by a people who support the disabled up and down the country. we will always look at each measure on its merits. but above all, this government's

record of getting things wrong -- betting and 11 million parents to volunteer in activities for their own children. parliament is much too loosely drafted right now. they need to do a proper job of scrutinizing measures become bored. we don't think that parliament should simply brushed measures for. >> what would you be supporting and opposing? >> there are things that they should have been doing years ago. i remember campaigning against land mines when i was just a student. i've been in power for 12 years and they have not managed to ban cluster mines. those of the headline issues about reducing the deficit. it's just a piece of legislation

that says they are going to have the dust as it -- half the deficit. paying back the taxpayer and trying to help with the problems that they have begun. i have no idea what will be in the budget report, but a piece of legislation that will fix everything, they had a piece of legislation to improve education without any plans to do it. but unfortunately this is the wave of the government does it predict think if they produce a piece of legislation, everything will magically fall into place. you actually have to come forward with concrete proposals. the boilers and the proposals are concrete. -- >> the proposals are concrete. this queen's speech speaks directly to the things that my constituents -- the issues that they raise with me and their

members of parliament. i think you're absolutely right. the relationship between the role of government, parents, communities -- but the point is that it is a clear statement about the role of government. there are certain changes that can only come about in people's lives and how children do in classrooms, how will people looked after in their own homes -- if the government sets the framework and makes it possible, and then of course, terrorists, teachers, parents -- carers, teachers parents, they all have a responsibility to make it happen. >> the queen has come back now to the robing room. it will be back on their way sent to the tower of london. the duke of edinburgh having a little chat with jack straw about the contents of the lord

chancellor's purse. he is even giggling with it. at least the speech was in the purse, which is always a help. the queen is ready to leave and being exported to the main entrance here at the victoria tower by the marshall and the lord great chamberlain. they were in effect that two men in charge of the ceremony to dig through the lord great chamberlain is known as the keeper of the palace of westminster. he is in charge of royal sections of the palace -- that white want a symbol of his authority. he also carries a big gold and key, another of the symbols. the heralds on their way down so that they can be present when the queen leaves. what brought black rod -- black

rod having performed his duties, says goodbye. the irish state coaches ready. -- coach is ready. [trumpets playing]

>> the coaches on its way. the cavalry is ready to escort the queen, and once again we have our great view from the studio here on college street. let's enjoy it. >> the union jack back fluttering in the breeze above victoria tower, and the queen has left so the sovereign standard has been lowered. ["god save the queen" playing]

>> the greatest day in the parliamentary calendar. the queen on the way back to buckingham palace, and very soon the crowd and other elements of the radio will be on their way back to the palace -- not back to the palace, to the tower of london. as we take a look inside the royal gallery, the crowd is on its way. the royal state crown being carried through the gallery as a was initially -- as it was initially.

the cap of maintenance and the sort of state -- sword of state being taken together. the three of them symbolize the power and authority. two members of the to the men at arms export in the crowd. -- the gentleman and arms exporting the crowd.

one of the last procession's we will see today, the gentleman- at-arms celebrating their 500th anniversary this year, and two of their number a scorching the crown back to the coach. this is the queen alexander state coach being used today. the sword is safely inside. the cap follows.

each of them with an individual escort. and he waits with the crown. once that is safely inside, the regalia procession will make its way from the palace. all of this taking place at the base of the victoria tower, and as some visitors to west minister will know, the tower itself, an enormous structure full of original pieces of legislation -- it is a wonderful place to visit, lots of scrolls and ancient documents, but full of legislative documents from the past five centuries. it is a great thing to see.

so the regalia on its way very soon. there will be passing the guard of honor outside, the grenadier guards providing the security today. a great deal of the crowd, we can see its sparkling there in the distance. a great site. the mace is sticking out about

it -- of the other carriages. some reaction to the queen speeches. we got down to the central lobby where the mp's are gathered. >> members of the public are packing out of the central lobby. they are trying to spot their own mp perhaps to have come all over the country to see this huge event here in parliament. joining me now is the leader of the scottish national party here in westminster. your reaction to the speech. >> i think it was more to do with political positioning and the next election. one has to welcome any effort to try to clarify the mess after the crash legislation is of matter dealt with with u.k. government. they are trying to clean up their mess and people are hoping that will work. but there is burial will in this to do with scott on whatsoever. unfortunately there is a missed opportunity.

so much could have been delivered in this queen's speech. across the parties, the common commission, we agree that some of those proposals -- we are happy to see them brought floor but the u.k. government has ignored that. that is a shame. >> there has been talk of tory mp's blocking legislation. >> i think some may proceed, but you cannot legislation -- you cannot legislate from a program. >> they're trying to say that there's something different i think there is a there's so much could have been done. unfortunately, gordon brown has missed another opportunity. >> very briefly it's been a tremendously tumultuous year for mps. will it allow people to get on things again. >> the only fresh start would have been an general election.

we should have done that at the time of the expense scanned. i'm sure the mps who have abused their expenses and not been in favor of reform will be in trouble but it will be a general election that sorts all that out. >> angus robertson leader of the scottish national power. . but as angus was indicating the debate over what's actually going to be passed before the general election and what will end up hitting the buffers starts now. what's it going to be like in politics over the four or five months. >> i think you'll see a huge dominance of the political themes we talked about which will then be determined obviously centrally by the prebudget report, the budget that is likely to come before an election. you'll get these debates that we've had about the role of government, too big, too small and so own that will be debated.

it may either have people cheering saying good old harry on the bill or cursing him and saying not more political correctness. and to forget really big pieces of legislation like the equality bill. . this is really a culmination of a quarter of century's of wor she has fought for legislation that give more rights for women and gay and lesbian people and so then. and i suspect when you open your news, a year, five years time we'll still be talking about was that a good thing or actually was it another piece of interfering legislation? so don't forget in all this political tumult there's real bills that really matter to people. >> can i just say, you know, the political correctness of five years ago is the conventional wisdom of today. and that's why you need people who are absolute pioneers,

absolutely focused like harriet who has devoted her whole political life to securing quality between men and women. we still have a gender pay gap which is why an equality pay gap is important. in five years time this will be celebrated in the country as their practical benefits are felt. i don't think that's a constituency -- daily mail readers we would take very seriously indeed and actually a lot of daily mail readers who are women will absolutely back then because they're on the butt end on a lot of the discrimination that a lot of people still suffer at work. >> chris, is that something you'll be applauding? >> well, there are issues -- there are some things we support and some things we don't and parliament should do a proper job of scrutiny. the government has put some cards on the table today in terms of the care of the elderly and education and in terms of other bills. what we'll do and not say we're going to oppose this, support that, block this, block that.

actually, what we're going to do is when the government publishes the detail, we'll look very carefully at what's there and what's on the table and form a judgment about what we should accept and seek to modify, what parliament should say. actually, would it would work better if you did it this way. we'll carry on doing that over the next few months but the reality is what the government has put forward today. is the tail end of a program that will substantially not come to fruition. it's all about the labour party's manifesto. it's all about the messages the government wants to send out to the electorate and the reality is this has been in power for 12 years. has not delivered on most of these issues. why not anybody would start believing it would start now? >> what would you start, what will they be focusing on? >> we remain extremely frustrated that the bill is just a draft. and it's still just a draft. i think chris said during one of the packaged pieces that it was in the queen speech in 1996 and yet still we are with just a draft bill.

you know, very frustrated that there's nothing to deal with issues like big money in politics. you know, why can't we get the big money out of politics in time for the election. this is something in theory the government has signed up for and yet they haven't done that and been prepared for that. why don't we have anything forming the electoral system making votes fairer. there are supposed to be lots of people signing up for the government. and a real wasted opportunity. you know the last queen speech we had an opportunity to clean up politics and give a lasting legacy to the next parliament and the government blew it. >> interesting point on that. very briefly oaf electoral reform. there were people who still wanted a commitment to electoral reform, a referendum to be in this queen speech. it isn't. >> we'll be back on that in a second. we're going to straight to birmingham because we were talking to some students earlier. they will be listening to the speech. let's join claire again. >> yes, hugh, let me introduce

you to some students. thanks so much. you all watched the queen speech. what was in it for you? >> well, it was brief but very promising, i think, especially looking at economic things and european cooperation but also temporary agency workers, equality act and then more generally looking at things like the arms trade and making sure that all policy brought forward was going to be forward and it was a short policeman child poverty and reform of the second chamber which is a very big step forward. >> okay. tell me what was in the queen speech for you? >> not very much to be totally honest. there was some brief mentioning but i don't really think a normal young person can engage with and disappointing although, i suppose, it's not the role of the queen speech anyway. things i got out of it was the

labour party out of the election. >> i thought the queen speech was it was entwine with a large number of bills and especially mentioning the copenhagen summit chisel will be a very pressing issue and then the environment and the sustainability of the planet is, i feel, after the queen speech is being more recognized in politics as i feel it will be and i think we will hear a lot more of it in politics in the future. >> i encourage you all to sit down and actually watch it. you represent a large number of students. do you think the students here at birmingham university will actually care about the queen speech? >> one point was disillusionment of politics and the form of the second chamber. a lot of students feel very patient about that and there was a few issues which students can rally around such as the environment such as equality and i do feel that students will maybe not now during the speech but when they see those policies in place they will actually reap the benefits. >> okay. thank you very much.

the views of young people from birmingham university. now back to you. >> claire, thank you very much. it brings to us a discussion about what is the next six months going to be like in terms of the wider political debate as we approach the next election. what are people going to be focusing on? what kind of election campaign are we actually looking at? >> well, we already know what the themes are of the two big parties and the question is whether anything breaks up or combrupts their capacity. -- interrupts it. government has an important role in people's lives and tory government would not give the money or give the support that labour argues they need. we're hearing from heather tether and look, there's important reform that neither of these two big parties are committed to. that's the narrative they've got. they've written the scripts.

they are at agencies preparing the customers and writing the leafets. the speeches are already written. the question is which real events break that up -- if we'd been talking a year ago, lehman brothers has only just gone down. the afghan war was not regarded as a very contentious. it was regarded is a important subject among the politics in this loom a huge amount can change before a general election. events that are unpredictable and also the way in which the public responds, i think because there is a danger frankly of people saying the same thing for six months as they try to get heard the public will force their way through. they will demand that things that matter to them are paid attention to and politician address their concerns. >> are we factoring in, you know, the one big constant in these things after a government has been in power for such a long time if people simply want a change, you can try to convince them of anything really but if they just simply want to change that's what's going to

happen. >> people won't:ot change if th don't think that the government is reflecting and is actually in the same place as they are. it doesn't live in the same world as they are. but a government that brings forward bills which are going to deal with the -- the underregulation of the financial sector, stabilize the economy, build on the record of government intervention to get young people into work and to protect people in downturn living in their own homes, some 300,000g#wç people having benef from that, and then also to focus on what is a universal dilemma for families in this country. the care of our elderly relatives. making sure they're well looked after according to their wishes. but then alsow6p the impact of disruptive antisocial behavior. and the quality of people's lives and a people that talks vçthat, a government that says we as a government have a

role in making those changes happen. that's a government that i think is going to be listened to. >> is the government saying those things after 12 years of power? >> let me just take this on. look at what we have brought about changing in social care. we have brought about changing in antisocial behavior. legislation i have to say that was voted against by the conservatives and by the liberal democrats. but which has transformed the quality of life for people living on estates that were blighted by gangs of young kids roams around. -- roaming around. and very often what people want to feel is that there are no, no-go areas. that there aren't silent fierce that they have that the government doesn't articulate and the point is a lot of this change has to be gradual because circumstances change. sarah is wrong. absolutely wrong that we have done nothing to reform the house of lourdes. >> we've got a couple of

minutes. >> how many times tessa uses the word talk and articulate. that's not what people want. they want the government to do something. >> it makes action possible. >> but legislation without any action is in. it doesn't allow you to do anything. >> it's in the legislation, i promise you. >> legislation is half the deficit. i mean, what is the earth of having legislation just to have the deficit. we would make an indentation if we didn't use the money to print the bill. >> we're enshrining it in legislation >> it's glee pointless. -- completely pointless. >> government has been in power for 12 years. it is regulating the financial sector that was set up and it hasn't worked. it's passing legislation to cut a deficit that this government created. so it's actually passing legislation or proposing to pass legislation. to pick up the pieces that it has itself left behind. and that is the reality. >> that is completely untrue. >> this is completely untrue.

the reason that we have two bills in the queen speech to deal with the financial sector is because of the unprecedented impact of the global economic downturn. >> understood. nick? >> the final thought i have is you look in the faces of those two men walking outside the chamber of the house of commons, the two men listening to her majesty and in the end those people will decide, which do we want to write the next speech, gordon brown or david cameron. >> thank you very much. and thank you to nick. the state opening of parliament over for another year. we'll be back next summer which is june or july followed the general election. we had a taste of the debate already and we'll see what the newly from all of the bbc team here in westminster, goodbye.

♪ >> you've been watching the state opening of parliament courtesy of the bbc. on wednesday, question time will return with prime minister gordon brown. you can see it live on c-span2 starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern. coming this thanksgiving on c- span, american icons -- three nights of c-span original documentaries on the three iconic homes of the three branches of government.

the supreme court -- home to america as high as court reveals the building in explicit detail for the eyes of supreme court justices. then friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the white house -- inside america's most famous home. beyond the velvet robes, the grand public places as well as those rarely seen spaces. and saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the capitol. american icons -- three memorable nights, thursday, friday, and saturday at 8:00 p.m. cs -- eastern on c-span. members of the senate armed services committee held a briefing on friday to hear about major developments on nadil malik hassan, the suspected or for good shooting. afterwards, joe lieberman spoke with reporters. >> senator levin, the chairman of the armed services committee,

will come out. i will say this. it is an expression of gratitude to the administration. this is the third classified briefing i have been in this week. one on tuesday, one this morning, and now this one at the armed services committee. this one was with the personnel of the department of defense, and the earlier meetings included representatives from the department of justice. there is an attempt to cooperate with the relevant committees of congress that are investigating what i consider to be the terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of 12 soldiers and one civilian at fort hood. there's not much more that i can say at this point. part of this was for us to understand what the regulations of the military are regarded extremist behavior by members of

the military and the obligation of fellow soldiers to repeat such behavior, whether expressions of opinion or obviously in the extreme memberships in organizations. we're trying to build an understanding of what the rules of the military are regarding the relationship of members of the military to extremist believes an extremist organizations. retired -- are retired general sat in on homeland security committee yesterday. the normal rules of free speech, first amendment rights, do not relate commit -- completely to members of the military. you take an oath and you have to act in a way that supports military cohesion, could order, and discipline of the military, and of course loyalty to the united states. but i would say it was a good informational session.

dollars does the military need greater latitude to restrict expression? >> we're getting deeply into this. it was reflected again today, some of the existing regulations and rules regarding extremism, out of other circumstances. there was a time during the 1990's when there was some evidence of white supremacist organizations -- let's put it this way. some evidence of members of the military, enlisted personnel, being members of white supremacist organizations, and in one case, in the vicinity of fort bragg -- i forget whether it was one two is listed soldiers who were actually involved in the racist murder of two african american people in that vicinity. i think it is a question of whether the wording in those regulation also covers what

we're dealing with today, which is a very different kind of threat, the threat of islamist extremism. it happens to also be the enemy that we're fighting and is fighting us. to reach a conclusion about that, and the other question came out of our homeland security to meeting meeting yester day is to give enlisted soldiers once, a sense of obligation. if they hear statements that they think are inconsistent with outhe purpose of the military, they have obligation to report that. and that they would be protected, as it were, if they did. [unintelligible] i think they will probably try

to continue their -- the army itself has begun a review of this case. the department of defense has generally. the president has as his national security council to dues as well. the criminal investigation is aimed at finding out whether dr. hassan actually committed the murders that he is accused of and taking action against him as a result. congress is interested in this promote preventative point of view. was something missing -- in a preventive point of view. was something missing in the rules that guide that behavior, whether in the justice department or in the military, that will help us prevent a soldier from wreaking havoc and pain and death that dr. hassan allegedly did that for good. -- at fort hood. i say get more from the publicly

available evidence. there was information that was not as fully shared as it should have been. these are judgment calls. it is not to meet at this point a clear point of anyone's negligence. i worry -- and part of this is not coming out in individuals, who knew hassan in the military at walter reed. they're saying to the media, i am not so sure that they said to the chain of command when they were at walter reed. here is what i worry -- and it is too soon for any of us to draw conclusions -- there was information in different places in the u.s. government that it put on one desk, people would have said, nadil malik hassan is potentially dangerous. >> [unintelligible]

>> were talking about the department of justice and the u.s. army. what information did the army had about him that might have led to concerns? what information did the joint terrorism task force have? >> [inaudible] is that making muslim soldiers lives more difficult? >> i had a very important conversation with the general. this is not a question of muslim american soldiers. this is a question of jihad as ism. there are thousands of muslim americans serving in the military honorably. the best way to protect and honor their service is to make sure that when there is an occasion when someone goes

extremist, that we catch the signs and stop that person from happening. i have to run. i think senator -- well, senator leavens and senator sessions. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> one sentence and that is said. >> lieberman davis 20 sentences. >> that is his choice. we just had a long hearing with the department of defense representatives. we're talking about the procedures which are in effect, relative to reporting suspicious statements or activities and whether they are adequate. where the army is in terms of their review of those procedures. we are in the middle of a series of briefings which will lead at

the appropriate time to hearings. i am not going to be able to say anything which could undermine the prosecution, which is now under way, because we want the prosecution to take place. without being negatively affected by anything we say or do. we have our responsibilities at the senate armed services committee to focus on the defense department and any actions or activities which should have signaled something to them, which did not lead to their taking steps to protect against the hassan action at fort hood. and that is basically where we are at. >> are you satisfied that they did everything in their power? >> way too early to reach any conclusion on that.

>> [inaudible] the defense department said that they did not receive the e-mails until after the shooting. >> one of the many things we are going to look at is whether the joint terrorism task force representatives of the department of defense -- the defense department member acted appropriately and effectively. and whether or not that went to the washington bureau of the joint terrorism task force and that they took appropriate action and whether or not other alleged e-mails that existed were properly handled as well. there are hundreds of questions that we're looking into and that is one of them. that is all that i can say. that is all i am able to say. >> this 45-day review -- is that

window dressing? >> this is an extraordinarily serious events and gates will be handling it with the appropriate seriousness and the redness that it requires. >> you think this counts as a terrorist attack? >> i am not troubled to designate it that way. some are troubled it to call out there, recall -- to call it that, summer troubled -- but it sure looks like -- it sure looks like that to me. you do not have to have borne influence for terrorist act. -- foreign influence for a terrorist act.

that is a different question. are you talking about khalid sheikh mohommed? >> do you ticket is proper for him to be tried in new york? >> i do. he is an american citizen and he will be tried where the crimes were committed. i have to find out who you are talking about. >> i'm talking about the problem in new york. people call that a terrorist action. it is going to be done in new york city. what is your feeling about that? >> about the mohammad trial in new york? i think it is appropriate to try him in new york because i'd be what he did as a major crime. he wants to be treated as a warrior. he is not. ksm is a criminal.

he should be treated as a criminal and not as a warrior. for years have ethics and ethical codes. warriors have standards. he does not. he aims at civilians. he attacked civilians. he is not in uniform. i would give him what he wants, which is -- i would not give him what he wants, to treat him as a warrior which he views himself as. we should not be in any way intimidated by terrorists. we should try them and imprison them or execute them according to our laws and not be afraid to do any of the above, to try them, to put them in prison, or to execute them according to the law. we should not be in any way be fearful of that. ok? thanks. >> carl levin was a guest on "newsmakers" where he