Inside Politics: Her final journey

Queen to make final journey to Westminster Hall as new figures show easing inflation, writes Matt Mathers

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Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

There is a slight crack of light streaming through the economic storm clouds this morning with the news that inflation has eased slightly. Queen Elizabeth II left Scotland for the last time yesterday, spending the night at Buckingham Palace before making her final journey to Westminster hall later today.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is not sitting.

The Queen’s procession is scheduled to start at around 2.22pm and arrive at Westminster Hall by 3pm, where the archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service.

Daily briefing

Her final journey

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was laid in Buckingham Palace last night after leaving Scotland for the final time. It was flown from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt in west London before being driven to the late monarch’s main residence in the capital.

The final procession is scheduled to start at 2.22pm today. From the palace, Her Majesty’s coffin will be taken along The Mall Horse Guards Road, across Horse Guards Parade, and into Whitehall to Parliament Square and into the Palace of Westminster.

King Charles, his sons and siblings will follow the procession to Westminster Hall, where Her Majesty will lie in state until her funeral on Monday. Members of the public will be allowed to watch the procession in person and pay their respects in the hall but have been warned to expect lengthy queues. All services will be broadcast on national TV and radio and there will be a screening of the events in Hyde Park for those who want to watch with others.

On his first visit to Northern Ireland yesterday, the King met with Sir Jefferey Donaldson and the pair spoke about the Brexit deal protocol, with the DUP leader saying he believed a solution could be found with the EU. During a reception at Hillsborough Castle, His Majesty also spoke to Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill about the assembly and its current impasse. O’Neill, whose party are staunch republicans, wished King Charles well and said she was sorry for the loss of his mother.

Campaigners, meanwhile, are growing increasingly concerned about freedom of speech and law enforcement’s interpretation of powers within the government’s new police and crime bill, following the arrest of several anti-monarchy protesters during the period of national mourning.

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Glimmer of hope

With the cost of living crisis, a war in Europe and now the death of the UK’s longest-serving monarch, it has felt a bit like there is no end in sight to the tsunami of bad news crashing our way lately. There is, however, some cause for optimism this morning – on the economic front at least.

Official figures out within the past hour show that inflation has eased slightly to 9.9 per cent but remains at a 40-year high. Falling petrol prices were the main reason for the drop, the Office for National Statistics said.

It will be welcome news for Liz Truss, the prime minister and Kwasi Kwarteng, her chancellor, both of whom are still coming under pressure to set out more details of how they will pay for freezing energy bills and planned tax cuts expected in an emergency mini-budget Westminster watchers believe will come on either Thursday or Friday next week.

Kwarteng has reportedly ordered Treasury officials to focus solely on delivering economic growth rather than fiscal discipline, setting a target of 2.5 per cent annual growth. But top economists have warned that the target could be knocked off course by the chancellor’s own tax cuts and take a decade to achieve.

On the record

Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides of LSE questions Kwarteng’s growth plans.

“Whether he can succeed, I’m doubtful. In fact, I think that the numbers are unrealistic, but even more unrealistic is the idea that that the Treasury will have targets for GDP growth.”

From the Twitterati

Sunday Times chief politics commentator Tim Shipman reacts to King Charles’s apparent loss of temper.

“This is sort of amusing, but also the second evidence of a short temper we’ve seen in just a handful of days.”

Essential reading

• Sean O’Grady, The Independent: King Charles’s soft power stretched to its limits in Northern Ireland
• John Rentoul, The Independent: Kwasi Kwarteng is dispensing with ‘experts’ for next week’s mini-Budget
• Marina Hyde, The Guardian: Britain likes to consider itself the cradle of free speech – until someone heckles Prince Andrew
• Derek Thompson, The Atlantic: The world really is getting better

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