Prince Charles doing the Queen’s Speech for her? That’s how succession works

If this were a corporate job, it wouldn’t be odd at all to have the next person prepared for what’s to come with training, introductions and sitting in the big chair once in a while, writes Salma Shah

The Prince of Wales has been undergoing this apprenticeship all his life (AP)

The drama that accompanies even the slightest change in the Queen’s schedule is over the top. She has mobility issues and would rather not traipse down to parliament to deliver a speech. Fair enough. After all her years of service, she’s allowed a sick day. Besides, there’s quite a lot to digest in the actual speech.

It’s of course the monarch’s constitutional responsibility to let her all know what “her” government is planning for the next session, but as a side point, it’s rather refreshing to be able to see the handover to the next generation happening before our eyes.

We’re going to have to get used to the change. And if this were a corporate job, we’d have meticulous succession planning. It wouldn’t be odd at all to have the next person prepared for what’s to come with training, introductions and sitting in the big chair once in a while.

The Prince of Wales has been undergoing this apprenticeship all his life, so stepping into the job for a few attempts before he wears the crown is a positive to draw from the general disappointment at not seeing the Queen in full regalia.

The Duke of Cambridge at his father’s side gave us a photo finish of the future. It’s what the suits at the palace do best – delicately urging us into the next phase of our national life without spooking us.

Just as the monarchy is in transition, so too is the government. The speech contained an eye-watering 38 bills, with five carry over bills that didn’t make it through the last session. The government is attempting to move from the reactive nature of the pandemic into a supercharged delivery phase before the next general election.

Many of the legislative changes proposed seem modest, and things that have been mooted for a while. Take for example the clamp down in a public order bill on vexatious and disruptive protests. It’s an issue that has angered many on both sides, protesters on the now moral issue of climate change and the public on the inability to go about their business without the impediment of said protestors. That is red meat to many.

The speech itself was high on narrative but low on ideas. We know we have an economic shock coming down the track in the form of inflation, and an extension of the energy price cap is a very minimal offer to counter the difficulties ahead. Whilst the government cannot and therefore should not try and fix every problem, this may feel like a missed opportunity in a year’s time.

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There is lots of talk about levelling up, but it’s unsupported by serious thoughts on growth. The Brexit legislation is about tidying up the loose ends of our departure from the EU. Removing parliamentary scrutiny from transposed directives may help speed but not necessarily outcomes.

There are good things in this speech – action on net zero, introducing standards on privately rented homes and crackdowns on fraudulently registered companies, but the legislative programme is piecemeal and does not show an all-encompassing vision of how we’re going to tackle the new challenges ahead.

Whilst the measures may seem small, delivering these bills will be a gargantuan and intense task. Will it be enough to turn the corner for this administration? It looks doubtful.