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U.K. government lays out plans ahead of election
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:59 AM ET Nov 18, 2009
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Britain's Labour government on Wednesday detailed a legislative agenda that includes measures to cap bankers' pay and to attack the budget deficit as the nation prepares for an election that must take place by June.
Opposition leaders branded the Queen's Speech, written by the government and delivered by Queen Elizabeth II in the House of Lords, as pre-election grandstanding.
The speech included an outline of a financial-services bill, which would require banks and other financial institutions to draft "living wills" that would detail how their operations would be wound down if they were to collapse.
The measure would also give the Financial Services Authority the power to veto pay packages that it deems to overly encourage risk taking.
In a statement, the British Bankers' Association said banks have "always said that pay packages should reward long-term success and should not encourage undue risk taking.
"We have already signed up to remuneration rules with the Financial Services Authority and support moves by the G20 to coordinate international agreements, necessary to keep talent in the U.K.," the group said.
A separate fiscal-responsibility bill would enshrine pledges by the government to cut the deficit in half within four years.
"As the economic recovery is established, my government will reduce the budget deficit and ensure that national debt is on a sustainable path," the monarch said.
Polls show British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party trailing the opposition Conservatives by a wide margin.
Conservative leader David Cameron had dismissed the speech as "little more than a Labour press release on Palace parchment," the Press Association reported. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg had called for scrapping the speech.
The Queen's Speech is the central part of the official state opening of Parliament, which marks the beginning of a new, annual parliamentary session. The queen arrives at Parliament and dons the bejeweled Imperial State Crown and parliamentary robes, then proceeds through the Royal Gallery to the House of Lords chamber.
In a portion of the ceremony meant to highlight the independence of the House of Commons, an official known as Black Rod is sent to summon members of Parliament from the Commons. The door to the Commons chamber is slammed in Black Rod's face and remains closed until he has knocked on the door with his staff of office.
Commons members then follow Black Rod to the House of Lords chamber, where the queen delivers the speech from a throne.
The current ceremony dates back to 1852, while traditions surrounding the state opening of parliament and the delivery of a speech by the monarch go back to at least the 16th century, according to the Parliament's Web site.
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