Oliver Dowden ‘can’t be certain’ Tories didn’t pay hospital fees of rape complainant
Parliament is set to hear the annual King’s Speech at 11.30am today, as the monarch sets out Rishi Sunak’s government’s policy agenda for the year ahead.
It will be the first such speech King Charles III has made since assuming the throne last year. It will also be the first of Mr Sunak’s tenure in No 10 – and most likely the last prior to an expected general election next year.
It falls on the annual state opening of parliament, a day of pomp and ceremony involving traditions such as searching the Palace of Westminster for gunpowder, Black Rod banging on the door of the Commons, and the taking of one MP “hostage” to secure the safe return of the monarch.
The government is expected to expand the use of whole-life prison sentences to include any murder involving sexual or sadistic conduct.
Following several high-profile murder cases in which those convicted refuse to attend their sentencing hearings, the government has promised to update the law in a bid to force them to do so.
