‘Empty,’ a ‘damp squib’, and filler - nothing more, nothing less - a King's Speech that shows a government on its way out
The King’s Speech was a farce.
Imagine the scenario where a government, in a constitutional monarchy, has to ask for the permission from the King before it lays out its qualitative and legislative agenda for the next year. Let’s put it another way - imagine this government doing it.
And there’s your problem.
For a start, amid a cost-of-living crisis, there is a morbid and depressing level of pomp, procession, theatrics, and inevitable cost that goes into the archaic and needless formalities of the King’s Speech.
One for the political history bods, yes, but it is made all the more depressing when you consider that the King has been roped into this circus; monarchists should be offended by the sheer audacity that the King was being held hostage by Sunak, in a way, and compelled on ‘constitutional grounds’ to reiterate a whole raft of government announcements, which - with the ‘limited and specific’ time it has left - the government is almost certain not to implement much of the more complex legislation anyway, at least not without significant watering down and amendments to proposals.
That’s one point.
The second is that whatever agenda the government has left that is less complex, and is almost certain to pass through ‘the process’ is not likely to make any qualitative difference in any way, shape or form.
Thus -