When is the Queen's speech 2021? How to watch the address tomorrow
The Queen will address the House of Lords to mark the State Opening of Parliament.
It's been a busy couple of weeks in the political calendar, with various elections being held around the UK last week – and Tuesday 11th May sees the Queen's speech, marking the State Opening of Parliament for the forthcoming session.
Although several of the usual ceremonial aspects will not be going ahead due to pandemic restrictions, the Queen will deliver the address from the House of Lords as usual.
The speech will see the government's agenda for the year ahead set out, and is likely to contain lots of information pertaining to the UK's recovery from the pandemic – read on for everything you need to know about how to watch.
When is the Queen's speech?
The speech goes ahead tomorrow, Tuesday 11th May 2021.
The event will be COVID secure, and as such will not involve some of the usual ceremonial aspects, with a No 10 spokesperson saying: "While we are still in the middle of a pandemic this Queen’s Speech will look quite different, but it is important we take forward our plans and deliver policies to improve the lives of people across the country through a new Parliamentary session."
What time is the Queen's speech?
The House of Lords will meet at 11:25am to hear the address, with the ceremony set to last until approximately 12:30pm.
How to watch the Queen's speech on TV and live stream
It will be very easy to tune in to watch the speech live – with a full broadcast on both BBC News and Sky News.
You can also watch online, on BBC iPlayer if it's the BBC's coverage you're after, or alternatively on the Sky News YouTube channel.
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What will be included in the Queen's speech?
There's rather a lot on the agenda, with reports suggesting that upwards of 25 bills and pieces of legislation will be included in the speech.
The Government has expressed that the speech will outline Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to "level up" as the country emerges from the other side of the pandemic, with several draft laws intended to more equally spread opportunities around the UK.
Among the specific policy announcements, we can expect some that will be carried over from the previous session – including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which will be included despite the extremely controversial reception it has attracted since it was first announced.
Also to be included are the delayed The Environment Bill, which outlines plans for dealing with climate change post-Brexit and possibly the Employment Bill on new workers' rights – which was previously included back in the 2019 Queen's Speech.
New bills reported to be mentioned include the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, the Animal Sentience Bill, the Sovereign Borders Bill and new measures to curb voted fraud.
Looking for something esle to watch? Check out our TV Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
