U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to introduce identity cards and measures to curb animal-rights extremists in a legislative program aimed at quelling the threat of terrorism, Queen Elizabeth II said.
``We live in a time of global uncertainty with an increased threat from international terrorism and organized crime,'' the Queen said in a speech marking the formal opening of Parliament in London. ``Measures to extend opportunity will be accompanied by legislation to increase security for all.''
The measures, including 32 bills, sketch the Labour government's priorities in the lead-up to the next election. Blair, who has lost public support over the war in Iraq, may call a vote by mid-2005 and is attempting to focus attention on domestic security.
Drugmakers including Novartis AG, Switzerland's biggest pharmaceutical company, urged the government to protect workers following attacks this year on U.K. animal-testing facilities. The proposed national identity card would require biometric readers made by companies including Sagem SA of France and Identix Inc. and Cogent Inc. of the U.S.
``If they can't keep Iraq out of the news, they'll try and make it part of the domestic agenda by talking about security,'' said John Curtice, author of ``The Rise of New Labour,'' published April 2001. ``It puts Iraq in a broader context that might be more favorable.''
Poll Results
About 34 percent of voters support the Labour Party, down from 42 percent at the time of the last election in 2001, according to a poll by Populus Ltd. Voter support for the invasion of Iraq fell to 31 percent in November, from as high as 58 percent in June 2003. The Nov. 5-7 poll of 1,500 adults had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The Queen also said the government would legislate to make the 11.3 billion-pound ($21 billion) ``Crossrail'' underground commuter train project possible. It will haul 200 million commuters a year through central London and may help construction companies such as W.S. Atkins Plc, Balfour Beatty Plc, Amec Plc and Carillion Plc.
The most politically controversial measure on the agenda is a bill to ratify the European Union's constitution, followed by a referendum. Polls show most voters oppose the constitution, as well as adoption of the currency shared by a dozen EU nations. Fifty-seven percent of voters surveyed from Oct. 7 to Oct. 12 by NOP Ltd. said they'd oppose the euro while 30 percent said they were in favor. The margin of error was 2 percentage points.
Voter Opposition
``The public is quite averse to policies relating to Europe,'' said Nick Verdi, an economist at Barclays Capital Corp., which sponsored and analyzed the survey. ``It doesn't suggest the time is right for a referendum on the euro, let alone the constitution.''
Other measures include a draft bill on corporate killing, announced by Home Secretary David Blunkett on Sept. 29. The law would punish companies found guilty of negligence when people are killed on the job, Blunkett said. About 3,000 people have died in work-related accidents in the past 10 years, according to the Trades Union Congress.
Under current law, a company may be found guilty of manslaughter only if at least one senior officer is shown to be directly responsible for an accident. The TUC, an umbrella group representing more than 7 million union members, wants a law allowing the prosecution of a company even if individual blame isn't clear.
Financial Stability
Also planned is a bill from the U.K. Treasury ensuring financial stability of the economy. In notes from the Prime Minister's office accompanying the speech, the government vowed to stick to its fiscal rules pledging to balance the budget over the course of the economic cycle even after running up a debt of 37 billion pounds in the latest fiscal year, the most since Labour took office.
Opposition parties said Blair's priorities are wrong. The Liberal Democrats said in a statement on the party's Web site that the government should reduce student fees and scrap local taxes, paying for reduced funding by raising taxes on people earning more than 100,000 pounds a year.
The Conservatives said Blair should cut taxes and fight crime.
``After seven years under Tony Blair, crime is out of control, our hospitals are dirty and our immigration system is a shambles,'' Conservative Party leader Michael Howard said in a statement Nov. 21. ``Taxes have shot up 66 times, but people see no improvement.''
Pageantry
The pageantry of the Queen's Speech began at 10 a.m., when the Yeomen of the Guard, the Royal bodyguards known as ``Beefeaters,'' searched the cellars of Parliament. The tradition dates back to 1605, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament, and King James I with it.
The Queen traveled in a gilded coach from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, escorted by the Household Cavalry. As the Queen arrived, the Union Flag of the U.K. was replaced by her Royal Standard over Parliament.
With four pages holding the train of her cloak and the Imperial Crown on her head, the Queen made her way to the House of Lords. The Lord Great Chamberlain and the Earl Marshall, ahead of her, walked backward as a sign of respect.
At 11:30 a.m., Lieutenant General Sir Michael Willcocks, Her Britannic Majesty's representative to Parliament -- generally known by his official title of Black Rod -- marched to the House of Commons, the lower, elected chamber. He summoned lawmakers to hear the Queen, who was waiting in the House of Lords, the upper, unelected chamber. By tradition, the Commons door was slammed in his face.
This ritual symbolizes the independence of the Commons from the Crown: no British monarch has entered the lower house since 1642, when King Charles I tried to arrest five members in the run- up to a civil war that ended with his execution in 1649.
Lawmakers led by Blair and Howard walked two-by-two into the House of Lords to hear the queen. Seated on a gilded throne next to her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth will read her speech from a goatskin parchment.