Queen opens Blair's second term

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 20. Westminster basked in glorious sunshine and tourists gawked at the stately procession as the Queen, in her quaint horse-drawn carriage which looked strangely out of tune with New Labour's modern Britain, arrived at the gates of the Houses of Parliament this morning to inaugurate the Blair Government's second term in office amid reports of a looming confrontation between trade unions and the Government over some of its new policies.

This was the Queen's big day - one of the few occasions when she gets to put on the crown - even if it meant missing the morning races at Royal Ascot, an event the royalty hates to miss. And as Her Majesty, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, entered the House of Lords, an assortment of titled worthies variously known as ``Sticks'' and ``Rods'', with arcane functions, bowed and courtesied to her. There was some more ceremony before she sat down on the throne and declared, ``Pray, my Lords be seated'', as a prelude to her speech unveiling the Government's agenda.

Minutes before that, a Black Rod had knocked at the doors of the House of Commons to summon members to ``Her Majesty at once'' and slowly the MPs, led by the Speaker, Mr. Michael Martin, wound their way to the House of Lords to present themselves before the Queen and lend their ears to her. The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. William Hague, walked together - looking somewhat uncomfortable in each other's company. For Mr. Hague, who has decided to quit as Tory party chief, it was his last appearance as the Leader of the Opposition and the sense of the occasion was writ all over his face.

In a brief speech, written for her by Mr. Blair's policy-makers, the Queen announced ``my Government's'' plans to reform public services, maintain economic stability, crack down on crime and ensure full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. It took her barely 10 minutes to finish her address - compared to the time-consuming pomp and ceremony which preceded it. Inevitably, the question was raised whether the trappings of an imperial era were still relevant to a modern parliamentary democracy but, as inevitably, the royalists argued that traditions, even if somewhat archaic, were important as symbols of continuity. ``Governments come and go but the monarchy represents continuity'', one commentator said.

Behind the dazzle of ceremony, however, tension was reported to be building over the Government's plans to give the private sector a bigger role in running public services, such as hospitals, schools and public transport. Trade unions warned against the move and the Secretary for Transport and Local Government, Mr. Stephen Byers, was booed at a trade union conference in Brighton. Union activists interrupted him as he tried to argue the case for involving the private sector in public services. They were not convinced by his denial that the Government was not embarking on ``wholesale privatisation''.

``We are not about to embark on the wholesale privatisation of our essential public services. But we do believe that it is right to consider the part that private sector can play in delivering high quality public services'', he explained. Senior trade union leaders such as Mr. Dave Prentis of Unison and Mr. Bill Morris of the Transport and General Workers' Union cautioned against ``creeping privatisation'' and rejected the idea that private sector would make public services more efficient. Despite strong opposition from even Labour-backed unions, the Government plans to go ahead with its policy of ``public-private partnership'', raising fears of a confrontation with the unions.

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