Missing from the queen’s speech: Trump, and Theresa May
Brexit looms large, but a visit by the US president was conspicuously absent in Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the opening of parliament
London — Brexit dominates UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s programme for the next two years, with the government planning eight new laws to ease Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. US President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to Britain later this year got no mention in Queen Elizabeth’s speech to parliament on Wednesday, raising doubts about whether it will go ahead. The omission follows media reports that Trump no longer wants to visit because of British public opposition to the visit, after a petition to cancel it received more than 1.8-million signatures. In a ceremony to mark the formal opening of parliament in London on Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth outlined the legislative programme the house of commons will consider in its two-year term. Bills on topics from immigration and trade to fisheries and agriculture will supplement the government’s main Brexit initiative — a repeal bill designed to transpose all current EU legislation into British law, to take effect once Brexit has be...
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