This House of Lords Library Briefing has been published ahead of day 1 of the Lords debate on the December 2019 Queen's Speech, covering the following subjects: foreign affairs, defence, international development, trade, climate change and the environment.
Queen's Speech January 2020: Debate in the House of Lords Day 1 (302 KB , PDF)
This briefing is one of three prepared ahead of the three days of debate in the House of Lords on the Queen’s Speech, scheduled to take place between 7 and 9 January 2020. The briefings detail the legislative and policy announcements made by the Government, in the Queen’s Speech and in the associated documents, and provide links to further reading.
This briefing looks at foreign affairs, leaving the European Union, defence, international development, trade, energy, environment and agriculture. This includes information on the legislation being introduced to facilitate the UK’s exit from the European Union, such as the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, and announcements about the UK’s future relationship with the EU. The briefing also lists other expected Brexit-related legislation, with each of these covered in further detail under the relevant subject heading; for example, the proposed Immigration Bill is covered in the Library’s briefing for day two of the Queen’s Speech debates, under the home affairs heading.
This briefing also details the following legislation:
In addition, it covers policy announcements regarding climate change and the Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review.
Queen's Speech January 2020: Debate in the House of Lords Day 1 (302 KB , PDF)
While international attention has largely been focused on the Middle East and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan continues. The UN has characterised the conflict as the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. As peace negotiations stall, concerns are rising not only for the people of Sudan but also about the conflict spreading to neighbouring states.
The Budget Responsibility Bill would require ministers to request an assessment from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for every major fiscal announcement and give the OBR the power to decide to publish one if the minister failed to request it. This follows the September 2022 ‘mini-budget’. The statement included plans that would have resulted in a projected £45bn reduction in tax income. It did not have an accompanying OBR assessment.
In light of the UK government’s recent proposals to reform the House of Lords, this briefing presents facts and figures comparing the House of Lords with other second chambers around the world.
