Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The immigration reforms also include tweaks to the welfare system to prevent all immigrants accessing certain benefits when they first arrive.

The government says it will also increase the “health surcharge”. That’s a payment made by all those coming into the UK to ensure it covers the full cost of using the NHS.

That may actually end up being a bit of a money-spinner.

The evidence suggests immigrants tend to claim fewer benefits and use the NHS less than anyone else in society - and that’s because they tend to be younger and fitter.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The coming changes to the immigration system don’t explain how such a large reform can be in place by January 2021, or how it will reduce numbers, as the Conservatives have promised.

There are two key routes into the UK - the first being free movement for most people from Europe. The second is a terribly complicated system of visas granted to people on the basis of their skills, wages, job offers and family ties.

The proposal is a single system that allocates points that count towards entry dependent on the skills that can be offered.

There appear to be no caps on skilled workers - which begs the question how the government can be sure it can reduce total net migration.

It appears it is betting on reducing numbers by only offering short-term visas to lower skilled workers. The maths may be good on that - but it may have huge implications for particular sectors, and in particular crisis-ridden social care where there are 120,000 vacancies.

BBC News Channel

Maddy Thimont Jack, from the think tank the Institute for Government, says we should see the text of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill this afternoon.

On Friday the bill will go to the Commons for a second reading, marking Boris Johnson's first chance "to show the election results means there is a clear majority in Parliament and they will be able to get the bill through".

Asked about the government's decision to scrap the Department for Exiting the European Union, Ms Thimont Jack calls it "quite a significant political statement".

She says: "It didn't really work, basically in terms of running the negotiations.

"We saw the negotiations start off out of DexEU and then moved into the cabinet office and then ended up going into No 10 under Boris Johnson.

"It does make sense to think about managing the negotiations properly from the centre."

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office will be among the busiest departments under Boris Johnson's new administration - a reflection of the importance he attaches to law and order.

A number of measures, including those relating to domestic abuse, victims and policing, have been put forward before, but there are also new proposals on sentencing that could lead to a significant increase in the prison population among those jailed for violence, sexual assault and terrorism.

Plans to extend the use of "whole life" tariffs, where offenders can be ordered to spend the rest of their life behind bars, are vaguely worded, indicating ministers are open-minded about the range of crimes for which offenders should be locked up forever.

The idea that has the most potential to alter the criminal justice landscape is for a Royal Commission to examine the process from arrest to sentence.

The last time there was such a review was in 1991.

The terms of reference and the Chair have not been announced - they will be key to understanding which destination the government wishes the commission to steer towards.

Interesting times lie ahead.

Reality Check

Did we learn anything new from the Queen's Speech? Not really, says Chris Morris, from the BBC's Reality Check team - although it was a reminder of how much there is to be done.

"There's also a whole series of other bits of legislation set out in the Queen's Speech which are going to have to be passed as a result of Brexit," he says.

For example, an agriculture bill for a new agricultural policy will have to be passed because of Brexit, as well as a new trade bill and a new immigration system.

"The challenge next year is not going to so much be legislation and getting it through Parliament because the majority is there, it's going to be implementing all these things," says Morris adds.

"How do you implement a new immigration system on time by the end of next year?"

Asked whether some laws could just be copied over from the EU, and then passed into UK law and tinkered with it afterwards, our correspondent says that is possible in some things.

But for things like agriculture, "one of the themes of the entire Brexit campaign is that we want to leave the Common Agriculture Policy, certainly they want leave the Common Fisheries Policy".

"So then you can't just copy the Common Fisheries Policy into your own law, you want to create your own policy."

Labour MP Rachael Maskell has said she backs fellow MP Clive Lewis to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.

"There are many names coming forward," she says. "Later on I'll be declaring who I am supporting.

"It is somebody that is radical, that is progressive, and putting the agenda in that place of saying we have got a climate emergency - we need to address that - we've got economic injustice."

"I'll be supporting Clive Lewis," she adds.

BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg says Mr Lewis is from the left of the Labour Party but not neccesarily tied to Jeremy Corbyn.

Image source, HM Parliament

Liz Saville Roberts was talking to BBC News earlier:

The BBC's political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg says the UK is about to enter a political era that is completely different to what there's been for the last three years - a stable majority.

"Whether you love or loathe the idea of there being a solid Conservative majority, this is a government with a huge mandate entering into a period where Parliament is not going to be the same well of tension.

"Parliament's role will go back to the vastly important one of scrutiny - which is very different to the situation where almost on any given day the opposition might be able to try and bring the government down."

"What a difference a majority makes," says Prof Anand Menon, from Kings College London, who is the director of think tank The UK in a Changing Europe.

"It's been so long since we've seen an effective majority government that for the first few months of this one I think we'll just sit there going wow, they're getting things done."

He adds that Mr Johnson is in a "very, very strong position".

Mr Menon is asked about the announcement that the Department for Exiting the European Union will close on 31 January, on the day the UK is due to leave the EU.

"One of the things about this getting rid of DexEU is you're going to centralise the Brexit negotiations in some kind of super-department and you can be sure that the prime minister will be keeping a very close eye on it," he says.

"I think what we're doing is collapsing two functions - the function of negotiating trade and the function of negotiating exit.

"Of course, exit has been negotiated but there are some preparations still to be put in place."

Mr Menon adds: "The plan will be to keep some of the people of DexEU and to point them towards the forthcoming negotiations with the EU which will start on the day we leave."

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

I can't see any surprises, no rabbits leaping out of hats, which is maybe obvious because it is only 10 weeks since the last Queen's Speech

It would be extraordinary if that was ripped up and they came back with something entirely new.

It's pretty predictable. One of the things that jumps out at me is that there is an awful lot of stuff in it.

What that tells me is that Team Johnson want to send out a message to people that the great parliamentary gridlock is over - we are moving on.

So the sort of stasis, the inactivity, the stuck in the mud syndrome that we've had for the past three years is over. There are now things that can be done, change is coming.

That is one part of the Queen's Speech message. The other is Boris Johnson and, if you've listened to Boris Johnson since he was reelected, every time he opens his mouth he basically says we've got to move quickly to reassure those voters who lent us their support.

This is putting in place of that sort of commentary from Boris Johnson - to demonstrate to voters in areas where they wouldn't normally touch the Tories with a barge pole that he, Boris Johnson, is going to be different, he is going to deliver on commitments, for example to the NHS.

Which is why we have this entirely symbolic gesture of enshrining in law the increased funding to the NHS. Totally unnecessary, you don't need to do that. But it is saying to voters, look no ifs no buts, this really is happening, it's the law.

Elsewhere, we see him reaffirming the commitment to splash cash outside of London... designed with the same purpose, just to try and keep those voters who are a bit iffy about Boris Johnson, but to say to them "don't worry, I am going to stay true to those promises I made to you".

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas says the Queen's Speech, written by the government, is lacking in commitments on climate change, social care, education, housing and judicial independence.

Ms Lucas says Boris Johnson's plans are missing "real action" on climate change and that a plan to make it harder for judicial reviews to take place is "very worrying".

Setting out her views on Twitter, external, she says the Tories' education promises are "bluster", and "the reality is in real terms 83% of schools will be worse off in April 2020 than in 2015".

"Empty claims of world leadership on climate won't make us the 'greenest country on Earth', as the PM has promised. That requires urgent climate action - a 2050 target date [for almost zero carbon emissions] just doesn't cut it," she says, external.

The main story so far today is of course the Queen's Speech, which marks the official opening of a new session of Parliament.

The speech, written by the government but read out by Her Majesty, announced 25 bills that the government wants to make law over their time in power. Here are the main points:

• Brexit is the priority for Boris Johnson's government. Seven bills are devoted to Britain's departure from the EU - including on trade, agriculture, fisheries, immigration, financial services and private international law. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill will be the first bill put forward, with a vote on Friday.
• The NHS also featured heavily, with a promise that the government will make it law that the health service must receive an extra £33.9bn per year provided by 2023-24. Hospital parking will also be scrapped for "those most in need". But there's not much on social care - although the speech included a commitment for ministers to seek cross-party consensus for long-term reform of the system.
• A "points-based immigration system" was officially outlined, allowing the UK to welcome skilled workers.
• On housing, landlords will get more rights to gain possession of their property - and a new "lifetime deposit" scheme has been proposed which will mean tenants do not have to find a new deposit every time they move.
• And the PM pledged to cut business rates for thousands of retailers, pubs and restaurants across England and Wales. With the aim of helping struggling high streets, the government promised to increase the retail discount on rates by a third to 50%, costing £320m.
• Labour has said the government would be judged on how far it made up for "years of under-funding" of the health service and, so far, its proposals fell short of what was needed to deal with rising waiting times and staff vacancies.

Away from the Queen's Speech, today's second biggest story is on Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

She has published a document setting out the case for another referendum on Scottish independence, which she believes she has a mandate after her party the SNP won big in Scotland.

The Department for Exiting the EU (DexEU) has been responsible for negotiating the government's Brexit deal.

But it has long been suspected that future negotiations would be run from No 10 - and it now seems that is true.

The department is closing on the day the UK leaves the EU - 31 January 2020.

It remains to be seen what will happen to Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay.

Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst

Environmentalists have welcomed many of the provisions of the environmental bill described in the Queen's Speech.

But they point out that ministers are still committed to North Sea drilling, building roads that experts say will generate traffic, and blocking onshore wind power.

They have stayed silent on aviation expansion, and have imposed a moratorium on fracking, rather than a ban which people in the north off England were demanding

Critics point out that the new green watchdog won’t have the sort of powers to take legal action that prompted the UK to improve air quality under the threat of fines.

To explain this last one, the Cap of Maintenance is a red velvet cap with an ermine trim and a gold tassel.

It's carried in ahead of the Queen, alongside the Sword of State. Both represent the authority of the monarchy, external...

...and yes, the cap does look a bit like a Santa hat.

Former prime minister Theresa May was engaged in conversation with one of the Conservatives new MPs following the Queen's Speech.

Mrs May was spotted speaking to Sara Britcliffe, the newly-elected Conservative MP for Hyndburn and Haslingdon, Lancs.

Ms Britcliffe, 24, is one of the youngest MPs in the new Parliament.

Labour MP Nadia Whittome, 23, newly-elected in Nottingham East, is officially the youngest MP - known as the "baby of the House".

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Top of the list, of course is getting the Brexit legislation through. Second to that, as we were mentioning earlier, the health service.

Beyond that, there is tons on this agenda, not just things that were in a Conservative manifesto that was actually quite a slim document deliberately not trying to create too much risk as they went into the general election.

There’s plenty of legislation in there, whether it’s toughening up criminal sentencing or whether it’s acting to look at potential injustices in terms of prosecutions of former soldiers in Northern Ireland. We were hearing from one of the new Northern Irish MPs how controversial that kind of action might be.

Beyond even the legislation that they have planned, a few things are standing out.

Promises of reviews: promises of reviews of foreign policy and defence and security; a review too of how the courts operate; a review too of the constitution and rights commission – so that will be a new commission will be set up to look at the constitution, how government works.

That is the kind of thing where you think today might be the start of the government’s ambition, not the limit of it.

There are quite a few openings of doors there that might create rather a lot of interest, raise a few eyebrows.

Ultimately once we get into the sort of proper day to day of Boris Johnson’s government – which will be after Brexit in February – the government may actually come forward with plans that might seem by today’s comparison to be rather radical.

For me, that is one of the fundamental questions of this new government.

With a majority like this, there is a lot they can do. But how many fights do they really want to pick? Do they want to make a focus of two or three issues and really, really power through them or do they want to start trying to unplug the way the country works?