Brown starts election countdown

Prince Philip listens as the Queen announces planned new laws

The annual Queen's Speech is where Her Majesty reads out the new laws the government wants to bring in. But Gordon Brown's been accused of using it to kick off his general election campaign. So what were some of the measures announced in the speech and how will they affect you?

CRIME AND YOUNG PEOPLE

There'll be new tests for parents if their children get Asbos and there are plans to let police stop and search people with less paperwork.

In schools, there will be a legal guarantee of standards and a promise for every pupil to get at least a year of sex education.

A lot of this doesn't apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY

There will be compulsory age ratings for video games designed for anyone over 12 and a new push for more people to switch to digital radio.

There was no mention though of a broadband tax to pay for better coverage. Expect more on that sometime next year.

BANKS

There'll be new rules that mean they can claw money back if they think bankers get too much pay or bonuses.

They also want to ban those credit card cheques you sometimes get in the post whether you ask for them or not.

Elsewhere, they want to put in law their promise to halve the government's debt levels in four years.

Queen's Speech: See what the government announced bill-by-bill