Week ahead

Parliament this week is a bit of a one-trick pony. Business will be almost entirely devoted to the ceremonial and policy substance of the Queen's Speech.

On Wednesday, Westminster re-opens for business with the usual blaze of Victorian pageantry - the Sovereign's procession, the ceremonial progress to the House of Lords. Black Rod will strike the door of the Commons three times, and summon MPs to the House of Peers. Dennis Skinner will deliver his ceremonial joke, and Conservative MPs will groan their traditional groan, before filing behind their Leader to hear the speech.

And Her Majesty will then enumerate the bills the Coalition proposes to lay before Parliament.

A little later both Houses will debate motions to present "An Humble Address" thanking Her Majesty for "the Gracious Speech".

(The Commons makes a show of asserting its independence from the Crown by debating the "Outlawries Bill", before turning its attention to the speech).

Shared duties

The motion for the Humble Address is proposed by a senior and seconded by a junior government MP - "a genial old codger on the way out, and an oily young man on the make" as the former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell put it, when he was the junior MP in question. In this era of Coalition one has to be Conservative, and one Lib Dem. The speeches are supposed to be witty and light touch, and sometimes they are.

Then Ed Miliband, as Leader of the Opposition, has a go - the normal courtesies require him to compliment the mover and seconder, and remember MPs who've departed this life, before moving on to the bills the government has announced. David Cameron follows - and then the debate opens up. It continues for a further three days, through Thursday, Friday and Monday in the Commons, and Thursday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lords - with different themes in each House on each day.

The Lords have already announced their themes: constitutional affairs, equalities, home affairs, justice and law on Thursday, business, economy, local government and transport on Monday, agriculture, culture, education, energy, health and welfare on Tuesday and defence, foreign and Commonwealth affairs, international development on Wednesday. Note that MPs, diligently, are sitting on Friday.

While the Queen's Speech is being debated, there are no departmental question times, so normal Commons service is not resumed until next Tuesday, when George Osborne takes Treasury Questions.

There will, however, be a smidgeon of select committee action. The Communities and Local Government Committee (at 4.10pm) are committing borderline lese majeste by sitting on State Opening day itself, to continue their inquiry into the private rented housing sector. Witnesses include London's Deputy Mayor for Housing, the British Property Federation, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

And Sir Jon Cunliffe, UK Permanent Representative to the EU, a man high in eurosceptic demonology, is before the European Scrutiny Committee, as it continues its inquiry into the Commons' system for scrutinising EU legislation, at 4.30pm.

There's a little more committee activity on Thursday: the International Development Committee (at 9am) takes evidence on violence against women and girls, with Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, and International Development Minister Lynn Featherstone. The Energy and Climate Change Committee (at 9am) looks into energy prices, profits and poverty with a series of academics and the Environmental Audit Committee (at 10.30am) has its first evidence session on "well-being", a policy approach which attempts to apply the idea of natural capital, to public policy making. The committee will examine the philosophical and practical issues behind this with Professor Dieter Helm, the chair of the newly-created Natural Capital Committee.

And the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (at 11am) continues its investigation into the impact of the Wright Reforms - the Backbench Business Committee, elected select committee chairs and members etc - with senior MPs Sir Alan Beith (chair of the Justice Committee and the Liaison Committee, the super-committee of committee chairs), Clive Betts (chair of the Communities Committee), Elfyn Llwyd (the leader of Plaid Cymru at Westminster - his party and other smaller parties have always felt the Wright reforms didn't do enough to guarantee their voice was heard), Natascha Engel (chair of the Backbench Business Committee), David Howarth (former deputy Leader of the House) and Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, the Tory backbenchers' shop steward. Anoraks will be worn.