As the Queen opens Parliament

It’s the state opening of Parliament today, with the Queen’s Speech laying out the legislative programme for the next year.

There’s a chance she’ll mention the Phase 1 bill for HS2, but with the route beyond Birmingham still undecided – although originally due in 2014 – it’s very unlikely that the Government will want to talk about Phase 2. And with Phase 1 under review by the Cabinet Office, maybe they will want to ignore that as well.