News Diary 15 – 21 July: King’s Speech, First Covid Inquiry Report, Republicans Nominate Trump

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall leave Buckingham Palace for the State Opening of Parliament on May 8, 2013 in London. Picture: Thomas Dutour/Shutterstock

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Leading the week

We’re not going to jinx it, but it’s worth noting that if England triumph over Spain at Sunday’s Euro final in Berlin, coverage next week will be dominated by plans for celebrations. Either way, Gareth Southgate’s side are expected to return to the UK on Monday (July 15) to frenzied discussions over team selection, tactics, and the manager’s future.

After an opening week in the Commons which saw Labour MPs overflowing from the government benches, Nigel Farage’s debut speech, and the re-election of Lindsay Hoyle as Speaker, attention now turns to the first major domestic milestone of Keir Starmer’s premiership: the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday (July 17).

While the event is enjoyed around the world for the heavy-duty pomp and ceremony, this year’s King’s Speech, setting out the government’s legislative priorities for the new Parliament, will be among the most heavily-scrutinised in recent memory. The speech should reflect Labour’s manifesto commitments on energy security, border control and the NHS, while bills to reform planning laws and protect renters, nationalise the railways and establish a national care service are also likely to be prominent.

One of the key issues for the party to address is employment rights, with its newfound business credentials likely to be tested if it’s perceived to be giving too much ground to unions and workers in its legislative programme.

The early scrutiny of Starmer’s leadership continues on Thursday (July 18), this time from an international perspective as the prime minister hosts the latest meeting of the European Political Community. The gathering of leaders from the continent, including those both in and out of the EU bloc, will again be closely watched for indications of the new prime minister’s foreign policy objectives and any potential shifts in allegiance with our near neighbours. Starmer committed to maintaining the UK’s support for Ukraine at the NATO Summit this week and is likely to return to the theme at the EPC meeting; he’s also expected to discuss his plans smash the gangs (Rishi Sunak’s stop the boats redux), and may use the opportunity to respond to domestic criticism of his failure to commit to a timeframe for increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.

After nearly two years of public hearings, controversial witness statements, and very public rows with the government over access to evidence, the UK Covid-19 inquiry is set to finally publish the first of its reports on Thursday (July 18). The inquiry’s Module 1 report focuses on the UK’s pandemic preparedness and resilience in the run up to and during the pandemic.

Prominent political figures at the module’s public hearings included David Cameron and George Osborne, and the evidence exposed deep frailties in the UK’s pandemic preparation, with former Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitting that the government’s approach to pandemic planning was “completely wrong“. The report can also be expected to weigh in on the circumstances surrounding the PPE shortage the UK faced at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, as well as the haphazard way the government sought to replenish stockpiles, which saw hundreds of millions of pounds lost to fraud.

Looking abroad

The Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday (July 15), running through to Thursday (July 18) when Donald Trump will deliver his acceptance speech as the party’s presidential nominee.

Beyond a brief controversy over Trump reportedly calling Milwaukee a “horrible city”, one of the main stories heading into the convention has been the question of who Trump plans to choose as a running mate. Reports suggest that the shortlist includes Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who Trump previously derided as “Little Marco”, as well as Ohio Senator JD Vance, whose beard Trump likes, and outgoing North Dakota Doug Burgum. Traditionally, the vice presidential nominee would give a speech on the penultimate day of the convention on Wednesday (July 17).

Meanwhile, in a move likely designed to put to rest suggestions Joe Biden was reconsidering his candidacy following that debate performance, the White House had already announced a busy schedule for the still just about presumptive Democratic nominee next week before he accidentally introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President Putin yesterday.

On Monday, Biden will be in Texas for an event marking the 60^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, before heading to Las Vegas for speeches at the NAACP’s annual convention on Tuesday and the Latino civil rights group UnidosUS’s annual conference on Wednesday. NBC will also be airing an interview with Biden on Monday night.

The European Parliament will meet on Tuesday (July 16) for its first session since June elections that saw candidates affiliated with the conservative European People’s Party bloc win 188 seats, followed by the Socialist and Democrats with 136 seats. But the third largest bloc is the new far-right Patriots for Europe bloc, which will have at least 84 members and is headed by Jordan Bardella from France’s Rassemblement National.

The Patriots will be one of three hard-right groupings in the new parliament alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Europe of Sovereign Nations grouping that includes Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEPs.

In addition to the expected re-election of Malta’s Roberta Metsola as the parliament’s president on Tuesday, a vote is also scheduled for Thursday (July 18) afternoon on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second five-year term from December.

Von der Leyen, who has been on a charm offensive in the run up to the vote, is due to deliver a statement in the morning before a potentially fractious debate ahead of the election itself at 1pm. While she has the backing of national leaders from the bloc, she still needs the votes from at least 361 MEPs, teeing up a tense moment when results are announced. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent rogue diplomacy is likely to come up on Wednesday (July 17) when outgoing European Council President Charles Michel addresses parliament, amid widespread outrage at Orban’s decision to visit Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

Also look out for…

July 15

UK Strategic Defence Review launched (this week)
High Court trial begins in Stonehenge tunnel legal appeal
King Charles and Queen Camilla visit Jersey
Ballot results announced for GMB workers at Amazon Coventry warehouse
Third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee opens
Elections in Rwanda and Syria
Sun Valley conference

July 16

King Charles and Queen Camilla visit Guernsey
Sergey Lavrov chairs Just World Order debate at UN Security Council
G7 trade ministers meet
US ambassador to China speaks at Aspen Security Forum opening
Real Madrid unveil Kylian Mbappe at Santiago Bernabeu

July 17

UK inflation figures released
Keir Starmer meets Taoiseach Simon Harris
Sergey Lavrov chairs Middle East debate at UN Security Council
ECJ ruling on TikTok’s gatekeeper status

July 18

Pat McFadden and Ed Davey at Post Office Horizon Inquiry
King’s Speech debate in the Commons
UK labour market statistics
French and South African parliaments sit for first time since elections
Head of CIA speaks at Aspen Security Forum
ECB interest rate decision
The Open Championship begins
England v West Indies second test begins

July 19

Jo Swinson and Maya Greene at Post Office Horizon Inquiry
HMICFRS State of Policing report
Judgment due in test case over SJP use for rail fare evasion
Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan speak at Aspen Security Forum
Alec Baldwin Rust shooting trial due to end
Harvey Weinstein in court in New York
BBC Proms begin

July 20

FIFA Council deadline to discuss Israel suspension proposal
Diamond League London
Penultimate stage of the Tour de France
Pride Glasgow

July 21

DNC Credentials Committee meeting discusses Biden nomination process
The Open Championship final round
Tour de France final stage
Formula One: Hungarian Grand Prix

Statistics, reports and results

July 15

ONS population estimates (mid-2023)
National Grid Future Energy Scenarios report
WHO/UNICEF estimates on child immunisation coverage
Rightmove House Price Index
China Q2 GDP
Deadline for water companies’ annual report and accounts
Results from: Goldman Sachs, Blackrock

July 16

IEA Electricity Market Report
EPI annual report on the state of education in England
Register of political donations
Amazon Prime Day
Results from: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group, Ocado, Experian Group

July 17