Parliament Will Return On Wednesday Following Pause For Queen's Death
MPs will be offered the opportunity to swear a new oath of allegiance to King Charles (Alamy)
2 min read
MPs will return to the Commons on Wednesday 21st September after government and parliamentary business was paused in the wake of the Queen's death.
Commons authorities have confirmed Parliament will sit from 10am on Wednesday. The first day of sitting will be set aside for MPs to swear a new oath of allegiance to King Charles.
MPs will also be asked to vote to shorten the upcoming conference recess period by a week. Parliament had expected to rise again from Thursday 22 September until October 17 for the annual party conference season.
A Friday sitting is also expected to be announced to offer Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng the opportunity to present a mini-budget outlining details of Liz Truss's proposed tax cuts, and how energy relief plans will be paid for.
Senior MPs, including Truss and Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, have already taken the new oath during a rare Saturday sitting of Parliament last week.
Wednesday's session, which will begin at 10am, will first see members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet offered the opportunity to take the oath, with other ministers next on the list, followed by MPs based on the year they were elected.
MPs have been told they are not "required" to take an oath to the new King because they had all previously taken part in a swearing in ceremony following the 2019 election where they declared their allegiance to the Queen and her successors. Many, however, are keen to participate in the ceremony nonetheless.
Parliament has only briefly met since news of the death of the Queen was announced on Thursday, with MPs spending two days delivering tributes to the monarch.
But there has been growing pressure for the government to get back to normal business in order to pass legislation needed to implement their latest plans to curb the energy crisis.
It is widely expected that new Commons leader Penny Mordaunt will use a statement on Thursday to announce plans for Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to deliver a mini-budget on Friday, which will include measures for freezing household energy bills and setting out the next steps for supporting businesses.
Mordaunt will also use the statement to table a Commons vote on shortening the recess period normally set aside for the period when parties hold their annual conferences.
According to House authorities, Mordaunt will propose a full week's reduction in the conference recess period, meaning MPs would now return to the Commons on 11 October.
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