• About
  • Newsletter
  • Contact us
Advance UK News Diary

May 16-22: Queen’s Speech debate and Australia elections

Houses of Parliament
May 13, 2022
  • Slice 1

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.

Leading the Week

The elephant in the room during last week’s Queen’s Speech was the absence of any specific announcement on how the government plans to address the cost of living, with Labour leader Keir Starmer branding its response ‘pathetic’ and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey suggesting households would be ‘bitterly disappointed’. MPs have an opportunity to continue the conversation in the Queen’s Speech debate on Tuesday (May 17) focusing on the cost of living increases, when opposition parties are likely to echo business groups’ calls for an emergency budget from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared to suggest in the post-Speech debate that some form of assistance was imminent, though the Treasury immediately briefed out a rebuttal that means households may be kept waiting until the autumn for further help.

Belfast Docks

New legislation is expected to be unveiled this week bringing sweeping changes to the current Northern Ireland Protocol Arrangements with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reportedly preparing new regulations which would remove the current checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Attorney General’s office has released new legal advice ahead of the anticipated changes, claiming that over-riding parts of the post-Brexit treaty would be lawful to avoid the potential of civil unrest. The country’s ever choppy political waters were further stirred by May 5’s local elections, where Sinn Fein became the largest party in the Stormont Assembly for the first time. The DUP continues to refuse to join Sinn Fein in a governing Executive, however, until its concerns over the Protocol arrangements are addressed.


Looking abroad

Australians vote in federal elections on Saturday (May 21), with Prime Minister Scott Morrison seeking a fourth term in office as leader of the Liberal–National Coalition. Morrison is trailing in the polls behind Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese, a former prominent figure among the left of his party who has since moved towards the centre and now promises ‘renewal, not revolution’. The news in mid-April that China had signed an agreement with the Solomon Islands in that many fear could lead to the deployment of Chinese military to the region has brought into question Morrison’s national security credentials, with Albanese describing the development as ‘a massive foreign policy failure’.

This week is once again jam-packed when it comes to developments related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Monday (May 16) sees EU foreign ministers gather in Brussels as negotiations on the controversial sixth sanctions package against Russia continue, with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba participating in person. In Finland, meanwhile, the country’s parliament considers the now all-but-inevitable move to join NATO, while in Sweden there is a debate on the subject and a rumoured government meeting to sign off on a parallel move. In Moscow, Vladimir Putin is hosting a CSTO summit that is expected to involve a one-on-one with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö begins a two-day state visit to Sweden (May 17), while Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov delivers a speech on Russia’s role in the world. The European Union is expected to launch its RePowerEU plan to diversify gas supplies on May 18, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Denmark for a summit focusing on offshore wind in the North Sea. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts a UN Security Council meeting (May 19) on the impact of the conflict on global food supplies, while NATO military chiefs gather in Brussels.


 

Also look out for...

May 16

Andrew Bailey at Treasury Committee session
Nicola Sturgeon addresses Brookings Institution in Washington DC
NATO allies military exercise
GCSE exams begin

May 17

Julian Assange defence team files further submissions over proposed US extradition
NUJ president at committee session on local journalism
Prince of Wales & Duchess of Cornwall visit Canada
Cannes festival
US primary elections in five states

May 18

Jacob Rees-Mogg speech to Reform think tank
UEFA Europa League Final
Ministerial address at CBI annual dinner

May 19

Nadine Dorries at committee session on DCMS work
Boeing Starliner test flight
USPGA Championship begins

May 20

Joe Biden begins visits to South Korea and Japan

May 21

UEFA Women’s Champions League Final
Scottish Cup Final

May 22

F1 Spanish Grand Prix
French Open begins
Premier League season ends

Statistics, reports and results...

May 16

Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status
Rightmove House Price Index
China GDP
Results from: Ryanair

May 17

Universal Credit
UK unemployment
EU and Euro area GDP
Results from: Vodafone

May 18

UK inflation
Japan GDP

May 19

UK knife crime
CBI Industrial Trends Survey
Results from: easyJet, Royal Mail

May 20

UK Retail Sales
GfK consumer confidence index

Anniversaries and awareness days

May 17

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

May 18

AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate

May 20

World Bee Day
Endangered Species Day
National Work From Home Day

May 21

World Day for Cultural Diversity
World Whisky Day

May 22

Five years ago: Manchester Arena bombings

Foresight News is an intelligence tool for media, government, PR and public affairs professionals to plan editorial coverage and media engagement. 

If you'd like to receive this newsletter by email, you can click here to sign up for free. 

If you’d like to speak to us about a subscription, email enquiries@foresightnews.com for a free demo and trial access. 

Tags

  • australia
  • brexit
  • cost of living
  • economy
  • northern ireland protocol
  • Queen's Speech
  • Ukraine
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Website terms & conditions

Designed by Interconnect. Powered by Standfirst.