Her Majesty's most gracious Speech was then delivered to both Houses of Parliament by the Lord President (in pursuance of Her Majesty's Command) as follows:

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, my Government has pursued policies to ensure economic stability, to respond to the rising aspirations of the people of the United Kingdom and to ensure security for all.

Legislation has been brought forward to protect depositors and to ensure confidence in the banking system.

An Act has been passed to enable unclaimed money in dormant bank accounts to be used for youth facilities, financial inclusion and social investment, while ensuring customers retain the right to reclaim their money.

An Act has been passed to reduce the regulatory burdens on businesses.

Legislation has been enacted to provide for long-term reform of pensions and place a duty on every employer to contribute to workplace pensions for their employees.

An Act has been passed to provide better protection for vulnerable workers and to reduce burdens on employers.

My Government has taken further action to meet people's aspirations for better education, housing and healthcare.

An Act has been passed to ensure that young people stay in education or training until the age of 18, and to provide new rights for adults to receive skills training.

A draft bill has been published to reform apprenticeships.

Legislation has been enacted to create a stronger health and adult social care regulator, with a remit to assure the safety and quality of care for patients and users of services.

An Act has been passed to reform the regulation of human embryology and to ensure that the United Kingdom remains at the forefront of medical research.

Legislation has been enacted to create a new Homes and Communities Agency that will deliver more social and affordable housing. It will promote regeneration and create a new Tenant Services Authority which will give tenants more choice and influence over how their homes are managed.

Legislation has been enacted to reform the planning system, providing for quicker and more transparent decision making, and to enable the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy.

My Government has worked to protect the environment and to tackle climate change, both at home and abroad.

Legislation has been enacted to make the United Kingdom the first country in the world to introduce a legally binding framework to reduce carbon emissions, by 80 per cent of the 1990 levels by 2050.

Legislation has also been enacted to provide clean and secure supplies of energy.

An Act has been passed to tackle congestion and improve public transport.

My Government brought forward legislation to grant the powers to secure land, to build and to maintain the Crossrail scheme in the South East of England.

Legislation has been enacted to reform the criminal justice system with the aim of protecting the public and reducing offending.

An Act has been passed to protect the public from terrorism by improving powers to gather and share information and to ensure the effective prosecution of suspects.

A draft bill has been published on Citizenship and Immigration.

Legislation has been brought forward on the regulation of party finance and expenditure and to ensure the effective administration of elections.

Members of the House of Commons, I thank you for the provision you have made for the work and dignity of the Crown and for the public service.

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, my Government continues to work closely with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

My Government has worked to secure a prosperous and secure European Union, better able to respond to the challenges of globalisation.

Legislation has been enacted which enabled the ratification of the European Union Lisbon Treaty.

My Government has continued to work with the United Nations, the G8 and the European Union to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and to address international concerns on nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

The Duke of Edinburgh and I were pleased to pay State visits to Uganda in November 2007 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, to Turkey in May and to Slovenia and Slovakia in October. We were also pleased to receive President Sarkozy during his State visit to the United Kingdom in March.

My Government remains committed to peace in the Middle East. It has continued to support the Governments of Iraq and Afghanistan to deliver security, political reconciliation and economic reconstruction.

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons: I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

After which the Lord President said:

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, by virtue of Her Majesty's Commission which has been now read We do, in Her Majesty's name, and in obedience to Her Majesty's Commands, prorogue this Parliament to the 3rd day of December, to be then here holden, and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Wednesday, the 3rd day of December.

Parliament was prorogued at 8.42 pm.