By . Glen Owen And Brendan Carlin . David Cameron could be forced to postpone this year’s Queen’s Speech because the Government is short of ‘sexy’ policies that can be agreed with the Lib Dems, a Minister claimed last night. The speech, which sets out the Government’s legislative programme as part of the State Opening, has taken place in early May since the Coalition introduced fixed-term Parliaments in 2010. But when Commons officials returned from their Christmas break, they were told the expected date of Wednesday May 7 might have to be ‘moved back’ to June, or even later, for ‘political reasons’. The Queen's speech sets out the Government's legislative programme as part of the State Opening of parliament . One senior Tory Minister said the potential delay had arisen because the Prime Minister had ‘ripped up’ the proposed programme of legislation for not being ‘sexy’ enough. The Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Frankly, Downing Street wasn’t happy with what was on offer.’ Another Tory source said: ‘It is not so much that we have run out of policies, but we have pretty much run out of policies that haven’t been ruined by Clegg’s lot. We might need more time.’ State Openings used to be held in November or December, or, in a General Election year, when the new Parliament first assembled. But since 2012 it had been expected that the ceremony would take place on the first Wednesday or Thursday after the May Day recess. The 2012 ceremony took place on May 9, while the 2013 date was May 8. The speech may be delayed because the coalition partners cannot agree on 'sexy' policies to announce . An additional complication this year is that the local and European elections being held on May 22 could see the Tories pushed into third place behind UKIP – giving the Prime Minister an incentive to use the Queen’s Speech as a ‘relaunch’. The Minister added that the Tories’ continuing internal feud over Europe was another reason why the State Opening might have to be delayed. Last night a Downing Street spokesman said no decision had been made to delay the Speech. He added: ‘The date is not set in stone. The timing is entirely in our gift.’ A Tory source said: ‘If we hold it before the elections we are accused of breaching purdah, if we hold if afterwards we are accused of delaying it. ‘But it is true that Coalition government is making it harder to produce the legislative programme we want.’
Speech traditionally sets out Government's legislative programme .
Takes place in May since the Coalition introduced fixed-term Parliaments .
Commons officials told the date might have to be 'moved back' to June .
By . Glen Owen And Brendan Carlin . David Cameron could be forced to postpone this year’s Queen’s Speech because the Government is short of ‘sexy’ policies that can be agreed with the Lib Dems, a Minister claimed last night. The speech, which sets out the Government’s legislative programme as part of the State Opening, has taken place in early May since the Coalition introduced fixed-term Parliaments in 2010. But when Commons officials returned from their Christmas break, they were told the expected date of Wednesday May 7 might have to be ‘moved back’ to June, or even later, for ‘political reasons’. The Queen's speech sets out the Government's legislative programme as part of the State Opening of parliament . One senior Tory Minister said the potential delay had arisen because the Prime Minister had ‘ripped up’ the proposed programme of legislation for not being ‘sexy’ enough. The Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Frankly, Downing Street wasn’t happy with what was on offer.’ Another Tory source said: ‘It is not so much that we have run out of policies, but we have pretty much run out of policies that haven’t been ruined by Clegg’s lot. We might need more time.’ State Openings used to be held in November or December, or, in a General Election year, when the new Parliament first assembled. But since 2012 it had been expected that the ceremony would take place on the first Wednesday or Thursday after the May Day recess. The 2012 ceremony took place on May 9, while the 2013 date was May 8. The speech may be delayed because the coalition partners cannot agree on 'sexy' policies to announce . An additional complication this year is that the local and European elections being held on May 22 could see the Tories pushed into third place behind UKIP – giving the Prime Minister an incentive to use the Queen’s Speech as a ‘relaunch’. The Minister added that the Tories’ continuing internal feud over Europe was another reason why the State Opening might have to be delayed. Last night a Downing Street spokesman said no decision had been made to delay the Speech. He added: ‘The date is not set in stone. The timing is entirely in our gift.’ A Tory source said: ‘If we hold it before the elections we are accused of breaching purdah, if we hold if afterwards we are accused of delaying it. ‘But it is true that Coalition government is making it harder to produce the legislative programme we want.’
sets out the Government’s legislative programme early May since the Coalition introduced fixed-term Parliaments in 2010. But when Commons 7 might have to be ‘moved back’ to June, or even