Queen will open new Scot parliament

LONDON: Scotland8217;s first parliament in 300 years will meet for the first time on May 12 and be officially inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on July 1, the government has announced. At their first meeting in Edinburgh, the 129 members of the new parliament elected on May 6 will elect a presiding officer, who will act as speaker, and a deputy presiding officer, according to a government schedule announced in the House of Commons on Tuesday. They will gather in temporary premises until a new building is completed in 2001. Scots voted overwhelmingly in September for their own parliament, the first since Scotland joined with England in 1707. The vote was Britain8217;s biggest constitutional shake-up since Irish independence in 1922.

Under the new system, Scotland will stay within the United Kingdom with England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and remain subject to the Queen.