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A little while ago I presented - a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament documentary about the conflagration in 1834, which destroyed the old Houses of Parliament, making way for the buildings we know today.

One of the saddest losses in that disaster were the 10 great Elizabethan tapestries depicting the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 - they used to hang in the old House of Lords, which was one of the first buildings consumed by the flames - but we know what they looked like thanks to a series of engravings.

On Saturday 10 April at 8pm, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ deputy political editor James Landale begins the story of how, after more than 150 years, those iconic images are being returned to the Palace of Westminster. He describes how the efforts of a House of Lords researcher - and £330,000 of private sponsorship - have helped persuade peers to revive the project, first launched by Prince Albert, to re-create them.

The prince wanted six tapestries to be recreated on canvas - to hang in a specially designed room next to the new Lords chamber. But work was halted by his death in 1861, with only one painting completed - and the empty spaces still wait to be filled by the pictures.

In the first of a two-part series, Raising The Armada, follows artist Anthony Oakshett and his team in their studio at Wrest Park as they create five paintings to match the one Victorian example. And the programme also hears the tale of the one tapestry which escaped the flames - and its probable fate.

In the second episode, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament will report on the installation of the paintings in the House of Lords. They are due to go on public display in the Royal Gallery in June, before being fixed high up on the walls of the Prince's Chamber in autumn 2010.

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It's a bit of a moveable feast, but at some point this afternoon, or this evening, the 2005 Parliament will shut up shop with the rather bizarre ceremony of - with the actual dissolution taking place next Monday, by Royal Proclamation.

The ceremony is always an entertaining spectacle (worth watching on or ).

A list of bills passed is read out by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and the Royal Assent is signified when the Clerk of the Parliaments pronounces the Norman French formula: La Reyne le veult - the Queen wishes it.

Of course, the Sovereign doesn't come and do the proroguing herself. Instead she appoints a "commission" of senior peers, who're usually the leaders of the parties in the Lords. A marvellous bit of 17th Century phraseology ensues, with lots of references to "good and trusty servants" in "our City of Westminster".

The commissioners, resplendent in their ceremonial robes, and looking a bit embarrassed, have to doff their cocked hats at various points. And there are even different rules from when the women, as opposed to the male commissioners, do their doffing. The highlight comes when the full names of the commissioners are read out. The Conservative leader, Tom Strathclyde, is actually "Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith", and when his full name is read out, he blushes and everyone else titters.

Eagle-eyed colleagues on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament tell me that this time, the Lib Dem commissioner will be Lord Shutt of Greetland, the chief whip, rather than their leader, Lord McNally. The reasoning from the Lib Dem whips office? "We thought it would be rather nice for him to have a turn."

Apparently Lord Shutt has been practicing his hat doffing, daily. Anyway, watch and wonder at the rituals that still survive in Westminster.

Once Parliament has shut up shop, so will this blog. I'll be back the week after the election to start previewing the new Parliament before MPs meet to elect their Speaker on 18 May - whatever the result of the election, the sheer turnover of MPs will make it a very different Commons, and there will be plenty of weighty matters in the In tray.

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As , the Conservative peer Lord Onslow added this striking complaint about the importance of the constitutional changes being contemplated in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill: "Things that would take two-thirds of American states and a two-thirds majority in the Senate to get passed are now being done in this bill without some of it being looked at in the Commons let alone here..."

And later he added one of his favourite observations: "The reason I get to boss you about is my forebears got drunk with Pitt - or was it Walpole...."

Usually, in interviews, he doesn't say "drunk", preferring a more pungent term.

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As I write MPs and Peers are chomping through the remaining legislation before them, at breakneck speed. Getting anything through at all requires cooperation from the Opposition, so they have an effective veto on parts of bills they dislike - and as I'll detail below, Conservative spokesmen have been busy with their blue pencils.

So here's the scorecard so far from the "washup" of outstanding parliamentary business:

The Bribery Bill which creates new offences of bribing another person or being bribed where there is an intention to induce improper conduct, and introduces a new offence of bribery of foreign public officials, is now expected to pass without any significant change.

Not so the Children, Schools and Families Bill, which aims to create a series of entitlements for parents and pupils and makes sex education compulsory for older pupils.

Out go a set of new legal guarantees proposed for pupils and parents, including a right to one-on-one tuition for children falling behind, a new registration scheme for children being taught at home, a plan to create a new "school report card", a new requirement for teachers to obtain and renew a "licence to practise", a new duty for Youth Offending Teams to cooperate with the Youth Justice Board and mandatory PHSE - which covers sex and relationship education for over 15s.

Also filleted of its most controversial provisions is the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (CRAG). Out goes the section removing the last 92 hereditary peers from the Upper House. This was supported by the government and the Lib Dems, but could not be put through because it was opposed by the Conservatives. And a similar fate befell the proposed referendum on switching to the Alternative Vote electoral system.

Some parts of the section to allow peers to resign or be suspended or expelled have also been removed, because the Conservatives and Lib Dems disliked them. But the provisions implementing the Kelly report, including recommendations on MPs' expenses, pay and pensions are expected go through.

So are new requirements for parliamentarians to be full UK taxpayers. The long awaited move to put the Civil Service on a statutory footing (something first mooted when Victoria was on the throne) has gone through - as have two other specifically parliamentary changes. Parliament will in future have to ratify all international treaties - and the ban on unauthorised demonstrations outside the palace of Westminster will be repealed.

Oh, and the presumption that general election counts will be held on the night following polling day is expected to pass into law as well.

On the Crime and Security Bill the police power to keep DNA profiles of innocent people is now expected to survive the bargaining process and go into law.

As is the controversial provision in the Digital Economy Bill to suspend the internet connections of people thought to be illegally downloading copyright material. But, as predicted, a proposed new funding system for independent news consortia to produce ITV regional news has been dropped.

The Finance Bill which is supposed to put the Budget into effect has lost some major provisions. Out go the 50p monthly broadband levy proposed by the government, the 10p rise in cider duty and the plan to end tax relief on furnished holiday lettings - all concessions extracted by the Opposition.

And retiring MP Dr Brian Iddon can celebrate the likely success of his Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants) Bill which will give provide a period of grace for tenants who currently can face immediate eviction. The measure affects people who've rented a home, unaware that the owner has not informed their mortgage company that it is being let out to tenants. If the owner then defaults on the mortgage, and the lender seeks to repossess, they have no rights at all.

Similarly Julie Morgan's Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill, which seeks to prevent fashion-conscious young people ending up with skin cancer, when all they wanted was a tan, looks like making it on to the statute book.

As does Alistair Burt's Sustainable Communities Bill, which seeks to extend a scheme to encourage grassroots initiatives.

UPDATE: There could still be a row in the Lords, though. Several members of the Upper House's considerable tribe of constitutionalists hate the very idea of passing constitutional legislation without proper scrutiny - and they've had little chance to trawl the detail. Much of the content is worthy and uncontroversial, in principle at least. The trouble is that the devil in issues like the status of the Civil Service lies in the detail. Lady Royall, the Leader of the House, has just said "further concessions" may be on offer. As I write, a nice little row is developing over the timetabling of CRAG.

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And they're off! In some MPs' cases, rather more permanently than they would wish. This morning some rather mournful-looking old stagers could be seen taking a last nostalgic look around the Palace of Westminster. This afternoon sees the final lobby briefing at Downing Street, before the official civil service machine goes into election purdah. And everywhere, cardboard boxes and black plastic sacks are the order of the day.

But Parliament goes on for a few days yet. According to , setting out how the government plans to deal with legislation that is half-way through the Westminster sausage machine, MPs will process the controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB), with a second reading today, and all the remaining stages tomorrow.

The Finance Bill, some version of which has to be passed, or the government will not be able to collect taxes, will be rushed through along with a fusillade of other outstanding bills.

Two widely supported private members' bills on third world debt and sustainable communities will be debated, and if passed, will go on to the Lords, where they will be considered on Thursday, alongside Dr Brian Iddon's Mortgage Repossessions Bill and Julie Morgan's Sunbeds Bill.

Of course, all this depends on how much time is available, which in turn depends on how quickly the long list of remaining legislation is processed.

But missing from the list are the changes to Standing Orders needed to create a Commons Business Committee - the key reform recommendation of the Commons Reform Committee, chaired by Dr Tony Wright. Amendments have been put down to the orders making the changes, by Labour's Alan Meale, which means they can't simply go through on the nod.

Harriet Harman has not allocated time for a debate to settle the matter, and she's just told MPs that the reforms would have to be left to the next Parliament - which, of course, may mean that we don't get them at all, because the next Parliament won't exactly have an empty in-tray.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes the parties will be negotiating the "washup" - the agreed form for bills to be rushed through, and loud complaints have already been raised about the very limited time that will be allocated for the Digital Economy Bill, especially given the concerns around its proposals to allow suspected copyright pirates to be disconnected from the net.

One concession that has already been offered is that the really controversial bits will be dealt with in the next parliament under the "super-affirmative statutory instrument" procedure, but that may not satisfy critics, and there is always the possibility that they may mobilise to try and scupper the DEB in the Lords.

Finally, there's the Constitutional Renewal and Governance Bill (CRAG for short) with its proposals for a referendum on changing the electoral system. That is now before the Lords, and I hear hints that there may be some attempt to avoid ditching the referendum on switching to the Alternative Vote (AV) system. But, again, getting something controversial past determined critics in the Upper House is never easy.

All the outstanding business has to be agreed on Thursday, and Parliament will stay in business until it is. A couple of long nights and breakneck days lie ahead.

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