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Labour to take brakes off Britain with first Kings Speech
17/07/2024
As many as 35 bills and draft bills are set to be announced
Labour will “take the brakes off Britain” when it unveils its first King’s Speech on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The new Government is set to present a “packed” legislative agenda focused on improving living standards by driving economic growth, the first of the Prime Minister’s five “missions for national renewal”.
The address – the first Speech from the Throne under a Labour government for 14 years – is expected to contain more than 35 Bills and draft Bills with an emphasis on improving transport, creating jobs and accelerating the building of houses and infrastructure as Labour seeks to escape Britain’s recent cycle of low growth.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s State Opening of Parliament, the Prime Minister said; “Now is the time to take the brakes off Britain.
“For too long people have been held back, their paths determined by where they came from, not their talents and hard work.
“I am determined to create wealth for people up and down the country. It is the only way our country can progress, and my Government is focused on supporting that aspiration.”
Speaking to the Cabinet on Tuesday morning, Commons Leader Lucy Powell said the speech represented “a packed legislative agenda and the Government’s determination to return politics to public service”.
With more than 35 Bills expected, Wednesday’s speech will be one of the chunkiest in recent history, second only to 2022 when the Government put forward 38 Bills including several that were carried over from the previous year.
The last time there was a change of government, in 2022, the new administration put forward only 22 Bills.
One of the measures expected in Wednesday’s speech is a commitment to major planning reform to address what Labour sees as a major block to building both houses and vital national infrastructure.
The Bill is likely to involve streamlining the planning process and reintroducing mandatory housing targets, as well as facilitating building on the “grey belt” – green belt land that has previously been developed.
Other Bills expected in the speech include new laws to renationalise the railways by 2029 under a new public body, Great British Railways.
Most existing railway contracts are set to expire by the end of 2025, and while some extend into the 2030s, senior Labour sources suggested the Government could take advantage of break clauses to bring services back into public ownership sooner.
Local authorities will receive more powers over bus routes and the ability to set up their own bus companies once again under the terms of a proposed Better Buses Bill.
An English Devolution Bill, transferring more power away from Westminster, the creation of a national wealth fund, and a boost for workers’ rights through Labour’s “new deal for working people” are also likely to feature.
Sir Keir said: “Today’s new laws will take back control and lay the foundations of real change that this country is crying out for, creating wealth in every community and making people better off – supporting their ambitions, hopes and dreams.”
Other measures could include the reintroduction of Rishi Sunak’s proposed ban on anyone born after 2009 buying tobacco, measures to help renationalise the railways and a new, strengthened version of the Renters Reform Bill that sought to end no-fault evictions.
There will also be new legislation on spending rules, giving more power to the Office of Budget Responsibility following the economic turmoil triggered by Liz Truss’s mini-budget in 2022.
Speaking ahead of the King’s Speech, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for fixing the NHS and social care to be made a priority in Labour’s programme.
He said: “Years of chaos under the Conservatives have left us with a stagnant economy and health services in a state of crisis.
“Millions of people are stuck on NHS waiting lists and struggling to get the care they need to return to work.
“Fixing the NHS and care would put rocket boosters under economic growth in our country.”
Meanwhile, SNP leader Stephen Flynn urged Labour to include scrapping the two-child benefit cap in its plans.
Describing the decision as “an important litmus test” for the Government, he said: “People in Scotland voted for significant and substantial change at Westminster – and that promise must now be honoured, not broken, by the Labour Government.”
The King will deliver the speech, the second of his reign, at around 11.30am on Wednesday.
Published: by Radio NewsHub