Starmer sets out plans for ‘stronger’ UK as he battles to remain Prime Minister
The King's Speech took place in Parliament today
Sir Keir Starmer has set out a “new direction for Britain” in the King's Speech as he battles to save his premiership.
The Prime Minister said the legislation in the King’s Speech would make the country “stronger and fairer” and help deliver the “change we promised” in Labour’s 2024 general election landslide.
What was in the speech?
In his speech in the House of Lords, the King said the Government would “defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag”.
Charles said the Government would “harness the potential of the pride felt across the country for its communities” and “take urgent action to tackle antisemitism”.
In his introduction to the package of legislation set out by the King in the traditional State Opening of Parliament ceremony, Sir Keir said the country was “at a pivotal moment” as it dealt with the fallout from wars in Iran and Ukraine.
But he said: “The fundamentals of our economy remain sound and this will help us emerge from the Iran conflict stronger and fairer.”
The war in the Middle East required “greater urgency” in the reforms the Government has promised, Sir Keir said.
“We will strengthen our economic security, energy security, our defence and national security,” the Prime Minister said.
“We will unblock the barriers to growth and prepare our country for a world where external shocks like this are ever more frequent.
“And we will fight for every child to have the chance to go as far as their talent and effort will take them.”
The Prime Minister wants to forge closer ties with the European Union, with a major summit planned this summer and progress expected on a youth experience scheme for under-30s.
Sir Keir said he would be “setting a new direction for Britain at the next EU summit” and “putting Britain at the heart of Europe”.
Measures in the King’s Speech include:
- A new law to strip disgraced peers like Lord Peter Mandelson of their titles.
- Measures which could lead to the banning of state-linked groups like Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- Confirmation of Labour plans to lower the voting age to 16.
- A package of laws to ease the burden of regulation and make it faster to build new energy infrastructure.
- Legislation for the new digital ID scheme.
The King’s Speech comes with Sir Keir’s position in peril following a wave of backbench MPs calling for him to go and a handful of ministerial resignations in the wake of a devastating set of election results for Labour in English councils, Wales and Scotland.
The Prime Minister has insisted he will not leave office and has effectively called on potential rivals to challenge him under the party’s rules, which require a contender to have the backing of 81 MPs.
Everything that was mentioned in the King's Speech
Here is a summary of the new pieces of legislation set out in the King’s Speech:
– Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Will give the Government powers to nationalise British Steel.
– High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill: The plan for Northern Powerhouse Rail is intended to deliver faster, more frequent services between cities in northern England. The Bill will outline a “foundational” element for the scheme from Manchester to Millington in Cheshire, via Manchester Airport.
– European Partnership Bill: The legislation will provide a framework to adopt EU rules where the Government strikes deals with Brussels.
– Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill: The law is intended to protect small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with powers including maximum payment terms of 60 days, and mandatory interest rates 8% above the Bank of England base rate for late payments.
– Clean Water Bill: Creates a new regulator for the industry and a new water ombudsman to provide stronger consumer protections.
– Competition Reform Bill: Will make the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigations faster and more predictable and reduce burdens on businesses.
– Regulating for Growth Bill: Includes measures aimed at tackling a system the Government views as complex, risk-averse and poorly suited to modern technologies and business models.
– Enhancing Financial Services Bill: Will modernise how lenders are regulated and update consumer protection arrangements.
– Highways (Financing) Bill: Will introduce a new funding model to get greater levels of private capital investment into road schemes.
– Overnight Visitor Levy Bill: Will allow mayors and potentially other leaders of large authorities in England to introduce a tourist tax in their areas.
– Social Housing Renewal Bill: Will prioritise the building of new social rented homes and tighten eligibility for the Right to Buy to protect existing social housing stock.
– Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill: Marks the beginning of the end for what Sir Keir Starmer called the “unfair feudal system” of leasehold properties. It will ban the use of leasehold for new flats, cap ground rents at £250 a year and implement a new process for converting to commonhold.
– Education for All Bill: Will reform the system in England for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
– Representation of the People Bill: Will lower the voting age to 16 in all UK elections, along with other reforms.
– Remediation Bill: Boosts powers for regulators and closes loopholes to accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings.
– Draft Conversion Practices Bill: Will protect people from “harmful and abusive” attempts to change their sexual orientation or transgender identity.
– Draft Ticket Tout Bill: Will make it illegal to resell a ticket at more than its original cost, cap the service fees charged by resale platforms and allow regulators to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover on firms breaking the new laws.
– Sporting Events Bill: Will put in place measures to support the delivery of the Euro 2028 football tournament and position the UK as an attractive bidder for other events such as the Women’s World Cup in 2035.
– Police Reform Bill: Scraps police and crime commissioners and includes other reforms including a new legal framework for the use of facial recognition technology.
– NHS Modernisation Bill: Abolishes NHS England and puts in place reforms including a new single patient record that people can view on their NHS app.
– Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill: Establishes Great British Railways, the new state-owned company in charge of both track and trains, and creates a new passenger watchdog.
– Digital Access to Services Bill: Creates a new voluntary digital ID system for use across public services and the wider economy.
– Public Office (Accountability) Bill: The long-running wrangle over the Hillsborough Law’s application to the security services prevented the legislation being passed before the end of the last parliamentary session.
– Removal of Peerages Bill: Creates a mechanism to strip titles from disgraced peers without the need for a new law to be passed in each individual case. The Prime Minister promised the legislation in the wake of the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.
– Courts Modernisation Bill: Includes the Government’s controversial plan to restrict trial by jury to the most serious cases.
– Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Another piece of legislation that has been carried over from the previous session, it is an attempt to deal with the complicated and controversial legacy of the Troubles.
– Draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill: Modernises Victorian-era rules and addresses licensing vulnerabilities which have been exploited by grooming gangs.
– Civil Aviation Bill: Will strengthen consumer rights and protections for passengers and change the regulation of airport slots to support the expansion of airports.
– Sovereign Grant Bill: Will enable the amount of money paid to support the King’s official duties to fall once work to update the plumbing and wiring of Buckingham Palace is completed.
– Energy Independence Bill: Legislates for a series of reforms to upgrade homes, speed up the construction of infrastructure and the deployment of renewable power.
– Nuclear Regulation Bill: Modernises the way nuclear projects are regulated to support the quicker delivery of new power stations.
– Electricity Generator Levy Bill: Will break the link between electricity and gas prices and increase the windfall tax from 45% to 55% to drive low-carbon generators currently benefiting from high market prices set by gas onto fixed-price contracts.
– Tackling State Threats Bill: Will allow the Government to ban foreign state-backed organisations engaged in espionage, sabotage and interference in the UK, like Iran’s revolutionary guard.
– Armed Forces Bill: Will ensure the UK continues to have an army, a commitment which must be renewed for constitutional reasons every five years. It will also enshrine the Armed Forces Covenant in law.
– National Security Bill: Will criminalise a range of harmful online content, and criminalise planning mass attacks, to clamp down on extremist threats to the country.
– Immigration and Asylum Bill: Will take steps to clamp down on small boat crossings, and tighten up the asylum appeals system.
– Cyber Security and Resilience Bill: Will aim to bolster online protections for businesses and services across the country, to make sure they are protected from cyber attacks.