Today saw King Charles deliver an official speech in The House of Lords as part of the State opening of Parliament ceremony.
Although King Charles delivered the speech, the wording itself was written by the new government, and is traditionally spoken in a neutral tone in order to convey the Royal’s neutrality in the policies outlined.
The purpose of the speech is to both mark the state opening of Parliament and to outline the new government’s plans for their first year in power.
The King outlined a number of new policies to be introduced, and the speech illustrated the new Labour government’s vision for the future of the UK. Introducing the speech, Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated:
“My government will be committed to uniting the country in our shared mission of national renewal”
King Charles outlined a number of Bills in his speech, addressing core issues such as plans to boost economic growth, building affordable new homes, support for pensions and improvements on the rights of workers.
In particular, promises to improve the state of the struggling NHS, and to improve mental health services were mentioned. The speech promised to make the NHS, ‘a service for all’ and to reduce excessive waiting times.
Other key points from the speech were:
-A new deal on employment rights – moves to get rid of zero-hour contracts and help for people sick or pregnant.
-Progress to work towards a smoking ban. The new administration will upkeep the previous conservative policy to steadily increase the legal age of smoking, in practice a slow-moving ban on the habit.
-A Water (Special Measures) Bill. This is designed to address the issue of poor practice by Water companies, and to stop the pollution of the UK’s waterways rivers and lakes.
-‘Renter’s Right’s’ Bill. This will bring more regulation to the rental market and offers protection for tenants from the issue of so called ‘no fault’ eviction notices, which meant that landlords could evict tenants without giving an appropriate reason.
Support for families with schoolchildren by providing financial help via less expensive school uniforms and free breakfast clubs for primary schools.
Policy to help provide for a more sustainable future through plans for a new clean energy company, ‘Great British Energy’ delivering on environmentally friendly energy methods and working towards better energy security for the UK
The overall stated aim of the policies put forward in the speech were in Kier Starmer’s words:
‘To unlock growth and take the breaks off Britain’ – meaning in practical terms to improve living standards for working people through economic growth. .
However, the speeches’ proposals have drawn criticism from opposing voices from parties across the political landscape – citing a lack of ambition, and for not doing enough to tackle issues such as the need for better funding for the police, the crises in social care and climate change.
Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, stated:
“After years of crisis and chaos under the Conservative Party, it is clear our country faces enormous challenges. The Liberal Democrats will carefully scrutinise the Government’s plans, striving hard to stand up for our constituents.
“We will continue campaigning to fix the NHS, boosting GP numbers, tackling delays to cancer treatment and improving access to dentists and pharmacists.
“We will make sure the voice of carers is heard, from increasing the Carer’s Allowance to the big challenge of fixing social care – so that our loved ones can get the support they need.”
Despite the stated policy of creating a public run Green Energy company, the Green Party stated that they feel let down by the new government.
Reacting to the King’s Speech today, Adrian Ramsay MP, co – leader of the Green party, said:
“Labour promised change but today it has fallen short of the urgent transformative programme we need, and which the Government has the power to deliver.
“Our four Green MPs, and the nearly two million people who voted Green in the election, want to see a bolder Labour Government that will invest in ambitious change, including to restore our essential public services and tackle the climate and nature emergencies.
“We welcome the Prime Minister resetting the tone of politics as being about public service and there were some welcome announcements in the King’s Speech, but Labour’s ambition will sadly be hampered for as long as they handcuff themselves with the Conservatives’ fiscal rules.
“Greens want action to clean up our rivers and seas by ending the failed experiment of water privatisation, the immediate scrapping of the cruel two-child benefit cap, no climate-wrecking oil and gas extraction from Rosebank, and local authorities to be given the powers to introduce controls on private rent levels. This is what a genuinely ambitious programme would look like, rather than a fixation on growth for growth’s sake which fails to recognise the big challenges.”
Reform UK’s Howard Cox, the parties transport spokesman, gave his reaction to today’s speech:
“Sadly, the real economic disaster that will unfold under a Labour government was hidden behind policies that sound cuddly but will simply contribute to costing us all dearly. In particular their cloud cuckoo energy and net zero plans will not achieve anything but fleece us all. There were no tax cuts or promises to keep fuel duty frozen. The King’s Speech was full of woke promises and no strategy for real growth or even solving illegal immigration. And no mention of how they will pay for their economic and save the planet fantasies.”
In the following debate in the Commons, outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to King Charles, describing him as, ‘a true model of public service’. He also went on to congratulate Kier Starmer for his victory, while emphasising the need to be true to his commitments.
Sunak went on to make light of his unlikely rise to power, and offered the advice to new ministers that, “On the government benches, life comes at you fast”
