King’s Speech: Key takeaways from public rail ownership to Great British Energy

King Charles III made his second ever King’s Speech today, marking the 2024 State Opening of Parliament.

In it, he laid out Labour’s vision for the country, and the key legislation the government will begin working on in the coming months.

The party came to power at the start of July, ending 14 years of Tory government. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has been keen to hit the ground running, bringing a slate of new bills which seek to change the direction of the country.

“My government will be committed to uniting the country in our shared mission of national renewal,” the prime minister said, introducing the King’s Speech.

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“We will serve every person, regardless of how they voted, to fix the foundations of this nation for the long term. The era of politics as performance and self-interest above service is over.”

There were a total of 39 bills included in the King’s Speech, with some likely to have big impacts on the life of UK citizens.

Here’s the key bills confirmed today and what they could mean for you:

This was the first piece of legislation announced by the King today, a signal from Labour of their emphasis the mission of economic growth.

The bill will introduce a ‘fiscal lock’ by requiring any major tax or spending changes to be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

This is a policy that has long been floated by Labour, and was detailed in their manifesto. It is in line with chancellor Rachel Reeves vision of ‘securonomics’ which see economic growth and wealth creation prioritised with limited state intervention.

Labour says the bill is designed “to ensure that the mistakes of Liz Truss ‘mini budget’ cannot be repeated.”

Building on Labour’s committment to reintroduce mandatory housebuilding targets of 1.5m new homes over five years, the King’s Speech included the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

This legislation will reform the planning process, speeding it up to allow more homes and infrastructure to be built. The bill will also reform compulsory purchase order rules and support local planning authorities.

“The current planning regime acts as a major brake on economic growth,” the government said.

“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will play a key role in addressing this constraint, unlocking more housing and infrastructure across the country and supporting sustained economic growth”.

A new national wealth fund has been designed to attract billions in private sector investment to support UK growth.

Supported by £7.3 billion in state funding, the fund is looking to secure roughly triple this in private investment, from sources such as pension funds, to boost the fund.

The bill also aims to align institutions like the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank to “mobilise private capital in the industries of the future”.

Labour say this bill is designed to support the 15 million people who save in private-sector pension schemes, aiming to increase the amount available for pension savers.

It would do this with measures such as ensuring people’s multiple pension pots are automatically brought together, and introducing a new framework for pension schemes.

The government estimates the bill could save the average earner over £11,000 more in their pension pots for retirement.

Labour’s new bill on workers’ rights lays out a few changes to employment law which they say are designed to ‘make work pay’.

It forms part of the government’s New Deal for Working People, thought to be spearheaded by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

The measures include banning ‘exploitative’ zero-hour contracts, ending ‘Fire and Rehire’ practices, making parental sick leave available from day 1 on the job, and strenghtening Statuatory Sick Pay.

One of the new Labour government’s more radical ideas, the Passenger Railway Services Bill, will see train operators brought into public ownership over the next few years.

The government makes clear that this is an ‘early step’ towards broader reforms, so we won’t see them buying all the rail companies just yet.

Rather, the process will see train operations transfer to the public sector as existing contracts expire, or operators fail to meet their commitments.

The bill will also amend the law so that appointing a publicly-owned rail operator is the default.

Labour says the plan will save millions in taxpayer money that is currently paid in fees to private rail operators, as well as allowing them to lower emissions.

It comes alongside the Railways Bill – which aims to create a ‘unified and simplified’ rail system – and the confirmation of a pledge to improve rail links in the north of England.

A flagship Labour policy, and the one they’ve committed the most spending to, this bill gets Great British Energy off the ground.

It will be a publicly-owned energy production company that owns, manages and operates clean power projects across the UK.

The bill will allow the company to begin investments, and allow energy secretary Ed Miliband to begin securing private sector partnerships.

Labour says the plan will give the UK energy independence, create new jobs, save money for households, and tackle climate change.

This bill will deliver on Labour’s manifesto pledge of cracking down on water companies that don’t deliver for customers or pollute rivers, lakes and seas.

The policies will see water companies put under strict special measures. These include ensuring water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking, giving the water regulator powers to ban bonus payments, and introducing a new code of conduct for water companies.

There will also be new powers to bring automatic and severe fines against water companies, and real-time monitors installed at sewage outlets to be independently scrutinised.

Delivering on a key manifesto pledge, Labour has introduced this bill which they say aims to proect national security by deterring channel crossings and prosecuting the people smugglers responsible.

It will give the newly-created Border Security Command and law enforcement more powers to crack down on criminal gangs, as well as strengthening the penalty for criminals involved.

The government also aims to improve the failing asylum system with the bill, making it more efficient and ending the use of hotels by clearing the asylym backlog.

Carried over from Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, this bill prevents anyone born after 1 January 2009 from purchasing tobacco products, ever.

This would mean children aged 15 today – in ‘Generation Alpha’ – will never be able to buy a pack of cigarettes.

The bill will also stop vapes and products like nicotine pouches from being deliberately advertised to children, and strenghten enforcement activity around underage sales.

First introduced in 2023, the Renters’ Reform Bill was dropped after Rishi Sunak called the general election.

Labour have now brought it back, with some slight differences.

The key measure will be the scrapping of Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices. This is the controversial power that allows landlords to evict tenants from their properties at two months’ notice without needing to give any reason.

Labour is expected to strengthen the bill by empowering tenants to challenge “unreasonable” rent increases.

Labour made a manifesto commitment to constitutional change, and the King’s Speech has deliever on Labour’s planned House of Lords reforms.

After this bill passes, hereditary peers will no longer be able to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk