King's Speech bombshells in full - from the controversial new laws to what wasn’t included

King Charles has just finished delivering the first King’s Speech of a Labour Government for 15 years, and it was packed with new laws that will impact every single citizen.

The speech introduced 40 new Bills by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, the highest number since 2005, which he hopes will be passed into law over the next year.

It included many manifesto pledges, as well as some surprises. There were also a notable number of Bills that were introduced by Rishi Sunak’s Government, and that Labour agreed with, but which failed to pass into law before the election.

Below the Express looks at all the major announcements, controversies and also what was not announced despite widespread calls from Labour MPs and activists.

Read all the announcements in full below...

The most controversial bills

• Planning and Infrastructure Bill: This will grant the government powers to railroad through planning developments despite local objections. Labour says it will unlock economic growth and provide both houses and critical infrastructure. However detractors say it could lead to the concreting over of the greenbelt.
• Renationalisation of the railways: The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill will bring the railways back into public ownership after their privatisation under John Major. It’s one of the big ticket ‘socialist’ policies openly supported by Sir Keir during the election. Whether it improves services or brings down ticket prices remains to be seen.
• Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill: The Government says this will strengthen Britain’s border by modernising the asylum and immigration system, as well as establishing a new Border Security Command. However the Bill’s announcement comes days after Yvette Cooper abolished the Rwanda deterrent and critics say the Government doesn’t have a hope of stopping small boat crossings. The Government also makes no reference to legal migration in the King’s Speech.
• Crime and Policing Bill: The Government pledges to strengthen community policing and give the police greater powers to deal with anti-social behaviour. However this comes just days after the new Justice Secretary announced the early release of thousands of prisoners.
• High Speed Rail: The Government has confirmed that they will not reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2, which would have run from Birmingham to Manchester. This will be a blow to many northern Labour figures who slammed the Tories for scrapping the costly rail project.
• Employment Rights Bill: While many will initially welcome the Government’s plan to ban ‘exploitative’ employment practices and enhance workers’ rights, it could prove to be a double-edged sword, hammering small and medium sized business and making the job market less competitive, hurting the economy.
• Northern Ireland Legacy Legislation: The Government will bring forward new measures to “begin the process of repealing and replacing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023”. In practice, this means reopening the litigious witch hunt of former NI veterans and threatening prison for pensioners.
• Children’s Wellbeing Bill: Hidden within this friendly-sounding bill is Labour’s very controversial plan to put VAT on private school fees, which critics warn will cost more than it brings in and overwhelm the state sector as parents who can no longer afford the new higher fees move their children out of the private sector.

What came as a surprise?

• Hillsborough Law: The Government will take steps to rebuild trust among the public and those working in public bodies. It will seek to prevent any repeats of Hillsborough, the infected blood scandal and the post office scandal
• More female bishops: Despite promising a crackdown on the House of Lords, the Government has in fact announced measures to increase the number of female bishops in the upper chamber.
• Greater role for the Commonwealth: The Government will move to treat the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a manner comparable to that of an international organisation. This will enable both bodies to continue to operate fully in the United Kingdom, ensuring the CPA can continue to promote parliamentary democracy and governance across the Commonwealth.
• Bank recapitalisation bill: The Government will introduce new measures to ensure that when failing banks require intervention, certain costs of managing their failure do not fall to taxpayers. It strengthens protections for public funds and promotes financial stability.

What wasn’t included

• Retirement limit for Lords: While the King’s Speech did announce that hereditary peers will be abolished from the Lords, Labour’s other policy of introducing an age limit of 80 for members of the upper house was nowhere to be seen
• Abolishing the two-child benefit cap: Despite demands from a large number of Labour MPs and anti-poverty campaigners, the two-child benefit cap is not being touched in this King’s Speech. It sets the PM up for a major rebellion showdown with his backbenchers.
• Votes at 16: Despite being promised in Labour’s manifesto, today’s King’s Speech did not announce any plans to lower the legal voting age to 16.
• ‘Take back control’: While Labour’s pledge of English devolution was included in the King’s Speech, Sir Keir’s preferred name of the “Take Back Control Bill” appears to have been ditched. It seems Labour felt it inappropriate for the King to read out the campaign slogan of the Vote Leave campaign.

How many of the bills were carried over from the Tories?

• Football Governance Bill: This will establish an independent football regulator to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans
• Renters’ reforms: The new Renters’ Rights Bill includes parts of Michael Gove’s pre-election reforms, including reform to leasehold laws and abolishing no-fault evictions.
• Smoking ban: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.
• Martyn’s Law: The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law, will introduce new measures to improve the safety and security of public venues and help keep the British public safe from terrorism. It is named after Martyn Hett who was murdered at the Manchester Arena attack.
• Holocaust Memorial Bill: This will support the building of a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre next to the Houses of Parliament.

All other major takeaways

• Budget Responsibility Bill: The Government will make hay out of Liz Truss’s mini-budget by strengthening the Office for Budget Responsibility allowing it to publish independent forecasts of any major fiscal event
• National Wealth Fund Bill: Capitalised with an additional £7.3 billion, the National Wealth Fund will make transformative investments across every part of the country - mobilising billions of pounds worth of additional private sector investment.
• Better Buses Bill: The Bill will deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to reform the bus system by delivering new powers for local leaders to franchise local bus services and lifting the restriction on the creation of new publicly owned bus operators.
• Great British Energy: This will set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland, which will help accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind.”
• Water (Special Measures) Bill: This will deliver on Labour’s manifesto commitment to put water companies under tough special measures by strengthening regulation and begin the work of cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.
• Victims, Courts and Public Protection Bill: This will deliver on Labour’s promise commitment and mission to take back our streets by strengthening public protections, reducing delays in the criminal courts and ensuring that victims get the support they deserve.