The King’s Speech: Keir Starmer promises growth but warns of ‘no quick fixes’

Sir Keir Starmer said his plan to form a government would “take the brakes off Britain” and put the country on a “path of national regeneration”.

After a royal speech outlining 39 bills the government hopes to pass, the new prime minister said there were “no quick fixes” and warned against the “wonderful allure of populism”.

The cornerstone of his plan to boost the country’s economic growth is changes to the planning system aimed at making it easier to build homes and infrastructure.

It also proposed giving local leaders more powers, turning railways into public ownership and expanding workers’ rights.

Some bills first introduced by the previous government have been reintroduced, including Rishi Sunak’s phased smoking ban and the establishment of a football regulator.

There were, however, a number of significant omissions, such as the failure to mention the abolition of the two-child benefit limit, which was sought by some Labour and Scottish National Party MPs.

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and now independent MP for Islington North, joined calls to “do it now” and suggested the announcement of a child poverty commission was a way to “simply delay it”.

He said, “Why not do it now and just say, ‘We’re going to end the cap’?

“It is simply cruel and mean to say that the third, fourth or fifth child in a family is less valuable than the first two.”

There is also no bill to implement Labour’s manifesto promise to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in general elections, but ministers say it will be put forward at a later stage.

Green Party MP Sian Berry said she was disappointed because “young people need a real voice”, adding she believed the move would strengthen calls to end the two-child limit.

Labour MP Rebecca Long Bailey, a former shadow cabinet member, also called on her party to urgently “settle a debt of honour” to women born in the 1950s who experienced “pension injustice”, known as Waspie women.

The speech was delivered by King Charles himself – with traditional pomp – but it was authored by the new Labour government, elected on 4 July by a large majority of 174 votes.

Following the royal speech, Conservative leader Mr Sunak said his party would not oppose the government “for the sake of opposing it” but would hold it to account on its election promises.

Referring to Labour’s proposed changes to planning laws, he said everyone wanted to speed up the process but warned that “a system that doesn’t give local people the opportunity to have their say will damage the public’s longer-term acceptance of building more housing”.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper welcomed the promise of reform to the Mental Health Act but said she would like to see more ambitious action on health and social care.

During the election campaign, the think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that the next government would have to choose between raising taxes, cutting public services or borrowing more.

The Labour Party hopes to avoid these politically unacceptable solutions by stimulating economic growth, which has been weak for several years.

The King’s 12-minute speech was peppered with phrases such as “securing economic growth”, “key driver of economic growth” and “local growth plans”.

Government briefing notes have said that one of the “major constraints” on economic growth is the current planning system, and the Government has used the Royal Speech to introduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The bill, which will apply to England, Wales and parts of Scotland, aims to speed up the building of homes and infrastructure.

The government’s plans include increasing the capacity of local planning departments and simplifying the process of obtaining consent for infrastructure projects such as solar farms or grid connections.

The government says that in future local communities will only be able to influence how new homes are built, not whether at all.

Given Labour’s clear majority in the House of Commons, the planning bill is likely to pass through Parliament.

However, new investments may meet strong opposition from local communities affected by the construction projects.

The government hopes that other measures that will boost economic growth include the devolution bill for England.

The Bill would give local leaders greater powers over transport, skills and employment, and make it easier to apply for further powers.

The Better Buses Act would allow local politicians to create publicly owned bus operators.

One bill would establish a National Wealth Fund to boost investment in infrastructure and green industry. Another would establish Great British Energy, a state-owned company to invest in renewable energy.

When Mr Sunak called a general election in May, several Government bills going through Parliament had to be rejected.

The Labour government has announced it will re-introduce some of these bills, including the Tobacco and Vaporisers Bill, which would ban people born on or after 1 January 2009 from buying cigarettes.

The Terrorism (Protection of Facilities) Bill would establish Martyn’s Law, requiring facilities to mitigate the effects of a potential terrorist attack.

The campaign for the initiative was led by Figen Murray, mother of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack in 2017.

Downing Street said at least six bills contained in the Royal Speech would be introduced to Parliament this week.

In response to the speech, Richard Tice, deputy leader of the Reform UK party, said the government’s policies would lead to higher taxes and more regulation.

Green Party MP Ellie Chowns said she would like to see “bolder action” on raising building standards and introducing rent controls.

Stephen Gethins of the Scottish National Party said the “biggest drag on growth” was Brexit and criticised the government for failing to use its majority to reverse a “Tory hard Brexit”.

He also criticised the government for not lifting the two-child cap on child benefit.

This cap prevents households receiving Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit from receiving a payment for their third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

In a debate after the King’s Speech, former Labour shadow chancellor of the exchequer John McDonnell said lifting the cap would free 300,000 children from poverty.

Sir Keir has previously said he understands objections to the cap but that removing it is not currently viable.

Following the Royal Speech, the government announced a commission to develop a strategy to tackle child poverty, led by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Among other measures, the Royal Speech also included: