Labour say their ‘mandate for change’ will see a raft of new legislation introduced designed to prioritise growth in the King’s Speech at the official State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17th July.
The speech will include proposals to launch a National Wealth Fund to ‘drive investment into the UK,’ to a new Mission Control to push forward the clean energy agenda, and recruiting a new border security command.
More than 35 bills are being prepared according to a government statement, which will build on the statements already made in the first weeks of Labour taking office. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already reintroduced mandatory housing targets in her first speech with 1.5m homes targeted to be built in this Parliament; which the Chancellor has already acknowledged will require reforms to the planning system.
Labour have described the plans as ‘turbocharging’ house building and infrastructure ‘helping to make every part of the country better off.’ The role of the Office of Budget Responsibility will be strengthened ‘to ensure nobody can play fast and loose with the public finances ever again.’ And the party have committed to legislation that will ‘help to create wealth in every community and hand the power back to local leaders who know what is best for their areas.’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says:
“Our work is urgent. There is no time to waste. We are hitting the ground running by bringing forward the laws we will need to rebuild our country for the long-term – and our ambitious, fully costed agenda is the downpayment on that change.”
“From energy, to planning, to unbreakable fiscal rules, my government is serious about delivering the stability that is going to turbo charge growth that will create wealth in every corner of the UK.”
“The task of national renewal will not be easy, and this is just the down payment on our plans for the next five years, but the legislation set out at the King’s Speech will build on the momentum of our first days in office and make a difference to the lives of working people.”
The Chancellor’s speech has been described as ‘ambitious, punchy, and headline-grabbing’ in an opinion piece for Today’s Conveyancer by Operations Director for X-Press Legal Services Christian Lister. Lister warns the plan currently lacks detail and should be put in the context of the last time the UK came anywhere near building 300,000 homes p/a in 1977; a combination of private enterprise, housing associations, and local authorities.
Lister goes on to stress the importance of building the right type of homes needed and points to how prepared private enterprise is to ‘detonate’ a building boom.
