Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of lurching to the left in another attempt to shore up his position with Labour MPs. The embattled Prime Minister's agenda for the next Parliamentary session included plans to fast-track European Union rules into law, nationalise British Steel and impose a tourist tax on family holidays.
He was mocked for proposing a 'Regulating for Growth Bill' in Wednesday's King's Speech, which will impose a duty on quangos to boost the economy. His programme of 37 laws, set out by King Charles at the State Opening of Parliament, would also ban new oil or gas drilling in the North Sea - a key demand of likely leadership kingmaker Ed Miliband - and restrict the right to buy council houses as first suggested by Angela Rayner.
And it omitted any proposals for cutting the ballooning benefits bill, after a rebellion by backbenchers last year, nor did it mention proposed immigration restrictions that are unpopular with many within Sir Keir's restive party. The PM – whose leadership rivals would increase taxes, spending and nationalisation if he is toppled - told MPs: 'Faced with challenges, we don't retreat from our Labour values. We use them as our compass.'
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the pomp and pageantry of the King's Speech was 'taking place against the most extraordinary backdrop'. 'It is clear that his authority has gone and that he will not be able to deliver what little there is in this King's Speech,' she said in the Commons. A Conservative spokesman added: 'Keir Starmer, in some desperate attempt to save his failing premiership, seems to be tacking to the left in an attempt to appease his backbenchers. But empty political platitudes are no substitute for a real plan, and the last thing this country needs is more of Labour's high tax, high spend, high welfare madness.'
And Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: 'His mad cocktail of more regulation, taxes and a return to the Brexit wars is a path to ruin. Fortunately for the country, Starmer is a dead man walking. He's been left to play fantasy politics while the Labour Party decides who to replace him with.'
In his 11-minute speech delivered from the throne of the House of Lords, the King said Sir Keir's Government would introduce legislation to 'strengthen ties with the European Union' as part of attempts to raise economic growth and lower prices. Documents published alongside the King's Speech claimed a new food and drink deal could boost the economy by £5.1 billion, rising to £9 billion when combined with an emissions trading agreement.
Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, William Bain, said: 'Making trade with the EU quicker, cheaper and simpler is crucial to boosting economic growth in the years ahead.' But the European Partnership Bill planned for Labour's second parliamentary session will prove controversial by tying Britain into Brussels' rules without letting MPs vote on all of them. Under the 'framework of powers to ensure agreements with the EU can be implemented now and in the future', some regulations could be adopted through secondary legislation which cannot be scrutinised fully by Parliament.
Former Brexit negotiator Lord Forst said: 'It would be better called the EU Subordination Bill. It will enable EU laws, which we got no say in negotiating, to be passed into UK law whether Parliament agrees or not.' However the Prime Minister's spokesman insisted: 'We have always been clear that Parliament will have a say on this Bill and it will progress through in the usual way.'
Other moves in the Government's new programme likely to be popular with the left include the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill, which will bring British Steel fully under public control, and the Social Housing Renewal Bill that will restrict Margaret Thatcher's flagship right-to-buy scheme. The 'feudal' leasehold system will be ended and ground rents capped at £250 a year in further reforms to the housing market.
A Regulating for Growth Bill will give quangos and watchdogs a 'clear, statutory mandate' to prioritise economy growth. But Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: 'You can't 'regulate for growth' any more than you can spend your way to prosperity. This is mad.'
The Overnight Visitor Levy Bill will allow regional mayors to impose a 'tourist tax' that could add as much as £100 to the cost of a fortnight-long break. Allen Simpson, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: 'A holiday tax is wildly unpopular, as well as economically destructive.' Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston said: 'Only Labour can believe the way to 'help' a sector is to tax it more.'
Under the Immigration and Asylum Bill, attempts will be made to 'prevent dubious legal challenges on the grounds of family life'. The legislation will not include Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's contentious proposal to double the time it will take immigrants to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), from five to 10 years. However Home Office sources insisted this would still go ahead and does not require primary legislation. 'The change … is government policy and will be implemented,' an insider said.
National security policies include the Tackling State Threats Bill, which will give ministers powers to ban groups directed by hostile foreign states such as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Campaigners said it must be fast-tracked given the recent spate of antisemitic crimes. Lord Walney, co-chair of the APPG for Defending Democracy, said: 'The emergency of Iranian-directed violence targeting British Jews and Islamist radicalisation requires action now - it's not enough to promise a bill at some point in the next two years.'
Other reforms to the criminal justice system will see the return of controversial restrictions on jury trials as well as the creation of mega police forces and a new national service to tackle 'the most serious crimes'. Digital ID will be introduced into law with the Government promising it will end the hassle of 'endless telephone calls, complicated printed forms, and the need to tell your story multiple times to different parts of the Government, with hours on hold and not knowing where you are in the process'. Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo said: 'This would inevitably be an intrusive, multi-billion pound system no one wants, no one voted for, and that has no real purpose.'
The so-called Hillsborough law, creating a duty of candour for public officials, will be reintroduced after ministers were forced to abandon it over a backlash from campaigners about loopholes for the security services. And the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, delayed last month so that 'substantial' amendments could be made, will also be brought back. However the King's Speech did not include the Chagos surrender, which was finally abandoned last month after Donald Trump branded it an 'act of great stupidity'. There was also no mention of legislation to cut the benefits bill although the King's Speech did promise to 'continue to reform the welfare system'.
