King Charles has unveiled Sir Keir Starmer’s legislative programme for his Labour Government, complete with more race equality laws, more renters’ rights and a trans-inclusive conversion practices ban. But no votes for children. The Telegraph has produced a handy summary, from which excerpts below.
Border security:
A Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill gives Sir Keir’s Border Security Command powers to use counter-terrorism-style powers to investigate and smash the people smuggling gangs.
Tougher penalties will be introduced for advertising people smuggling services and supplying materials to organised crime gangs such as boats, motors and safety belts.
Equality:
An Equality Bill will put race on the same footing as sex in equal pay claims to “create a more equal society and support a growing economy”.
Under the reforms, ethnic minorities and disabled people will have a “full right to equal pay” enshrined in law, bringing their legal protections on par with those of women.
Renters’ rights:
A Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 “no-fault evictions” and empower tenants to challenge rent increases “designed to force them out by the back door”.
Education:
A Children’s Wellbeing Bill will deliver on Labour’s manifesto pledges to introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school and limit the number of branded uniform items that schools can require in a bid to cut costs for parents.
It will also require academies to teach the National Curriculum, bringing them in line with maintained schools.
Planning:
A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will speed up the planning process to help build 1.5 million homes by 2029.
Workers’ rights:
An Employment Rights Bill will increase the minimum wage, taking account the cost of living and removing discriminatory age bands.
It will ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, ensuring that workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work.
Transport:
A Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill will bring rail companies back into public ownership when their contracts expire, or if they fail their customers. There will be no compensation.
A Railways Bill will set up a new body, Great British Railways, to manage the rail network and bring in a simpler ticket system and automatic compensation for delays.
Economy:
A Budget Responsibility Bill will introduce a “fiscal lock” to ensure that all future Budgets must be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility. This is designed to avoid the mistakes of the disastrous Liz Truss “mini Budget”.
Health:
The new Government will resurrect Mr. Sunak’s flagship smoking ban, barring anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes.
Conversion practices:
Labour is pushing ahead with its plans to ban conversion therapy despite fears that outlawing the practice, which attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, would risk criminalising parents who try to help children who think they are trans.
Currently in draft form, the Conversion Practices Bill proposes a “fully trans-inclusive” ban on actions not covered by existing legislation.
A briefing on the Bill states that it must not outlaw “legitimate psychological support, treatment, or non-directive counselling”.
“It must also respect the important role that teachers, religious leaders, parents and carers can have in supporting those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity,” it adds.
Left out:
While the King’s Speech does deliver on Labour’s pledge to strip hereditary peers of their seats, there is no mention of its commitment to force members to retire at 80. …
Labour’s pledge to lower the voting age to 16 does not feature at all in the speech. It is understood that it will not be enacted in this parliamentary session. …
Despite coming under pressure from campaigners, Sir Keir has stood firm on his refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
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