On July 17, 2024, King Charles delivered the King’s Speech, outlining the Labour Party’s legislative agenda. This marked Labour’s first such speech in many years and highlighted 39 key bills aimed at driving significant changes across various sectors. Labour plans to stimulate economic growth by investing in better transport, creating jobs, and accelerating the construction of 1.5 million new homes over five years (moneyweekuk) (Yahoo).
Key areas addressed in the speech include:
Economic Reforms and Taxation:
1) Budget Responsibility Bill: Establishing a “fiscal lock” requiring independent assessments for major tax and spending changes, reflecting Labour’s commitment to economic stability.
2) National Wealth Fund Bill: Establishes a fund with £7.3 billion in state funding to attract private investment, focusing on future industries, aiming to attract private investment to support UK growth, leveraging state funding to mobilize capital in future industries (The Independent).
3) Tax Reform Bill: Simplifies the tax system and ensures fair taxation.
Housing and Infrastructure:
4) Housebuilding and Planning Bill: Introducing mandatory targets for 1.5 million new homes over five years and reforming planning processes to accelerate infrastructure development (The Independent). It will support rural communities through infrastructure development and economic incentives.
5) A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure, and overhaul rules on the compulsory purchase of land (BBC).
6) A draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill will curb ground rent for existing leaseholders, and ban forfeiture – where leaseholders are threatened with losing their home – over small unpaid debts (BBC).
7) Affordable Housing Bill: Increases the supply of affordable housing through subsidies and incentives for developers.
Energy and Environment:
8) Great British Energy Bill: Launching a publicly owned energy company to manage clean power projects, aiming for energy independence and environmental sustainability (The Independent).
9) Water (Special Measures) Bill: Enforcing strict measures on water companies to prevent pollution and improve service delivery (Yahoo).
10) Environmental Protection Bill: Strengthens regulations to protect natural habitats and biodiversity.
Transportation:
11) Passenger Railway Services Bill: Bringing train operators into public ownership as contracts expire, a move towards a unified and publicly controlled rail system (The Independent) (LabourList).
12) High-Speed Rail: Introduction of a bill to enhance rail infrastructure in northern England.
13) Better Buses Bill: It is meant to enhance public transport services, focusing on reliability and sustainability, improving public transport networks and reduction in fares to encourage usage.
Social and Employment Policies:
14) Employment Rights Bill: Banning zero-hour contracts, ending fire-and-rehire practices, and strengthening workers’ rights as part of Labour’s “New Deal for Working People” (LabourList) (The Independent).
15) National Living Wage Bill: Raises the national living wage to improve living standards for low-income workers.
16) Renters’ Rights Bill: Enhancing protections for renters, including banning no-fault evictions (LabourList).
17) Football Governance: Establishment of an independent regulator for English football clubs.
18) Voting Rights and Devolution: Labour reaffirms its commitment to granting voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds and supporting English devolution to empower regional authorities like the Mayor of London to boost economic growth and improve local communities (LabourList) (moneyweekuk).
19) Consumer Protection Bill: Enhances consumer rights and protections against fraud and exploitation.
20) Youth Services Bill: Increases funding and support for youth services and programs.
Security, Social Justice, and Equality:
21) Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill: Strengthening border controls and revising asylum processes (Yahoo).
22) Crime and Policing Bill: Addressing public safety and anti-social behaviour (LabourList).
23) Martyn’s Law: Security measures for public venues to prevent terrorist attacks.
24) Hillsborough Law: Legal duty of candour for public officials and agencies, with legal aid for disaster victims.
25) Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill: Strengthens protections against discrimination and promotes equality.
26) Justice Reform Bill: Reforms the criminal justice system to ensure fairness and reduce recidivism.
27) Local Government Empowerment Bill: Grants more powers and funding to local governments.
Health and Wellbeing:
28) National Care Service Bill: Establishes a national care service to provide comprehensive care for the elderly and disabled.
29) Health and Wellbeing Bill: Expands access to mental health services and promotes public health initiatives.
30) Mental Health Bill: Tightening of rules around the sectioning of individuals and changes to care for those with learning difficulties.
31) Child Poverty Reduction Bill: Implements measures to reduce child poverty, including increased benefits and support services (LabourList).
32) Public Health Emergency Bill: Improves the country’s response to public health emergencies, such as pandemics.
33) Labour will introduce a gradual ban on smoking by bringing back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill first announced under Rishi Sunak (BBC).
Education and Savings:
34) Removal of Private Schools’ VAT Exemption: The removal of the VAT exemption for private schools will fund the hiring of 6,500 new teachers for the state system.
35) Children’s Wellbeing Bill: Mandatory registers for children not in full-time education and improved support in schools. Introduction of free breakfast clubs in primary schools across England.
36) Additionally, Labour will introduce reforms to pension schemes, new rules to consolidate small pension pots and improve outcomes for private-sector pension savers, to ensure better outcomes for savers (moneyweekuk).
Technology and Innovation:
37) Digital Infrastructure Bill: Accelerates the rollout of high-speed broadband and 5G across the country.
38) Cybersecurity and Digital Economy Bill: Supports the growth of the digital economy and protects online privacy and data security. It will set out new rules designed to protect critical infrastructure from attackers (BBC).
39) Innovation and Research Bill: Increases funding for scientific research and innovation to drive economic growth.
These bills reflect Labour’s focus on economic growth, social justice, environmental sustainability, and public ownership, indicating a shift from previous Conservative policies towards a more interventionist and class-conscious approach. This comprehensive agenda reflects Labour’s focus on rebuilding the UK through substantial socio-economic reforms and public investment.
These policy changes and Bills, if implemented fully as intended, can change the overall investment landscape of the country. This will have implications on both institutions and individuals’ savings and budgets. Therefore, it is important to understand how best to navigate with the UK’s changing political and economic environment.
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