King’s Speech – live: New laws on oil, smoking and football as Charles III makes first State Opening
Seven pieces of legislation will be carried over into the next parliamentary session
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A raft of new laws – including measures on oil and gas licences, the establishment of a new football regulator, and moves to phase out cigarette smoking – have been included in the King’s Speech.
The proposed legislation was announced by King Charles III as he addressed Parliament in his first State Opening, as the monarch set out Rishi Sunak’s government’s policy agenda for the year ahead.
It is the first such speech King Charles III has made since assuming the throne last year. It is also the first of Mr Sunak’s tenure in No 10 – and most likely the last prior to an expected general election next year.
The speech revealed Mr Sunak’s plans to make law and order a key election battleground, with a series of measures promising tougher sentences for killers and rapists.
Mr Sunak has also introduced new legislation to expand the use of self-driving vehicles – which clear the way for buses and lorries to operate autonomously by the end of the decade.
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Government will consider any application to stop pro-Palestine march
Rishi Sunak believes a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day would be “provocative and disrespectful”.
The PM’s official spokesman said operational decisions on whether to ban the planned march in London were for the Metropolitan Police. But the spokesman said the Government would “carefully consider” any application to prevent the march.
“The prime minister himself does not think it’s right for these sorts of protests to be scheduled on Armistice Day," the spokesman said. “He believes that is provocative and disrespectful.”
Watch live as parliament debates agenda set out in King Charles III’s speech
You can watch live in the article below, as parliament debates the government’s legislative agenda set out by King Charles III at the state opening of parliament.
Rishi Sunak insisted he has “turned the corner” to put the country on a better path as he set out his pre-election stall in the King’s Speech to present challenges for Sir Keir Starmer:
Watch live as parliament debates agenda set out in King Charles III’s speech
Watch live as parliament debates the government’s legislative agenda set out in a speech by King Charles III at the state opening of parliament earlier in the day.
‘No excuse’ for kicking no-fault eviction ban into long grass, says Shelter
Shelter has warned that the government cannot be allowed “to play politics” with banning no-fault evictions, hitting out at a “ludicrous” decision to halt the long-awaited measure until court reforms are first in place.
Polly Neate, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Forcing renters to wait until unspecified court reforms take place to ban Section 21 no fault evictions is ludicrous. We cannot allow the government to play politics with this essential reform and give in to a small minority of landlords on its own backbench while so many renters continue to suffer.
“For England’s 11 million private tenants who live with the constant threat that they’ll be served a no-fault eviction and given just two months to find a new home, loose promises and unspecified timeframes are not going to cut it.
“With timings for court proceedings back to pre-pandemic levels, there’s no excuse for kicking a ban on no fault evictions into the long grass. If the government plans to keep its promises to renters, then it needs to pass a watertight Renters (Reform) Bill without caveats or loopholes and set out a clear timeline of when unfair evictions will be banned.”
No 10 criticises ‘repulsive’ alleged attack on poppy seller
Reports that a poppy seller was punched during a pro-Palestinian rally are “awful”, Downing Street has said.
A 78-year-old veteran was reportedly struck as he tried to leave Waverley Station in Edinburgh before being helped by railway staff.
Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “This was a repulsive act. Mr Henderson, like all our veterans, has made huge sacrifices for our country.
“We are confident the police will treat this incident very seriously and use the full force of the law available to them.”
Republicans chant ‘what a waste of money’ as King arrives in Whitehall
Anti-monarchy protesters booed the King at the state opening of Parliament, as the event was branded “not compatible with democracy”.
Loud boos rang out from dozens of members of campaign group Republic as they chanted “not my king”, “what a waste of money”, and “down with the crown” when the King arrived in Whitehall in a carriage procession from Buckingham Palace.
LGBTQ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who was among the protesters, said: “It’s an absurd contradiction that an unelected monarch head of state is opening a democratic, elected parliament - that is not compatible with democracy.
“We want a democratically elected head of state, voted for by the people and accountable to the people, it is what most modern democracies have. Monarchy is an anachronism, it’s a residue from feudalism and before. It’s time we had a democratically-elected head of state.”
The 71-year-old added the monarchy symbolises “elitism, privilege, snobbery, deference and huge social inequality”, adding: “The royals have 23 palaces and luxury residences, 700 servants and a combined personal wealth of £2 billion on which they pay not a penny of inheritance tax – that’s outrageous.”
Does ‘light’ King Speech’s point to May general election?
Some Labour sources have suggested that the “thin” legislative programme points to a May general election. But David TC Davies, the Welsh secretary, rejected the suggestion.
The cabinet minister said the legislation would take the government “the next year” to get through parliament. “I have got absolutely no idea when the next election is coming, I really don’t mind, I am looking forward to whenever it does come,” he told Sky News.
Government considering new tax on vapes
Our Whitehall and politics editor Kate Devlin reports:
The government is considering a new tax on vapes.
Documents published alongside the King’s Speech show the government will explore “a new duty on vapes as other countries have done”.
Ministers are understood to see vapes as a useful tool to cut smoking, but warn they are not risk free.
A new tax on vapes could target their affordability and therefore reduce their appeal.
No 10 said there was an "important balance" to be struck to ensure there was a significant difference between a duty on vapes and those on cigarettes, to ensure the move did not encourage more people to take up smoking.
Braverman ‘not fit’ to be home secretary, says Tory grandee
Tory grandee Dominic Grieve said Suella Braverman was “not fit” to be home secretary, amid ongoing criticism for her description of rough sleeping as “lifestyle choice” and pro-Palestine protests as “hate marches”.
The former cabinet minister told The Independent: “The home secretary’s comments on homelessness being a lifestyle choice are a million miles from reality. It was improper language.”
The ex-attorney general added: “The marches may attract some people who uttering hate, it’s also attracting people who are engaged in a perfectly law-abiding right to protest. To describe them as hate marches is inflammatory language.”
“I find it regrettable that someone occupying such high office has so little understanding of what it involves. She is not a fit and proper person to hold this office.”
Tories offering ‘economic miserabilism’, says Starmer
Keir Starmer has said the King’s Speech was “a plan for more of the same”, condemning the “desperate spectacle” of the Tory government “claiming it offers change”.
The Labour leader told the Commons said the programme was “an exercise in economic miserabilism” and an admission that the government “has no faith in Britain’s ability to avert decline”.
Sir Keir said: “What we have before us is a plan for more of the same – more sticking plasters, more division, more party first, country second gimmicks and no repudiation of the utterly discredited idea that economic growth is something the few hand down to the many.
“In fact, today we reached something of a new low because they are not even pretending to govern any more,” Sir Keir added – accusing the Tories of seeing the country’s problems “as something to be exploited, not solved”.
Starmer attacks Braverman’s ‘divisive brand of politics’
Keir Starmer has accused home secretary Suella Braverman of using security issues and the threat of extremism as a “platform for her own ambition”.
He condemned Ms Braverman for treating the challenge of extremism as “legitimate terrain for her divisive brand of politics”.
The Labour leader accused the Tory party of being “devoid of leadership” that it “happy to follow a home secretary who describes homelessness as a lifestyle choice”.
He added: “Homelessness is a choice. It’s a political choice”.
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