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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
The King’s Speech: What are the good, the bad and the ugly bills of parliament’s next session?
King’s Speech 2023: When is it and what to expect
King’s Speech 2023: Charles and Black Rod’s roles in the State Opening of Parliament explained
Rishi Sunak to set out ‘vision of a better Britain’ at King’s Speech
‘Green light for the abuse of LGBTQ+ people’
Robbie de Santos, a director at Stonewall, said the decision to drop a ban on conversion practices after five years of promises was “an act of frightful negligence” and “has given the green light for the abuse against LGBTQ+ people to continue unchecked”.
Jayne Ozanne, the former government adviser who now leads the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition, has said she was “so angry” that the Tories broke on a firm promise to ban the practice.
“The Tory party will never be trusted by LGBT people, their friends and allies again. The moral failure to protect LGBT people takes us back to the 1980s.”
Sunak claims UK has ‘turned the corner’ under his leadership
Rishi Sunak has claimed the UK has “turned the corner” under his leadership, as he hit out at a justice system he said had been “too lenient” for too long.
In his introduction to what risks being the King’s speech while he is prime minister, Ms Sunak insisted there were “clear” results from his flagship five priorities.
He said the government was “stopping the boats”, despite tens of thousands of migrants arriving in the UK on small boats.
He acknowledged there was “more to do” to cut NHS waiting lists, but insisted he had “made progress”.
“We have turned the corner over the last year and put the country on a better path,” he said.
“But these immediate priorities are not the limit of our ambition. They are just the foundations of our plan to build a better future for our children and grandchildren, and deliver the change the country needs.”
The justice system he said had been “too lenient” for “too long” and left victims “feeling hollow, even when perpetrators are caught”.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s family welcome plans to force defendants to hear sentencing
The mother of a nine-year-old girl who was shot dead in her own home has welcomed the confirmation of plans to make defendants attend court for sentencing hearings.
Cheryl Korbel, whose daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed in August last year, told Good Morning Britain that the proposals, outlined in the King’s Speech on Tuesday, gave the family comfort.
She and Olivia’s aunt have campaigned for the change after Olivia’s killer, Thomas Cashman, refused to attend court for his sentencing.
Ms Korbel told the broadcaster: “It is a very important step forward. It will bring a little bit of comfort knowing that no other family will go through what we’ve been through.”
She went on: “I really did want to address him - for the pain that he’s put us through, that we’re still going through.
“And to have the audacity to be there for the whole month and then not to turn up on the day of the sentence. It’s disrespectful to the family and to the judge, not to hear the sentence being passed.”
What is the Renters’ Reform Bill and what are no-fault evictions?
The long-awaited ban on Section 21 “no-fault” evictions will not be brought in until a new court process and stronger possession grounds for landlords are in place, the government has confirmed.
Giving his first King’s Speech as monarch, King Charles said: “Renters will benefit from stronger security of tenure and better value, while landlords will benefit from reforms to provide certainty that they can regain their properties when needed.”
Charities and campaigning organisations within the private rental sector have been calling for the abolition of Section 21 evictions, saying renters have already had to wait far too long for reform.
What is the Renters’ Reform Bill and what are no-fault evictions?
New legislation promises ‘once-in-a-generation overhaul of housing laws’ but both landlords and tenants have expressed scepticism
King Charles booed by protesters after State Opening of Parliament: ‘Not my King’
Protesters booed as King Charles III and Queen Camilla travelled in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach following the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday, 7 November. Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said the demonstration in Westminster was staged “to protest for democracy and the right to elect our head of state.” Boos can be heard in footage broadcast on Sky News as protesters held up yellow signs saying “Not my King.” The group were also present at the King’s coronation in May - six group members were detained ahead of a pre-agreed protest, prompting criticism of the Metropolitan Police.
Senior Tory condemns failure on mental health reform - as charity attacks ‘profound betrayal’
Senior Tory MP Steve Brine, chair of the health selected committee, has criticised the failure to introduce a bill to reform the Mental Health Act.
“It is disappointing that the government has failed to bring forward legislation to overhaul the Mental Health Act,” he said.
“The draft bill, among its planned reforms, would outlaw the inappropriate detention of people with learning disabilities and autism. Without change, too many people will continue to be held in secure units, often for years at a time. These reforms are long overdue.”
The Rethink Mental Illness charity said the failure to introduce a bill was “a profound betrayal” to people that have been detained under the Mental Health Act “and everyone who has campaigned for decades to reform it”.
Lindsay Hoyle’s shuffle draws laughs from MPs at State Opening of Parliament
Sir Lindsay Hoyle drew laughs from MPs as he shuffled past a front bench in the House of Commons during the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday, 7 November. The Speaker of the House of Commons left his seat to follow Black Rod, who had summoned MPs from the Commons chamber to the House of Lords to hear the King’s Speech. MPs followed the officials to the Lords’ chamber behind Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. This year’s King’s Speech was the first by King Charles III since he assumed the throne, and the first of Mr Sunak’s time as prime minister.
Is that it? Smallest legislative programme in nearly a decade
Rishi Sunak’s package of 20 bills in the King's Speech has been dismissed as unambitious by the opposition. And as commentators such as Sky News’ Beth Rigby points out, it is the smallest legislative programme for almost a decade.
“You have to go back to 2014 to find a state opening with fewer bills. Contrast with Johnson, who set out 38 bills – the highest number since Blair in 2005 – in his 2022 Queen’s Speech.”
Exclusive: Tory MP accuses government of ‘failing’ patients after Mental Health Act reforms dropped
The most vulnerable mental health patients have been failed by the government after it shelved a bill to reform the Mental Health Act, a long-standing Tory MP has warned.
Sir Charles Walker, a long-term advocate for mental health services who has spoken about his own battles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, criticised Rishi Sunak for failing to bring forward legislation in the King’s Speech to “modernise” the 40-year-old act, despite it being a key plank of the Conservative manifesto in 2019.
It means changes to the act are highly unlikely to be passed before the next general election, with one charity accusing the government of “betrayal”.
Sir Charles, who sat on the government’s scrutiny committee for the Mental Health Act reforms, told The Independent it was a “great shame” it had not been included in the speech. “It’s a harsh characterisation [of the government], but I think we are failing them [patients],” he said.
Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas has the full report here:
Tory MP accuses government of ‘failing’ patients after mental health reforms shelved
Exclusive: Government acccused of ‘betrayal’ over failure to bring forward legislation to ‘modernise’ act
‘Utter failure of leadership’, says Greenpeace
Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, accused Mr Sunak of “divisive electioneering is a complete and utter failure of leadership”.
She said he had had “decided to line up a licencing bonanza for his pals in the oil and gas industry that the government has already admitted won’t lower bills – and won’t deliver energy security either”.
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