The Left have been waiting 14 years for this - is it enough? - Christopher Hope King's Speech Analysis

King's Speech LATEST: Starmer vows to 'take brakes off Britain' as Labour push 'ambitious legislative agenda'
King's Speech LATEST: Starmer vows to 'take brakes off Britain' as Labour push 'ambitious legislative agenda'
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Christopher Hope

By Christopher Hope


Published: 17/07/2024

- 16:03

GB News political editor Christopher Hope delivers his verdict of the King's Speech

Here we go. The Labour Government has published its programme for government in the King's Speech.

And I was struck by the lack of ambition in Sir Keir Starmer's first King's Speech. Perhaps I should not have been surprised.



The 40 Bills and draft Bills stuck resolutely to the policies in the party's manifesto, which in itself was unremarkable as Labour sought to de-risk if of any shocks.

Yes there are identifably Labour policies - notably plans to give day one sick pay and parental leave rights to workers, a new national energy company and plans to nationalise the railways (eventually).

But there were also policies which could easily have slipped into the King's Speech for the Conservative Party's fifth term in Government.

I reckon one in four of the Bills could have found their way into what would have been Sunak's plan for Government, including the smoking ban for anyone born after 2009 and the Football Governance Bill.

There were hints at controversy around the corner - such as a draft Bill to give people of colour and disabled people legal rights to equal pay.

And there were surprises - not least a new Northern Ireland Legacy Bill which appears to allow prosecutions of British soldiers involved in the Northern Ireland Troubles to restart.

I thought Starmer was committed to veterans (he certainly was at the D-Day commemorations). But this Bill, plus the demotion of the Veterans minister from the Cabinet, will lead some to question it.

The King's Speech also contained an interesting change of language. Brexit was mentioned six times in the documents published around the time of the last (Tory) King's Speech; this time - yet the B-word was mentioned not once in the 103 documents published with the King's Speech.

Perhaps Brexit is seen as a tainted "Tory word" by the Labour government?

It is interesting to note that the EU or European Union were referenced 15 times in the accompanying documents.

Despite its limited scope, Starmer even pulled back from some more contested areas, such as giving votes to 16 year olds and chucking over 80 year olds out of the House of Lords.

How long before the Left start to wonder if this limited offering from Starmer's government is what they have waited 14 years for?

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