A King’s Speech is only a direction of travel. Yet this one was far bigger than most: the seventh-longest since the Second World War.
Keir Starmer’s Labour has been in government for 12 days and this was a statement of intent.
After the paucity of policy ambition in recent years – with so little for the House of Commons to do that MPs were routinely sent home during the afternoon – it is a striking change.
The devil will be in the small print. Will the Transport Secretary rapidly nationalise Avanti rail services? Or will the failing firm’s contract be left to run its course and not be renewed?
The planning system is being streamlined. Will councils sign off more homes without legally binding targets? The promise to build 1.5 million extra houses in five years is punchy.
There will be a new right to flexible working from day one, “as far as is reasonable”. The word reasonable will be hotly contested.
Will England’s new renters’ rights cause landlords to sell up, and drive up prices – already rising at 8.6 per cent a year?
Water company bosses will face personal criminal liability for breaking laws on water quality. About time. But this is only the first step in stopping illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas – and it is not yet enough, as i’s Save Britain’s Rivers Manifesto shows. The Environment Agency won’t be able to police this illegal behaviour without support in Rachel Reeves’ autumn Budget.
None of this is meant to nitpick at an ambitious agenda. No 10 has set out to build momentum after a thumping election win. But Sue Gray and her team know there are hard yards ahead if these new laws are going to deliver the change promised by Starmer.