Boris Johnson vowed to “turbo charge” the economy to ease the cost-of-living crisis as Tesco’s boss warned that Britain was being plunged into “real food poverty” for the first time in a generation.
The Prime Minister was locked in a race against time as he unveiled a packed legislative programme in the Queen’s Speech to “deliver on the promises” that he made in 2019 before the next general election, expected in two years’ time.
He pledged to grow the economy, help people where possible with the cost of living, level-up the country and deliver “benefits” of Brexit, which has so far hit trade and sparked a huge border row over Northern Ireland.
Prince Charles delivered the Queen’s Speech after Buckingham Palace announced on Monday night that the monarch would not be doing so following advice from her doctors as she continues to experience “episodic mobility problems”.
The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge were instead opening Parliament on the Queen’s behalf.
The Queen, 96, reluctantly pulled out of the major ceremonial occasion, having only missed it twice during her 70-year reign, in 1959 and 1963, because of pregnancies.
As Charles, 73, was taking on the head of state’s constitutional duty for the first time, the move was being interpreted as a symbolic and significant shift in his responsibilities as a future monarch. It was to be William’s first state opening, and the royal function of opening a new parliament has been delegated to both Charles and William by the Queen.
The Government’s agenda was knocked off course by the pandemic and is now being hit by the cost-of-living crisis. In an introduction to his legislative programme, Mr Johnson said: “It is right that we continue doing whatever we can to ease the burdens people are grappling with now, supporting the hardest hit with £22 billion of help to address the cost of living and cutting hundreds of pounds off household bills.
“But we must also remember that for every pound of taxpayer’s money we spend on reducing bills now, it is a pound we are not investing in bringing down bills and prices over the longer term. And that if anything, this moment makes clear our best remedy lies in urgently delivering on our mission to turbo charge the economy, create jobs and spread opportunity across the country.”
The Queen’s Speech included 38 bills, some in draft form and some carried over from the previous parliament:
- A Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will pave the way for further devolution of powers to local communities and unlock powers for local councils to bring empty premises back into use and regenerate high streets, extend al fresco dining and give residents more of a say over changing street names.
- An Energy Security Bill will look to protect households from surging prices by reducing the UK’s reliance on foreign imports, made more pressing by the Ukraine war and sanctions against Russia. It will also extend the Ofgem energy price cap to prevent suppliers from overcharging customers.
- The Renters Reform Bill will abolish so-called “no fault” Section 21 evictions and strengthen landlords’ rights of possession, and will seek to provide a “fair and effective market” for both tenants and landlords.
- A Non-Domestic Rating Bill will seek to modernise the business rates system with more frequent revaluations based on more accurate data, aiming to drive growth by making rates bills more responsive to economic changes.
- A Public Order Bill will make it illegal to obstruct major transport works, including disrupting the construction or maintenance of projects, such as HS2. Stop-and-search powers for police will be extended to search for and seize articles related to protest-related offences.
- A Brexit Freedoms Bill, two years after the UK left the EU, will look to repeal and reform regulations on businesses that were inherited from Brussels. The Government claims the Bill will cut £1 billion of “burdensome EU red tape” and 1,400 pieces of EU derived law that have been transferred into UK law.
- A Bill of Rights will aim to ensure there is a “proper balance” between the rights of individuals, national security and “effective” government, with ministers stressing it will strengthen freedom of speech, Britain’s common law traditions and reduce reliance on Strasbourg case law.
- An Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will aim to make it harder for “kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists” to engage in money laundering, corruption, terrorism-financing, illegal arms movements and ransomware payments. It will provide Companies House with more effective investigation and enforcement powers.
- A National Security Bill will bring in new offences to tackle state-backed sabotage, foreign interference, the theft of trade secrets and assisting a foreign intelligence service.
- The Online Safety Bill will introduce a duty of care on online companies, making them responsible for protecting users and tackling illegal content, and will include protections for democratic and journalistic content.
- The Transport Bill which will create a new public body, Great British Railways, to modernise the UK’s rail services and introduce new passenger service contracts to ensure operators focus on punctual and reliable trains. It will also seek to boost the number of electric vehicle charging points to boost the transition from petrol and diesel by 2030 and cut harmful emissions.
- A Media Bill will pave the way for the sale of Channel 4.
Other bills include a High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill, a Social Housing Regulation Bill, Modern Slavery Bill, a Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, a Conversion Therapy Bill, a Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, and an Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, as well as a Draft Mental Health Act Reform Bill.
