King Charles III has delivered his first King’s Speech as Monarch and outlined the Government’s priorities for the remaining session of this Parliament.
Under the three themes of “strengthening society,” “growing the economy” and “keeping people safe”, there were twenty one bills announced in total.
Whilst the speech didn’t contain any real surprises, there are some bills which are aimed at appealing to the public in the run up to the next General Election, which will most likely take place at some point next year.
Opposition parties have said that this King’s Speech contains no big ideas, does nothing to address the cost of living crisis and the contents are indicative of a Government that has run out of steam.
Nevertheless, some of the announced bills will create a clear dividing line between the Conservatives and Labour heading into the next election, with other measures clearly populist in nature.
At Open Strategic Communications we have looked at the various bills announced as part of the King’s address.
Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill
Labour has already committed to ensuring there are no new drilling licenses in the North Sea, so this is one of the bills which seeks to create clear blue water between Sunak and Starmer as well as creating some difficulties for the SNP.
This bill will see the North Sea Transition Authority invite annual applications for new oil and gas drilling licenses in the UK’s offshore waters, with the Government arguing that domestic fossil fuels are cleaner and cheaper than relying on importing energy from overseas, particularly from hostile or volatile parts of the world.
Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill
Following Brexit, the UK is striking a number of new trade deals with various countries across the globe, one of which is a major new trade pact with countries in the Pacific. This bill covers the legal aspects of this deal and gives the bloc’s eleven members greater access to UK Government contracts, as well as securing work on marks of origin and copyright.
Automated Vehicles Bill
A measure sure to be welcomed by industry, this bill establishes the overall legal framework for self-driving vehicles, creating fines and corrective action for companies should they be required, and setting out a regime for investigating any potential accidents involving self driving cars.
A key provision of this bill is that people will be given immunity from prosecution if they are sitting behind the wheel when a self-driving vehicle crashes.
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
This is one of six bills “carried over” from the last session and is a hefty piece of legislation. Included within this bill are provisions aimed at regulating subscriptions, big tech and mergers in the sector.
A proposal to give a small number of the most powerful tech firms a “strategic market status” by the Competition and Markets Authority will mean new rules governing their conduct with the potential for significant fines and penalties.
Data Protection and Digital Information Bill
This bill has already been subject to the various parliamentary scrutiny processes, having first been introduced in the last session.
The bill aims to reduce data protection burdens on companies as a direct benefit of the UK leaving the European Union by reducing the quantum of “user consent” pop-ups and “cookies” banners.
Opposition parties have expressed their concern that this could risk the adequacy deal with the EU which allows the free flow of data between the UK and EU.
Media Bill
Another well trailed bill, this legislation would repeal some of the measures introduced following the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
Whilst never enacted, the original law would have forced media outlets that did not sign up to a specific regulator to pay both sides’ costs in a court dispute, even if they won.
Another provision contained within this bill is to ensure that public service TV channels are available on streaming sites, but the once proposed measure to privatise channel 4 has been dropped.
Arbitration Bill
This bill updates the law on dispute resolution following recommendations by the Law Commission. The bill hopes to speed up decisions in a variety of areas.
Draft Rail Reform Bill
This bill would establish a new agency, Great British Railways, to manage private operators, reform ticket pricing, find efficiencies and complete a reform process originally set out in 2021.
This bill will be unpopular with trade unions, and given the limited time left in the parliamentary calendar it may simply time out before the General Election is called.
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
A key announcement at the Tory Party Conference, this bill aims to transition to a smoke-free society by increasing the age at which one can buy tobacco products by a year, every year.
It means anyone born on or after January 1 2009, will never be able to legally smoke tobacco products. Whilst opinion polling suggests this is a popular measure, some libertarians labelled the policy as an example of the nanny state and deemed it as a very strange policy to be advocated by a Conservative PM.
Leasehold and Freehold Bill
This bill aims to reform the leasehold system that sees homeowners buy only temporary rights to their property and pay ground rent to landowners. This new legislation will result in standard leases being made much longer, will mean that ground rent will be slashed to zero when people renew and will effectively ban any new leasehold houses.
Renters Reform Bill
The Conservatives had previously pledged to scrap ‘no fault evictions’, and this bill aims to deliver on this pledge.
Opposition parties will claim the effect of the bill may be limited as there are additional requirements for tenants mentioned and even new protections for landlords, making it easier for them to “evict anti-social tenants”.
Football Governance Bill
This bill establishes a new independent football regulator to police new requirements for prospective owners and directors of football clubs.
Pedicabs (London) Bill
This bill gives Transport for London powers to regulate pedicabs (rickshaws) in the nations capital, including controlling fares, requiring licenses and ordering criminal record checks.
Holocaust Memorial Bill
Against the backdrop of continued violence against the jewish community, this bill will scrap restrictions on building a Holocaust memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens.
Economic Activities of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill
This is another potentially controversial bill, it aims to ban public bodies from imposing their own boycotts, divestment or sanction campaigns against foreign countries.
While the bill applies to “all countries equally,” it is mainly concerning those councils who decide to boycott Israeli products.
Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill
This bill prohibits the live exports of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and horses for slaughter and is claimed to only be possible since Brexit.
Live animals will however still be permitted to travel to be bred or for competitions.
Sentencing Bill
Returning to their ‘tough on crime’ mantra, this bill would effectively keep the most dangerous offenders who commit murder, sexual offences or who have demonstrated sadistic motives in prison for the remainder of their life.
This will undoubtedly be a popular measure but may also draw attention to the fact that prisons are already at capacity.
Criminal Justice Bill
Another law and order measure, this bill would require defendants to attend sentencing hearings, outlaw the sharing of intimate images and permitting police to seize phones found via GPS without a warrant.
Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill
This proposed law is an update to the controversial 2016 Investigatory Powers Act and may be used to try and impact multinational tech companies’ implementation of things like end-to-end encryption on messaging apps.
This will not be popular with privacy campaigners and tech companies, many of whom argue that encryption is necessary to protect whistleblowers and personal information.
Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill
Known as ‘Martyn’s Law’, this bill comes in the wake of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, and will ensure concert venues have to meet new criteria to mitigate the impact of any potential terrorist attack.
Victims and Prisoners Bill
This bill gives victims of crime new statutory rights and gives Ministers greater oversight of the release of the most serious offenders. Some opposition parties will claim this will undermine the role of the parole board.
