Key Policies Outlined in Labour’s Inaugural King’s Speech: VAT on Private Schools and Housing Among Highlights

Labour has announced sweeping changes in their first King’s Speech, including confirmation of VAT on private school fees and plans to build 1.5 million new homes.

The new government will focus on ‘security, fairness and opportunity for all’, King Charles said in his speech for the State Opening of Parliament 2024.

Wearing the glittering Imperial Crown, he read out the speech written by Keir Starmer for the traditional kick-off of a new government.

Every policy will be fully costed, he said, swiping at Liz Truss whose minibudget tax cuts caused turmoil in the markets and were blamed for mortgage hikes.

1. Smoking to eventually be banned completely, with vapes also restricted

Keir Starmer has kept a policy from the previous government to ban people currently aged 14 or under from ever buying cigarettes legally.

The age people can legally buy them will gradually increase, so that anyone born from 2009 can never do so.

There will also be limits imposed on the sale and marketing of vapes.

2. ‘Hillsborough’ law to be enacted

Families of victims of the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, when 97 people were killed in a fatal crowd crush at a football match, have been campaigning for a new law compelling public authorities to speak fully and openly in official investigations and inquiries.

A new law will introduce a ‘duty of candour for public servants’.

3. Workers rights strengthened

Major changes to employment rights were also unveiled, meaning people will be able to access rights such as parental leave immediately, rather than having to wait two years.

An Employment Rights Bill will be introduced within the first 100 days banning ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts, ending policies of fire and re-hire, and making parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from day one in a job for all workers.

improving it as a service for all once again.

The King and Queen arrive in the Norman Porch for the State Opening of Parliament (Picture: Getty)

Anti-royalists hold placards as Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla travel by carriage (Picture: Reuters)

The Imperial State Crown is carried through the Norman Porch (Picture: Getty)

Members of the House of Lords and guests take their seats in the Lords Chamber

Crowds wait near Buckingham Palace to view the procession

Flexible working will be the default from the first day in a job, while it will be unlawful to sack a woman who has had a baby for six months after she returns to work.

The Bill will also remove ‘unnecessary’ restrictions on trade unions, including the Conservative government’s controversial law aimed at ensuring a minimum level of service during strikes.

4. House of Lords hereditary peers reform

The remaining hereditary peers will be kicked out of the House of Lords as the first step to reforming the chamber.

New legislation will end what officials called the ‘outdated and indefensible’ presence of members of the upper chamber – mainly men – who are there by right of birth.

Guards arriving at the Palace of Westminster (Picture: PA)

House of Commons of Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle being prepared for the State Opening (Picture: PA)

Monarchists demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament (Picture: AP)

Anti-monarchy Not My King protesters were also demonstrating outside the Houses of Parliament (Picture: AP)

The Government also plans changes to the Commons, with the King setting out proposals for a ‘modernisation committee’ as he opened the new session of Parliament.

The Lords reforms under Tony Blair reduced the number of hereditary peers to 90, plus the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain. That was only intended as a short-term compromise, but the situation has persisted for 25 years.

5. Protections for renters and end to no-fault evictions

A Renters’ Rights Bill will resurrect the Conservatives’ Renters (Reform) Bill, which had been described by homelessness charity Shelter as a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’.

A promise within it to end Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions had been delayed, with the previous Government saying courts had no capacity, prompting accusations they had caved into pro-landlord MPs.

Keir Starmer said: ‘We will introduce tough new protections for renters, end no-fault evictions and raise standards to make sure homes are safe for people to live in.’

The quirk of British tradition sees the monarch read out the new prime minister’s plans rather than then doing it themselves, saying ‘my government will…’ as they are the head of state.

‘My Government will seek a new partnership with both business and working people and help the country move on from the recent cost-of-living challenges by prioritising wealth creation for all communities,’ Charles said.

The King’s Bodyguard, the Yeomen of the Guard, carry out the ceremonial search of the Palace of Westminster (Picture: PA)

King Charles III and Queen Camilla travelling in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach (Picture: PA)

Members of the Life Guards, a unit of the Household Cavalry, line the stairs of the Norman Porch (Picture: Reuters)

The ‘fundamental mission’ will be to secure economic growth, the King said.

The King added: ‘My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing.’

He said the government pledged full support for Nato, including providing Ukraine with a ‘clear path’ to membership. The government would also ‘seek to strengthen the border and make streets safer’ with enhanced counter terror powers to tackle organised immigration crime, he said.

The government is also ‘committed to a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state’.

And there would be investment in the NHS, improving it as a service for all once again.

Cannon shots boomed to the King’s arrival this morning, where the first Labour government for 14 years is beginning in earnest.

The event is full of pomp, ceremony, and quirky oddities such an MP ‘taken hostage’, but it’s also a crucial part of the political calendar.

It is one of the first major events for new prime minister Keir Starmer, who is expected to set out plans for more than 35 new bills and draft bills with an emphasis on improving transport, creating jobs and accelerating the building of houses and infrastructure in a bid to improve economic growth.

As well, it’s a major public event, with carriages and soldiers parading through London in scenes you only really see otherwise for a royal wedding, coronation, or state funeral