The King’s Speech 2024

The King’s speech, especially this year, is highly significant for those living in the United Kingdom. This speech is the first formal declaration of the government’s immediate priorities in regards to changing or introducing legislation. The speech revolved around the 5 “missions” outlined by labour in the run up to the general election:

• Economic stability and growth
• Clean energy
• Securing borders and reducing crime
• Public Health
• Breaking down barriers to opportunity

The King announced 40 bills to be introduced to parliament, the second-highest number since 1997. The speech covered a range of topics, including renationalising railways, introducing VAT on private schools, changes to new housing legislation, commitments to global conflict resolutions and improving workers’ rights. The bills outlined in the King’s speech clearly demonstrate the priorities of the new Labour government and provide individuals and businesses in the UK with expectations for potential changes over the coming year.

Keir Starmer’s Labour have a wide range of policies they are hoping to implement. With a majority of 411 seats, the Labour party has a mandate to push through many of these reforms quickly, implementing their plans for Britain. There was relatively little to do with tax mentioned in the speech, in keeping with manifesto policies. Income tax thresholds and rates look to remain frozen for at least another year, which may constitute a real rise in income taxation due to earnings growth of 5.7% pushing people into higher rates of tax. Corporation tax is also likely to remain unchanged for now, greater clarity over plans for this will emerge in the next Budget. The main tax mentioned in the King’s speech was the implementation of VAT on private school fees, a change that is allegedly going to fund a further 6500 teachers’ salaries in the state sector to provide better education for young people.

Bills were also introduced to nationalise the rail and energy sectors. Labour is hoping to completely rehaul these sectors to make the UK more competitive in the global energy market and improve transport infrastructure to facilitate economic growth. Another key part of Labour’s plans is to increase the number of new homes being built by changing legislation surrounding planning permission and the restrictions on green belt areas to make more land available for housing.

The introduction of Value Added Tax on private schools was a cornerstone of Labour’s manifesto leading up to the General Election. The King announced:

This clearly indicates that the introduction of VAT on private school fees is going ahead, potentially as early as January 2025. The change is unlikely to be to the charitable status of private schools and will require delicate wording when it is implemented to avoid catching higher education institutions and nurseries from being caught under the changes.

The government is planning on spending the increased tax revenue from this change to fund an increase in the number of teachers in the state sector. Hopefully, improving education provisions across the country. The government will have to carefully plan to absorb more students into state-funded schools as some parents will not be able to afford the higher school fees that will result from adding VAT.

Rail travel is another sector that will be rehauled under the new government. In the King’s speech, the plans for creating Great British Railways were announced. This new national body will be responsible for day to day operations of the national rail network. This new body will procure passenger services and set fares and timetables across the country, aiming to improve the rail service’s reliability. Contracts will be taken into public ownership at the end of contracts or if private railway companies fail to deliver the services promised.

The King also announced a bill to build a high-speed railway line linking Crewe and Manchester. This will aim to reduce the costs of this infrastructure project and reduce the time it will take to construct. The expansion of the high speed rail network fits into both improving public transport and Labour’s plans to provide a suitable environment for economic growth.

Another nationalised company to be formed by Labour is Great British Energy. A public body that will own and operate clean power projects across the UK. The aim of Great British Energy is to improve the UK’s production of green energy from wind farms, hydroelectric generators and solar power. The hope is that by increasing the domestic production of sustainable energy, UK consumers will see lower energy prices while battling global climate change. The current plan is for Great British Energy to be headquartered in Scotland, providing economic opportunities as well as being near existing North Sea installations.

The King also announced a raft of new bills targeting immigration and crime. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill aims to strengthen border security and crack down on organised illegal immigration. Labour has announced plans to reduce reliance on foreign labour, increasing job opportunities and wages for British workers. Furthermore, Keir Starmer has voiced his support of a points-based immigration policy to reduce immigration and focus on providing training for domestic workers to fulfil roles, especially in priority sectors such as energy.

There were also bills regarding policing and crime, aiming to reduce domestic violence, knife crime and anti-social behaviour. Labour is keen to improve policing across the board, giving UK residents more confidence in the police force. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises Bill) – sometimes known as Martyn’s Law – was also mentioned by the King, aiming to introduce greater security requirements for public venues and locations to mitigate the threat of terrorist action.