The King's Speech

 














Today, in the King's speech, the government unveiled long-term plans to address the challenges this country faces and deliver a brighter future for everyone across our United Kingdom. 

  • For too long governments of all colours have taken short-term decisions, instead of focusing on the right long-term decisions that will safeguard the future prosperity of our country. 
  • That is why in the King’s Speech today, we are bringing forward legislation to grow the economy, strengthen society, keep people safe and promote our national interests. We will also continue to tackle inflation, prioritise higher growth over extra borrowing, reduce debt, relieve pressure on the NHS by cutting waiting lists and, crucially, implement our world-leading small boats laws so we can crush the people smuggling gangs and stop the boats. 
  • By taking the right long-term decisions the Conservative Government will safeguard the future prosperity of our country. 
At the heart of the King's speech are reforms to criminal justice. This will include new laws to keep violent criminals locked up for longer and forced to face their victims in court, building safer communities for future generations. 

  • The public rightly expect that the most violent criminals will spend the rest of their lives behind bars and that victims, and their families, will be put first.  
  • That is why we today set out a new Sentencing Bill in the King’s Speech to ensure the worst offenders are kept behind bars for longer and forced to face their victims in court. The most horrific murderers will face spending the rest of their lives locked up and criminals who commit rape and other serious sexual offences will spend every day of their sentence behind bars. 
  • Judges will also be given more powers to make sure all criminals attend court to hear first-hand how their crimes have devastated lives. If offenders still refuse, they will face a further two years in prison.
  • We are taking the right long-term decisions for the country and keeping the worst offenders locked up for longer. In the most despicable cases, these evil criminals must never be free on our streets again.
There will also be laws which, while respecting the right to strike, ensure minimum service standards to protect the public. These will apply to  rail, ambulance and border security staff, protecting the vulnerably and safeguarding the public's right to access vital services during industrial action.

  • We cannot go on relying on short term fixes – including calling on our Armed Forces or civil servants – to mitigate the disruption caused by strike action.
  • That is why we will bring forward minimum service level regulations for rail, ambulance, and border security staff, ensuring everyone is able to travel to see their friends and family, or get the emergency care they need, over the Christmas period. 
  • We are taking the right long-term decision to bring in minimum service levels, in line with other countries, to keep people safe and continue delivering the vital public services that hard-working people rely on.
The government will also ensure we protect Britain's energy security by legislating for new north sea gas and oil licences, to give investors certainty. 

  • We are committed to achieving net zero by 2050, but the climate change committee recommends that for the next two decades Britain we will still need oil and gas. 
  • Better to obtain it in an environmentally sensitive way in the North Sea than to be dependent on energy from Russia.




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