Keir Starmer sets out changes to education, health and courts in king’s speech
Keir Starmer attempted to reassert his authority over his restive party on Wednesday, announcing his plans for the next parliamentary session even as speculation grew that he would be challenged for his job as soon as Thursday.Starmer announced his second king’s speech as prime minister, promising a package of measures with bills to abolish NHS England, overhaul the provision of special educational needs teaching, limit trials by jury, introduce digital ID and end the leasehold system in England and Wales.The prime minister is promising to begin work on his legislative agenda immediately, bringing forward a bill to curb the ability of people in England to buy their own social homes in a effort to boost the country’s stock of affordable housing.The changes will exempt social homes from the right-to-buy scheme for 35 years, while only tenants who have been living and paying rent there for 10 years will be eligible.However, his plans risk being derailed almost immediately, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, expected to resign on Thursday in an attempt to trigger a leadership contest.
Starmer appealed to his MPs to stay the course, promising changes that would make Britain “stronger and fairer”.He told the Commons: “It is an agenda of radical reform across our major public services, an urgent activist Labour government that tilts power back to workers.”He faced criticism from his own MPs however for elements of the package, including changes to the migration system to make it harder to appeal against asylum rejections.The bill forms part of a wider plan by Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, to curb legal and illegal migration, including doubling the length of time it will take for some people to be granted indefinite leave to remain in the country.Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said: “I implore the government maintain the rights of those with indefinite leave to remain, as new communities work alongside established communities.
”Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said: “Today’s offering pales in comparison [with what is needed], both because we have heard so much of it before but definitely because it lacks the urgency and the radical transformation we need.”There were few surprises in the king’s the 11 and a half-minute speech, which marked the formal opening of the government’s second parliamentary session.The king said in the speech: “My government believes that the United Kingdom’s economic security depends on raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom.My ministers will support measures that maintain stability and control the cost of living.”The speech included several measures that ministers hope will boost economic growth, including a bill to lay the ground to adopt European regulations, which is part of the prime minister’s plan to move closer to the EU.
Another will force regulators to consider growth when making and enforcing rules for business,Starmer is promising two major changes to housing in England and Wales: a bill to make it harder for people to buy their own council houses, and another to all but end the leasehold system,The leasehold bill will introduce a ban on new flats being sold as leasehold properties, though the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, recently said the ban would not be enacted until after the next election,On public services, the package will bring in several bills aimed at repairing major problems, including long NHS waiting lists, major courts backlogs and the escalating costs of providing special educational needs support,Streeting is due to follow through with his pledge to legislate to abolish NHS England, something the health secretary promised last year and the process for which has already begun.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, will enact the changes to special educational needs provision that she outlined in a speech earlier this year.Under the changes, fewer people will be eligible for education, health and care plans than would otherwise be the case, but schools will have more responsibility for deciding how pupils with special educational needs should be taught.Ministers will also legislate to bring in a digital ID for the first time as a way to check people’s immigration status when they get a new job, although the ID will not be mandatory after the prime minister backed down on a key element of his plans.
‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return
Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by his allies failed to materialise.Two seats that backers of the Greater Manchester mayor had described as “nailed on” as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.Burnham spoke to a number of MPs by phone on Tuesday and assured them that he still intended to seek an imminent return to parliament.The Guardian was told by two MPs on Wednesday that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, an affluent suburb of the city, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it. Asked whether he was about to make way, Smith told the Press Association he was not
‘It’s more incrementalism’: Starmer’s safe king’s speech fails to quell mutiny
For Keir Starmer’s Labour critics, his second king’s speech, in which the government set out what it would do in parliament over the next 12 to 18 months, was a crystallisation of everything that was wrong with the prime minister’s strategy.Over 34 bills and three draft ones, Starmer set out a programme he said would “make this country stronger and fairer”. But the package, which included limiting trial by jury, reshaping the NHS and moving the country closer to the EU, fell short of what some in the prime minister’s party feel is needed to win back voters’ trust.“Most of this is incrementalism,” said one Labour MP. “This sums up where we have gone wrong in the first two years in government
Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in Streeting despite health secretary’s allies saying he is planning to resign – as it happened
Downing Street has now confirmed that Wes Streeting is still health secretary. The PM’s spokesperson told reporters the prime minister has “full confidence” in the health secretary.Allies of Wes Streeting have said he is preparing to stand down as health secretary amid deep frustration with Keir Starmer’s leadership, and could mount a formal challenge for the leadership as early as Thursday.Keir Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, as the embattled prime minister looks to prove he can enact the scale of change being demanded by Labour MPs and voters. There were 37 bills in the speech
Labour politicians should put the country before their party | Letters
As an active and loyal Labour member, I am infuriated by what is happening within the party (Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits, 12 May). The ongoing circus about the leadership is a terrible distraction from the numerous global and national issues that the government and the prime minister should be focused on. But the most infuriating aspect of the entire shambles is the relentless speculation and briefings from so-called “allies” of Andy Burham.No Labour member has an innate right to be selected as a parliamentary candidate. The assertion that a sitting Labour MP should give up the seat voters elected them to, necessitating a byelection so that Burnham can run, then assuming that he would automatically retain the seat, is arrogance beyond belief
Labour lost the vote of small business owners like me | Letter
Your report (Reform wins across northern England overturn decades of Labour control, 8 May) touched on Labour losing support among small business owners. I wanted to offer the perspective of a small independent business owner who has traditionally supported Labour.Labour’s poor local election results may reflect a growing frustration among small business owners who no longer feel recognised as “working people”. In hospitality, hair and beauty, retail and trades, there are thousands upon thousands of us keeping local economies alive while taking home increasingly modest incomes ourselves.Last year, our small independent restaurant in Margate turned over roughly £350,000
King’s speech might be the last word on Starmer as reluctant monarch does his duty | John Crace
The king looked fed up. His attempts to throw a sickie had come to nothing. Did the government really want to go ahead with the state opening? Apparently it did. Would it be OK if he phoned it in? He fancied a day working from palace. It wouldn’t be OK
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