With crime in focus, UK's Sunak sets out pre-election agenda in King's
Speech
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[November 07, 2023]
By Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's government set out its plans to tackle
crime, boost growth and water down climate change measures on Tuesday,
an unashamedly political agenda that could be Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak's first and last King's Speech before an election.
In an agenda written by the government but delivered by King Charles to
lawmakers packed into parliament's ornate House of Lords, Sunak signaled
his intent to draw a dividing line with the opposition Labor Party
before the vote expected next year.
With Labour running way ahead in the opinion polls, Sunak's team is
hoping that his agenda will close the gap by reducing what he says is
the burden of Britain's climate change targets on households and by
toughening sentences for violent offenders.
There was little new in the King's Speech, more a collection of what
Sunak has worked on since becoming prime minister last year on a pledge
to bring stability after two leaders of his Conservative party were
forced from power in a matter of weeks.
"My government will, in all respects, seek to make long-term decisions
in the interests of future generations," Charles, wearing the Imperial
State Crown and Robe of State, told a hushed audience of lawmakers in
the upper house of parliament.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/07/images/ads/current/goodman_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
"By taking these long-term decisions, my government will change this
country and build a better future."
It was the first time Charles had made the speech as king - though he
stood in for his mother Queen Elizabeth months before her death last
year - in a ceremony marked by pomp and pageantry which also attracted a
loud, if small, anti-monarchy protest outside parliament.
Arriving at parliament from Buckingham Palace in a grand carriage
procession, he then led a ceremony, with some of its traditions traced
back to the 16th century, that delivers the government's agenda in line
with Britain's unusual constitutional division of executive powers.
ELECTION CAMPAIGN
The largely domestic focus of the policies Charles read out suggested
Britain has already entered campaign season, with Labor, even before the
speech was made, saying the Conservatives offered "only gimmicks,
division and more of the same".
"Labor has a plan to give Britain its future back," Starmer said in a
statement.
In the speech, the government signaled it would move ahead with the
Sentencing Bill that will bring forward tougher jail sentences for the
most serious offenders, and repeated its pledge to boost economic growth
and reduce inflation.
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![](../images/110723PIX/news_x10.jpg)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks with Labour Party leader
Sir Keir Starmer through the Central Lobby at the Palace of
Westminster ahead of the State Opening of Parliament in the House of
Lords, in London, Britain, November 7, 2023. Stefan Rousseau/Pool
via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/07/images/ads/current/atlantabank_quarter_FFARM_2023.png)
But, in a possible sign that calls from some Conservative lawmakers
to offer voters tax cuts will go unheeded, the king said: "My
ministers will address inflation and the drivers of low growth over
demands for greater spending or borrowing."
Reading some of the government's climate policies - which include
delaying a ban on sales of new petrol cars - might have jarred with
Charles, who has campaigned on environmental issues for more than 50
years. But government officials have repeatedly said ministers were
not giving up on the overall targets, just being more "pragmatic" in
how they get there.
Sunak confirmed in an introduction to the speech he would bring in
legislation to hold North Sea oil and gas licensing rounds annually
- something Labor has ruled out - to help "the country to transition
to net zero by 2050 without adding undue burdens on households".
His government would phase out tobacco sales to young people in
England and, in an attempt to win over younger voters, press ahead
with reforms to the housing market, outlawing no-fault evictions for
renters.
But Sunak faces an uphill struggle to win back voters, with Labor
holding an around 20-point lead in the polls. His party is mired in
allegations of sex scandals, under scrutiny over its actions during
the COVID-19 pandemic and is deeply divided over its strategy before
the next election.
He is hopeful his agenda can turn things around.
"We have turned the corner over the last year and put the country on
a better path," Sunak said in his introduction.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/07/images/ads/current/hartsburggrain_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
"But these immediate priorities are not the limit of our ambition.
They are just the foundations of our plan to build a better future
for our children and grandchildren, and deliver the change the
country needs."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Andrew MacAskill, additional
reporting by Alistair Smout, Kylie MacLellan, Paul Sandle, Sarah
Young, Kate Holton; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jon Boyle)
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