NEW UK LABOUR GOV’T SETS OUT POLICY PRIORITIES

By Staff Writer

The new Labour Party government in the United Kingdom has outlined its policy priorities in the King’s Speech by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament this past week.

The Labour Party was returned to power in the UK’s July 4th election after spending the past 14 years in Opposition.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s administration is expected to withstand any resistance to its policy programme owing to its unassailable 239-seat majority where it commands 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons (British Parliament).

Although the Throne Speech did not specifically mention the Overseas Territories, the new Labour government and the now-Opposition Conservatives did target ‘non-doms’ (non-domiciled UK citizens) quite aggressively during their election campaign.

They claimed that ‘non-doms’  are denying the government billions in tax revenue through their overseas business and personal income but not reported for tax in the UK. Non-doms are individuals who live in the UK but declare their permanent residence as being overseas.

The Keir Starmer government is said to be eager to push ahead with the Public Access Beneficial Ownership Register, but there are suggestions that it might take a different approach to that of the previous Conservative government.

While not a feature of the Labour Party manifesto, the Public Access Beneficial Ownership Register issue was listed by the Conservatives as a policy priority for them.

“We will intensify our fight to stop money laundering and dirty money and ensure all British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies adopt open registers of beneficial ownership,” it said.

While the Conservatives were pushing for full open and public access, indications are that the Labour government might be more amenable to limiting that to legal and other official purposes.

The new government’s policy priorities outlined in the King’s Speech focus on what it termed as “creating wealth in every corner of the country, and improving the living standards of working people.”

King Charles mentioned that more than 35 bills and draft bills would be presented enable economic growth, including a bill that enforced tough new spending rules. The package of bills will focus on growing the economy by speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creating more jobs and securing clean, green energy.

High on the agenda is a ‘re-nationalisation’ programme entailing core operations of the railway system, and establishing Great British Energy, a publicly owned green energy company - the objective being to make Britain a “clean energy superpower”.

The legislation programme includes commitments to kickstart economic growth, ensure responsible public finances, and introduce a bill to establish a National Wealth Fund for making transformational investments across the UK.

The government also plans to reform restrictive building regulations, giving more rights to people renting their homes, and providing more power to local governments in the UK. A massive housebuilding programme for affordable homes is planned to correct a crippling housing crisis by building on lands in areas regularly opposed by some residents dubbed ‘nimbys’ for their stance of ‘not in my backyard’. 

Additionally, there are policy proposals affecting areas such as employment rights, the National Health Service, crime, and national security.

While these were among the headline policies mentioned in the King’s Speech, it is expected that other issues will make it onto the policy agenda - as some already are.