Sunak puts economy and public safety at heart of King’s Speech plans

Rishi Sunak said his Government remained “ambitious” as he laid out plans for the King’s Speech which is expected to set the tone for a general election next year.

The Prime Minister opened a meeting of his Cabinet by saying the speech would focus on measures to “grow the economy, to strengthen society and to keep people safe”.

The King is expected to open the new session of Parliament on Tuesday November 7, the first time he will have done so as monarch.

Mr Sunak, who has been in office for just over a year, said the last session of Parliament had been “historic”, pointing to legislation including: the Illegal Migration Act – to make progress on “stopping the boats”; the Retained EU Law Act for “seizing the opportunities of Brexit”; the Online Safety Act and the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, as key new laws.

“But we’re not stopping there, we will keep demonstrating to the country that we are ambitious for what we want to achieve,” he told his senior ministers.

“In the new session we will see a range of Bills that will deliver on what we want to do, and that’s going to be to grow the economy, to strengthen society and to keep people safe.”

Mr Sunak said the Government’s plan would “demonstrate clearly that we are taking the right long-term decisions to build a better future for everyone”.

He said the state opening of Parliament would be “a big occasion, not least because it’s the first King’s Speech in 70-odd years”.

Although Charles delivered the speech at the last state opening of Parliament in May 2022, he was doing so in place of his mother, the late Queen.

The King’s Speech will set out the legislative programme for the next session of Parliament, but it will also give an indication of Mr Sunak’s priorities ahead of the general election.

He is expected to go to the country in 2024, although an election does not have to be held until January 2025.