Starmer vows to ‘get Britain building’ in King’s Speech

The King’s Speech has put the building of housing and infrastructure at the heart of a legislative agenda designed to drive growth across the UK. The proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill was the third of 35 introduced by the King at today’s state opening of parliament. “My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing,” he said. The speech identified economic growth as a “fundamental mission” for the new government which seeks “a new partnership with both business and working people”. There are also proposals to give more powers to metro mayors and combined authorities through the English Devolution Bill. The aim is to support local growth plans that bring economic benefit to communities. The speech added little in the way of detail to policies that had previously been published as manifesto commitments. However, this cements them into a legislative agenda across the first months of the new parliament.   Image © Victoria Jones/Shutterstock