Sir Keir Starmer has set out the 40 bills he claims will initiate “a decade of national renewal” as he launched a King’s Speech plan for economic growth featuring a big role for the state and a major upgrade to workers’ rights.
The new prime minister’s legislative plan — read out by King Charles at the state opening of parliament on Wednesday — is a pick-and-mix of traditional Labour state intervention coupled with fiscal discipline and radical planning reforms beloved of the Tory right.
Downing Street said GB Energy, a new state-run company, would be at the heart of Starmer’s industrial strategy and would “manage and operate” clean energy projects, as well as work alongside the private sector.