King Charles III looks up as he reads the King's Speech, as Queen Camilla sits beside him during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords, on July 17, 2024 in London.Alberto Pezzali - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Following the landslide victory of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom's general election earlier this month, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer laid out the government's plans to reinvigorate the country's economy in this year's State Opening of Parliament in London.
The Starmer government's plan was read by British monarch King Charles III at the House of Lords Chamber in a pomp-and-circumstance ceremony in Westminster Wednesday (July 17).
PM Starmer: Labour's Plans Aimed at Taking 'Brakes Off Britain'
The King's Speech, as local media call it, highlighted around 40 proposed bills, some of which tackle economic and social reforms to supposedly reverse the downturn the Conservative Party failed to implement.
The Telegraph reported that the speech was the longest since 2003, which was delivered by Charles's late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Among the bills Labour wrote and Charles read included the strengthening of British economic and budget policy and audit procedures; planning and infrastructure acceleration; better workplace and housing policies; improvement of the country's public transportation, including public ownership of its railway system; an investment on renewable energy; sustainable production of aviation fuel; and tighter control over water regulation and quality.
Starmer said that the plans the king announced to lawmakers would "take the brakes off Britain."
The BBC reported that the other bills Labour introduced in the King's Speech include the devolution of government and economic services in England, which would give more powers to mayors of metropolitan cities, as well as maintain cooperation with the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish devolved governments; policies regarding improvements in public and border security and crime and terrorism prevention; educational and skills training policies; football governance; medical policy and mental health modernization; the ban on conversion therapy; and the strengthening of the UK's defense capabilities to be at par with NATO standards.
Charles also read Labour's plans to modernize the House of Lords, the unelected upper house of the British parliament, to revoke the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the chamber; repeal the Legacy Act regarding The Troubles in Ireland and Northern Ireland; continue the country's support for Ukraine; further develop its relation with the European Union; and secure the peace and stability in the Middle East, particularly in Israel and Palestine.
Join the Conversation