Britain’s new prime minister has called on the public to reject the “snake oil charm of populism” as King Charles III outlined the Labour government’s legislative agenda for the coming year, which will include a push to fully ban tobacco, a doubling down on the green agenda, an attempt to “reset” relations with the EU and to advocate for Palestinian statehood.
At the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday, King Charles III delivered the “gracious speech from the throne” — more commonly known as the King’s Speech — which sets out the government’s legislative programme for the upcoming parliamentary session.
In his introduction to the speech — which is written by the government and merely read by the Monarch, Sir Keir Starmer said per The Telegraph: “The challenges we face require determined, patient work and serious solutions, rather than the temptation of the easy answer.
“The snake oil charm of populism may sound seductive, but it drives us into the dead end of further division and greater disappointment. This King’s Speech sets out a clear destination for our country.”
Unsurprisingly, a key feature of the agenda of Starmer will be to ramp up the globalist green agenda which the UK was already well in the throughs of under the previous “Conservative” government.
King Charles said that the Labour government “recognises the urgency of the global climate challenge and the new job opportunities that can come from leading the development of the technologies of the future”.
Labour claimed that the green energy transition — promising a Net-Zero carbon electricity system by 2030 — “will lower energy bills for consumers over time.” The government also announced it would set up a publicly owned green energy firm, Great British Energy, in Scotland to focus on investing tax money into offshore wind projects and other green initiatives.
Nanny state-style regulations also featured heavily in the speech, including the revival of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to ban smoking for anyone born in the country after 2009. The government will also introduce new regulations on vaping, including on packaging and flavours to “help stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine”.
Additionally, the Starmer government will look to restrict the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to minors and limit advertising of junk food products to children.
In an apparent overture to the Muslim population of Britain — traditionally a strong Labour voting bloc but which has increasingly flocked to independent candidates running on the single issue of Gaza — the left-wing government said that it is committed to establishing a Palestinian state.
King Charles said: “My Government will play its part in trying to secure long-term peace and security in the Middle East… with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.
Although Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out a reversal of Brexit, the government will “seek to reset” relations with the European Union in multiple areas, including defence, investment, and trade.
“My ministers will seek a new security pact to strengthen cooperation on the mutual threats faced by the United Kingdom and the European Union,” King Charles announced.
On the issue of immigration, the Labour government has already watered down its plans promised to the public, with pledges to crack down on employers in an effort to force companies to hire British workers before looking abroad being postponed until at least next year and not featuring in the King’s Speech. It comes as mass migration drove the largest annual population increase in recorded history, with over a million foreigners being allowed into the country in the year leading up to mid-2023.
The government did, however, outline plans to use counter-terrorism-style powers to target the people smuggling gangs facilitating the illegal crossing of the English Channel by boat migrants.
It will also introduce a new £100 million Border Security Command which will be funded by the savings from the scrapped Rwanda scheme of sending illegals abroad rather than having their asylum claims processed in Britain, as the new government will do.
Other major initiatives in the Speech on Wednesday included a Value Added Tax (VAT) raid on private schools to fund the hiring of 6,500 new government school teachers, plans to nationalise railways, introduce a ban on so-called “conversion therapy”, enshrine “full right to equal pay” in the law, opening up planning procedures to allow for the building of 1.5 million new homes, and ending hereditary peerages in the House of Lords.
Notably, the King’s Speech did not feature Labour’s plans to lower the voting age to 16 years old, however, it is still likely that the government will seek to introduce such a measure before the next general election slated for 2029.