Securing growth will be the "fundamental mission" of Sir Keir Starmer's government, the King told MPs and Lords as he read out the legislative agenda of the new Labour administration.

The party's programme for the next year will be "mission led and based upon the principles of security, fairness and opportunity for all," the monarch added. 

There were 39 Bills announced in the King's speech, of those 24 will apply in whole or part north of the border, the Scotland Office said. 


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This includes the intention to set up a Council of the Nations and Regions to “renew opportunities” for collaboration between the Prime Minister, and the heads of devolved governments.

While plans to nationalise rail companies will mostly be geared towards franchises in England and Wales, it will have an impact on cross-border services and would, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said, "ensure that ScotRail is kept in public hands."

There was more information on Great British Energy in the King's Speech, with the government clarifying that the party's flagship state-owned firm would be an energy production company rather than solely an investment vehicle.

The company will be headquartered in Scotland and will, “own, manage and operate clean power projects”.

The pledge is one of the key planks in Labour's bid to grow the economy

Another is the bid to try and legislate for stability, by removing the ability of ministers to make tax and spending decisions without them first being assessed. 

The new Bill - designed to avoid a rerun of Liz Truss’s 2022 mini-budget - will give the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) new powers to scrutinise and publish a financial forecast of any “significant and permanent tax and spending changes” by the Government.

Labour described the new Bill as a “fiscal lock”, adding that it would “prevent significant uncosted measures from being announced without sufficient scrutiny to mitigate the impact on the public finances”.

The King said in his speech: “Stability will be the cornerstone of my Government’s economic policy and every decision will be consistent with its fiscal rules.”

Other Bills in the speech include plans for a National Wealth Fund "to invest in the industries and jobs of the future," and new workers' rights legislation.

The "new deal for working people" will make maternity pay and sick pay available to people from day one of their employment and ban exploitative zero-hour contracts.

There was also legislation on reforming the House of Lords, with hereditary peers abolished. 

An official briefing paper on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill said that in the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals born into certain families, with the seats effectively reserved for men.

Speaking after the monarch addressed MPs and Lords, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the goverment's legislative agenda would "deliver for all four nations of the UK and all four corners of Scotland. "

He added: “We have a bold and ambitious legislative programme which will ensure we deliver on our mandate. 

“Our plans will deliver growth and jobs for our economy."

He added: “We have been clear that we want to reset our relationship with the Scottish Government, and to work together to deliver better outcomes for people."

“We promised change. This King’s speech demonstrates we are rolling up our sleeves and delivering that change," he added.

However, the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said Sir Keir had "failed his first test in government."

He added: "This timid legislative programme is a missed opportunity that failed to deliver the change that people in Scotland were promised."

He added: "For Scotland, there was no plan to deliver the maximum devolution that Labour promised during the independence referendum and, despite promising to abolish the House of Lords for more than a century, they are only planning to tinker around the edges."

 

More to follow...