On Wednesday, the State Opening of Parliament took place as Keir Starmer’s government unveiled their planned new laws in the King’s Speech.
Whilst there were significant announcements about closer ties with the European Union, tackling the cost of living and pressing ahead with digital ID, here are five things you may have missed.
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Council houses
The government is set to introduce a bill increasing long-term investment in social housing. This will included a law making it harder for people to buy their own council houses, and another to reform the leasehold system, including by capping ground rents.
Cladding
The King said a bill will be brought forward to speed up remediation for people living in homes with unsafe cladding.
Peerages removed from disgraced Lords
A new law will be be introduced making it possible for Lords to have their peerages removed. This comes after fresh revelations over the last few months about Lord Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this year, Labour passed a bill removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords.
Cleaning up the water industry
During his speech, King Charles spoke of the “renewal of public services.” This included an announcement that the government will “improve critical infrastructure with legislation to clean-up the water industry .”
New era of nuclear energy
Another part of the speech focused on energy security, in the wake of the war in Iran and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Here, the government announced legislation would be introduced to encourage a “new era of British nuclear energy generation.” This was alongside a pledge to increase clean energy production.