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The election is over — now the governing begins. The King returned to Parliament to deliver the first Labour King’s or Queen’s Speech in 14 years, and it was a bumper one. A package of some 40 bills was included, aimed full square at the Prime Minister’s five missions, not least on kick-starting economic growth.
Amid the pageantry, pomp and ceremony, there is a hard-nosed political calculation. This is a Government elected with a large parliamentary majority to get the economy moving again and repair a crumbling public realm. All without much in the way of money. It will need to act fast so that it may be able to demonstrate in five years’ time that it has made a material impact on people’s lives. No easy task.
A first King’s Speech also provides an insight into a Government’s priorities. Whitehall departments cannot do everything at once and to govern is famously to choose. After an election campaign in which broad brush strokes were preferred over sharp policy detail, we finally have a real clue as to what Labour plans to do in office. Now, it is time to deliver.
Hard hats on for housing
Reform of the planning system represents a key plank in Labour’s plan to get Britain growing. Indeed, in her first speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced a series of measures and ambitions to begin a nationwide programme of building.
To that end, Sadiq Khan has used his mayoral powers to grant approval for homes to be built on green belt land. The scheme will involve the restoration of Hanworth Park House in Feltham, with the goal of repurposing it to become a community hub. It will be accompanied by 300 new homes.
In building anywhere, from the greenest of fields to the brownest of ex-industrial sites, Labour will face a Nimby backlash. The key is to be brave and act with due diligence. That means building the desperately needed homes for people of all ages and incomes, while seeking to remain in keeping with the local area.
No doubt, once all these new homes are built, we will wonder how we ever lived without them.
Eau de Paris
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has dived into the not-always-clean waters of the Seine to show the world that the river is suitable to host the outdoor swimming event at the Olympics.
Never one to be outflanked, this is surely the next challenge for Sadiq Khan. It is certainly one way to avoid the Blackwall Tunnel tolls coming into force from 2025.
