As the Prime Minister’s first, and likely the last before a General Election, this week’s King’s Speech will be the most important such speech since 2019. Actions taken in this final year of Parliament will be what the electorate remembers when it goes to the polls – so delivering on the commitments in the King’s Speech will be the last, best chance for the Conservatives to show we still care about solving the real challenges impacting people’s lives.
The Tory Reform Group, the home of One Nation Conservatism, want to see a King’s Speech which focuses less on ‘wedge issues’ that appeal to the most vocal MPs in our party and more on the bread and butter issues that matter to the silent majority of party activists and voters. Specifically, we want to see a King’s Speech that delivers on five key themes.
First, building an innovative economy: Jeremy Hunt’s Mansion House reforms are critical to unlocking more private capital to invest in British startups and we welcome reports that the Chancellor will shortly announce a new investment vehicle for pension funds at the Autumn Statement. Alongside access to capital, the Government should also consider whether our regulators have the right resources, rules, and ambition to deliver an innovative regulatory environment (as Form Ventures have highlighted). And to rebalance our economy, the Government should use the King’s Speech to explore devolving more powers – such as business rates – to mayors and councils, as Onward and many others have advocated.
Second, addressing intergenerational fairness: While growing the pie is essential for delivering prosperity, so too is ensuring that everyone gets a fair slice, and for too long people under the age of 40 have been left with crusts and crumbs. Michael Gove’s bill to end our ‘feudal’ leasehold system is a welcome first step, but more importantly we need to build more homes and not just tinker with how they are managed. This will require an overhaul of planning policy and a significant increase in funding for the Affordable Homes Programme.
This funding should come from increases in rates of inheritance tax and greater Stamp Duty surcharges for second and foreign-owned homes. In an age of AI where we face a future without work, it is more important than ever that we repurpose our tax system to target unearned income and consumption rather than taxing productive labour. Given that inheritance tax is levied on just 4% of estates and already offers up to a £1 million tax free inheritance, Conservatives should not be entertaining thoughts about abolishing it.
Third, maintaining our environmental commitments: The Prime Minister was right to argue earlier this year that dealing with climate change requires leaders to be honest with voters about the tradeoffs. It is only right that the costs of our Net Zero transition is levied on polluters, not ordinary people, which is why the TRG wants to see a “carbon takeback obligation” introduced for fossil fuel producers, as proposed by the Oxford Net Zero Initiative. This obligation would require fossil fuel extractors to capture a steadily rising proportion of the CO2 they generate, through investment in emerging direct air capture technologies. Furthermore, the Government could demonstrate its commitment to nature by bringing forward a new bill to ban trophy hunting imports.
Fourth, supporting family and community: There are a number of long-standing commitments in this area on which the Government has yet to take meaningful action. Five years on from the commitment to ban gay and trans conversion therapy, legislation has still not been brought forward. The Employment Bill to increase the rights of workers in the gig economy, promised in 2019, appears to have been abandoned. On obesity, the Government has delayed the modest commitments to introduce a junk food advert ban for children, and rejected the advice it commissioned from Henry Dimbleby to extend the successful sugar tax on fizzy drinks to other kinds of junk food. Taking action in each of these areas would show that the Conservatives do care about taking the difficult and long-term decisions to address challenges facing our society.
And finally, fifth, upholding and broadening internationalism: The violence we are seeing in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza is a heart-breaking reminder of what happens when unresolved conflicts are allowed to fester. To prevent similar conflicts breaking out in the Balkans or the Sahel, the Government must make conflict resolution in these regions a priority. Given that many of the tensions in these regions are being stoked by Russian disinformation, one meaningful action ministers could commit to in the King’s Speech would be to increase funding for the BBC World Service (as, for example, Baroness Helic has called for).
A King’s Speech which focuses on delivering on these five key areas is the best way to show the country that our party has moved on from the mistakes made by the Prime Minister’s predecessors. Only by demonstrating that the Conservatives have returned to the centre ground of politics and can deliver real change in people’s lives can we hope to earn a further term in office.