MY LORDS AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
My Government’s priority is to grow and strengthen the economy
and help ease the cost of living for families. My Government will
level up opportunity in all parts of the country and support more
people into work. My Ministers will continue to support the
police to make the streets safer, and fund the National Health
Service to reduce the COVID backlogs. In these challenging times,
my Government will play a leading role in defending democracy and
freedom across the world, including continuing to support the
people of Ukraine.
My Government will drive economic growth to improve living
standards and fund sustainable investment in public services.
This will be underpinned by a responsible approach to the public
finances, reducing debt while reforming and cutting taxes. My
Ministers will support the Bank of England to return inflation to
its target.
A Bill will be brought forward to drive local growth, empowering
local leaders to regenerate their areas, and ensuring everyone
can share in the United Kingdom’s success. The planning system
will be reformed to give residents more involvement in local
development [Levelling Up and Regeneration
Bill].
My Government will improve transport across the United Kingdom,
delivering safer, cleaner services and enabling more innovations.
Legislation will be introduced to modernise rail services and
improve reliability for passengers [Transport
Bill].
My Ministers will bring forward an Energy Bill to deliver the
transition to cheaper, cleaner, and more secure energy. This will
build on the success of the COP26 Summit in Glasgow last year
[Energy Security Bill]. Draft legislation to
promote competition, strengthen consumer rights and protect
households and businesses will be published. Measures will also
be published to create new competition rules for digital markets
and the largest digital firms [Draft Digital Markets,
Competition and Consumer Bill].
My Government will establish the UK Infrastructure Bank in
legislation, with objectives to support economic growth and the
delivery of net zero [UK Infrastructure
Bank Bill].
Reforms to education will help every child fulfil their potential
wherever they live, raising standards and improving the quality
of schools and higher education [Schools Bill, Higher
Education Bill]. My Ministers will publish draft
legislation to reform the Mental Health Act [Draft Mental
Health Act Reform Bill].
My Government will continue to seize the opportunities of the
United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, to support
economic growth. Regulations on businesses will be repealed and
reformed. A bill will enable law inherited from the European
Union to be more easily amended [Brexit Freedoms
Bill]. Public sector procurement will be simplified to
provide new opportunities for small businesses
[Procurement Bill].
New legislation will strengthen the United Kingdom’s financial
services industry, ensuring that it continues to act in the
interest of all people and communities [Financial
Services and Markets Bill]. The United Kingdom’s data
protection regime will be reformed [Data Reform
Bill].
My Government will continue to champion international trade,
delivering jobs across the country and growing the economy.
Legislation will be introduced to enable the implementation of
the United Kingdom’s first new Free Trade Agreements since
leaving the European Union [Trade (Australia and New
Zealand) Bill].
My Ministers will encourage agricultural and scientific
innovation at home. Legislation will unlock the potential of new
technologies to promote sustainable and efficient farming and
food production [Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding)
Bill].
My Government will protect the integrity of the United Kingdom’s
borders and ensure the safety of its people. My Ministers will
take action to prevent dangerous and illegal Channel crossings
and tackle the criminal gangs who profit from facilitating them.
Legislation will be introduced to ensure the police have the
powers to make the streets safer [Public Order
Bill].
A bill will be brought forward to further strengthen powers to
tackle illicit finance, reduce economic crime and help businesses
grow [Economic Crime and Corporate
Transparency Bill]. Measures will be introduced to
support the security services and help them protect the United
Kingdom [National Security Bill].
My Government will lead the way in championing security around
the world. It will continue to invest in our gallant Armed
Forces.
My Ministers will work closely with international partners
to maintain a united NATO and address the most pressing global
security challenges.
The continued success and integrity of the whole of the United
Kingdom is of paramount importance to my Government, including
the internal economic bonds between all of its parts. My
Government will prioritise support for the Belfast (Good Friday)
Agreement and its institutions, including through legislation to
address the legacy of the past [Northern Ireland Troubles
(Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill].
My Government will ensure the constitution is defended. My
Ministers will restore the balance of power between the
legislature and the courts by introducing a Bill of Rights
[Bill of Rights]. Legislation will prevent
public bodies engaging in boycotts that undermine community
cohesion [Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions
Bill].
My Government will introduce legislation to improve the
regulation of social housing to strengthen the rights of tenants
and ensure better quality, safer homes [Social
Housing Regulation Bill]. Legislation will also
be introduced to ban conversion therapy [Conversion
Therapy Bill]. Proposals will be published to establish
an independent regulator of English football.
In this year of my Platinum Jubilee, I look forward to the
celebrations taking place across the United Kingdom and
throughout the Commonwealth, and to the Commonwealth Games in
Birmingham this summer.
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
Estimates for the public services will be laid before you.
MY LORDS AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS Other measures will
be laid before you.
I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your
counsels.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
This Queen’s Speech focuses on the priorities of the great
British public.
The Speech sets out how the Government is growing the economy to
address the cost of living:
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● We are already providing support to families worth
over £22 billion in 2022-23 to help with cost of living
pressures. The Government will not hesitate to take further
steps to support households if needed. We will continue to
focus on bringing forward measures to help people into work,
which is the best approach to managing the cost of living
long term.
-
● We have a strong labour market, with unemployment
back to below its pre- pandemic rate, and we are supporting
people into high-skilled, well-paid work through our
multi-billion pound Plan for Jobs.
-
● The fiscal outlook remains uncertain, which is why we
must continue with our work to repair the public finances and
return them to a sustainable path.
-
● We will regenerate our towns and cities, shifting
power and accountability to local leaders to improve those
areas, drive economic growth, and give communities a louder
voice to deliver the ambitions set out in our landmark
Levelling Up White Paper.
-
● We will deliver a stronger and more highly performing
education system that provides young people with the skills
and knowledge they need to fulfil their potential, no matter
where they live.
-
● We will complete the establishment of the UK
Infrastructure Bank, utilising its £22 billion financial
capacity to support growth, improve connections across the
country and help level up the UK whilst supporting our
transition to net zero by 2050.
-
● We will deliver a more secure, homegrown energy
system that is cleaner and more affordable.
-
● We will continue to deliver improvements to transport
networks across the UK, providing for reliable services,
reducing journey times and spreading economic growth to all
regions.
-
● We will modernise business rates, creating a fairer
and more accurate system that will promote investment,
productivity and decarbonisation.
-
● We will strengthen our public service broadcasters to
make sure they continue to thrive, benefitting the UK’s
creative economy and producing outstanding British content.
-
● Our Social Housing Regulation Bill will eradicate the
poor treatment of tenants by some landlords. We will focus on
levelling up homeownership for all as part of a fair and just
housing system.
-
● Similarly, the Renters Reform Bill will abolish
so-called ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions and strengthen
landlords’ rights of possession, providing a fair and
effective market for both tenants and landlords.
-
● We will end the supremacy of European law and seize
the benefits of Brexit to grow the economy to address the
cost of living and support business innovation and
entrepreneurship, while cutting £1 billion of EU red tape for
businesses.
-
● We will legislate to enable the implementation of the
UK’s world class trade deals with Australia and New Zealand,
delivering economic opportunities across a range of sectors
and businesses in all parts of the UK.
-
● We will remove unnecessary barriers inherited from
the EU to enable the development and marketing of precision
bred plants and animals and grow the economy by positioning
the UK as the leading country in which to invest in agri-
food research and innovation.
-
● Our public procurement regime will be made more
simple, transparent and accessible to better meet the
country’s needs. This will bring a huge boost to businesses
and voluntary, charitable and social enterprises, who will be
able to compete for public contracts.
-
● We will create a world class data rights regime,
reduce burdens on businesses, boost the economy, and help
scientists to innovate.
-
● The Financial Services and Markets Bill will enhance
the UK’s position as a global leader in financial services,
through the establishment of a coherent, agile and
internationally-respected approach to financial services
regulation.
The Government will make the streets safer by cutting crime
and ensuring the police and security services have the powers
they need:
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● We will get more police on our streets, cut crime and
protect the public. We have already recruited over 13,500
more police officers and launched a new Drugs Strategy to
shut down county lines gangs.
-
● We have already made significant reforms in this
Parliament. Our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act will
ensure that the most serious sexual and violent offenders
will spend longer in prison, while the police will have new
stop and search powers to target those convicted of crimes
involving knives.
-
● We will undertake the biggest overhaul of state
threats legislation for a generation, providing our world
class law enforcement and intelligence agencies with enhanced
powers to tackle the full range of evolving state threats.
-
● Our Public Order Bill will give the police the powers
they need to prevent a minority of protestors from using
guerrilla tactics that cause misery to the hard- working
public, disrupting businesses, costing millions in taxpayers’
money and putting lives at risk.
-
● We will also prevent criminals and terrorists from
exploiting the UK’s economy by introducing the Economic Crime
and Corporate Transparency Bill, which will crack down on
illicit finance and strengthen the UK’s reputation as a place
where legitimate businesses can grow.
-
● A draft Victims Bill will strengthen rights for
victims by placing the Victims’ Code on a statutory footing,
restore victims' confidence that their voices will be
properly heard and that perpetrators will be brought to
justice.
The Government is funding the NHS to clear the COVID-19
backlog:
-
● Following the unprecedented challenges placed on the
NHS by COVID-19, we will spend more than £8 billion from
2022-23 to 2024-25, supported by the revenue from the Health
and Social Care Levy, to clear the COVID-19 backlogs.
-
● The NHS vaccination programme has been the biggest
and fastest in the NHS’ history, saving countless lives and
enabling us to learn to live with COVID-19. Millions of
people are being invited to receive a Spring booster for an
additional dose for the most vulnerable individuals
-
● We have recruited an additional 27,000 nurses, we are
investing £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million GP
appointments, and we are delivering our manifesto commitment
to build 40 new hospitals. We are also investing £2.3 billion
to increase diagnostic activity with ambitions to roll out up
to 160 community diagnostic centres over the next three
years.
The Government is providing the leadership needed in these
challenging times:
-
● We will keep standing up for freedom and democracy
against Russia’s barbaric attack against Ukraine by building
a network of security and defence partnerships and
strengthening economic ties across the globe.
-
● Our Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Bill will stop
public bodies from adopting their own approach to
international relations.
-
● We will introduce a Bill of Rights to ensure there is
a proper balance between the rights of individuals, our vital
national security and effective government, strengthening
freedom of speech, our common law traditions and reducing
reliance on Strasbourg case law.
-
● We will ban abhorrent conversion therapy practices
intended to change sexual orientation.
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● We will fulfil our manifesto commitment to address
the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past, providing better
outcomes for victims, survivors and their families and giving
veterans the protections they deserve.
-
● We will deliver a carefully balanced package of
identity and language measures which will recognise and
celebrate Northern Ireland’s diversity of identities and
culture, accommodating cultural difference and enhancing and
developing the Ulster Scots/Ulster British tradition in
Northern Ireland while also protecting the Irish language.
-
● We will protect and promote the combined strengths of
the UK and the values we share, and ensure our institutions
benefit people in every part of our country. We will ensure
that opportunity is shared across every corner of the UK and
are committed to effective collaboration with devolved
governments and local leaders to deliver for people across
the UK and truly level up.