Sir Keir Starmer has described Labour’s work as “urgent” as he tries to pack 35 new bills into the King’s Speech this week. The new laws will hand greater powers to local leaders and to economic watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), with growth a key part of the prime minister’s agenda, the government has said.
The prime minister described the measures, to be announced on Wednesday, as the “down payment” on the change his government is seeking to deliver. The strengthening of the OBR, which was outlined in Labour’s manifesto, is designed to ensure that “nobody can play fast and loose with the public finances ever again”, Downing Street said.
Ahead of the speech, which will be delivered by the King as part of the state opening of parliament, Sir Keir said: “Our work is urgent. There is no time to waste. We are hitting the ground running by bringing forward the laws we will need to rebuild our country for the long term – and our ambitious, fully costed agenda is the down payment on that change.
This story is from the July 15, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the July 15, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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