Rishi’s King’s Speech to restore ‘pride’ in Britain: Sunak vows tougher sentences for the worst criminals, eases the Net Zero ‘burden’, brings in ‘rolling’ cigarettes ban and pushes for driverless cars – as he draws battle lines with Labour

• King Charles has delivered the speech opening a new session of Parliament  

Rishi Sunak unveiled a make-or-break plan to restore ‘pride’ to Britain today in a pre-election King’s Speech.

The PM insisted the government is ‘rising to the challenge’ as the monarch laid out the legislative package for the next year – and almost certainly the last before the country goes to the ballot boxes.

The plans draws battle lines with Keir Starmer, including pledges to crack down on crime and ease the Net Zero ‘burden’ on Brits.

King Charles paid tribute to his ‘beloved mother’ Queen Elizabeth as he gave the speech for the first time as monarch. It was also first time since 1950 that it has been delivered by a King. 

Tougher justice is at the heart of the programme, made up of 20 Bills and a draft Bill, that Mr Sunak hopes can close the yawning gap in the polls. 

It includes plans for killers convicted of the most horrific murders to get whole life orders – meaning they will never be released – while rapists and other serious sexual offenders will not be let out early from prison sentences. However, that is balanced by introducing a ‘presumption’ that sentences of a year or less will be suspended. 

Other measures include giving police the power to enter a property without a warrant to seize stolen goods, such as phones, when they have reasonable proof that a specific stolen item is inside. And there will be action to tackle the use of tech in crime, such as 3D printing templates for firearms.

In his introduction to the package, Mr Sunak tried to rouse the spirits of his restive MPs by insisting he has a vision for the country.

Among the main measures in the Speech are:

• Whole life jail terms to be the norm for most serious offenders, but more short sentences will be suspended;
• The worst criminals will be ‘compelled’ to attend sentencing, although it is not spelled out how;
• Sharing naked images without consent is to be made a criminal offence;
• Mr Sunak promised to create a ‘smoke-free generation’ with a law banning children currently aged 14 or under from ever buying cigarettes;
• Create an annual regime for licensing new oil and gas drilling the North Sea, something that has been rejected by Labour;
• Paving the way for driverless buses and delivery vans by 2035, including protecting passengers from being punished for crashes caused by computers;
• Curbing so-called ‘subscription traps’ that tie people into regular payments, and ‘drip pricing’ where companies bolt on costs to the up-front price they advertise; 
• Public bodies will be prevented from taking part in BDS boycotts of Israel, as a law makes progress on creating an Holocaust Memorial.

Rishi Sunak will draw battle lines for a titanic election battle today with a King’s Speech promising to crack down on crime and ease the Net Zero burden

King Charles paid tribute to his ‘beloved mother’ Queen Elizabeth as he gave the speech for the first time as monarch. It was also first time since 1950 that it has been delivered by a King

The King and Queen on the thrones in the House of Lords as the monarch opens the new session of Parliament

The royal couple walked into the House of Lords hand-in-hand for their first experience of opening the Parliamentary session

The King and the Queen head for Parliament for the State Opening today

The Imperial State Crown is carried into the Royal Gallery ahead of the historic ceremony 

The chamber of the Lords as peers wait for the King this morning

Mr Sunak chatted happily with Sir Keir as they walked from the Commons to the Lords.

Black Rod went through the tradition of having the door of the Commons slammed in his face, before summoning MPs to hear the speech in the Upper chamber.

The routine underlines the supremacy of the lower House over the monarch, which was settled in the Glorious Revolution. 

In a statement accompanying the speech, Mr Sunak said: ‘Integrity, professionalism, accountability. That’s what I promised when I stood on the steps of Downing Street just over a year ago – and that’s what we have delivered.

‘I set out five priorities to judge us by and the results are clear. Inflation is down. The economy is growing. Debt is set to fall. 

‘There’s more to do on cutting NHS waiting lists, but we’ve made progress – cutting the longest waits for NHS treatment and providing record funding for the NHS and social care, including additional support for the winter. 

‘And we are stopping the boats. Some said it couldn’t be done, but this year the number of migrants coming illegally by boat is down by over a fifth.

‘We have turned the corner over the last year and put the country on a better path.

‘But these immediate priorities are not the limit of our ambition. They are just the foundations of our plan to build a better future for our children and grandchildren, and deliver the change the country needs.’

The King, a longstanding environmental campaigner, announced plans to mandate annual oil and gas licensing in the North Sea – something Labour has rejected.

The speech also heralded an historic law that would stop children who turn 14 this year from ever legally buying cigarettes or tobacco in England.

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer chatted happily as they walked through to the Lords from the Commons  

Senior Tories believe a focus on ‘bread and butter’ Conservative issues will help Mr Sunak as he seeks to overturn Labour’s massive opinion poll lead.

Mr Sunak’s allies think Sir Keir’s record as director of public prosecutions – something the Labour leader has often highlighted as a positive – could also be a point of weakness.

One No10 insider pointed at his 2010 support for a US-style system of first and second degree murder charges, the latter of which might not have attracted a mandatory life term.

A handful of noisy Republican protests took place outside of Parliament today

The Yeomen of the Guard arrived at the House of Parliament by coach this morning

Due to the late Queen’s long reign, it will be the first State Opening speech delivered by a King since George VI opened Parliament in 1950

More prison time for the worst violent and sexual offenders and new powers to haul criminals to court to face victims  

Murderers who kill for sadistic or sexual thrills will die behind bars and violent criminals forced to face their victims in court under measures announced in today’s King’s Speech. 

A new sentencing bill would force judges to hand down whole-life orders for the most gruesome killings. Rapists and other sexual offenders would also have to serve their entire sentence behind bars, instead of half on licence.

Other measures include giving police the power to enter a property without a warrant to seize stolen goods, such as phones, when they have reasonable proof that a specific stolen item is inside – such as data from a GPS tracker. 

Judges would also be able to force convicted criminals into court for sentencing. A new Criminal Justice Bill would allow the use of ‘reasonable force’ to get them into the dock, with the option of adding two years to their sentence if they refuse.

Yet controversially, criminals handed a sentence of less than 12 months are set to receive a suspended sentence and carry out unpaid community work instead as part of efforts to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis. 

This will be expected to cover most of the 37,000 offenders jailed each year for a year or less and include burglars, shoplifters, drug dealers and drink drivers but exclude criminals convicted of any sex, violent or terror offences.

The announcement comes after serial killer neo-natal nurse Letby refused to attend her own sentencing for murdering babies in the summer. Many other criminals have also shunned key hearings because judges have few powers to compel them to leave their cells. 

The Tories have put crime and sentencing at the heart of their legislative programme for 2024, as they seek to make law and order a key dividing line with Labour.

As part of measures to tackle violence against women and girls, ministers plan to criminalise the sharing of sexual images without consent.

The Sentencing Bill will mean a whole life order will be handed down in the worst cases of murder, with judges having discretion to impose a shorter tariff only in exceptional circumstances.

The legislation would also ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders serve the whole of their sentence behind bars, without being released early on licence.

It  would make being in a grooming gang an aggravating feature for sentencing, meaning tougher punishments for ringleaders and members.

A Victims and Prisoners Bill is set to give ministers the power to block parole for the worst offenders and ban them from marrying in prison.

Today the mother and aunt of murdered schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel welcomed plans to punish anyone who refuses to attend their sentencing hearing in court.

Reacting to the change in law, Cheryl Korbel, whose nine-year-old daughter was killed in a shooting last year, told Good Morning Britain: ‘It is a very important step forward. It will bring a little bit of comfort knowing that no other family will go through what we’ve been through.’

Cheryl and Olivia’s aunt Antonia Elverson set up the campaign ‘Face the Family’ to petition for a change in law after Olivia was killed.

Asked by Susanna Reid whether she backed calls for visiting rights to be denied, should prisoners refuse to listen to the sentencing, Cheryl said: ‘Too right. I can go visit my daughter, but all I’ve got to look at is a [head]stone. They can still see their families. It’s not right.’

Olivia died in August 2022 after Thomas Cashman opened fire when he chased another man into her home in Dovecot, Liverpool.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk today said the planned criminal justice reforms, due to be set out in the King’s Speech, were about ‘head as well as heart’. He told Times Radio: ‘It’s something that I’ve been talking about for a long time because I’m a barrister by background, I’ve seen this stuff.

‘This is about head as well as it is about heart. This is about ensuring that I don’t want you, I don’t want your family, I don’t want my family, to be victims of crime.

‘So what I want to ensure is that people who are the greatest threat to you and your family are kept out of circulation for longer… but those who are capable of being rehabilitated should be rehabilitated. And that seems to me to be smart.’

The pledges come against a backdrop of soaring prison populations that have forced ministers to ask courts to delay sentencing hearings.

In October the prison population hit a record high for modern times, leaving just over 550 spare places in the system.

Figures showed there were 88,225 inmates behind bars in England and Wales in the middle of the month, up more than 200 in a week. It beat the previous peak of 88,179 set in late 2011, and is the highest total since modern records began in 1900. 

The Government has promised the largest prison building programme in 100 years to create more than 20,000 more places. 

Driverless buses and lorries could be on UK streets by 2035 

Driverless buses and lorries could be on the UK’s streets by the end of the decade under a new law ministers say could create almost 40,000 and improve road safety at the same time. 

The King unveiled plans for an Automated Vehicle Bill that will ease restrictions on new computer-controlled vehicles where humans are mere passengers. 

It will seek to over-ride fears about safety, arguing that by removing ‘human error’ to blame for many crashes it will actually make the roads safer.

And the legislation will include specific legal protection for passengers, with the company that owns the vehicle responsible for the way it drives. 

It could lead to a major expansion in driverless vehicle use, with applications in areas including grocery deliveries, farming and public transport.

A spokesman for the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for self-driving cars said: ‘It could mean AV (automated vehicle) companies operating commercial services to the public by the end of the decade, as regulations go through consultations and testing processes.’ 

Last year a trial of a driverless bus began in Scotland. There was chaos on the launch day of the vehicle nicknamed ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Driverless Machiney’, when one of the electric shuttles got lost.

Driverless taxis are already used in San Francisco.

Driverless buses have been operating in Sweden since 2018. It has no steering wheel, and runs at a speed of 20 kilometers an hour, using GPS and sensors to ensure it follows the current route. A staff member is on board to take control in case of emergency.

Ministers argue that the market could be worth £41.7billion by 2035, and sustain a net creation of 38,000 jobs.

They also point out that human error was a factor in 88 per cent of all recorded collisions in Great Britain in 2021.

‘The bill gives immunity from prosecution when a self-driving vehicle is driving itself, given it does not make sense to then hold the person sat behind the wheel  responsible,’ a government briefing on the law said.

‘Non-driving responsibilities however will still remain with that person, such as maintaining appropriate insurance for the vehicle and ensuring proper loading, as well as responsibility during any part of the journey where the person is driving.’

As well as safety fears over crashes, concerns have been raised about whether autonomous vehicles could be hijacked.

Ford’s BlueCruise system is exclusively available on the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV (pictured)

Last month the Local Government Association’s Future Crime Horizon Scan said there was ‘particular concern’ about driverless vehicles.

It warned in a report that terrorists could hack into them to use them as weapons in horrific attacks.

Currently driverless cars are set to appear in 2025, but they will not be fully autonomous. 

The UK became the first European country to allow drivers on public roads to let go of steering wheels in April, after the Government gave manufacturer Ford permission to activate its BlueCruise system.

Although users can take their hands off the wheel, an infrared camera checks they are keeping their eyes on the road in case human intervention is required. 

Last year a trial of a driverless bus began in Scotland.

There was chaos on the launch day of the vehicle nicknamed ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Driverless Machiney’, when one of the electric shuttles got lost.

The launch was delayed after ‘technical glitches’ that saw the service have to be manually driven on October 2023.

The missing shuttle was stuck in one place for more than hour as its radar – which has lasers that help it figure out where it is, malfunctioned.

The butts stop here: PM to outline plan for rolling total ban on smoking based on New Zealand model

The Prime Minister used his Tory conference speech to announce he wants to increase the legal smoking age annually in a bid to try and stop teenagers ever taking up cigarettes in the first place.

His plans would see the legal age for buying tobacco rise every year from 2009, meaning a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette under proposed legislation for England.

But, despite being hailed by health campaigners, the proposals have also been branded ‘ludicrous’, ‘illiberal’ and ‘anti-conservative’ by critics of state intervention on people’s freedoms, while a smoker’s group labelled the crackdown ‘creeping prohibition’.

The Prime Minister used his Tory conference speech to announce he wants to increase the legal smoking age annually in a bid to try and stop teenagers ever taking up cigarettes in the first place.

Former PM Liz Truss – who this week demanded the Tories to ‘stop taxing and banning things’ – is set to vote against Mr Sunak’s plans when he offers a free vote to MPs on the issue in the House of Commons.

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP leader who was feted by Tory activists at their Manchester conference, this morning condemned the ‘stupid’ plan and warned it would just create a ‘black market’.

It is estimated that tobacco duties will raise £10.4billion for the Treasury this year, with that amount now set to decrease under the PM’s New Zealand-style plan to phase out legal sales.

Boost for North Sea oil and gas industry as Net Zero ‘burden’ eased  

Rishi Sunak used today’s King’s Speech to confirm plans to boost Britain’s oil and gas industry as he pursues a ‘pragmatic’ approach to reaching Net Zero.

The Prime Minister unveiled an Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to help ‘safeguard’ the country’s energy supplies and support UK-based extraction of fossil fuels.

The proposed legislation aims to mandate an annual regime for licensing new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.

It follows Mr Sunak’s watering down of Britain’s Net Zero commitments, including pushing back the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035.

The PM also recently vowed to ‘slam the brakes’ on the ‘war on motorists’ and hit out at ‘hare-brained’ schemes such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and widespread 20mph zones.

But, despite suggestions the King’s Speech would double-down on pro-car policies, today’s fresh legislative agenda offered few signs of a toughening of Mr Sunak’s crackdown.

The only hint of new action came in a promise to make local councils add the imposition of new speed limits, closed roads or fresh parking restrictions to a central database.

The Prime Minister unveiled an Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to help ‘safeguard’ the country’s energy supplies and support UK-based extraction of fossil fuels

The Government is also promising to force local councils to add the imposition of new speed limits, closed roads or fresh parking restrictions to a central database

The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will cause trouble for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has vowed not to grant any new oil or gas licenses if he becomes PM.

The proposed legislation will require the North Sea Transition Authority to run an annual process inviting appolications for new production licenses in the UK’s offshore waters.

But this will only be if the UK is projected to remain a net importer of both oil and gas, and if the carbon emissions associated with the production of UK gas are lower than the average of equivalent emissions from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Mr Sunak said: ‘The new Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will help to safeguard our energy independence and security, by backing North Sea oil and gas extraction, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

‘Alongside this, we are working to secure record amounts of investment in renewable energy sources – building on the UK’s record for decarbonising faster than other G7 economies, while also changing the way we reach Net Zero by reducing the burden on working people.’

The Government is also planning a Automated Vehicles Bill to prepare Britain for the introduction of self-driving cars.

Away from its headline measures, the Bill also promises to digitalise Traffic Regulation Orders.

This will force local councils to send the legal orders they make – for example, to set speed limits, close roads and designate parking bays – to a central publication platform.

Ministers have promised this data will be used to create a digital map of the UK’s road network to support the safe operation of self-driving vehicles.

They also say it will help make parking easier for all drivers, by providing better information like the location and availability of parking spaces.

This aims to meet a Department for Transport promise that drivers should only have to download one parking app to their mobile phones in order to pay for parking wherever they are in the UK.

The ‘digital map’ of the road network could also assist drivers hoping to avoid LTNs or 20mph zones. 

Mr Sunak has angered green groups and some within his own party with his bid to boost North Sea oil and gas drilling.

Sam Hall, director of the Conservative Environment Network, said: ‘We will need oil and gas for the next few decades.

‘It is economically sensible to seek a fair transition, rather than a cliff edge, away from homegrown fossil fuel production.

‘But regardless of Government policy, it will not be possible to achieve energy security from North Sea oil and gas, where reserves are now depleted and expensive to extract.’

‘Oil and gas is one of the least popular parts of the Government’s energy policy.

‘A major political focus on new exploration could undermine voters’ perception of the Conservatives’ commitment to climate action before the general election.

‘It could also overshadow efforts to promote the party’s positive record on renewables which is not widely known and significantly more popular.’

Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow energy security and Net Zero secretary, seized on Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho’s admission that the plans to mandate oil and gas licensing in the North Sea may not bring down household energy bills.

He said: ‘It is a stunning admission from this government that, during the worst energy bills crisis in generations, their flagship Kings Speech energy policy won’t even take a penny off energy bills.

‘The Conservatives are so out of touch that they have given up trying to bring down energy bills for British families.’

‘Instead, they will hand billions of taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas companies making record profits, undermine our energy security and contribute to climate disaster.’

Ban on no-fault eviction for renters to go ahead  

Michael Gove is to push on with plans to boost renters rights by making it harder for landlords to evict them for no reason despite Tory opposition. 

The Housing Secretary’s Renters (Reform) Bill has been carried over from the last session of Parliament in the King’s Speech.

It comes amid complaints about soaring rental costs as landlords pass on higher mortgage and other costs to tenants.

The Bill will put an end to ‘no-fault evictions’, strengthening tenants’ rights. But in a nod to opposition from Tory MPs, many of whom are commercial landlords, it will not come into effect until separate law changes giving landlords stronger rights to throw out problem occupants who don’t pay their rent or engage in anti-social behaviour. It will also be easier to evict tenants if landlords want to move family members into a property.

Landlords can currently evict tenants who are not on fixed-term contracts without giving a reason, under legislation known as Section 21. But critics say this is unfair and has a destabilising effect on families. 

The proposed legislation aims to ban so-called no-fault evictions, alongside a series of other measures to improve rental conditions for tenants. These include preventing landlords from ‘unreasonably’ denying tenants from keeping a pet in a rented property.

Michael Gove is to push on with plans to boost renters rights by making it harder for landlords to evict them for no reason despite Tory opposition.

But in a nod to opposition from Tory MPs, many of whom are commercial landlords, it will not come into effect until separate law changes giving landlords stronger rights to throw out problem occupants who don’t pay their rent or engage in anti-social behaviour.

In an additional move to boost family housing, the Speech confirmed plans to ‘phase out’ leaseholds.

Between 30 and 80 Conservative backbenchers are thought to privately oppose the legislation, a 2019 manifesto promise, believing it will prompt landlords to take properties off the market.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has told Conservative MPs that the ban on section 21 evictions will not be enacted before a series of improvements are made in the legal system.

Bills that have not passed before the end of a session usually have to begin their journey through the Commons again, but ministers can use a process called a carry-over motion to allow the Bill to continue its passage.

Amendments to the law would also bar landlords from a blanket ban on benefit recipients or families with children.  

In an additional move to boost family housing, the Speech confirmed plans to ‘phase out’ leaseholds.

These are properties, often flats but sometimes houses, where the owner holds it on a lease, usually of more than 100 years, from the freeholder who owns the plot of land. These freeholders can charge a fee, ranging from a ‘peppercorn rent’ of a few pounds to thousands of pounds a year.

The Leasehold and Freehold bill will increase the standard lease extension term from 90 to 990 years, reducing the ground rent to £0. It will also make it easier for leaseholders in houses and flat to buy their freehold and hold it in common.

But a full ban on new leasehold properties will only apply to houses, not flats. 

The reforms come following mounting concerns about practices in the leasehold sector, including over the levying of hefty charges and a lack of transparency.

Freedom of speech win as libels costs law is set to be binned

Rishi Sunak will scrap a controversial law that could make newspapers pay legal costs for both sides in libel and privacy cases – regardless of who wins.

Ministers have been concerned about the threat to free speech posed by the ‘draconian’ legislation, known as Section 40. Now a repeal of the law will be included in Tuesday’s King’s Speech, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

A Government source told the MoS at the weekend that a free press is ‘a key part of our democracy’ – and that ‘forcing publishers to pay the costs of legal actions, win or lose, risks undermining press freedom’.

Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act – to give it its full name – means that news publishers would have to pay the costs of any court judgment if they are not a member of an ‘approved regulator’, whatever the outcome of the case.

But no national newspapers have signed up to the only state-approved regulator, Impress, which was established with funding from Max Mosley, in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry into the press.

Instead most national and local newspapers are members of the independent regulator Ipso.

One insider working on the repeal said the ‘draconian law represents a real threat to media freedom. It’s worse than SLAPPs’: referring to vexatious legal claims used by the rich to try to muzzle journalists.

Meanwhile, politicians and free-speech campaigners have warned that the law, which has been on the statute book for years but never brought into effect, has had a chilling effect on free speech and risks ‘financial ruin’ for publishers.

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