Comment
HARRY COLE
Call for big giveaway will get a lot louder for Rishi Sunak after that damp squib King’s Speech
All eyes will now turn to the Autumn Statement later this month
IT was certainly a moment in history as Charles III delivered the first King’s Speech in 70 years, but frankly it was not one that will go down in the annals of political bombshells.
Rishi Sunak will be praying that it will not be his first and last legislative agenda unveiled as Prime Minister — but his odds are still not looking great.
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As today showed, once again, this country is truly world beating at the pomp and circumstance, with all the gold and ermine bling of the British state out in force for the new monarch.
Another thing we are very good at is putting on a brave face when the chips are down.
“We have turned the corner over the last year and put the country on a better path,” the PM told the Commons: “But these immediate priorities are not the limit of our ambition.”
Speaking like a man eyeing a decade in power rather than 20 points behind in the polls, he added: “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.”
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But from the measly 21 bills set out for the next 12 months of parliamentary horse-trading, there was little there to really excite the Tory troops ahead of a brutal year of pre-election campaigning against a soaring Labour.
Though he droned on for far too long, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was quick to brand the package a “new low” and a “plan for more of the same”, claiming the Tories are “not even pretending to govern any more”.
The PM had the mickey taken out of him when he unveiled his tongue-twister slogan vowing “long-term decisions for a brighter future” last month, but King Charles read out the election cry with his signature deadpan delivery.
And that was what yesterday was really about, teeing up the election that looks most likely to be next October.
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While there was some red meat for Tory MPs on tougher sentences for sadistic murders, polygraphing paedos and use of force to bring cowardly defendants such as killer nurse Lucy Letby to the dock, it came with the sting of letting out lesser lags early due to Britain’s overcrowded jails.
The green-fingered monarch was also forced to read out a massive increase in North Sea drilling as a flagship measure — but while it may tie the Opposition in knots, in some marginal more liberal seats it will be a policy that is likely to annoy as many voters as it wins over.
There were other good measures, such as Martyn’s Law on securing venues against Manchester bombing-style atrocities and Jade’s Law, stripping killer parents access to their kids.
Yet all were well trailed already, leaving Tory MPs little new to cheer.
The new football regulator was confirmed, and a green light for self-driving cars — but even ministers were quick to lament it as “thin gruel” as time runs out for the Tories to turn around their fortunes.
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Despite suggesting this was his vision of what a country under five more years of Sunak would like, it was a lack of clarity or overbearing message that most baffled his MPs.
While endlessly pitching him as a tax-cutting Conservative on the right side of the party, it was quickly noted that this package had more taxes on vapes and new powers and red tape for quangos at its centre.
Indeed “a driverless car” quickly became a running joke as ministers and MPs gathered for the annual drinks reception at the Common’s Speaker’s house held after the King and Queen were driven back up The Mall.
And it won’t be a “no fault eviction” unless Sunak is able to move the dial — and move it soon.
All eyes will now turn to the Autumn Statement on November 22, with the drum beat for tax cuts growing louder by the day.
As the Chancellor and his Treasury officials pore over forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility, that were due to land in their inbox late, the stakes are much higher now on getting right the six-monthly update on the nation’s finances.
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With a rumoured £13billion of unexpected headroom available for giveaways, technocratic and complicated schemes for business tax relief are unlikely to cut it.
Don’t be surprised if calls for a big, consumer-friendly giveaway that MPs can sell on the doorstep now reach fever pitch after a bit of a damp squib yesterday.
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