King Charles sets target for new UK govt

King Charles III will outline Labour’s first programme for government in a decade and a half on Wednesday when the United Kingdom parliament formally reopens following the July 4 election.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will put turbocharging a flagging economy at the heart of his legislative plans for the coming months as Labour runs the UK for the first time in 14 years.

“Now is the time to take the brakes off Britain,” said Starmer, who led his party to a landslide win over the Conservatives.

“I am determined to create wealth for people up and down the country. It is the only way our country can progress.”

Despite its name, the address is not written by the monarch but by the government, which uses it to detail the laws it proposes to make over the next 12 months.

Wearing the diamond-studded Imperial State Crown and a long crimson robe, King Charles will deliver the proposals from a golden throne in the House of Lords upper chamber during a lavish ceremony.

The speech is expected to include more than 35 bills, including measures to enforce public spending rules and others to prevent a repeat of the utility bill price hikes that triggered the UK’s recent cost-of-living crisis.