King’s speech sets out plan to ‘rebuild Britain’
Sir Keir Starmer has set out plans to cut red tape, reform the economy and restore trust in politics in a sweeping set of changes in the Labour government’s first King’s Speech.
The Prime Minister promised to “turn the page on an era when politics was a noisy show and return it to public service and begin the work of rebuilding our country” with a programme containing 40 proposed laws.
Sir Keir said this would be “a determined rebuild, a patient rebuild, a quiet rebuild, a rejection in this complicated and volatile world of those who can only offer the easy answer, the allure of populism”.
Government pledges to strengthen cybersecurity and boost data services
The Government has committed to strengthening the UK’s cyber security and resilience, as well as better leveraging data to drive economic growth, through new bills announced in the King’s Speech.
A full-blown AI Bill was not announced during the State Opening of Parliament, but the King’s Speech set out how the Government “will seek to put in place appropriate legislation to impose requirements on those working to develop the most powerful AI models”.
In response to the growing risk of cyber attacks, the new Labour government said it would introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which would give regulators greater power to push more companies to implement better cyber security defences.
Private companies say nationalising rail services is “not a practical solution”
A bill to put railway operations under public ownership has been described by private rail companies as a “political, not practical, solution”.
Rail Partners, which represents private sector rail operators, said the legislation announced in the King’s Speech would “increase costs”. The Rail Bill would ensure that the appointment of a public sector rail operator when existing contracts expire would be the default position rather than a last resort.
The Government said this would avoid the need to pay compensation to current operators and save taxpayers millions of pounds each year paid in fares to private rail companies.
Wednesday’s auto dealer headlines you may have missed
Seat removes the Tarraco from its range ahead of the arrival of the new Terramar
Seat has withdrawn its largest SUV, the Tarraco, from sale to make room for the upcoming Cupra Terramar.
The rival model to the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace went on sale in 2019, however, with the push towards electrification in full swing, the Spanish firm has decided to disengage and concentrate on its plug-in and hybrid vehicles.
The Tarraco will be replaced by the new Cupra Terramar, which will go on sale later this year as a hybrid SUV.
Here comes our new hybrid SUV, the #CUPRATerramar – named after the place where our story began – set to completely revolutionize one of the most competitive segments of our industry. #CUPRAimpulse image.twitter.com/itDxnHA0La
— CUPRA (@CUPRA) June 7, 2022
King’s speech policies ‘not enough’ for small businesses, trade groups say
Policy announcements in the new Labour Government’s first King’s Speech “failed” to support small businesses across the UK to help boost economic growth, according to business groups.
Industry leaders said Wednesday that the challenges facing small businesses have largely been “overlooked.”
Some business groups said the government still needs to do more to accelerate growth in communities across the country.
Pound rebounds to year-high against dollar as inflation holds at 2%
Both the pound and London stocks rose after inflation came in higher than expected last month.
The pound rose 0.26% to $1,300 and was up 0.01% at €1,190.
The FTSE 100 closed the day up 22.56 points, or 0.28%, at 8,187.46 points, while France’s CAC 40 closed down 0.12% and the Dax index was down 0.4%.
Heat health alerts issued as temperatures approach 30°C
Health alerts have been issued for yellow heat as temperatures look set to reach around 30°C.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) alerts cover the East Midlands, East England, London and the South East from Thursday to Saturday.
Warns that the expected warm weather may have minor impacts on the health and social care sector.