07 November 2023 , 17:44
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Rishi Sunak has been accused of dragging Britain down with a King’s Speech that won’t help struggling families.
The Prime Minister said the list of 20 new laws ranging from smoking to football, would put the country on “a better path”. Proposals include a new tax on vaping.
But Labour warned the tired Tories offered “only gimmicks, division, and more of the same”. Keir Starmer said the country wanted Mr Sunak to “stop messing around” as he accused him of setting out a “recipe for Britain’s decline” on a day he described as a “new low”.
“What this address shows, with ever more clarity, is that the only fight left in them is the fight for their own skin,” he told MPs. “A government that has given up, dragging Britain down with them, ever more steadily, towards decline. A day, when it became crystal clear that the change Britain needs is from Tory decline to Labour renewal.”
The King’s Speech did not contain any new measures to help with the cost of living. Glaring omissions included promised bans on trophy hunting and gay conversion therapy. A controversial plan dreamt up by Home Secretary Suella Braverman to fine charities that give homeless people tents to sleep in was dropped following a public outcry and Cabinet rows.
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After months of dithering, ministers said they will finally change the law so criminals have to attend their sentencing hearings. The Criminal Justice Bill will make clear that reasonable force can be used to make offenders appear in the dock. If they still refuse, they will face a further two years in prison.
The Government has been under pressure to change the law after a number of high-profile killers including nurse Lucy Letby refused to leave their cell when sentenced. The Mirror launched the Face Justice campaign to call for an urgent change in the law to force killers to face their victims' families.
Cheryl Korbel, whose nine-year-old daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in Liverpool last August, said the proposals gave the family comfort. She has been campaigning for the change after Olivia’s killer, Thomas Cashman, refused to attend court for his sentencing. Ms Korbel said: “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. I really did want to address him - for the pain that he’s put us through, that we’re still going through.”
Farah Naz, the aunt of murdered aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena, also welcomed the change. Jordan McSweeney, who was brutally killed her in July last year as she walked home from a night out, did not attend his sentencing. Ms Naz said: “We are delighted laws are moving forward to make sure other families don’t go through what we had to around sentencing of killers. We are very grateful and thank the Mirror for their campaigning on the issue. It makes a real difference.”
Laughably after a year of Tory sleaze scandals, in a document published alongside the speech Mr Sunak said: “Integrity, professionalism and accountability - that’s what I promised… a year ago, and that’s what we have delivered.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “After 13 long years of Conservative government, nothing works in this country anymore. But instead of getting on with fixing the mess they have created, the Conservatives are hellbent on making things worse.”
Unison's general secretary Christina McAnea said: "This is a government with nothing left to offer. There was little announced today that will make the slightest bit of difference to the many real and deep-seated problems the country faces. This is a legislative programme heavy on cheap political points but light on policies to right the wrongs of years of foolhardy austerity.”