Starmer has had his true heir to Blair moment - and it'll mean more regulation for us all

King Charles has delivered Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for Britain, setting out the Government’s legislative programme for the next Parliament. But while there were some new policies there were few, if any, real surprises in Labour’s first King’s Speech.

As expected, house building topped the agenda – and we saw the party doubling down on aggressive planning reform to “get Britain building again”.

In fact, it’s no longer a matter of “if” houses will get built, but “how many”. And in doing so, Starmer has effectively declared war on NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) locals, with ministers free to railroad through plans if they meet with opposition.

There are, of course, two sides to this argument. No one wants to see the concreting over of our beautiful countryside. And our valuable farmland, preservation areas and natural flood defences must remain intact.

But the reality is that with such high levels of immigration – which we can expect to soar further still after Labour scrapped the Rwanda plan – we desperately need new homes to keep up with rising demand. House prices are currently unsustainable and, in the face of mass migration, they are only set to rise even higher.

Entire generations have been locked out of home ownership, and current trends mean that starting a family and laying down roots will increasingly become a middle-class ambition. I only hope Starmer’s government sticks to its promise of “high-quality infrastructure” by building decent homes instead of marring our neighbourhoods with functional and uninspired shoe boxes made on factory floors.

In other aspects of the King’s speech, the Government’s agenda was riddled with paradoxes – promising increased and sustained growth while simultaneously seeking to devolve more powers to local and regional authorities. It’s incredible really – growth and devolution should never be used in the same sentence. Yet our politicians never seem to learn.

Just look at the state of the Welsh NHS, which has some of the longest waiting times and most inconsistent healthcare outcomes across the country. And the worst education attainment of all four nations in the UK.

But Scotland’s secondary schools are also slipping fast with long-term educational declines in maths, reading and science, despite the Scottish government spending 18 per cent more per child than England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Proponents of devolution boast about creating local governments to tackle local issues. But by entrenching multiple layers of government, this method has only sowed division, worsened regional inequality, increased administrative costs and led to a cacophony of vacuous voices and incoherent policies.

Is it too much to ask that now, on the 25th anniversary of its inception, for an honest review of the actual state of devolution? I won’t hold my breath.

However, the chaos doesn’t stop there. Our local councils, too, are in terrible shape, with about one in ten expected to declare bankruptcy this financial year. And around half of all councils will probably go bust soon unless local government funding is reformed – this is an outrage. Why should councils mismanage themselves to financial ruin and expect the rest of us to pick up the tab?

Against this dire backdrop, it is incredible that Starmer’s response is to give local councils more power, instead of restricting their spending excesses and implementing plans for a national reset.

The Government also laid out plans for increased regulation across the board from non-elected bodies with plans for new Quangos (including Skills England and Great British Energy), councils and so-called “modernisation” committees (WHAT?) – all bodies unaccountable to the public which funds them.

In doing so, it what was a true heir to Blair moment, Keir Starmer reverted back to one of the defining features of the last Labour government: regulation, regulation, regulation.

All of which will undoubtedly further increase the deep state blob over all of our lives, emboldening Whitehall and leaving subsequent politicians powerless against the overreach of overzealous civil servants.

And to what end?

By further alienating political processes from the influence of the voting public, Sir Keir is setting the backdrop for a reinvigorated populist movement where more Britons feel estranged from the people making key decisions for the country.

Unsurprisingly, the Government remained vague on the more contentious aspects of its plan – including crime and policing. It pledged to increase police powers to tackle anti-social behaviour while saying nothing about releasing criminals early, building more prisons, or increasing funding for the overstretched parole system.

On immigration too, there was nothing meaningful about cutting legal and illegal migration. Instead, the party stuck to its vague line of “strengthening Britain’s borders” without explaining exactly how they intend to do so.

Lastly, and perhaps most ironically, the Government kept many of the policy proposals initiated by Rishi Sunak’s last Government – notably, the smoking ban, which will progressively increase the age at which people can legally buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.

The scrapping of HS2 was also maintained, as was the Renters’ Rights bill to reform leasehold laws and abolish no-fault evictions.

For all intents and purposes, this was very much a continuity speech, with little overall material to truly spook or inspire the public.

Like many, I suspect that the real head-turner will be the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget this September.