Prosperity and the State – Twelve Bills from the King’s Speech to keep an eye on

Budget Responsibility Bill

The Government has decided that the lesson to draw from the Truss premiership is to remove control of fiscal policy from democratic government. A proposal that seeks to prevent a government from making tax and spending changes without an independent assessment from the OBR could effectively constrain the government decision-making without approval from a public body.

Given the emphasis on creating a “fiscal lock”, it remains to be seen what type of enforcement mechanism is proposed to prevent future governments from acting as they see fit. 

Great British Energy Bill

The Government’s argument that UK energy security is best served by banning the exploitation of Britain’s vast oil and gas fields was already questionable, and the plan to create a new public company for clean power poses similar risks.

GB Energy is intended to own, manage and operate clean energy projects across Britian, but having only been allocated £8.3bn across this Parliament, it is doubtful that limited investments in renewables will do much to improve Britain’s energy security, or bring consumer and industrial prices down – one of the great barriers to prosperity and growth.
 
National Wealth Fund Bill

This proposal has generated a considerable amount of confusion, not least from within government itself, about what the fund is intended to achieve. Rather than fund green energy projects, it is assumed the NWF will subsidise green manufacturing processes, such as green steel.

Selective investments to industries from a pot of small capital (NWF’s capitalisation is £7.3bn) may seem attractive, especially as economies around the globe are engaging in a subsidy race, but risks becoming an expensive error.

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

A piece of legislation that may be ineffective due to both the provisions that aren’t in it, and those that are. The Government has made the establishment of a Border Security Command as central pillar of their migration policy, but its narrow remit will do nothing to address record levels of legal migration to the UK.

Likewise, an intention to ensure fast-track returns to asylum seekers from safe countries will not address the litany of judicial challenges that prevent removal from taking place.

Renters Reform Bill

A highly contested piece of legislation that failed to pass under the last government, these plans to give tenants greater powers over landlords risk exacerbating housing shortages in an already precarious rental market.

Undermining property rights is antithetical to prosperity, and not likely to address housing shortages in the UK.

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Initially proposed by the last government and informally known as Martyn’s Law – after a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack – this Bill will require every venue with a capacity of 100 or more to provide staff with training on what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.

Terrorist attacks in the UK are mercifully rare, and this legislation will place a greater regulatory burden on the hospitality sector. Pubs, bookshops and even churches unable to deal with this additional bureaucracy may simply close.

English Devolution Bill

The Government’s plans to move more powers out of Westminster could lead to faster local decision making and boost regional growth. But it could also lead to the creation of additional layers of politics and bureaucracy while still requiring involvement from Whitehall – thereby adding to the very waste that was intended to be cut.

Skills England Bill

Britain’s expansive administrative state looks set to be augmented with a new body called Skills England, which will work with other bodies such as the Migration Advisory Council and the Industrial Strategy Board to identify which businesses sectors can be squeezed for additional revenue to fund Growth and Skills levies.

With an aim that seems inimical to growth, this plan risks repeating the mistakes of the Apprenticeship Levy and dissuading businesses from investing to provide the jobs and skills that people want. 

Employment Rights Bill

A Bill that is likely to be contentious even within the Government, plans to roll out a raft of provisions regulating employment hours and conditions risks undermining the dynamism of the British economy.

Plans to ban zero-hour contracts and mandate the right to flexible working infringes on businesses’ ability to optimise employment structures and could prevent investment. The creation of an additional public body – the Fair Work Agency – also risks jeopardising prosperity by undermining operational independence in the private sector.

Mental Health Bill

Based on recommendations from the 2017 review of the Mental Health Act, this new Bill could pose risks to safety as it makes it harder to section potentially dangerous individuals, while removing prisons and police stations in which to detain them.
 
Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill

The Government’s decision to publish only a draft bill suggests that it is also nervous about dedicating legislative time to such a controversial piece of legislation – especially when equal pay rights are already enshrined in law.  

As we have seen with the Equality Act, equality duties lead to divisive litigation that undermines both economic prosperity and social cohesion. Given that there are now several cases in which Equality Act-based litigation has led to the bankruptcy of local councils, there is a risk that the private and public sector are overwhelmed by ideologically dubious claims.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Symbolic of both the technocratic continuity between governments, as well as the disdain for individual liberties, the attempt to introduce a progressive smoking ban and tighter regulation of vaping products risks encouraging the development of a black market for such products and a loss of revenue for the Exchequer.