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The government has set out its legislative agenda for the next year in the King’s Speech.

The announcements focus on three priorities – growing the economy, strengthening society and keeping people safe.

Here, Sky News looks at each bill included in the speech, and what it aims to deliver.

Reaction as King sets out PM’s legislative agenda – follow live

Growing the economy

Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill

This will support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields, in a move the government says will enhance the UK’s energy security, but which has been criticised by green campaigners.

Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill

This will “secure benefits of Brexit” by enabling the UK’s formal accession to an Indo-Pacific trade bloc of 11 nations, including Australia and Japan, after it signed an agreement to do so earlier this year.

Automated Vehicles Bill

A new legal framework to enable self-driving cars to be used on Britain’s roads.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Aims to make it harder for firms to trap people in unwanted subscription contracts, take action against fake reviews and drip pricing, and increase competition between big tech firms.

Data Protection and Digital Information Bill

This aims to update the UK’s data protection laws post-Brexit and strengthen the regulator.

Media Bill

A bill to “support the creative industries and protect public interest journalism”. This includes repealing a law requiring media outlets to pay all legal costs in libel cases, regardless of who won.

Arbitration Bill

This bill seeks to modernise the law on dispute resolutions known as arbitration – which take place outside of the courts, including allowing arbitrators to kick out baseless claims quickly and strengthening the courts’ supporting powers.

Draft Rail Reform Bill

This is a draft bill to create a new public sector body, Great British Railways (GBR), aimed at reforming the rail sector. Being in draft form means it is unlikely the legislation will make it on to the statute books in this parliamentary session, or before the next general election.

Strengthening society

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

This aims to introduce a “smoke-free generation” by stopping children turning 14 this year or younger from ever legally buying cigarettes in England. Also aims to crack down on vaping among youngsters.

Leasehold and Freehold Bill

Brings forward long-awaited plans for leasehold reform, including capping ground rents and extending the length of leases from 90 to 990 years. But the proposals have been watered down, with new flats excluded from the plan to phase out leaseholds on new properties.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Carried over from the last parliament, this bill aimed at strengthening renters’ rights includes a long-awaited ban on “no-fault” evictions – but only after stronger possession grounds for landlords and a new court process are in place. It also strengthens powers to evict anti-social tenants and ends a blanket ban on pets.

Football Governance Bill

Legislation to safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of communities and fans. This includes the establishment of a new independent football regulator, with the body set to have powers to step in and resolve how money flows from the Premier League down the pyramid.

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Campaign group Republic said close to 200 people attended the protest

Pedicabs (London) Bill

Enables Transport for London to introduce fare controls and a licensing regime for pedicabs – the only form of unregulated transport on the capital’s roads – and bar them from congested areas.

Holocaust Memorial Bill

This will progress the construction of a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Animal Welfare (Live Stock Exports) Bill

Mentioned in explanatory notes of the speech, but not the speech itself, this is a ban on the live export of livestock for slaughter and fattening. The government promised to keep this after the flagship animal welfare bill, which was wider in scope, was dropped. The new bill does not include measures to outlaw the importation of hunting trophies, as promised in the 2019 Tory manifesto.

Economic Activities of Public Bodies Bill

A bill “to ban public bodies from implementing their own politically motivated boycotts of foreign countries”.

More on this story:
Hard to see how Sunak’s first King’s Speech won’t be his last

Keeping people safe

Sentencing Bill

Aims to ensure dangerous offenders are locked up for longer and rapists and sex offenders service their full sentences. Short sentences will also be reformed to help low-level offenders rehabilitate.

Criminal Justice Bill

Forces criminals to attend their sentencing hearings; gives police powers to enter a property without a court warrant to seize stolen goods; criminalises the sharing of intimate images and allows the transfer of prisoners in and out of England and Wales to serve their sentence abroad.

Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill

Security and intelligence services will be handed powers “they need” and “will strengthen independent judicial oversight”.

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Also known as Martyn’s Law, the bill requires venues to take steps to be better prepared to respond if there is a terrorist attack.

Victims and Prisoners Bill

This will give ministers the power to stop the parole of the worst offenders and prevent them getting married. It will also see creation of Independent Public Advocate to support victims of major disasters like Hillsborough.

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Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

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Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.

Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.

The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.

The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.

However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.

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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.

She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.

She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.

But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Pic: AP
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Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP

On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.

“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.

“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”

Read more – Ed Conway analysis: The chancellor’s gamble with China

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Nandy defends Reeves’ trip to China

However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.

While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.

It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.

Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.

Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.

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How much do we trade with China?

Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.

During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.

The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.

Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”

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