Starmer hopes to regain momentum with unveiling of dozens of bills in king’s speech

Keir Starmer will attempt to regain the political initiative on Wednesday as his government announces a package of 35 bills for the next parliamentary session, covering everything from housing to immigration.The embattled prime minister will release details of dozens of bills that he intends to pass over the next 12 months, even as his own MPs line up to demand his resignation.Starmer, who insisted on Monday that he wanted to oversee radical change over the next few years, will announce a bill to move closer to the EU, one to strengthen the immigration system and one to all but end the leasehold system.He said on Tuesday night: “The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better. Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world.“Britain stands at a pivotal moment: to press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past. My government will deliver on the promise of change for the British people.”His words underline his message to the cabinet on Tuesday, when he told ministers: “I take responsibility for the change we promised.”The prime minister has been planning for his second king’s speech for months, and security arrangements are already in place for the monarch to attend the state opening of parliament.However, royal sources told Politico on Tuesday that the ceremony could prove embarrassing for King Charles. “It is very embarrassing for the king that his government is such a shambles that he has to read out something that may or may not still be the government’s programme by the end of the week,” one said.The source said that, according to the people familiar with the matter, in one recent discussion Charles’s senior aide asked top government officials including the cabinet secretary, Antonia Romeo, whether the king should go ahead with Wednesday’s ceremony. The palace was told that it was constitutionally correct for the king to open parliament on Wednesday as planned. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the report.As part of the package that the king will read out, ministers have included a bill to enable British regulations to be changed to align with EU ones – a key step in the prime minister’s promised “reset” with Brussels.Also to be announced is an energy independence bill designed to facilitate the transition to clean power, including implementing the measures recommended by the infrastructure expert John Fingleton to make it easier to build nuclear power plants.As promised by the prime minister on Monday, the king will announce a bill to fully nationalise British Steel, which has already been taken into government control. Ministers will also launch a long-awaited leasehold reform bill, which will ban the sale of new leasehold flats – though the housing minister recently admitted the bill will not actually take effect until after the next election.Wes Streeting, the health secretary and a likely rival to Starmer, will oversee a bill to abolish NHS England, as he first announced last year, while Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, will legislate for her reforms to special educational needs.More controversially, however, the government is planning to legislate for some of its immigration changes, which have proved unpopular with many backbench MPs.An immigration bill will make it harder for some migrants to earn settled status in the UK, and some claimants will be made to wait 10 years before qualifying, double the present length of time. The bill will also restrict how people can use article 8 of the European convention on human rights to appeal against asylum decisions.The state opening of parliament on Wednesday will be the first chance many Labour MPs have had to see each other since the local elections and the leadership speculation they have sparked.Government aides are hoping the pomp of the event will help dissuade prospective rebels from using their return to parliament to immediately organise and agitate for the prime minister’s removal. Additional reporting by Caroline Davies