King Charles III on Tuesday traveled in a horse-drawn carriage to open a new session of the United Kingdom Parliament.
The parliament session is expected to be the final one ahead of the general election, which must be held by January 2025.
In a typically British tradition of pomp and pageantry, the colorful royal procession took place to enable the governing Conservatives to lay out the new laws they intend to introduce in the new session of Parliament.
While in the ornate chamber of the House of Lords, Charles, accompanied by Queen Camilla, read out the King’s Speech, detailing the legislative program.
Although the speech is recited by the monarch, it was written by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and his senior ministers.
In one of the first measures announced by Charles III was a bill to support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, saying it would help the country transition to net zero emissions by 2050.
This has already been criticised by environmentalists opposed to oil and gas extraction off the country’s coasts.
On the economy, Charles III said the government will address inflation and the drivers of low growth.
He also said steps would be taken to make the economy more competitive, taking advantage of freedoms afforded by the UK’s departure from the European Union.
He also said that new bills will also be brought in to pave way for self-driving vehicles to be made legal on British roads, and a bill to deal with what he described as the scourge of unlicensed pedicabs in London.
The monarch said the UK will strengthen education for the long term through the introduction of the Advanced British Standard which will bring technical and academic routes into a single qualification.
He stated that Proposals will also be implemented to reduce the number of young people studying poor quality university degrees and increase the number undertaking high quality apprenticeships.
He, however, said that education experts have already been critical of the proposed education reforms, saying they could take ten years to implement.
“The speech set out the government’s planned political agenda and is a time for opposition parties to critique the current government. Thus, the Labour Party will critique the content and attempt to lay out the case for a change of government,’’ Professor John Bryson from the University of Birmingham told Xinhua.
“A key question, will this King’s Speech help or hinder the Conservative Party as they head to the next general election.
“The problem is that events might occur that transform the UK over the 12 months, but such events will come from outside the UK,’’ he said.
The king’s last speech was delivered over 70 years ago when Charles III’s grandfather, George VI, was on the throne.
In the intervening seven decades, Elizabeth II delivered the Queen’s Speech.
Meanwhile, lawmakers will now debate the King’s Speech for six days as part of its journey through the legislative processes.
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