Stortford’s new Labour MP responds to King’s Speech with pledge for politics to return to public service

Hertford and Stortford’s first Labour MP has welcomed the King’s Speech setting out the Government’s plans for the next Parliament.

The monarch outlined 39 bills the party hopes to pass, but the Prime Minister said there would be "no quick fix" and warned against the "snake oil charm of populism".

Josh Dean said: “Our residents in Hertford and Stortford voted for change. They know that for too long people in our communities have been held back and their talents and hard work have not been rewarded.

“The legislation laid out in today’s King’s Speech is about creating wealth in our communities and making people better off – supporting their ambitions, hopes and dreams.

“I look forward to discussing how they will support local people in Hertford and Stortford and driving them through Parliament.”

Sir Keir Starmer said his party was elected to deliver nothing less than "national renewal" after 14 years of Tory "chaos". He said his Government’s policies outlined by King Charles today (Wednesday, July 17) would take the brakes off the economy.

He also pledged a “determined and patient” rebuilding of politics.

Leader of the opposition Rishi Sunak said the Conservatives would hold Labour accountable, but not disagree for the sake of it, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey gave qualified support but said more needed to be done to address the crisis in social care and the NHS. The leader of the SNP at Westminister Stephen Flynn ramped up the pressure on Labour to scrap the two-child benefit cap introduced by the Tories.

Mr Dean pointed to Labour’s actions in its first week of Government including lifting the ban on onshore windfarms, creating a National Wealth fund to invest in and grow the economy and progressing plans to achieve 40,000 extra NHS appointments each week and 700,000 urgent dental appointment.

He said the Department for Education had kickstarted Labour’s pledge to hire 6,500 new teachers, action has been taken to “pull the justice system back from the brink of collapse” and to scrap the “Rwanda gimmick” to send migrants to the African state to have their asylum claims processed.

New legislation tabled in the King’s Speech include:

A Planning and Infrastructure Bill to build new homes to make housing more affordable and the infrastructure to support sustained economic growth.

A Passenger Railways Service and Railways Bill to bring rail services back into public ownership with the aim of making trains reliable, affordable and accessible.

A Great British Energy Bill to secure clean, secure, home-grown energy and lower bills for households.

A Water (Special Measures) Bill to strengthen regulation and begin cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas.

A Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill with a Border Security Command to bring criminal people smugglers to justice and clear the asylum backlog to end hotel use and increase returns.

A Crime and Policing Bill (England and Wales) to put neighbourhood police and Police Community Support Officers back on the beat.

Labour says this agenda will be underpinned by a Budget Responsibility Bill which will introduce a fiscal lock “to ensure that the mistakes of the Liz Truss ‘mini-budget’ cannot be repeated, and the Office for Budget Responsibility can scrutinise Government plans”.

Mr Dean said: “It is time for politics to return to public service. I am proud to be part of a Government committed to uniting the country in our shared mission of national renewal.

“I have always believed that politics can be a force for good – this is the start of the road to restoring the faith of people in our community in that belief too.”