King’s Speech

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent Excerpts

Thursday 14th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a great honour for me to open our five-day debate on the gracious Speech. These moments allow us to reflect on how much we have achieved after many constructive hours of debate, lots of votes and the occasional—or maybe not so occasional—late night. Noble Lords know quite how ambitious we have been in our legislative agenda. Over 60 Bills were passed in our first Session of Parliament, and yesterday His Majesty set out our ambitions for the forthcoming Session.

Those ambitions have one central mission: to build a more resilient country that spreads opportunity for all. The country in which we live is one in which talent is everywhere but opportunity is not, and the world in which we live has never felt more dangerous and volatile. Even in the last few months, global uncertainty has only increased, and the impact on our neighbours is real. They are struggling with the cost of living and worrying about the impact on their futures and their children’s futures of events outside their control. Our discussions today and in the rest of this Session must be real and tangible for them—they must be felt by people in their daily lives. Delivering on our promises are not just words but our contract with the nation.

That is why the gracious Speech set out new legislation focusing on outcomes, not outputs. It does not just address the problems of today but seeks to strengthen our national foundations, so that we can build a stronger and fairer economy that works for all of us in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, bringing prosperity to every corner of the United Kingdom, building on our place in the world and strengthening our relations with key allies.

The Government’s economic plan is based on three pillars: to create a strong foundation for businesses to plan and invest, to deliver growth-driving infrastructure and to crowd in private investment, and to systematically remove the barriers to growth across the economy.

This year’s Spring Statement showed that our economic plan is the right one but, as we have set out, the war in Iran will come at a cost. That is why the measures set out in the gracious Speech will help build growth that is both secure and resilient in order to raise living standards for working people.

At the heart of this, as noble Lords will be aware, we are continuing our work to secure a closer and more stable relationship with our largest trading partner, the EU, valued at £860 billion last year. This is vital, because since Brexit too many businesses are burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy that dominates everyday imports and exports with the EU, compounding the costs that are passed on to British families, pushing up prices and increasing the cost of living. The common understanding agreed last May will remove those barriers, underpinned by sensible legislation that upholds British standards while cutting red tape.

This is a core part of a wider plan. The UK is taking a strategic and clear-eyed approach to major partners, deepening trade where it supports growth while balancing security and economic resilience. That includes securing a landmark deal with India, expected to boost UK GDP by £4.8 billion a year; making the most of our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, expected to increase UK GDP by £2 billion a year; and a stronger focus on the UK’s global strengths, particularly in services exports.

To achieve growth in the current global economic environment, businesses need as much certainty as we can offer. They need support to take advantage of new trade opportunities, and of course they need assistance and guidance in light of new technological innovations. That is why we have published three landmark strategies setting out our collective vision for growth, seeking to make the UK the best place in the world to do business and the best-connected economy, and delivering targeted support for businesses as they seek to grow.

None of the issues we are discussing today can be considered separately from our national security and our place in the world. The ongoing war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of European co-operation on security and defence. In an ever more uncertain world, it is right and necessary that we seek to deepen our strategic partnerships, including with our neighbours with whom we have common interests, face common threats and must build common solutions.

Your Lordships’ House will be aware that we have already taken concrete steps towards these objectives. Last year’s historic UK-EU summit announced a series of deals that are good for household bills, borders and jobs. We have also recently announced a significant agreement with France to reduce illegal channel crossings, and deeper co-operation has opened further opportunities for learners, educators and young people through our agreement with the EU on the UK’s association to Erasmus+ next year.

This is a sensible, measured approach that crucially also preserves our ability to strike deals with other countries. In this space we have had notable successes, including signing a trade agreement with India and concluding a deal with the Republic of Korea. We are also currently in the process of negotiating trade agreements with the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Switzerland, Turkey and Greenland. The UK exported around £275 billion to these countries in 2025, and securing FTAs will strengthen our trading relationships.

As part of our mission to kick-start economic growth, we published three key strategies last year. The industrial strategy sets out the vision for the sectors that will help achieve the most growth for the UK, boosting long-term investment; the small business strategy outlines how we will support businesses in the UK to scale up; and the trade strategy details how DBT will make full use of a range of trade tools, from free trade agreements to agile or sector-specific mini deals that allow government to respond rapidly to the changing geopolitical context, maximising opportunities for UK businesses both at home and abroad.

Through the steel strategy, which we published in March, the Government set out our long-term plan to fight to revitalise the UK steel sector, restore domestic production to sustainable levels and secure the industry’s role in supporting sovereign critical sectors. We are now introducing primary legislation that will provide a route for government to nationalise steel companies or their operations, provided a public interest test is met.

Bringing British Steel Ltd under national ownership will allow government to explore future opportunities, including a transition to decarbonised steel-making, and to provide reassurance for its workers, suppliers and customers. This Government recognise that securing the long-term future relies on both public and private investment for modernisation.

We are also helping businesses to navigate Windsor Framework trading arrangements between GB and NI. We have announced £16.6 million for an enhanced “one-stop shop” regulatory support service designed to navigate the knowledge gap facing small and medium-sized enterprises. So too have we supported the work of InterTrade UK with over £2 million in funding. It is ably led by the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, to promote the economic bonds and strengths of all parts of the United Kingdom, and we will continue to back the east-west council in developing ties across it.

However, there is more to do. As set out in the gracious Speech, we will take action to further unlock the benefits of a deeper relationship with our closest neighbours. We are prioritising the conclusion of landmark deals on food and drink, emissions trading and youth experience announced at last year’s UK-EU summit—deals that we seek to conclude this year. As the Prime Minister said in his speech earlier this week, we must put Britain back at the heart of Europe. This year’s summit will provide an opportunity to build on our strategic partnership, including implementing joint commitments and making progress on where further co-operation can drive economic and security benefits for both sides.

Our collective goal is and must be to deliver real, tangible benefits for people and businesses in the UK. The food and drink deal will fulfil the manifesto commitment to deliver a veterinary agreement with the EU. Once in place, it will lower costs for UK business exports to the EU by removing certificate and route inspection requirements, in turn reducing the pressure on food prices. The deal will help support trade within the UK internal market, strengthening our union by further simplifying the movements of agri-foods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By aligning Great Britain with standards already established in Northern Ireland, we are further protecting the internal market. For the vast majority of agri-foods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, traders will no longer need regulatory certificates, checks or paperwork, thereby reducing costs for businesses. The Windsor Framework will work alongside the SPS agreement, continuing to address Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances by upholding the Good Friday agreement and providing Northern Ireland’s unique dual market access to both the UK internal market and the EU single market.

Association to Erasmus+ will open up world-class opportunities for learners, educators, young people, youth workers, sport-sector professionals and communities of all ages across the UK. We will further strengthen our people-to-people ties with Europe by establishing an ambitious youth experience scheme with the EU. This scheme will create opportunities for young people to travel, to take up short-term work or to study, and to take part in valuable cultural exchange. As agreed at the UK-EU leaders’ summit in May last year, the overall number of participants in the scheme must be acceptable to both sides, and participation will be subject to a visa requirement and time-limited. We are negotiating the details of that scheme now, with an aim to agree it at the next UK-EU summit this year. Either through Erasmus+ or our new youth experience scheme, the EU is at the heart of our offer to young people.

The emissions trading agreement, which will link the UK and EU emissions trading schemes, will establish a larger and more stable carbon market. This will support industry confidence to invest in new technologies, leading to new jobs and enabling businesses to decarbonise more quickly and efficiently where possible. It will also create the conditions for mutual exemptions from our respective carbon border adjustment mechanisms, saving £7 billion of UK exports a year from being charged. Combined, the food and drink deal and the emissions trading agreement alone could deliver up to £9 billion to the UK economy a year by 2040, as well as easing pressure on consumer food price inflation. At the same time, they will reduce friction within the union.

We also look forward to starting formal negotiations on an electricity agreement with the EU. This agreement will make electricity trade with our European partners more efficient, driving down energy costs and protecting consumers against volatile fossil fuel markets. Delivering efficient electricity trading means that we can harness the clean energy potential of the North Sea, supporting clean energy jobs and resilient supply chains, and providing secure, affordable energy on the path to net zero. This will also remove trading frictions between GB and NI, and support energy security for the whole UK. Collectively, these actions will deliver for communities across our nations and regions for decades to come.

The European partnership Bill is the means by which we will facilitate the implementation of those deals agreed with the EU, now and in the future. The Bill will enable the Government to deliver their treaty obligations with the EU. On any future alignment, we are making a sovereign choice to align with EU law in specific areas, enabling us to cut red tape, to drive down costs and to boost growth. The cost of non-alignment is added bureaucracy and onerous paperwork for UK businesses. As set out in last year’s common understanding, this will come with an appropriate decision-shaping role for the UK. The Bill has been designed to ensure that Parliament will have its say on new EU legislation before it is applied in the UK. I look forward to discussing the detail with Members of your Lordships’ House in the coming months—for many hours, I suspect—as the Bill progresses.

The European partnership Bill demonstrates the strength of what this Government are seeking to achieve: a new relationship that looks forwards, not backwards, and reflects the realities of our economic and security interests in an uncertain world. Through this Bill, we will unlock tangible benefits for the people of our United Kingdom and provide a strong platform for future growth and co-operation. Putting the industrial, small business, trade and steel strategies into action is a priority, and pushing for more ambitious outcomes on global trade remains a crucial part of our agenda.

Finally, the gracious Speech reminds us that our security and prosperity are not guaranteed; they must be earned and delivered through our collective efforts and determination. The European partnership Bill is pivotal to that effort—a statement that we are moving beyond the politics of division and towards a more productive partnership with our European allies. I beg to move.