New Government finally reveals its priorities but is the pomp and ceremony of King's Speech really creating Britain for the future?

I have been hugely cynical about Keir Starmer and still believe that his party is only in power because the entire country was sick to the back teeth of the Tories. To have won a huge majority on nothing more than not being as bad as the others does not give a huge mandate for anything. Creating a manifesto that promised little and gave even less in terms of detail, didn't exactly fire the country up with hope either. But, now they are in power, Labour are certainly looking better than first feared. 

Commons Leader Lucy Powell described the King's Speech as representing “a packed legislative agenda and the Government’s determination to return politics to public service”. There was certainly a lot to take in but there is also an awful long way to go to restore our faith in politics and those who lead us. No less than 40 bills were put forward as the Prime Minister committed to “fix the foundations of this nation for the long-term” through new legislation.

There will be more say locally with increasingly devolved powers to the regions, but less say for families who are worried about developments in their own neighbourhoods. We are finally going to hold the millionaire bosses of our water companies to account for the crap that they pump into our rivers and seas. It would be good to do the same with the train and bus chiefs who have let public transport fail - but at least Keir is now moving forward with bringing the railways back into public ownership.

If you get as far as the end of all 40 pledges, you might spot that there is a move to restrict the powers in the Lords that pass down through generations of unelected and unaccountable elites. It's about time we saw action on the Lords but it sits rather strangely when the man empowered to read out the new Government's agenda fits exactly into that category. There were anti-monarchy protests outside Parliament and, in a modern age of change, it is hard to explain to your children why Charles and Camilla are still the heads of state. Pomp and ceremony - tick. A Royal future for the UK - I'm less convinced the younger generations will agree. Lessening the divides that cripple our communities - nowhere near and must try harder.

What do you think will become the big changes under Labour or what would you like them to be? Those might be two very different questions but I would love to hear your opinion on them. Email me, [email protected]. Here's to hope.