Your commercial news round-up: King’s Speech reforms, Labour leadership, holiday bookings

Ellie Nicholl (she/her) is senior content and engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net

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The King’s speech has set out the government’s legislative agenda ranging from court and police reform to changes in immigration law and home ownership, as the Law Society of England and Wales calls for sustained investment to underpin change. Meanwhile, political uncertainty is growing amid speculation over Labour leadership tensions and pressure on household finances is showing up in weaker summer holiday bookings at Tui. Read on for LawCareers.Net’s pick of this week’s top commercial stories.

• On Wednesday 13 May, the King's speech, delivered by King Charles III, outlined the government’s legislative plans, which have been described by Prime Minister Kier Starmer as an “agenda of radical reform across our major public services”. In response, the Law Society urged ministers to back reform with long‑term investment. Its president, Mark Evans, said legislative changes must “address longstanding pressures and ensure access to justice for all”, calling for a “coordinated, system‑wide approach” to court reform going forwards. The speech outlined planned amends to immigration law, including narrowing how article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights applies in asylum cases, restricting the definition of ‘family life’ to close relatives. Evans raised concerns about other aspects of the immigration proposals, warning that replacing the First Tier Tribunal with a lay appeals body risks “undermining people’s right to a fair hearing”.
  
  The King also confirmed the introduction of commonhold home ownership from 2029, described by Evans as a “significant step” towards making commonhold the default tenure for new flats, which will allow flat holders to purchase their home and the land beneath it. The agenda also included plans for major police reform, including the creation of a National Police Service and fewer, larger police forces. Evans stressed the need to “take into account the consequences to the wider criminal justice system, including the courts, criminal defence professionals and legal aid”.
  
  ​Alongside these measures, a package of further planned changes were announced, including:
  • the new European Partnership Bill, which will enable closer regulatory alignment with the EU in areas such as food standards, energy and electricity trading;
  • the Northern Powerhouse Rail bill, which promises £45 billion for rail improvements across the north of England;
  • expanded voluntary digital ID as a way for people to prove their identity, including for employment checks;
  • emergency legislation to bring British Steel into public ownership after talks with its Chinese owner Jingye collapsed;
  • the Energy Independence Bill, which aims to accelerate planning for renewable energy projects;
  • the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which will expand regulation to sectors such as electric vehicle charging, home heating systems and data centres;
  • the NHS Modernisation Bill, which will create a single digital health and social care record for patients in England; and
  • the Tackling State Threats Bill, which will allow the home secretary to ban organisations tied to hostile states, mirroring existing terrorism legislation.
     
• The political focus has also shifted to Labour’s internal divisions, with Starmer issuing a warning to Labour MPs that a leadership contest would cause “chaos” as speculation mounts that Health Secretary Wes Streeting may soon challenge him. The prime minister is under pressure after four ministers resigned and MPs called for his departure following heavy local election losses across England, Scotland and Wales. Streeting, who would need backing from 81 MPs to trigger a contest, met Starmer briefly in Downing Street on Wednesday amid reports a challenge could come within days. The prime minister’s spokesperson said Starmer has “full confidence” in Streeting and, on Wednesday evening, Starmer told MPs in parliament: “We cannot let a leadership contest plunge us into chaos – a challenge would 100% do that.”
   
• Leading travel operator Tui has reported a 10% fall in revenue from summer holiday bookings made by UK customers as demand weakens amid the Iran war. The company said British travellers are booking later and shifting from eastern to western Mediterranean destinations. In addition, Tui is cutting the number of airline seats it buys from partners by 4 to 5% over the summer but keeping its own flight programme unchanged. In its first‑quarter results, Tui said the Middle East conflict cost it £34.7 million and contributed to continued losses, despite some year‑on‑year improvement. Equity analyst at financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, Aarin Chiekrie, explained that consumers are “more cautious about splashing out on a holiday” but added: “Despite this, it doesn't appear that holidaymakers are abandoning their vacation plans completely. Recent data suggests they're simply leaving it until later to book. And while that's not ideal, it's better than complete demand destruction."

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