Image credit: UK Parliament (screengrab from November 2023 State Opening recording)
“My government’s priority is to make the difficult but necessary long-term decisions to change this country for the better.”
Those were the words of King Charles III during the State Opening of Parliament on November 7. In Tuesday’s oral statement to Parliament, His Majesty said the focus is on increasing economic growth and safeguarding the British people’s health and security for future generations.
“My government will continue to take action to bring down inflation, to ease the cost of living for families and help businesses fund new jobs and investment,” said the monarch, who also highlighted the UK’s transition to net zero through strengthened energy security and independence.
According to King Charles, steps will be taken to make the economy more competitive, with a bill to be brought forward to promote trade and investment with economies in the world’s fastest growing region.
His Majesty also said: “My ministers will introduce new legal frameworks to support the safe commercial development of emerging industries, such as self-driving vehicles, introduce new competition rules for digital markets, and encourage innovation in technologies such as machine learning.”
In response to the King’s speech, Association of British Insurers (ABI) director general Hannah Gurga said: “Our world-leading insurance and long-term savings industry has a key role to play in driving economic growth, boosting investment in the UK, and supporting the transition to net zero.
“The introduction of Solvency UK will enable our sector to invest £100 billion into green and good projects, and we stand ready to work with government and the investment community to drive this funding into UK infrastructure through our Investment Delivery Forum.”
ABI general insurance policy director Mervyn Skeet, meanwhile, welcomed the introduction of the Automated Vehicles Bill.
He said: “We’ve long been calling for a regulatory framework that ensures [self-driving vehicles’] safe roll-out and firmly establishes the UK as a world leader for this technology. It’s critical that the regulations enable relevant data-sharing between the vehicle manufacturers and insurers in the interests of motorists and both industries.
“We also want to see clear definitions and distinctions between automated driving technology and assisted driving technology to support the public communications that will be required. It will be vital that people understand the capabilities of the vehicles they’re driving and are able to use them safely. We look forward to working further with the government as the legislation progresses.”
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