Sir Keir Starmer signalled the return of big government on Wednesday, with sweeping promises to nationalise the railways, run energy projects and ban junk food adverts in his first King’s Speech.

The Prime Minister proposed laws giving workers and tenants extra rights to push back against bosses and landlords, as well as handing trade unions more powers to strike.

Sir Keir also resurrected Rishi Sunak’s phased smoking ban, proposing to gradually end the sale of tobacco products, meaning anyone born after Jan 1 2009 will be unable to legally buy cigarettes in the UK in their lifetime.

A total of 40 Bills were proposed, the most since Sir Tony Blair’s government in 2005, with many pieces of legislation featuring the Government playing a more interventionist role.

It comes despite Sir Keir’s promise of a politics that would “tread more lightly on your lives” in his first Downing Street speech as Prime Minister after his landslide election victory.

Ahead of the King’s Speech, the first set of proposed laws unveiled by a Labour Prime Minister in 15 years, Sir Keir said: “My Government will be committed to uniting the country in our shared mission of national renewal. 

“We will serve every person, regardless of how they voted, to fix the foundations of this nation for the long term. The era of politics as performance and self-interest above service is over.

“The fight for trust is the battle that defines our political era. It is only by serving the interests of working people, and delivering real change that transforms lives, that we can begin to restore people’s faith that politics can be a force for good.

“Rebuilding our country will not happen overnight. The challenges we face require determined, patient work and serious solutions, rather than the temptation of the easy answer. 

“The snake oil charm of populism may sound seductive – but it drives us into the dead end of further division and greater disappointment.”

The first legislation to be tabled in Parliament will be the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill to nationalise rail companies when their contracts expire or if they fail customers. 

The Starmer Government wants this to pass as soon as possible, with the first rail contracts expected to expire in October.
 

New details also emerged about Great British Energy. Previously, it had been suggested that the publicly owned energy company would invest in renewables in conjunction with the private sector.

But on Wednesday it was revealed that the company would develop and own government-run energy projects such as wind turbines and solar farms.

Downing Street insiders also confirmed that top-down housing targets would be reimposed on councils to boost house-building through a new planning framework expected later this month.

The Tories accused Labour of “talking out of both sides of their mouth” by increasing the size of the state while claiming to be pro-business and focused on economic growth.

Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, said: “On one hand they say they’re pro-business, but on the other they’re increasing red tape and the size of the state. Only the Conservatives know that private enterprise, not state intervention, is the key to unlocking growth and prosperity.”

Tom Tugendhat, the shadow security minister and an expected contender for the Tory leadership, said the King’s Speech showed that Labour was set on “giving more power” to unions and regulators that “control your lives”.

He said: “Despite what they said, they clearly don’t have a plan for the NHS. They haven’t got a plan for how to deal with small boats, other than repackaging things that we’ve already done.

“Second, they are talking about giving more power to unions, and not just unions but the kind of lawyers and regulators who control your lives and stop you doing the things that make Britain grow, make us more prosperous and most importantly make us more free.”

Robert Jenrick, also expected to stand for the Tory leadership, claimed Labour was pursuing radical net zero policies for “ideological reasons”.

He said: “Despite having decarbonised faster than other countries, despite only being responsible for one per cent of global emissions, we now find ourselves with a Government pursuing for ideological reasons a net zero policy which is going to make it harder for our own consumers to afford their bills.

”It is going to further erode our industrial base, which is going to lead us in hock to Chinese technology, where we’re trading dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, for Chinese electric vehicles, smart meters and solar panels that will spoil our countryside.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Government is not taking an ideological approach in delivering this King’s Speech, it is taking a pragmatic approach… These Bills will grow the economy.”

Other proposed laws include bringing in new restrictions on companies and landlords, and giving tenants the power to challenge rent increases.

Some old Tory policies were revived. Ministers will “legislate to restrict advertising of junk food to children”, though what form this would come in is unclear.

Other Labour promises went unmentioned, including extending votes to 16 and 17-year-olds and banning conversion therapy.

The legislative agenda offers the first clues about what path Sir Keir will take in government after an election campaign during which he was criticised for not being specific enough about how he would handle power.

Sir Keir Starmer will on Thursday “fire the starting gun” on a reset relationship with Europe by offering to lead the continent’s fight against illegal migration.

At a major summit in Oxfordshire, the Prime Minister will push Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, for new deals to tackle people-smuggling gangs.

In a significant boost, Germany will join migration talks for the first time after Sir Keir vowed that Britain would not leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

British ministers have talked up the European Political Community (EPC) summit at Blenheim Palace as a major chance to “reset” relations with Europe.

Ahead of the summit, Sir Keir said: “The EPC will fire the starting gun on this Government’s new approach to Europe.

“One that will not just benefit us now, but for generations to come – from dismantling the people-smuggling webs trafficking people across Europe to standing up to Putin’s barbaric actions in Ukraine and destabilising activity across Europe.

“This meeting of European leaders is an opportunity to push on and begin delivering on the people’s priorities. We will only be able to secure our borders, drive economic growth and defend our democracies if we work together.”

Sir Keir urged EU leaders still harbouring bitterness over Brexit not to let those feelings get in the way of a new relationship, warning: “We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future.”

The Prime Minister has chosen to make illegal migration the main theme of the gathering, which will be attended by 50 leaders from both EU and non-EU countries.

He will join a discussion on toughening up border controls led by Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, and Edi Rama, the Albanian leader. Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, will take part, as will the leaders of Malta, Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

Mr Scholz’s participation is a big win for the Government. Berlin had refused to join the first talks of a coalition to combat illegal migration, led by Rishi Sunak and Ms Meloni at the last EPC in Spain, because of the former prime minister’s flirtation with Tory calls to leave the ECHR.

Germany is a crucial cog in Labour’s plans to thwart the smuggling gangs because the country is often where boats used to transport migrants across the Channel are bought.

But the presence of Viktor Orban, the Hungarian premier, will prove awkward after he angered European leaders by trying to open peace talks with Russia over Ukraine.

Labour’s ditching of the Conservatives’ Rwanda deportation plan, which had drawn scorn from Mr Macron, is also said to have improved Britain’s standing in some European capitals.

Sir Keir will have dinner with the French president at Blenheim following the summit, with the pair expected to discuss illegal migration and defence cooperation.

On Wednesday night, he held talks with Simon Harris, the prime minister of Ireland, where riots have broken out over immigration and there were clashes at sites earmarked for asylum seeker centres this week.

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, is also hoping to use the summit to strike new deals with Slovakia and Slovenia on tackling people-smuggling. The two countries lie on the route typically taken by migrants arriving in the EU from Turkey on their way towards Calais.

A Whitehall source said the Government’s approach was to work with allies to “intercept” asylum seekers before they could reach the French coast.

Sir Keir will also use the summit to announce a beefing up of Britain’s border defences. He will say that more than 100 Home Office officials are to be redeployed into a new team tasked with speeding up the deportation of failed asylum seekers.

The “rapid returns unit” will focus on sending back migrants from countries, such as Vietnam, with a low success rate of successful asylum claims.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: “Dangerous small boat crossings are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. We will work right across Europe to tackle this problem at source, going after those profiting from this awful trade and bringing them to justice.”

But Sir Keir’s hopes of discussing an EU-wide returns agreement to send migrants back to European countries will be dashed by the absence of Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Commission president will skip the summit as she battles to be re-elected for a second term. Instead, the bloc will be represented by Charles Michel, the European Council president, and Josep Borrell, the foreign affairs commissioner, who are approaching the end of their terms.

An EU diplomat said Ms Von der Leyen’s absence “limits the scope of what can be discussed” on migration and closer trade ties. “I don’t think it’s the summit where we’ll be looking at any form of reset in the relationship,” the diplomat added.

The summit will be the fourth meeting of the EPC, a brainchild of Mr Macron, since it was formed in October 2022 in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.

It comes after Sir Keir used the King’s Speech to introduce changes that will make it easier for Britain to automatically follow future EU rules.

Labour is introducing a Product Safety and Metrology Bill, which will mean all UK laws “can be updated to recognise new or updated EU product regulations”. Ministers said the change would “prevent additional costs for businesses”, but Tories have voiced fears that the Government plans to unravel Brexit.

Sir Keir wants a veterinary agreement with the EU to ease checks on food exports, but Brussels is set to demand regulatory alignment in return.

The Tories also dismissed Labour’s plans to tackle illegal migration and claimed that scrapping the Rwanda plan would lead to increased small boat arrivals.

James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, said: “Our approach was to send them to a safe third country. Labour has scrapped that plan. Without such a deterrent, the boats will keep coming.”

An anti-ageing drug that could help people to live longer and healthier lives is on the horizon after scientists extended lifespan in mammals by 25 per cent.

Imperial College discovered that switching off a protein called interleukin 11 (IL-11) prevented cancer, boosted vision and hearing, and improved metabolism, lung health and muscle function in middle-aged mice.

It may even prevent hair loss and greying.

Videos released by Imperial showed untreated mice with greying patches on their fur, hair loss and weight gain, while the treated mice appeared sprightly with thick, glossy coats.

The treated mice also lived for an average of 155 weeks, compared with 120 weeks in untreated mice.

Prof Stuart Cook, from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Science, at Imperial, said: “These findings are very exciting.

“The treated mice had fewer cancers, and were free from the usual signs of ageing and frailty, but we also saw reduced muscle wasting and improvement in muscle strength. In other words, the old mice receiving anti-IL11 (treatment) were healthier.

“While these findings are only in mice, it raises the tantalising possibility that the drugs could have a similar effect in elderly humans.”

Humans inherited the interleukin-11 gene from fish hundreds of millions of years ago.

But while the adaptation was useful then – and still helps limb regeneration in some species – it is now thought to be largely redundant in humans, and caused thickening and scarring of the tissues and inflammation, which brings ageing and disease.

Researchers hit upon the idea that silencing IL-11 might be implicated in ageing after noticing that the protein increases dramatically in laboratory animals with age.

‘Really excited’

Anissa Widjaja, an assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, which was working with Imperial, said: “Out of curiosity, I ran some experiments to check for IL-11 levels. From the readings, we could clearly see that the levels of IL-11 increased with age and that’s when we got really excited.

“We found these rising levels contribute to negative effects in the body, such as inflammation and preventing organs from healing and regenerating after injury.”

The team had already discovered that the protein causes inflammation and stopped tissues from regenerating properly, so wanted to see if switching it off could dial down the ageing process.

In an initial experiment on genetically edited mice that had the gene producing IL-11 deleted, the simple gene deletion extended the lives of the mice by more than 20 per cent on average,

Next, scientists treated 75-week-old mice – the equivalent of about 55 years in humans – with an injection of an anti-IL-11 antibody, which stops the effects of the IL-11 in the body.

Researchers said the results were “dramatic”. The mice lived up to 25 per cent longer, and the treatment significantly reduced deaths from cancer in the animals, as well as preventing diseases caused by fibrosis, chronic inflammation and poor metabolism.

‘Better lungs’

Prof Cook added: “The mice had stronger muscles, they had better lungs, they had better skin, better hearing, better vision, multiple improvements.

“So not only can we do it by deleting the gene from birth we can do it with a therapeutic drug given later in life which opens up this possibility of now taking this to humans.”

“Our aim is that one day, anti-IL11 therapy will be used as widely as possible, so that people the world over can lead healthier lives for longer.”

Three companies currently have anti-IL-11 treatments in human clinical trials for scarring lung disease, fibrotic eye disease and cancers.

Lassen Therapeutics, which is conducting trials in the US has said that the drug has “an excellent safety profile”, and experts said it would be relatively easy to start a trial for ageing.

Dr Widjaja added: “Although our work was done in mice, we hope that these findings will be highly relevant to human health, given that we have seen similar effects in studies of human cells and tissues.

“This research is an important step toward better understanding ageing and we have demonstrated, in mice, a therapy that could potentially extend healthy ageing, by reducing frailty and the physiological manifestations of ageing.”

The research was published in Nature and partly funded by the Medical Research Council.

An Italian former culture minister has defended a drunk tourist who simulated having sex with a Florence statue, describing her behaviour as “as an amorous exaltation”.

The blonde woman, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, provoked an outcry after she was photographed climbing onto the statue of Bacchus.

A replica of a 16th-century original by Giambologna, the statue sits in a niche on a street near the Ponte Vecchio bridge.

Images posted on the “Welcome to Florence” Facebook page show the young woman hugging and kissing the statue and then simulating sexual positions.

The social media post provoked a wave of protests from the public and cultural officials outraged by her behaviour.

Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic and former culture undersecretary who was sacked for alleged conflict of interest earlier this year, is well known for his provocative opinions.

“A drunk girl performs a critical act, not an erotic one,” he said on X, formerly Twitter, of the woman’s late night activity.

“No real man can compete” with the naked statue of the god of wine and fertility, Mr Sgarbi added.

But Florentines were infuriated by the tourist’s behaviour and are demanding greater penalties for assaults on Italy’s historic treasures.

“Are we sure we need these kinds of tourists in Florence?” asked Marco Passeri, a former city councillor.

“Tourists are welcome, but there must be respect for our monuments, whether they are originals or copies,” Antonella Ranaldi, the city arts superintendent, told the Corriere della Sera. “Not least because I doubt that this woman, who I blame, knows the difference.”

Last week, a teenager was reported to police after he climbed Florence’s Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral and filmed himself with his mobile phone as he reached its celebrated dome. He then posted photos and videos on his Instagram page.

A month ago, another tourist etched his initials in the Ponte Vecchio bridge before being stopped by police; and last year, young men clambered onto the replica of Michelangelo’s statue of David in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence.

“These constant displays of rudeness and incivility happen because everyone feels entitled to do whatever they want with impunity,” said Patrizia Asproni, from the Confcultura culture organisation.

“We need to apply the ‘Singapore model’ – tight controls, hefty fines, zero tolerance.”

Mr Sgarbi was forced to resign from his position in the culture ministry amid allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago.

He was also accused of altering the painting to disguise its origins. He has strenuously denied the claims.

A “gender critical” council worker was sacked after protesting about the use of pronouns on his email signature.

James Orwin was angered when Caroline Lacey, the East Riding of Yorkshire council chief executive, invited employees to “consider adding pronouns to your email signature, should you wish to do so”.

In “protest”, the IT project officer changed his email footer to “XYchromosomeGuy/AdultHumanMale” rather than he/him.

Mr Orwin said he believed remaining silent when “morals and principles are under threat facilitates the steady creep of evil”. 

He claimed the council was not promoting equality but implementing a “political position it had no mandate to adopt”, and that the use of pronouns was a “political gesture designed to intimidate anyone who does not embrace the contested ideology of gender identity”.

In an email, Ms Lacey wrote: “Clearly this is a matter of individual choice, but I am keen to ensure that all staff know that the choice to do so is available to them and that they will be supported in that choice in line with our workforce principles.”

Mr Orwin said he thought the only way to challenge the policy was “to adopt deliberately provocative pronouns”.

He was suspended and eventually sacked after repeatedly refusing to remove his protest pronouns after bosses warned that they posed a “serious risk” to the transgender community and the council’s reputation.

Mr Orwin sued the council at an employment tribunal for religion or belief discrimination and unfair dismissal. He lost his case, with Ian Miller, the employment judge, concluding that he had not been discriminated against by being told to change his pronouns.

The tribunal did, however, accept that his gender-critical beliefs amounted to a protected “philosophical belief”.

Mr Miller said: “The real reason that he decided to add “XY‐chromosome‐guy/adult‐human‐male” was in protest. He said that the use of the footer was bound to challenge the agenda of those who are implementing it.

“His email footers were seeking to make a point that mocked and derided the suggestion that people could identify their own gender regardless of their physiology. The footer was designed to provoke and, we think given his acceptance of possible offence, was designed to offend.”

The judge said the implementation of the policy was “poorly thought through and badly executed”, but added: “However, this does not detract from our conclusion that the purpose and intention of the policy was to comply with [the council]’s public sector equality duty.”

Given Mr Orwin’s refusal to change the footer, the judge concluded that the council had been left with “no choice” but to dismiss him.

Dismissing his claims of discrimination, he said: “None of the treatment he experienced was because of his beliefs or expression of beliefs. The treatment – all arising from hi’s refusal to remove the email signature – was because he used a provocative email sign off that was not acceptable to [the council].”

His claim of unfair dismissal was also dismissed as it was “well within the band of reasonable responses of a reasonable employer”.

Two British men feared dead in a double murder in Sweden had crossed into the country to promote their travel agency.

London-based business partners Juan Cifuentes, 33, and Farooq Abdulrazak, 37, are thought to have been killed after firefighters recovered two bodies from a burnt-out car on a dirt road in the coastal city of Malmo on Sunday.

The two friends had reportedly travelled for an overnight trip to Denmark on Sunday to promote their agency, Empire Holidays, and were reported missing by family members after they failed to board their return flight to London.

According to Swedish national newspaper Aftonbladet, the burnt-out car had been rented at Copenhagen airport by a British citizen before the driver and the passenger travelled across the Denmark-Sweden border. 

Swedish police said the victims were shot, with the black Toyota Rav4 rental then set on fire.

Authorities have not yet formally identified the bodies, but friends and family have confirmed the identities of the alleged victims.

An “urgent” family appeal which named and pictured the victims was reportedly posted on social media on Tuesday. 

‘It’s so hard to take in’

The men were expected to return home at 6pm on Monday “but have not returned nor been contactable”, the post allegedly said.

Family friend Yussef Amiah, 32, told The Telegraph: “It was confirmed yesterday. I’ve just gone to the mosque where we heard the news.”

The married father-of-two played five-a-side football with Mr Abdulrazak twice a week and said his death “doesn’t make sense at all”.

He said: “He was like an older brother to everyone. It’s so hard to take in what’s happened – he’s just so faultless.”

Mr Amiah, who runs an automotive company, added: “From growing up and playing football together, I remember just being a little kid and him giving me advice and helping me to be better.“

Another friend, who did not wish to be named, also confirmed that Mr Abdulrazak and his business partner were the victims in the case.

“There was an announcement at the mosque – it’s pretty certain,” he said.

The friend, who met Mr Abdulrazaq when the pair were teenagers and attends the same North Finchley mosque in London, described him as a “heartwarming person” and said his death was “such a big loss for the community”.

He added: “He was very known for his business Empire Holidays. Everyone used to book their holidays through him.”

Addressing the circumstances of the killings, he said: “I think it’s just a case of wrong place, wrong time. He wouldn’t do anything dodgy. I know that for a fact.”

Laura Cifuentes, the sister of Mr Cifuentes, told The Sun: “There’s no confirmation. There’s no confirmation that they’ve been shot. The bodies are still being identified.

“They were meant to return home and it was meant to be a short business trip.”

Aftonbladet reported that two British businessmen feared murdered had flown from Heathrow Airport to Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport.

At Kastrup, one of the two Britons is reported to have been photographed when he rented a car – the same car that was later found burnt out.

Police, who are investigating the incident as a murder, have appealed for witnesses who saw a black Toyota car in the Fosie industrial estate where the shooting occurred.

Interpol brought in

Kerstin Gossé, of the Swedish police, said: “We are interested in talking to people who have seen the car. It’s a black Danish-registered Toyota of model Rav4.”

As the victims had crossed international borders during their journey, Interpol has also been brought into the investigation.

Police declined to comment on whether the murders were linked to gang violence when questioned by Swedish newspaper Expressen.

Malmo is one of several Swedish cities wrestling with an organised crime wave, while Sweden has the second highest gun crime death rate in Europe after Albania.

Since 2013, the number of shooting incidents has doubled in Sweden, according to statistics, while drug and gun crimes have steadily risen since the early 2000s.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the families of two British men reported missing in Sweden and are in touch with the local authorities.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We continue to liaise with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to establish if the deaths of two men in Malmo are related to two men reported missing in north London on Monday July 15.”

A civil engineer has criticised council officials who approved a huge 45ft extension to his neighbour’s bungalow.

Derek Adams, 67, said that his Paisley home was “dwarfed” by the building now looming large over his back garden.

He tried and failed to stop Renfrewshire council from approving the single-storey extension to the side of the home, as well as a dormer to the front and rear, in 2021.

Mr Adams, who lives with his wife and daughter, claims the extension is even bigger than it should have been after a council “oversight”.

He said a second application for changes to “various openings on the extension and rear dormer” did not include some specific measurements, and claims it therefore should not have been approved.

Mr Adams, who has lived in his home for 28 years, said: “As soon as we come out our back door, it’s effectively sitting on top of us.

“The original bungalow was sitting high, but it’s now sitting about four metres higher than it was.

“It’s just ridiculous. If you read the council’s requirements for a dormer, the first point is they must be ‘small, discrete additions which retain the character of the original roof’.

“This dormer in length is 13 to 14 metres. It’s hardly small and discrete.

“Another point is that they shouldn’t ‘dominate’ the roof. They’re effectively creating a new roof. It’s not really a dormer, they’re effectively adding a second storey. It’s over-developed.”

He added: “But I’m not trying to get to my neighbour, I went round and spoke to him about it. I’m trying to get to the council because of the mishandling of it.

“It’s not the neighbour’s fault.”

After the original application was approved, in September 2022 the council approved a second request from the homeowner for a non-material variation (NMV). 

NMWs are normally used for minor tweaks which do not significantly alter an original application.

The local authority’s decision notice said the changes were “to various openings on the extension and rear dormer” – but the document did not specify any changes in the size of the dormer.

Mr Adams claimed: “What I realised was, between revision A [the original planning application] and revision B [the NMV] there was actually an increase in the length of the dormer.

“My understanding is that shouldn’t have been approved under an NMV request and we should have been notified specifically, but it was ignored. Nobody picked it up … The whole thing is a mess.”

A spokesman for Renfrewshire council said: “Our officers have visited the property and consider the development under way to be in accordance with the approved plans for the alterations to the house.

“The final design for the works was subject to a number of negotiated changes, which is often the case with applications for domestic properties.

“While the depth of the dormer has increased slightly under the NMV, it is minor in comparison to the dormer as a whole and does not raise any overshadowing or overlooking issues.

“Any request for an NMV is at the discretion of the planning authority and, in this case, we believe the changes to the original proposed design for the depth of the dormer were sufficiently minor to grant the request.”