Smoking, devolution and tackling knife crime: What's in the King's Speech for the North East?

People across the North East have been digesting the contents of the first King's Speech of the newly-elected Labour government.

They include the mother of stabbed Sunderland teenager Connor Brown, who was pleased with the government's plans on knife crime, as well as Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen, who has campaigned for police anti-spiking powers.

The announcements are part of the government's legislative agenda for the next 12 months as part of the State Opening of Parliament.

A raft of other priorities, including planning reform and immigration aims, were revealed. They also include more powers for regional mayors and being tough on tobacco and vape sales.

More powers for regional mayors

The English Devolution Bill announced today will aim to give more powers to regional Metro Mayors.

This would include in the North East, where Kim McGuinness is mayor, York and North Yorkshire, represented by David Skaith, and the Tees Valley, where Lord Ben Houchen is mayor.

The government says the bBill is part of its commitment to "transfer power out of Westminster and into local communities" by supporting local growth plans and boost economic growth across the country.

Spiking

The government said it will also introduce plans to halve violence against women and girls, and will give police the "capability to respond robustly" to domestic abuse, rape and other sexual offences.

As part of this, the government said it would "strengthen the law to improve the police response to spiking".

This news was welcomed by Durham Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen, who has campaigned for better education and more police powers to tackle spiking.

She said: "I'm delighted that the government has listened and recognised that we need to do something to tackle spiking. This is a real recognition for the campaigning that I did but also everyone else who said that spiking needs to be stamped out.

"This is not just about police powers, that's really important important and we've been calling for spiking to become a specific crime so we can actually get to the bottom of it.

"But we know there's an estimated nearly a million spiking incidents. That's the tip of the iceberg, there's a lot of people don't feel confident to report. What I want to say is that it's serious and it will be taken seriously if you report it because we want to get to the bottom of it."

Knife crime

The government said it would "get dangerous knives and other weapons off our streets" through the banning of ninja swords and other lethal blades

There will also be strict sanctions on the senior executives of online companies who break the law, as well as efforts to step up laws to tackle those exploiting children for criminal purposes.

Sunderland teenager Connor Brown was fatally stabbed outside a pub in 2019.

His mother Tanya Brown said: "It's a massive step forward if I'm completely honest.

"It needed somebody to recognise that we have an issue with knife crime and now it's been recognised, more work can be done, more legislations can be put in place, and it's just really, really important that it has been highlighted today."

Ms Brown said it was a "really positive first step" and warned that there is "still more work to be done on knife crime".

Alcohol, smoking and vaping

A new law making it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1 2009 was shelved at the end of Rishi Sunak's premiership once the election was called.

Labour has outlined its plans for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which progressively increases the age at which people are able to buy tobacco - meaning future generations will never legally be allowed to do so.

The bill will also allow for reforms of the sale of vapes and their branding, so as to reduce their appeal to children and young people. It will also include restrictions on the packaging and display of other products, such as tobacco pouches.

The news has been welcomed by campaign group Fresh and Balance.

Ailsa Rutter, OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: "We warmly welcome that the new government has prioritised the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. This is needed because smoking is our biggest killer.

"There are high levels of support for the bold smoke-free generation proposal from the North East public, with nearly 8 in 10 backing the policy, and also partners across the region including every local council, every NHS Trust and the North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board."

However, no policies were outlined on alcohol in the King's Speech much to the group's disappointment.

Fresh and Balance's head of alcohol policy said it was "disappointing" alcohol was not given a similar mention to smoking in the speech.

She said: "Here in the North East, we suffer disproportionately from alcohol harms and despite excellent partnership working in this region, we can only do so much.

"As we’ve seen with tobacco, significant reductions in harm require national legislation and government action on alcohol must be a cornerstone of building a safer, healthier and more economically productive country in the future."

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