King's Speech 2026: Home affairs

Approximate read time: 25 minutes

Concerning criminal justice, the government has set out plans to legislate to comprehensively reform policing in England and Wales. It has also said it would modernise public order and hate crime legislation following an independent review; create new powers, modelled on counter-terrorism measures, to tackle the risks posed by hostile state actors; create a new offence, adapted from terrorism legislation, to deal with non-terrorist mass casualty attack planning; review the legal framework of domestic abuse to ensure it captures the experience of adolescents; conduct a review of stalking legislation; and make the collection of ethnicity data and nationality data mandatory for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases. In addition, the government may create a new legal framework for the use of facial recognition and biometrics technologies, introduce a registration scheme for sellers of knives, and take action to change the disclosure regime and to address issues with fraudulent advertising.

On asylum and immigration, the government has announced a number of planned reforms, particularly to the asylum system, which it outlined in two policy documents. It has said it would make changes to the asylum appeals system, including creating a new independent body to hear appeals. The government has also explained that it plans to limit the application of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights on asylum and immigration cases; introduce new legislation on modern slavery to clarify obligations and address potential misuse while maintaining essential protections; introduce a levy on international student fees; and make changes to the rules for earning permanent settlement.

This briefing has been prepared to assist members of the House of Lords in the debates on the King’s Speech. It draws upon material from the public domain and does not constitute official information about the government’s intentions or provide a complete list of bills to be announced.