LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Britain’s new Labour Party government set out its plans for “national renewal” at the grand State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday.

Stabilizing the U.K.’s public finances and spurring economic growth were at the center of Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s legislative agenda, announced in a speech written by government officials and delivered by King Charles III.

“My government will seek a new partnership with both business and working people and help the country move on from the recent cost-of-living challenges by prioritizing wealth creation for all communities,” the king said in a speech to hundreds of lawmakers and scarlet-robed members of the House of Lords.

In a written introduction to the speech, Starmer urged patience, saying change would require “determined, patient work and serious solutions.”

The King’s Speech is the centerpiece of the State Opening, an occasion where royal pomp met hard-nosed politics, as the king donned a diamond-studded crown, sat on a gilded throne and announced the laws his government intends to pass in the coming year.

For all its royal trappings, it is the King’s Speech in name only. The words are written by government officials.

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