With 2025 comes the Labour government’s first shot at a full calendar year in power – and plans are already in place for it.
There’s still a long way to go until the next scheduled general election, but Sir Keir Starmer is itching to get some tangible changes under his belt.
After all, the next round of local elections is coming up on May 1, and the PM would surely like his candidates to have something positive to point towards.
While plenty of surprises will certainly come this year, here are a few of the things the government has told us to expect throughout this year.
Louise Haigh may have departed as transport secretary in November, but her biggest idea will only start to play out in spring.
Under her nationalisation plan, the government will save on money by only taking on rail franchises when their private contracts run out.
By that token, the first operator to come under the new Great British Railways umbrella will be South Western, which is based at London Waterloo.
After it is brought into government ownership in May, c2c – which serves Essex and London – will follow in July.
Greater Anglia, which covers much of the east of England, is expected to be nationalised at some point in autumn.
The banning of disposable vapes was first announced in January 2024 by the previous Conservative government.
But those proposals were shelved when the general election was called in May, so it’s Labour who will have the responsibility for carrying it out.
Announcing the move last October, circular economy minister Mary Creagh said it would help ‘end this nation’s throwaway culture’.
Health minister Andrew Gwynne added: ‘Banning disposable vapes will not only protect the environment, but importantly reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people.’
But the decision has been criticised by the UK Vaping Industry Association, which argued it could result in a black market.
Championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, the Renters’ Rights Bill was prioritised by the government in the weeks after the election.
Once again, it has its origins in proposals made by the Conservatives, who first promised to scrap Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’ under Theresa May.
But those plans had also fallen by the wayside by the time last year’s general election came round.
Labour’s plans also involve the end of Section 21, but add measures like the right to request a pet and making it illegal to discriminate against prospective tenants who are on benefits or who have children.
Some of those details may be changed when the bill goes to the House of Lords, but campaign group the Renter’s Reform Coalition anticipates it will receive royal assent in the spring and come into effect in the summer.
Wes Streeting announced last month that TV adverts for junk food would be banned before the watershed from October 2025.
The move is designed to tackle childhood obesity, which the health secretary said is ‘unfair on children’ and ‘adding strain to our NHS’.
But eyebrows were raised when a list of dishes categorised as ‘junk food’ under the plans was revealed.
The government is using a technique from the Food Standards Agency called the nutrient profiling model to determine what’s healthy – therefore safe to show on telly before 9pm – and what’s not.
So it’s not just burgers and pizza. Among the foods deemed not sufficiently nutritional are rice cakes, muesli, protein bars and instant porridge.
This is one measure with a big question mark above it, but we’re certain to hear an awful lot more about it this year.
The vote to progress legislation on legalising assisted dying in November was likely the biggest ethical decision made by the British Parliament in the last decade.
However, the path to royal assent is far from smooth. Opponents have vowed to continue trying to prevent it from passing future votes, and some supporters have said they will only continue to back it if changes are made.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s bill is now in the committee stage. A source told Metro that it should pass through the House of Commons by May – if indeed it gets that far – and could be law by the end of the year.
There are always complications around such thorny issues, though, and even if the bill does go all the way it could take two years for it to come into force.
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