We were all naturally disappointed that the Queen was unable to open Parliament in person last week, but Her Majesty’s health obviously needs to come first – particularly just a few weeks before the historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The Prince of Wales did a good job delivering the speech in her place, announcing that the biggest overriding priority of this government is to help people across the country with the global cost of living crisis.

But as well as trying to tackle this huge task, the 38 Bills in the Queen’s Speech also demonstrated how the government is determined to act on the public’s other priorities too. Whether that’s making our streets safer by continuing to support the police, encouraging the investment that will make good-paying jobs more easily accessible in parts of the country like ours, tackling the Covid backlogs by supporting the NHS, or investing in the infrastructure to make it easier for people and businesses to thrive across the country.

There are also the priorities which aren’t necessarily at the top of everyone’s list, but they are important to many people – including stronger legislation to strengthen the rights of tenants, and new animal welfare protections.

Two Bills that I hope will make a big difference in the Black Country are the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill – which includes a lot of important reforms including helping to bring empty buildings in our High Streets back into use and strengthening environmental protections in the planning system – and the UK Infrastructure Bank Bill.

The Brexit Freedoms Bill will also allow the UK to be more agile in repealing old EU law. This is important because one of the reasons we left the EU was so UK law could be more responsive to the needs of the British people and the British economy.

While the global spike in the cost of living has been spurred by events that have happened in the past few years – chiefly the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – it’s absolutely vital that any responsible government works towards a long-term plan for the UK’s energy supply needs, rather than just a knee-jerk response for the short-term. The new Energy Security Bill will help us get more secure, more affordable and cleaner homegrown energy supplies.

No government, and no bill, has the power to shield its population from the consequences of global events. But with the right combination of legislative measures, support for businesses and people, and the determination to strike the right balance between acting now while also thinking for the future, we can ensure that the UK is in the best position possible to deal with those pressures, both now and in the long-term.