This week, the King’s Speech, a regal affair which officially marks the start of the new parliamentary year, took place.

There was no shortage of pomp and ceremony, with the morning filled with rituals and traditions, some of which go back hundreds of years.

However, this was an important political moment too, not least because this was the first King’s Speech since Labour won back the trust of the British people a fortnight ago.

Although it was King Charles who delivered the speech, it was Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and his government who wrote it, and it represented an opportunity to outline the policies and proposed legislation for the coming year, and set an early marker for the priorities of our new Labour government.

In this regard, the agenda looks set to be a packed one, with no less than 40 bills put forward. Yes, this is a substantial body of work we will need to deliver on, but it is critical we do so.

The last 14 years were, at best, frittered away by the Conservatives through their incompetence. At worst, their chaos set our country back dramatically, leaving people and our public services worse off.

That means that there has been no time to waste. Our work is urgent. People simply can not afford for us to ‘find our feet’. We have to hit the ground running now.

That is why we have brought forward a substantial set of laws that will rebuild our country for the long-term, an ambitious, fully costed set of proposals that represent the downpayment on the change we were elected to deliver.

This was an all-encompassing set of priorities, with the economy, our NHS, housing, transport, defence, education and energy all receiving major new packages of support.

Take the economy, for instance. Labour will create new protections to stop anyone playing fast and loose with the public finances like Liz Truss and the Conservatives did.

We will also boost economic growth, bring back confidence and stability, and help create good, secure, well-paid jobs in the renewable and clean tech sector.

We will also tackle the cost of living by passing an Employment Rights Bill to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, end fire and rehire, and make sure the minimum wage is a genuine living wage.

We will look to slash NHS waiting lists and rescue NHS dentistry. We will offer every primary school child in Ipswich access to a free Breakfast Club, hire thousands of specialist teachers across the country and reform the apprenticeship levy to offer better opportunities for young people.

Great British Energy, owned by and for the British people, will own, manage and operate clean power projects to make our country energy independent, create new jobs, and lower bills for families.

Also featured are our commitments on defence and criminal justice, plans to revolutionise transport, and a determination to get Britain building again with high-quality affordable homes.

There will be new laws to go after water companies who pump sewage into our waterways and we will give renters greater protections too.

The King’s Speech continued the momentum built up over Labour’s election victory, and our first days in Government. It is an agenda that seeks to take the brakes off Britain, so we can renew our town, and our country.

Changing Ipswich for the better will not happen overnight - the damage that has been done by the Conservatives over the last 14 years runs deep. However, the ambitious programme set out in the King’s Speech will improve our economy, put more money in people’s pockets and rebuild our public services.

It is an approach that is based on public service, trust and competence, one that will deliver real, lasting change for us all.

Jack Abbott is Labour MP for Ipswich