Rishi Sunak’s first legislative programme has been denounced as a “plan for more of the same” after 13 years of Tory government.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the King’s Speech, which included 20 Bills, had seen the Conservative leader put party before country in a “desperate” bid to stay in power.

He called the speech an "exercise in economic miserabilism", lacking in hope, but full of cynical posturing.

"The only fight left them in them is the fight for their own skin."

He also used the Commons debate on the speech to urge Mr Sunak to sack Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she called homelessness “a lifestyle choice” for some.

“Without a serious Home Secretary there can be no serious Government and he cannot be a serious Prime Minister,” Sir Keir told MPs.

Contrasting the “revival” of his own party with the pattern of “drift, stagnate, decline” under the Tories, the Labour leader pointedly reminded Mr Sunak of his many byelection losses.

Since the last such speech 18 months ago, eleven new MPs had arrived in the Commons - one Tory, two Liberal Democrat and eight Labour.

“Victories which show without question that Britain is ready for change,” he said.

“Victories that have reduced the party opposite now nearly 14 years in power to the desperate spectacle of claiming it offers change away from itself.

“Today’s address shows just how ridiculous that posturing is.

“Because what we have before us is a plan for more of the same, more sticking plasters, more division, more party first, country second gimmicks and no repudiation of the utterly discredited idea that economic growth is something the few hand down to the many.

“In fact, today we reached something of a new low because they are not even pretending to govern any more. They have given up on any sense of service.

“They see our country’s problems as something to be exploited, not solved and in doing this, they underestimate the British people because what Britain wants is for them to stop messing around and get on with the job.”

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak accused of 'cheap gimmicks and reheats' in King's Speech

Turning his fire on Ms Braverman - whose proposals to clear “nuisance” homeless tents off the streets were not in the speech - Sir Keir tied her future to that of her boss. 

Sir Keir told the Commons: “We have a party so devoid of leadership it is happy to follow a Home Secretary who describes homelessness as a lifestyle choice.”

To shouts of “shame” from Labour MPs, he then alluded to Ms Braverman’s recent attacks on pro-Palestine marches as “terror marches”, implying the police should halt them.

Sir Keir said she “believes that the job of protecting us all from extremists, the most basic job of government, is legitimate terrain for her divisive brand of politics”.

He continued: “As director of public prosecutions, I worked closely with the police and counter-terrorism forces. Their job is hard enough already without the Home Secretary using it as a platform for her own ambition.”

Shouts of “sack her” could be heard as Sir Keir said: “So I say to the Prime Minister think very carefully about what she is committing your Government to do and think very carefully about the consequences of putting greater demands on public servants at the coalface of keeping us safe, because without a serious Home Secretary there can be no serious government and he cannot be a serious Prime Minister.”

Mr Sunak used his speech to highlight differences with Labour, underlining the way the Government had drafted the speech with an eye to the coming general election.

The Prime Minister praised plans for annual licensing rounds for North Sea oil and gas exploration, which he said Labour opposed.

Sir Keir had earlier called it a “gimmick” as no new law was needed for more licences.

The Prime Minister characterised his opponents on the measure as “eco-zealots”.

He talked up the Government's plans to make it illegal for key workers to call all-out strikes and oblige them to provide minimum service levels. He said Labour also opposed that.

READ MORE: Government advisers criticise SNP delaying crunch climate change plan

And he warned Labour’s spending plans were “dangerous” and “inflationary”, and that the “British people would pay the price in higher interest rates and higher taxes”.

However there was agreement between the leaders of Mr Sunak's plan to create a "smoke-free generation" by steadily raising the age limit to buy tobacco until it was effectively illegal.

He ended by saying the UK economy was "well on its way to recovery" and his government was taking "long-term decisions for a brighter future".

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “There has to be an evidence-based approach to oil and gas extraction. 

“An evidence-based approach which is anathema to this Government.

“What we need to be considering is our energy security. What we need to be considering is our commitment to net zero. What we need to be considering is jobs and opportunities. And of course, what we need to be considering is that investment in renewables going forward.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “By failing to address the cost-of-living crisis, the NHS and care crisis, or the sewage crisis, and many other crises like them, this King’s Speech essentially tells families and pensioners struggling to get by to accept their fate.”

He added: “The Conservatives are choosing once again to shackle us to the expensive, dirty fossil fuels of the past.”