Charities concerned over Queen’s speech

Several charities in Britain have raised concerns that a law which requires Britain to spend 0.7% of its Gross Domestic Product on international aid by 2013 would be omitted from the British Queen’s speech, which would delineate the government’s legislative intentions, reported The Guardian.

In a letter to international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, Shadow development secretary Ivan Lewis warned against failing to safeguard legislation calling on the British government “to demonstrate a commitment to social justice.”

Unicef UK’s executive director, David Bull, urged the British government to remain committed to putting “the 0.7% pledge into law.”

“My understanding is that the Tory backbenchers don’t want House of Lords reform or foreign aid commitments, so putting both in the Queen’s speech would be too much, even if it means missing the 2013 promise,” said an NGO source.

Moreover, a Labour party source said the omission of the legislation from the Queen’s speech would lead British people to conclude that “the Tory party’s claims to have changed” were just empty campaign slogans.

“Ensuring the legislation is in the Queen’s speech is a test of his [Prime Minister David Cameron’s] leadership,” said the Labour party source.

ISH/MF/HE

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