Cameron attacks government 'tinkering'

The Queen's speech was attacked by Conservative leader David Cameron as "bureaucratic bungling and technocratic tinkering".

Cameron said that Gordon Brown had failed to recognise in his legislative programme that there was "no government money left".

He criticised the speech as being about the "short-term prospects of the prime minister" rather than about Britain's long-term future.

Earlier, the Queen's speech detailed a slimmed-down legislative programme for the coming year, focusing on 13 measures to guide Britain through an economic downturn.

The new Bills were announced by the Queen along with a Constitutional Renewal Bill which will be introduced "when time allows".

The main emphasis of the legislative agenda was a Banking Bill, intended to enhance financial stability.

The Queen told MPs and peers that ministers' "overriding priority" in the new parliamentary session will be "to ensure the stability of the British economy through the global economic downturn".

But opening a Commons debate on the Queen's Speech, Cameron said: "There is no recognition in the government's programme about how the world has changed.

"We are moving into an age where there is no government money left and so we need public sector reform to get better value for money.

"We're moving into an age of massive debt so we need to mend the broken society and reduce the demands on the state."

"But in this Queen's speech, there's no serious reform, there's just bureaucratic bungling and technocratic tinkering," Cameron added.

"This speech is all about the short-term prospects of the prime minister not the long-term future of the country. It is last year's Queen's speech from yesterday's prime minister."