Queen unveils Labor's populist agenda

LONDON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Queen Elizabeth addressed the opening of Parliament Wednesday with promises to aid Britain's poor and reform the financial services industry.

The Queen read a laundry list of legislative proposals drawn up by the ruling Labor Party that included a commitment to abolish child poverty by 2020, The Times of London reports.

The package of 12 bills and two draft bills was described by one cabinet minister as the "most political in 12 years" with critics saying the legislation is really of no benefit to voters.

With less than seven months before Britons go to the polls, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has put forward a series of populist bills designed to draw battle lines for the election, the Telegraph reported.

Included in the package is a Fiscal Responsibility Bill that provides a "firm and binding statutory basis" for reining in the government's spiraling debt, Sky News said.