国际英语新闻：Queen's speech contains packed agenda for new British coalition government

"The first priority is to reduce the deficit and restore economic growth. Action will be taken to accelerate the reduction of the structural budget deficit," she added.

The urgency with which this task is being undertaken by the government is underlined by 6.25 billion pounds (about 10 billion dollars) worth of cuts made in this year's government budget across many areas, which were announced on Monday.

The new chancellor of the exchequer, the Conservative George Osborne, will deliver an emergency budget on June 22, which is expected to contain extensive and painful cuts in budgets across government starting next year.

After that, a major spending review of all government spending is to take place in autumn, when yet more painful cuts in budgets are certain to be announced.

The need to move fast has been underlined by the crisis in the eurozone caused by the financial crisis in Greece, says the British government.

The Greek government's failure to convince the international money markets and credit agencies that it is serious about tackling its public spending debt, and the lack of credibility of its policies, have sparked a financial crisis that has spread beyond Greece to take in the eurozone.

The British government points to the Greek example as justification for starting to cut budgets now, and cutting them in a big way. It has promised to reduce the record overspend by half over the five-year term of the government, a cut of over 70 billion pounds (about 108 billion dollars).