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  Coalition running out of steam? Key measures dropped from Queen's Speech over differences
  
  between partners
  
  Tories shelved plans for minimum unit price for alcohol and plain cigarette packaging and Lib Dems
  
  pronounced 'snooper's charter' as dead
  
  Queen's Speech: Policies once championed by the Coalition conspicuously missing from the list of new laws
  
  The Coalition Government was accused of running out of steam today as differences between the
  
  Conservatives and Liberal Democrats led to several key measures being dropped from the Queen's Speech.
  
  Two years before the next general election, the two Coalition parties began to diverge earlier than expected
  
  as behind the scenes tensions between them were exposed.
  
  They will have to present their final Queen's Speech of the five-year parliament in a year's time and
  
  one minister admitted: "I don't know what we will have left to put in it."
  
  Today's package saw the Conservatives shelve plans to bring in a minimum unit price for alcohol and
  
  plain packaging for cigarettes as they tried to focus on the economy, welfare and immigration ahead
  
  of the 2105 election while avoiding measures that alienate voters.
  
  Also omitted were a statutory register of lobbyists and Nick Clegg's plans to allow constituents
  
  to force a by-election when their MPs are guilty of misconduct.
  
  The Tories refused to enshrine in law the Coalition's target to raise spending on overseas aid to 0.7 per cent
  
  of gross national income. Although the Coalition will meet the goal, the decision means future
  
  governments will not be bound by it.
  
  Mr Clegg had described such a law as "a priority" for the parliamentary session which began yesterday.
  
  Aid groups warned that the world's poorest countries would be unable to plan ahead for levels of UK assistance.
  
  The Lib Dems pronounced as "dead" a Bill to allow the security services to track emails, text
  
  messages and internet use, dubbed the "snooper's charter." It was omitted from yesterday's
  
  Speech after Mr Clegg objected

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