Coalition agenda set

LONDON - Britain's new coalition government pledged on Thursday to make cutting a record deficit its priority, saying it would also introduce a banking levy and rein in bonuses in the financial sector.

Detailing a program first sketched out in haste last week after an inconclusive election, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat alliance said an independent commission would look into the separation of retail and investment banking.

Needing to reassure markets, the agreement said that reducing a deficit running at more than 11 percent of GDP was its overriding concern.