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Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, as we come to commemorate next year the important Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen, would it not be a suitable initiative for the Government, perhaps in partnership with private sponsors, also to commemorate next year’s bicentenary of Charles Dickens and this year’s 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible by making presentations of those books to children in our secondary schools? That would be a way not only of marking the Jubilee year but of increasing the holding of books by children in our country today.
Baroness Rawlings: The noble Lord, Lord Alton, raises a very interesting question. It would be an extremely good idea, come the Jubilee, to have partnerships like that. The Government announced just this week that the possibility of extra philanthropic funding for schemes such as partnerships for the Jubilee is being looked into. Speaking of the Jubilee, I commend Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall for all the work that she does in this area to encourage young children to read.
Government quizzed on whether a percentage of aid to Pakistan will be allocated to improving the living conditions of people from religious minorities, including the provision of fresh running water and electricity, and the creation of primary schools; on education for destitute girls; and on whether religious minorities in Pakistan will be included in the list of marginalized communities prioritised for UK aid.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign,...