The political system of the UK

                                                    The political system of the UK.

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The UK is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the official head of state is the monarch, but his or her powers are limited by the constitution.

Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State of the United Kingdom. She is also the monarch or Head of State for many countries in the Commonwealth.

The UK, like Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, has a constitutional monarchy. This means that the king or queen does not rule the country, but appoints the government which the people have chosen in democratic elections. Although the queen or king can advise, warn and encourage the Prime Minister, the decisions on government policies are made by the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

 The Queen has important ceremonial roles such as the opening of the new parliamentary session each year. On this occasion the Queen makes a speech that summarises the government’s policies for the year ahead. [1 ]

                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAFKzg9BAtQ

                 

The British constitution is not written in any single document. Only some of these rules are written down in the form of ordinary laws passed by Parliament at various times.

          1689 Bill of Rights. http://www.parliament.uk/about/podcasts/toursofparliament/billofrights/

  The Bill of Rights Act mainly set out strict limits on the use of Royal prerogatives by the sovereign.

               http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A700372

This is mainly because the United Kingdom has never had a lasting revolution, like America or France, so most important institutions have been in existence for hundreds of years. Most of these institutions are of long standing: they include the monarchy, Parliament, the office of Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the judiciary, the police, the civil service, and the institutions of local government. More recently, devolved administrations have been set up for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Together, these formal institutions, laws and conventions form the British Constitution.

 

The Parliament .

                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmGCwiQvhH0&feature=channel

 Parliament is the supreme law-making body in the country. It consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. British parliamentary system is one of the oldest in the world, it developed slowly during the 13th century after King John's signature of Magna Charta in 1215. [3 ]

                   http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html

                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdrMfi4-_jo

                               

• The major part of Parliament's work is revising the Government's work. From Monday to Thursday all ministers must answer MP´s questions for one hour, the Prime Minister must answer their questions two days a week. 
• Another important parliamentary task is law-making. A bill (a proposal of a new law) must pass through the Houses and then is sent to the Queen for Royal Assent.
• General elections to choose MP´s are held every five years. Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of 18. 

                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iL3F-q1aLA

                

*   Every November 5th the British celebrate Guy Fawkes Night(or simply Bonfire Night). There was  Guy Fawkes. He was a Catholic conspirator who tried to blow up the King and Parliament on November 5th, 1605. He got caught just in time, imprisoned and eventually put to death for his trouble, although modern British people remember him as "the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions!". Ever since the British have  had celebrations that night every year. They have fireworks. Buy sparklers. Light bonfires. Throw Guy Fawkes effigy's to the flames. Traditionally, children made effigies of Fawkes from old clothes stuffed with newspaper, and display their "Guy" in the streets, asking "Penny for the Guy?", and expecting to receive some money. Big firework displays are organised in public playing fields and open areas, usually with huge bonfires. The bonfires often take weeks to build, and in small communities and villages everyone will bring some wood to add to the pile.

The events of 1605 are also remembered in a nursery rhyme. 

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November, 
Gunpowder, treason and plot. 
We see no reason why gunpowder treason 
Should ever be forgot."

 

             British still burn an effigy of the Pope in Lewes in Sussex.! ;) Just a tradition!)))) 

             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc1lwKfSQ1g&feature=related

 

                                                       The House of Commons. 

• The House of Commons has 650, elected and paid Members of Parliament.

The House of Commons is the more important of the two chambers in Parliament. Nowadays the Prime Minister and almost all the members of the Cabinet are members of the House of Commons. Each MP represents a parliamentary constituency, or area of the country: there are 646 of these. MPs have a number of different responsibilities. They represent everyone in their constituency:

• help to create new laws,
• scrutinise and comment on what the government is doing,
• debate important national issues.

                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PGLqEyZcLc

The Speaker.

 

Debates in the House of Commons are chaired by the Speaker, the chief officer of the House of Commons. The Speaker is politically neutral. He or she is an MP, elected by fellow MPs to keep order during political debates and to make sure the rules are followed. This includes making sure the Opposition has a guaranteed amount of time to debate issues it chooses. The Speaker also represents Parliament at ceremonial occasions.                                               

                                                                           The House of Lords. 

The House of Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers, two archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England. Debates in the House of Lords are chaired by Lord Chancellor. 

Members of the House of Lords, known as peers, are not elected and do not represent a constituency. The role and membership of the House of Lords have recently undergone big changes.  

• Until 1958 all peers were either ‘hereditary’, meaning that their titles were inherited, senior judges, or bishops of the Church of England.
• Since 1958 the Prime Minister has had the power to appoint peers just for their own lifetime. These peers, known as Life Peers, have usually had a distinguished career in politics, business, law or some other profession. This means that debates in the House of Lords often draw on more specialist knowledge than is available to members of the House of Commons. Life Peers are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, but they include people nominated by the leaders of the other main parties and by an independent Appointments Commission for non-party peers. [2]

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9ccE6fOgEs

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GXuv6FiGTY  [2] 

• In the last few years the hereditary peers have lost the automatic right to attend the House of Lords, although they are allowed to elect a few of their number to represent them.

     While the House of Lords is usually the less important of the two chambers of Parliament, it is more independent of the government. It can suggest amendments or propose new laws, which are then discussed by the House of Commons. The House of Lords can become very important if the majority of its members will not agree to pass a law for which the House of Commons has voted. The House of Commons has powers to overrule the House of Lords, but these are very rarely used.

                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wVllfyvGfU

                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAyq46QbXyA

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjrqcylnZe4

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwveEEL7zIk

• The Bar of the House is the name given to a white line across the width of the Chamber of the House of Commons and to a rail in the House of Lords, marking their boundaries. MPs are called to the bar of the House of Lords at the Opening of Parliament and to hear the Royal Assent to Acts of Parliament. They are not allowed beyond this point when the House is sitting. In the House of Commons, Members of the House of Lords and the public are not allowed beyond the bar when the House is sitting.

 

• The House of Lords was also the final court of appeal for civil cases in the United Kingdom and for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Only the Lords of Appeal (Law Lords) - of whom there are 12 employed full-time - take part in judicial proceedings. 

            31 July 2009, the judicial function of the House of Lords and its role as the final - and highest - appeal court in the UK was ended, bringing about a fundamental change to the work and role of the House of Lords.

• A new United Kingdom Supreme Court, separating the judicial function from Parliament (those who make the law from those who interpret it in courts), opened in early October 2009 opposite the Houses of Parliament in Parliament Square - formerly the Middlesex Guildhall.

                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHRmi26qFAA

                      

  The Lord Chancellor:              http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/occasions/lcbreakfast/ [5]

The Government.

The Government is formed by the party which has the majority in the Parliament and the Queen appoints its leader as the Prime Minister.

                                                                          The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister (PM) is the leader of the political party in power. He or she appoints the members of the Cabinet and has control over many important public appointments.

                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ao1i317ro

 

The official home of the Prime Minister is 10 Downing Street, in central London, near the Houses of Parliament; he or she also has a country house not far from London called Chequers. The Prime Minister can be changed if the MPs in the governing party decide to do so, or if he or she wishes to resign. More usually, the Prime Minister resigns when his or her party is defeated in a general election.

                  

                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQMZrKjwkmg&feature=channel   

                                           

    Gordon Brown is an ex Prime- Minister:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVOOtxTeeuo

    David Cameron is the Prime – Minister in power. The first Conservative Prime Minister in 13 years.

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc&feature=related

The Cabinet.

The Prime Minister appoints about 20 senior MPs to become ministers in charge of departments. These include the Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for the economy, the Home Secretary, responsible for law, order and immigration, the Foreign Secretary, and ministers (called ‘Secretaries of State’) for education, health and defence. The Lord Chancellor, who is the minister responsible for legal affairs, is also a member of the Cabinet but sat in the House of Lords rather than the House of Commons. Following legislation passed in 2005, it is now possible for the Lord Chancellor to sit in the Commons.  These ministers form the Cabinet, a small committee which usually meets weekly and makes important decisions about government policy which often then have to be debated or approved by Parliament.

                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZtLsyzhe4U

The Opposition.

The second largest party in the House of Commons is called the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition is the person who hopes to become Prime Minister if his or her party wins the next general election.

• The Leader of the Opposition leads his or her party in pointing out the government’s failures and weaknesses/
• One important opportunity to do this is at Prime Minister’s Questions which takes place every week while Parliament is sitting.
• The Leader of the Opposition also appoints senior Opposition MPs to lead the criticism of government ministers, and together they form the Shadow Cabinet.

 

                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmHt5UEL9sI  

                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsAa9VmwOaI&NR=1&feature=fvwp

                 

The party system.

Under the British system of parliamentary democracy, anyone can stand for election as an MP. These are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, or one of the parties representing Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish interests.

There are just a few MPs who do not represent any of the main political parties and are called ‘independents’. The main political parties actively seek members among ordinary voters to join their debates, contribute to their costs, and help at elections for Parliament or for local government; they have branches in most constituencies and they hold policy-making conferences every year.

  European parliamentary elections

 

Are also held every five years. There are 78 seats for representatives from the UK in the European Parliament and elected members are called Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Elections to the European Parliament use a system of proportional representation, whereby seats are allocated to each party in proportion to the total votes it won.

Elections in the UK:

  There must be a general election to elect MPs at least every five years, though they may be held sooner if the Prime Minister so decides. If an MP dies or resigns, there will be another election, called a by-election, in his or her constituency. MPs are elected through a system called ‘first past the post’. In each constituency, the candidate who gets the most votes is elected. The government is then formed by the party which wins the majority of constituencies. Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of 18.

 

• The Whips: The Whips are a small group of MPs appointed by their party leaders. They are responsible for discipline in their party and making sure MPs attend the House of Commons to vote. The Chief Whip often attends Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet meetings and arranges the schedule of proceedings in the House of Commons with the Speaker.

Who can vote?

The United Kingdom has had a fully democratic system:

• Since 1928, when women were allowed to vote at 21, the same age as men.
• The present voting age of 18 was set in 1969, and (with a few exceptions such as convicted prisoners) all UK-born and naturalised citizens have full civic rights, including the right to vote and do jury service.
• Citizens of the UK, the Commonwealth and the Irish Republic (if resident in the UK) can vote in all public elections. Citizens of EU states who are resident in the UK can vote in all elections except national parliamentary (general) elections.

In order to vote in a parliamentary, local or European election, you must have your name on the register of electors, known as the electoral register. An electoral registration form is sent to every household and it has to be completed and returned, with the names of everyone who is resident in the household and eligible to vote on 15 October.

                              

                                                            TOPICAL VOCABULARY:

 

 

Magna Charta  -  Великая хартия вольностей

revising - корректировка; изменение; исправление; пересмотр

Royal assent  королевская санкция

 Sparkler- бенгальский огонь

Bonfire- костёр

to burn in effigy [ ] — сжечь чьё-л. чучело на политической демонстрации

  nursery rhyme ] детский стишок или песенка

treason  [ государственная измена

plot заговор

Gunpowder Plot  "Пороховой заговор"

 constituency  [ избирательный округ

 chief officer главное должностное лицо

ceremonial occasions - официальныt случаи

hereditary [ передаваемый по наследству

life peer  пожизненный пэр

archbishop  [ ]архиепископ

bishop- епископ

Lord (High) Chancellor  лорд-канцлер (глава судебного ведомства и верховный судья Англии, председатель Палаты лордов и одного из отделений Верховного суда)

To undergo  [ подвергаться (чему-л.)

senior judge  старший судья

distinguished  [ выдающийся, знаменитый, известный, прославленный

amendment- поправка (к резолюции, законопроекту

 to overrule –отклонить. oтозвать. rail [ ]- перекладина

 Court of Appeal  апелляционный суд (в Англии)

 civil case  гражданское дело

 criminal case . уголовное дело

 lords of appeal судебные лорды, лорды-судьи

proceeding  [ судебный процесс

Supreme Court Верховный суд

Middlesex  [ ]

guildhall [ ]ратуша

resign  [ уходить в отставку, подавать в отставку; оставлять пост

to be defeated in the general election — потерпеть поражение на всеобщих выборах

the Chancellor of the Exchequer  министр финансов Великобритании канцлер казначейства

the Home Secretary министр внутренних дел

the Foreign Secretary министр иностранных дел

Secretary of State- министр, возглавляющий одно из семи министерств (в Англии

legal affairs — правовые вопросы

legislation  [ законопроект

 committee [ комитет, комиссия

general election  всеобщие выборы

to stand for election — выставлять свою кандидатуру, выступать в качестве кандидата на выборах;

Labour Party Лейбористская партия Whigs) виги (британская политическая партия, возникшая в 17 в.; в середине 19 в. объединилась с др. группировками и образовала Либеральную партию)

whig - либерал

the Conservative Party тори (английская политическая партия, возникла в 17 в., в 19 в. была преобразована в Консервативную партию Tory  [ ]

 to contribute [ ]делать пожертвования, взносы

branches- филиал

proportional representation  избирательная система пропорционального представительства

 by-election  дополнительные выборы в парламент

party whip, Chief Whip партийный организатор

to  naturalise  - принять в гражданство (об иностранце) electoral register списки избирателей

jury duty (service-  выполнение обязанностей присяжного) всеобщие выборы  popular election

 

 

 

 

 

Ex. 1. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.

1. A civil service     
2. Magna Charta 
3. revision(n)
4. Royal assent 
5. a Sparkler-
6. a Bonfire-
7. to burn an effigy
8. a treason (n)  
9. The Gunpowder Plot 
10. a constituency 
11. a chief officer
12. ceremonial occasions -
13. hereditary (adj)
14. a life peer 
15. an archbishop 
16. legal affairs
17. a legislation
18. A civil case 
19. A criminal case
20. lords of appeal
21. proceeding 
22. the Supreme Court
23. A guildhall
24. To resign 
25. to be defeated in the general election
26. the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
27. The Lord Chancellor 
28. To undergo 
29. the Home Secretary
30. the Foreign Secretary   
31. general election 
32. to have  a distinguished career in smth
33. the Shadow Cabinet
34. An amendment-
35. A life peer
36. to overrule
37. Court of Appeal 
38. An electoral register
39. to dismiss from jury duty (service) for personal reasons
40. The Secretary of State