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The elections for members of Parliament in the autumn of 1774, satisfied the ministry that they were strong in the affections of the people. The king was jubilant because of the result, and the government was not in a frame of mind to receive with complacency the state-papers put forth by the Continental Congress, especially the petition to the king. In September Gage had written to Dartmouth a truthful statement of the condition of affairs in the colonies, and especially in Massachusetts. It was a letter that gave that minister great concern.
Introduction
The British Parliament
Conclusion
Bibliography
The British Parliament
Conclusion
Bibliography
The elections for members of Parliament in the autumn of 1774, satisfied the ministry that they were strong in the affections of the people. The king was jubilant because of the result, and the government was not in a frame of mind to receive with complacency the state-papers put forth by the Continental Congress, especially the petition to the king. In September Gage had written to Dartmouth a truthful statement of the condition of affairs in the colonies, and especially in Massachusetts. It was a letter that gave that minister great concern. Gage declared that the act of Parliament for regulating the government of Massachusetts could not be carried into effect until the The British Parliament is the oldest in the world. It originated in th 12th century as Witenagemot, the body of wise councellers whom the King needed to consult pursuing his policy. The British Parliament consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons and the Queen as its head. The House of Commons plays the major role in law-making. It consists of Members of Parliament (called MPs for short). Each of them represents an area in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. MPs are elected either at a general election or at a by-election following the death or retirement. Parliamentary elections are held every 5 years and it is the Prime Minister who decides on the exact day of the election. The minimum voting age is 18. And the voting is taken by secret ballot. The election campaign lasts about 3 weeks, The British parliamentary system depends on politicals parties. Theparty which wins the majority of seats forms the goverment and its leader usually becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chooses about 20 MPs from his party to become the cabinet of ministers. Each minister is responsible for a particular area in the goverment. The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and "shadow cabinet". The leader of the opposition is a recognized post in the House of Commons.
The British Parliament
Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch as its Head of the State. The monarch reigns with the support of Parliament. The powers of the monarch are not defined precisely. Everything today is done in the Queen’s name. It is her government, her armed forces, her law courts and so on. She appoints all the Ministers, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done however on the advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the decision-making process.
Once the British Empire included a large number of countries all over the world ruled by Britain. The process of decolonisation began in 1947 with the independence of India, Pakistan and Ceylon. Now there is no Empire and only few small islands belong to Britain. In 1997 the last colony, Hong Kong, was given to China. But the British ruling classes tried not to lose influence over the former colonies of the British Empire. An association of former members of the British Empire and Britain was founded in 1949. It is called the Commonwealth. It includes many countries such as Ireland, Burma, the Sudan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others. The Queen of Great Britain is also a Head of the Commonwealth, and also the Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand...
The British Constitution. The British Constitution is to a large extent a product of many historical events and has thus evolved aver many centuries. Unlike the constitutions of most other countries, it is not set out in any single document. Instead it is made up of statute law, common law and conventions. The constitution can be change by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention.
The Monarchy in Britain. When the Queen was born on 21 April 1926, her grandfather, King George V, was on the throne and her uncle was his heir. The death of her grandfather and the abdication of her uncle (King Edward VIII) brought her father to the throne in 1936 as King George VI. Elizabeth II came to the throne an 6 February 1952 and was crowned on 2 June 1953. Since then she made many trips to different countries and to the UK also. The Queen is very rich, as are others members of the royal family. In addition, the government pays for her expenses as Head of the State, for a royal yacht, train and aircraft as well as for the upkeep of several palaces. The Queen’s image appears on stamps, notes and coins.
The Powers of Parliament. The three elements, which make up Parliament –the Queen, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons –, are constituted on different principles. They meet together only on occasions of symbolic significance such as the State Opening of Parliament, when the Commons are invited by the Queen to the House of Lords.
Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Parliament and the monarch have different roles in the government of the country, and they only meet together on symbolic occasions such as coronation of a new monarch or the opening of Parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the only one of the three which is true power. It is here that new bills are introduced and debated. If the majority of the members aren’t in favour of a bill it goes to the House of Lords to be debated and finally to the monarch to be signed. Only than it becomes law. Although a bill must be supported by all three bodies, the House of Lords only has limited powers, and the monarch hasn’t refused to sign one.
The Functions of Parliament. The main functions of Parliament are: to pass laws; to provide, by voting taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government; to scrutinise government policy and administration; to debate the major issues of the day. In carrying out these functions Parliament helps to bring the relevant facts and issues before the electorate. By custom, Parliament is also informed before all-important international treaties and agreements are ratified.
A Parliament has a maximum duration of five years, but in practice general elections are usually held before the end of this term. Parliament is dissolved and rights for a general election are ordered by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. The life of a Parliament is divided into sessions. Each usually lasts for one year – normally beginning and ending in October or November. The adverse number of "sitting" days in a session is about 168 in the House of Commons and about 150 in the House of Lords. At the start of each session the Queen's speech to Parliament outlines the Government’s policies and proposed legislative programme.
The House of Commons. The House of Commons is elected and consists of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs). At present there are 60 women, three Asian and three black Mps. Of the 651 seats, 524 are for England, 38 for Wales, 72 for Scotland, and 17 for Northern Ireland. Members are paid an annual salary of ‡30,854. The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by the MPs to preside over the House. The House of Commons plays the major role in law making.
MPs sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other for the opposition. Parliament has intervals during its work. MPs are paid for their parliamentary work and have to attend the sittings. MPs have to catch the Speaker's eye when they want to speak, then they rise from where they have been sitting to address the House and must do so without either reading a prepared speech or consulting notes.
The House of Lords. The House of Lords consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the 24 next most senior bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal consist of: all hereditary peers of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom; all other life peers. Peerages, both hereditary and life, are created by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. They are usually granted in recognition of service in politics or other walks of life. In 1992 there were 1,211 members of the House of Lords, including the two archbishops and 24 bishops. The Lords Temporal consisted of 758 hereditary peers and 408 life peers. The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who takes his place on the woolsack as the Speaker of the House.
The division of Parliament into two Houses goes back over some 700 years when feudal assembly ruled the country. In modern times, real political power rests in the elected House although members of the House of Lords still occupy important cabinet posts.
The Political Party System. The present political system depends upon the existence of organised political parties, each of which presents its policies to the electorate for approval. The parties are not registered or formally recognised in law, but in practice most candidates in elections, and almost all winning candidates, belong to one of' the main parties.
For the last 150 years there were only 2 parties: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. A new party – the Liberal Democrats – was formed in 1988. Social Democratic Party is also the new one founded in 1981. Other parties include two nationalist parties, Plaid Cymru (founded in Wales in 1925) and the Scottish National Party (founded in 1934).
The effectiveness of the party system in Parliament rests largely on the relationship between the Government and the Opposition parties. Depending on the relative strengths of the parties in the House of Commons, the Opposition may seek to overthrow the Government by defeating it in a vote on a "matter of confidence". In general, however, its aims are to contribute to the formation of policy and legislation by constructive criticism; to oppose government proposal - it considers objectionable; to seek amendments to government bills; and to put forward its own policies in order to improve its chances of winning the next general election.
Because of the electoral method in use, only two major parties obtain seats in the House of Commons. People belonging to smaller political parties join one of the larger parties and work from within to make their influence felt. The exception to this are members of the Scottish National and Welsh Nationalist Parties, who, because their influence votes are concentrated in specific geographical areas, can manage to win seats although their total support is relatively small.
Her Majesty's Government: Prime Minister, the Cabinet. Her Majesty's Government is the body of ministers responsible for the administration of national affairs. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen, and all other ministers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Most ministers are members of the Commons, although the Government is also fully represented by ministers in the Lords. The composition of governments can vary both in the number of ministers and in the titles of some offices. New ministerial offices may be created, others may be abolished and functions may be transferred from one minister to another.
The Prime Minister is also, by tradition, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. The Prime Minister’s unique position of authority derives from majority support in the House of Commons and from the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. By modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for the allocation of functions among ministers and informs the Queen at regular meetings of the general business of the Government. The Prime Minister's Office is situated at 11 Downing Street.
The Cabinet is composed of about 20 ministers chosen by the Prime Minister. The functions of the Cabinet are initiating and deciding on policy, the supreme control of government and the co-ordination of government departments. The exercise of these functions is vitally affected by the fact that the Cabinet is a group of party representatives, depending upon majority support in the House of Commons. The Cabinet meets in private and its proceedings are confidential. Its members are bound by their oath as Privy Counsellors not to disclose information about its proceedings, although after 30 years Cabinet papers may be made available for inspection.
So Great Britain is the constitutional monarchy. Monarch is the Head of the State. But Queen or King rules with the support of the parliament. And practically monarch have no real political power. The main political decisions are made by the Parliament and Cabinet. And the House of Commons are more powerful.
On Tuesday evening the Labor government in Britain secured a massive parliamentary majority for military action against Iraq. Despite claims that Britain was pursuing all diplomatic channels, the government's motion made clear that the end result would be air strikes. In moving it, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook went so far as to warn of a nuclear attack on Baghdad.
Only 25 MPs voted against the government--mainly from the left wing of the Labour Party, as well as three Welsh nationalists.
Overall the occasion was a breathtaking exercise in cynicism. The result of the only debate on war that will be called in the "mother of all parliaments" was a foregone conclusion. Its sole purpose was to pronounce a final benediction on the weeks of war preparations by the British establishment and its media.
The proceedings were a travesty of the democratic process. A proposed amendment by Labour MPs Tony Benn and Tam Dalyell calling for opposition to "any military action not explicitly authorized by the (UN) Security Council" was rejected by the Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, and could not be voted on.
In contrast, a Tory amendment that "fully supports the resolve of the government to use all necessary means to achieve an outcome consistent with" UN resolutions was accepted by the Blair government and incorporated into its resolution.
Labor, Tory and Liberal Democrat politicians rose up to proclaim their unanimity with the British and American stance. John Major, Tory Prime Minister during the last Gulf War, backed the government and called for "massive retaliation if Iraq attacked a third country like Israel."
This elicited Cook's threat of a nuclear strike in the event of Saddam Hussein using chemical weapons. The base level of discussion was exemplified when Cook said the threat of retaliation with chemical and biological weapons by Hussein was "low," but that such an outcome would prove that Iraq possesses such weapons.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Howard was questioned on the fact that Iraq's chemical weapons program was developed with the previous Tory government's assistance. He replied that it was often very difficult to distinguish between chemical materials that could be used in medicine and those which could be turned into weapons.
In fact, the Tory government was never in any doubt that it was supplying arms to Iraq. Moreover, Howard's defense of past British policy toward Iraq belies the current justification for military strikes, which is based on the claim that virtually every chemical substance held by Iraq can be used for the creation of "weapons of mass destruction."
In their speeches and proposed amendments the government's opponents confined themselves to a timid appeal for military action to be made contingent on official sanction from the United Nations Security Council. Benn said, "It would be the greatest betrayal of all if we voted to abandon the (UN) Charter and take unilateral action."
Benn knows full well that the UN is hardly a vehicle for opposing military action, and that the last Gulf War took place under its auspices. One of his concerns is that Britain's own strategic interests are being damaged through Labor's subordination to a US agenda.
At an earlier point he cited the danger of damaging political repercussions at home, saying, "I fear that this could end in a tragedy even for the American and British governments. Suez and Vietnam are not far from the minds of anyone who has any sense of history."
Conclusion
The British parliament is made up of two chambers, the lower house (House of Commons) and a upper house (House of Lords). Elected representatives (MPs) from the ruling and opposition parties sit in the lower house. On the government benches a distinction is made between those holding public office and those that do not (the backbenchers). The leader of opposition receives a state salary and is known as "Her Majesty's Leader of the Opposition". Parliamentary sessions are ruled over by the speaker, who is chosen out of the centre of parliament by parliament. The speaker is not always a member of the ruling party, for even the government's own backbenchers are keen to make sure that the office of speaker is performed in the interests of all Members of Parliament and not only those of the government.
As in other democracies, the social composition of the lower house does not reflect that of the population. Most MPs are aged between 40 and 60 and male. In 1997 the number of women MPs doubled to 120 (101 Labour, 13 Conservatives, 3 Liberal Democrats; two members of the Scottish National Party and the speaker; Betty Boothroyd, Labour). All in all, 18 percent of MPs. The number of MPs with a university education increased across all parties in 1997 (66 percent in the Labour Party, 81 percent in the Conservative Party and 70 percent of Liberal Democrats). People with a middle class background dominate all parliamentary parties. As far as the professions are concerned, the Labour Party boasts a high number of teachers, the Conservatives lawyers. As for the economy, the parliamentary Labour Party can draw on salaried workers and regular workers, while the Conservative Party is represented mainly by company directors.
The job of Parliament
The main task of parliament is legislating and controlling the government. The role of the opposition is limited in both of these areas. The government largely sets the agenda, its members make up the majority of parliament and hold the chairmanship of most committees, as well as determining the amount of time to be spent discussing proposed laws in Parliament. Individual MPs have hardly any personnel. There is a lack of space and information. For these reasons the opposition sees its role as one of criticizing the government and portraying itself as a government in waiting. It appoints members to a shadow cabinet, who are responsible for challenging their government counterparts. The opposition is hardly in a position to play a constructive role in the making of legislation and this is not expected form it.
Parliamentary committees are set up ad hoc to offer advice and amendments to proposed legislation. They meet following the second or third reading of a proposed law in Parliament either as a small group of MPs or as a committee of the whole house. In the case of the latter, the speaker leaves his/her chair and Parliament is turned into a giant committee. The opposition is allowed to set the agenda for 20 parliamentary sessions per year, especially in connection with the budget. There are also written and verbal opportunities of control in the form of questions and debate with government ministers during question time.
In Great Britain, committees of experts are formed to help ministers with their work, but these work outside of the legislative process. These follow the workings of their ministries and compile reports on current issues. The efficiency of these committees, however, is limited. This is because direct control by the ruling party makes them largely dependent on the willingness of government to provide the necessary information. The right of the government to withhold inside information from Parliament and the public and to instigate legal proceedings against those leaking information has been a tool used widely in the past. Tony Blair's declared aim was to make government more transparent. The planned Freedom of Information Act is aimed at improving access to government information for individual citizens, and might help expert committees (select committees) to perform their political control function more effectively in future.
Bibliography