The British Parliament

The British Parliament is the oldest in the world. It originated in the 12th century as Witenagemot, the body of wise councillors to consult the King in 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. The party 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 parliament and the monarch have different roles in the goverment and they only meet together on symbolic occasions, such as coronation of a new monarch or the opening of the parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the one of three which has true power. The House of Commons is made up of six hundred and fifty elected members, it is presided over by the speaker, a member acceptable to the whole house. MPs sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other for the opposition. The first 2 rows of seats are occupied by the leading members of both parties (called "front benches") The back benches belong to the rank-and-life MPs. Each session of the House of Commons lasts for 160-175 days. Parliament has intervals during his work. MPs are paid for their parliamentary work and have to attend the sittings. As mention above, the House of Commons plays the major role in law making. The procedure is the following: a proposed law ("a bill") has to go through three stages in order to become an act of parliament, these are called "readings". The first reading is a formality and is simply the publication of the proposal. The second reading involves debate on the principles of the bill, it is examination by parliamentary committy. And the third reading is a report stage, when the work of the committy is reported on to the house. This is usually the most important stage in the process. When the bill passes through the House of Commons, it is sent to the House of Lords for discussion, when the Lords agree it, the bill is taken to the Queen for royal assent, when the Queen sings the bill, it becomes act of the Parliament and the Law of the Land. The House of Lords has more than 1000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in the work in the house. Members of this Upper House are not elected, they sit there because of their rank, the chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor. And he sits on a special seat, called "Wool Sack." The members of the House of Lords debate the bill after it has been passed by the House of Commons. Some changes may be recommended and the agreement between the two houses is reached by negotiations.

The City is the heart of London, its commercial and business part. Numerous banks, offices, firms and trusts are concentrated there. The area of the City is about a square mile. It is an area with a long and exciting history, and it is proud of independence and traditional role as a centre of trade and commerce. The City does not refer to the whole of central London but rather to a small area east of the centre, which includes the site of the original Roman town.

The City of London is one of the major banking centres of the world and one can find the banks of many nations here. Here, too, you can find the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and Lloyds, the most famous insurance company in the world.

Only five thousand people live in the City. Before and after the business hours the streets of the City are crowded with more than a million people who come there to work.The East End used to be a purely working district where working-class families lived. We still can find a great number of factories, workshops and docks there. But now the docks are being renovated. For example, St. Katharine's Dock, close to Tower Bridge, is now an attractive marina surrounded by wine bars and restaurants.The East End is in many ways the "real" London. Those who live in the East End are often called Cockneys, i. e. true Londoners. They have got their own peculiar dialect and accent.The Thames is a natural boundary between the West End and the East End of London.Anyone visiting London for the first time and walking along the Thames Embankment may be surprised to see an original Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle. It actually has little to do with Cleopatra at all. It has this name because it was brought to London from Alexandria, the royal city of Cleopatra.On the south bank of the river Thames there is the South Bank Arts Centre which comprises the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall as well as MOMI (the Museum of the Moving Image), which traces the story of film and TV technology. Nearby isQueen Victoria Theatre (the Old Vic), one of London's best known theatres. It is one of the leading theatres of the capital.he West End it is not far from the City and is a part of Westminster. Life never stops in the streets and squares here. The West End is a symbol of wealth and luxury. The best hotels, the most expensive restaurants, clubs, theatres, cinemas, casinos, shops and supermarkets are located here. It is also full of museums and art galleries.The parks are probably the main attraction of the West End. They occupy the most part of its territory. They say, if gardens and parks are "lungs" of a city, Londoners must have good health. There are many lawns in the parks where people lie or sit about.They say it is not difficult to make a real English lawn: one should mow and water it every day for one hundred years and the lawn is ready! Easy, isn't it?Hyde Park is the largest and the most popular of the London parks. This park is famous for its Speaker's Corner which attracts a lot of tourists. Here people of different beliefs and persuasions can say what they want for those who want to hear it. Marble Arch is also here. It was built to commemorate Lord Wellington's victory over Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo.Next to Hyde Park there is the famous luxury department store which is calledHarrods.Kensington Gardens is also one of the biggest parks.St. James's Park is one of the royal parks. Here you can see pelicans called "Royal Pelicans". It is located right next to Buckingham Palace.The Regent's Park is famous for London Zoo which is considered to be one of the biggest zoos in the world.Piccadilly Circus is the heart of the West End and is the centre of entertainment. It is a famous square which is a meeting point of six streets. It is called "circus" because of its shape. In the middle of Piccadilly Circus there is a graceful statue of Eros. Piccadilly Circus is beautiful with enormous advertisments.Soho is one of the districts located in the West End (between Regent Street and Charring Cross). The legend goes that in old days there were green fields in this place which were good for fox-hunting. When a hunter saw a fox, he cried to the dogs "So-ho!" and they rushed after the fox. Now the district of Soho is famous for its remarkable restaurants, pubs and night clubs.There are some other famous streets.Harley Street is the street where the highest paid doctors live.Regent Street is best for shopping.Charring Cross is a famous street of bookstores.Oxford Street is considered to be the busiest street in London.The West End is also very popular for its museums.The British Museum is the best-known national museum of antiquities and ethnography. It is famous for its library and reading halls.The Tate Picture Gallery on Millbank is another famous museum. It is the redeveloped bankside Power Station. Its collection contains pictures by English masters of the 19th century and the works of West European classics and modern artists (Picasso, Monet and Warhol).

Additional major English-speaking countries can also be found in the Caribbean and Pacific. Former American and British colonies include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belau, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Federation of Micronesia, Grenada, Guam, Guyana, Jamaica, Johnston, Montserrat, Northern Marianas, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. Though these islands are small, they are culturally and linguistically tied to the UK or USA. A number of countries use English as an official language as a unifying force despite the influence of major local languages in countries such as Botswana, Fiji, Ghana, Kenya, India, Hong Kong, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia. English may also be a widely-used unofficial language, as is the case in Bangladesh

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 942