The Houses of Parliament

Great Britain is a monarchy, but the powers of the Queen are limited by the Parliament, which consists of two Chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Everything in the country officially is done in the name of the Queen (or King), but, in reality, the Prime Minister is responsible for the policy conducted by the Parliament. Peers sit in the House of Lords; in the House of Commons representatives of the people of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland take their seats.

The focal point in the Chamber of the House of Lords is the gilded Throne. The Queen enters the Palace of Westminster only on the day of the State Opening of Parliament at the beginning of a session. Crowned and wearing many of the finest Crown Jewels, she makes her peech from the Throne in the House of Lords.

Before the Throne in the House of Lords, and dividing the benches, is the Woolsack upon which the Lord Chancellor presides over the lords. By tradition the Woolsack is stuffed with wool from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and from Commonwealth countries. The Peers' benches, covered in red leather, are arranged in five rows on either side of the House. Members of the Government and their supporters are to the right of the Throne, and those of the Opposition to the left. The galleries are reserved for diplomats and distinguished strangers or guests, and reporters.

Before every sitting of the House of Commons, the Speaker wearing wig and gown walks in procession to the Chamber from his residence within the Royal Palace. The benches in the House of Commons are covered in green leather. The floor of the House is covered by a green carpet bearing on either side a red stripe, over which no Member may cross when addressing the House. The front bench on the Speaker's right is for the Prime Minister and the leading members of the Government. The Leader of Opposition and his supporters are on the Speaker's left.

The Party which obtains the majority of seats in the House is called the Government and the others the Opposition. The Opposition criticize the bills introduced by the Government.

The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

The Houses of Parliament are among the most admired buildings in Europe. They are also called the Palace of Westminster. The Palace of Westminster includes the House of Lords, the House of Commons, Westminster Hall, the Clock Tower, the Victoria Tower, various committee rooms, residences, offices, etc.

The famous clock Tower houses «Big Ben» - the clock named after Sir Benjamin Hall under whose direction the construction of the clock was conducted. People call the clock Big Ben, but the name really belongs to the bell on which the clock strikes the hours. A light at the top of the clock Tower shows when Parliament is sitting at night.

The most important part of a Prime Minister's job is Cabinet-making. The Prime Minister has considerable individual power to introduce and control policies and to change the Cabinet by appointing new ministers.

The Prime Minister lives and works in the official residence, No. 10 Downing Street, London. This is a large house in asmall street, where many of the departments have their offices, a very short distance from the Houses of ParEament.

Press in Britain.

Probably in no other country are there such great differences between the various national daily newspapers - in the type of news they report and the way they report it. On the one hand, there are the «quality» newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph. These concern themselves, as far as possible, with factual reports of major national and international events, with the world of politics and with arts and sport.

On the other hand, there are the «populars» and «tabloids», so-called because of their smaller size. The tabloids - the most widely read of which are The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, The Sun and TheDaily Star-concentrate on more emotive reporting of stories often featuring sex, violence, the Royal Family, film and pop stars, and sport. It is often said that the popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them.

The tabloid press is much more popular than the quality press.

In some countries, newspapers are owned by government or by political parties. This is not the case in Newspapers here are mostly owned by individuals or by publishing companies, and the editors of the papers arc usually allowed considerate freedom of expression. This is not to say that newspapers are without political bias. Papers like The Daily Telegraph,The Daily Express and The Sun, for example, usually reflect Conservative opinions in their comment and reporting, while the Daily Mirror and The Guardian have a more left-wing bias.

In addition to the 12 national daily newspapers there are nine national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the «Sundays» contain more reading matter than daily papers, and several of them also include «colour supplements» - separate colour magazines which contain photographically-illustrated feature articles. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British households.

Besides, nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers.

The British are one of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world.

London

London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom situated on the Thames river, the largest city in Britain and one of the largest cities in the world.

From the earliest times the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes and the Normans settled there in turn. With the passing years London continued to grow in importance and prosperity. The existence of London depended on its water-bom trade which still makes London one of the world's largest ports. Historical and geographical circumstances have turned London into one of the world's most important commercial and cultural centres. The first mayor of London was elected in 1193, but for more than a thousand years before that London had been a place of some importance.

London survived the Plague, which killed nearly 70. 000 people, and the Great Fire which followed. Little damage occured during World War I, but World War II brought tremendous destruction to the city: a great number of buildings of historic value were laid in ruins. Yet much was spared, including the Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey which remain the major tourist attractions of the city.

London manages in a unique way to reflect the past and, at the same time, to live a life of a modern city. There is always something new to be discovered, some fresh approach to a familiar scene, some curious piece of life in the city where the old and the new exist side by side in mutual tolerance and respect.

There are two main districts of London - the West End and the East End. These are not merely geographical names. The West End consists of the fashionable houses of the rich, art galleries, famous museums, theatres, palaces and parks. The East End is still a poorer district full of factories and plants; it is a district were poorer people live too, though it can no longer be called a district of the poor as housing conditions have improved.

Piccadilly is a fashionable shopping centre. Its famous fountain with a statue of Eros, the Greek god of love, attracts crowds of tourists.

There are many public parks in London; Hyde Park, Regent Park, Kengsington Gardens, to name only a few. Hyde Park is Londoners¹ favourite resting place, where crowds of people may be seen in the «Speaker's Corner» listening to Hyde Park speakers. During the day a lot of people sit on green grass lawns eating sandwiches, drinking beer or soft drinks and talking and having rest, some In the shade, some in the sunshine. Not only in Hyde Park, all along the Thames side gardens peoples are resting, taking their midday «Breath of air». Everything is still and peaceful around. You could hardly imagine that an enormous city with its traffic and noise is but a few paces away.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2258