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Give a general survey of the main 8 economic regions of the U.K., the main cities of each region. Expand on the role of the British EconomyToday Britain is no longer the leading industrial nation of the world, which it was during the last century. Today Britain is 5th in size of its gross domestic product(GDP).Britain's share in world trade is about 6%, which means that she is also the 5th largest trading nation in the world. Trade with the countries of the European Union, Commonwealth countries. British economy based on private enterprise. The policy of the government is aimed at encouraging & expanding the private sector. Result: 751 of the economy are controlled by the private sector which employs 3/4of the labour force. Less than 2% of working population is engaged in agriculture. Due to large-scale mechanization productivity in agriculture is very high: it supplies nearly 2/3 of the countries food. The general location of industry: 80% Of industrial production –England. In Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland level of industry is lower than in England. This gap between England & the outlying regions increased because of the decline of the traditional industries, which are heavily concentrating in Wales, N.Ireland, Scotland. GB may be divided into 8 economic regions: 1) the South industrial & agricultural region 2}the Midlands 3)Lancashire 4)Yorkshire 5)the North 6)Scotland 7) Wales & Northern Ireland SCOTLAND The Central Lowlands is industrial heart of Scotland. Glasgow is seaport (trade with North America). Textile and clothing production is important, food products, furniture (office equipment are manufactured, (blending at Scotch whisky. Edinburgh -textile, paper manufacture, printing and publishing. Aberdeen - north Sea oil; fishing industry. The natural conditions of Scotland have affected agriculture. The Central Lowlands -suited for canning, arable farming -in the east { barley, oats and wheat). In the Southern Uplands - sheep raising. Situated in the centre of GB between the South region and Lancashire Yorkshire. Leading industrial region. Engineering& finishing of metals. Often is called the Black Country due to its mass industrialization. Birmingham -tradition of making guns. Famous articles in gold & silver. Producer of consumer goods. Coventry - motor industry. Wolver Hampton - heavy engineering, tyre production. Leicester & Nottingham - the knitwear Industry & manufacture of knitting machines. Derby-important railway engineering centre. In the south-west -the Potteries, famous for its pottery and ceramics industry. Much of the region under grass. Dairy cattle -in the wetter west, beef cattle in the drier east. Sheep breeding. Principal crops -wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beet. Gardening. 2 major centres: Mersevside (centre-Liverpool): chemical industry, motor car industry) and Greater Manchester (Manchester - general engineering,) Due to extensive industrial development agriculture is less developed. THE NORTH 2 main centers: 1-in the north-east near the rivers Tyne, Hear and Tees (Newcastle-upon-Tyne); 2-in the north-vest in Cumberland (Working ton, Whitehaven). Most important is the North -East (electrical engineerings engineering connected with construction work for the production of North Sea oil). Industrial development in the North-West is less extensive than in the North-East. Abundance of water- building a nuclear power station, which needs plenty of water for cooling. Agriculture is affected by the wet climate. Sheep grazing. In the North-East --more beef cattle than dairy cattle. Includes: all the South of England, both the South-East & theSouth-West. London -centre of everything. Clothing, furniture-makings jewellery. London's industries-.electrical engineering/ instrument production, radio engineering, aircraft production, the motor-ear industry. London -centre of the service industries, tourism. The causes and consequences of the conflicts and divisions in Northern Ireland. The solution of the Northern Ireland issues in 2007. The formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly and of the coalition government in 2007. The problem of Northern Ireland is closely connected with religion because the Irish people can be divided into 2 religious groups: Catholic and Protestants. At the same time it as clear that the lighting between these 2 groups is closely connected with the colonial past, in 1169 Henry 2 of England started an invasion of Ireland. Although a large part of Ireland came under the control of the invaders, there wasn't much direct control from England during the middle ages. In the 16th century Henry 6 of England quarreled with Rome and declared himself Head of the Anglican Church, which was a protestant church. Ireland remained Catholic, and didn't accept the change. Henry 8 tried to force them to become Anglican. He also punished them by taking most of their land. This policy was continued by Elizabeth I. But the Irish Catholics never gave up their struggle for independence and their rights. At the end of the 18th century there was a mass rising against the English colonizers which was crushed by the English army and in 1801 a forced union was established with Britain. All through the 19th century the «Irish question" remained in the centre of British polities. After a long and bitter struggle the southern part of Ireland finally became a Free State in l921. Ulster where the protestants were in majority remained part of the UK. The Irish Free State declared itself a Republic in 1949 and is known as the Irish republic of Eire. It is completely independent and its capital is Dublin. Northern Ireland had its own Parliament at Stormont in Belfast and government which was responsible for its province’s life. But from the beginning the parliament was in the hands of Protestants while the Catholics didn’t have equal rights with the Protestants. In 1969 .conflict started between these 2 groups and so the British government closed the local parliament and sent in die British army to keep the peace. But there were no peace. On he Catholic side is the Irish Republic Army which wants to achieve a united reland by terrorism and bombings. On the Protestant side there are also secret terrorist organizations. The Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members was restored in 1998. Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held in November 2003.However many difficulties still exist to make this local parliament a workable body because of the confrontation between the parties representing the Protestant and Catholic communities. The Northern Ireland Assembly was established as part of the Belfast Agreement and meets in Parliament Buildings. The Assembly is the prime source of authority for all devolved responsibilities and has full legislative and executive authority. Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on the 7th March 2007 and the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored on the 8th of May 2007 14. Characterize the major political parties in the UK (Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats). The position of these parties in the House of Commons today. Great Britain has a Parliamentary government based on the party system. When the political parties began to form in the 18" century certain distinguished persons emerged as leaders. Before the 17th century, there were rival groups of nobles who might struggle for power, as in the WARS OF THE ROSES(1455-85) and there were representatives of different religious principles, but there were no political parties in the modern sense. During the Civil war 1640-1660} the division between the aristocratic supporters of the Anglican Church who fought for the King, and the middle-class Puritans who took the side of Parliament, reflected a difference in religious and political principles, as well as economic interests which prepared the way for future party distinctions. In the 19’’ century the two-party system reached its solid modern form. By the 20" century the two parties were the CONSERVATIVES and THE LIBERALS, direct descendants of the Tory and Whig Parties. The principal source and philosophy of the LABOUR Party was the FABIAN society, formed in 1884, though the party itself was founded much later. The group was led by such intellectuals as Bernard Shaw and Sydney Webb. The Fabians opposed the doctrine of class warfare and substituted evolution for revolution. The LABOUR Party adopted this doctrine. The LABOUR PARTY was founded in 1906. After the 1world war it proclaimed its socialist ideas, its socialist programme called for nationalization, equalities of wealth. Today the LABOUR PARTY advocates a mixed programme based on the platform of social-democratic reformism. It has abandoned nationalization and may be regarded as a party centre to the left. In 1997, 2001 and 2005 it won three consecutive general elections thus becoming a party of government with Tony Blair, its leader, becoming prime Minister. Membership of the party is also mixed, though the majority is members of trade unions. Despite the domination of the industrial workers the influence of the middle- and upper-class members of the party shouldn't be underestimated.
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY is the other chief party, it was officially formed in 1867 on the basis of political groups of the English landed aristocracy. In the course of its long existence it has inherited or adopted both political beliefs and political interests. One of the most important things it has accepted is the teachings of John Locke about government and about property. Locke taught that men naturally possess certain weighty rights, the chief being life, liberty and property. One of the characteristic concepts of the CONSERVATIVES is that the state must protect property; and that private property widely distributed is the best solution for society. The modern TORY concept of democracy includes social and economic reform, government responsibility for health, education and social security, and a certain measure of economic planning. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY has no official permanent programme. Before the general election the party issues a pre-election manifesto which states the main aspects of the home and foreign policies of the future Conservative government if the party wins the election. The members of the CONSERVATIVE PARTY come from various groups, although they are not easy to distinguish. Among them there are the country aristocracy consisting of big landowners, smaller farmers and businessmen in small towns and cities. There are also many working-class people who vote for CONSERVATIVE candidates because they believe in social reform.
As a result of the split in the LABOUR PARTY in 1981 a new party was formed, the SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY. The two parties acted together in one block in the elections of 1983 and 1987. In 1988 these two parties finally merged together under the name the SOCIAL-LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY or simply THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, which is the third most important political party in the country, though not as influential as each of the two noted above. The new party takes a centrist stand in the political life of the country. Its political platform remains vague; it reflects a diversity of views of the members of the two former parties. In the political system of Great Britain the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS occupy an intermediate position between the LABOUR and THE CONSERVATIVE parties and advocate social reforms. The social basis of the party is formed of the middle class intellectuals. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MINOR PARTIES in Great Britain: the SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY, THE WELSH NATIONAL PARTY. There are several political parties in NORTHERN IRELAND: THE ULSTER UNIONISTS (PROTESTANT and LOYALIST-loyal to London). THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC and LABOUR PARTY (catholic), The Ulster Democratic Unionists (Protestant Loyalists), the SINN FEIN (Irish for «We ourselves", catholic). Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1641
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