Political System of Great Britain

The United Kingdom, the British Isles and England

The United Kingdom (or Great Britain) is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. Their total area is over 244.000 square kilometres.

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland (on the island of Great Britain), and Northern Ireland (on the island of Ireland). Their capitals are London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Belfast respectively. The capital of the UK is London.

The British Isles are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called the Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands. The north and west of England are mountainous, but all the rest cast, centre, and south-east — is a vast plain. Mountains are not \ ei \ high. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain (1.343 m).

There are a lot of rivers in Great Britain, hut they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest one.

The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, and the warm waters of Gulf Stream influence on the climate of the British Isles. It is mild the whole year round.

The UK is one of the world's smallest countries. Its population is over 57 million. About 80 % of the population is urban.

The UK is a highly developed industrial country. It is known as one of the world's largest producers and exporters of machinery, electronics, textile, aircraft, and navigation equipment. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy. In law, Head of the State is Queen. In practice, Queen reigns, but does not rule. The country is ruled by the elected government with the Prime Minister at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

There are three main political parties in Great Britain: the Labour, the Conservative, and the Liberal parties.

Industry

Iron ore is mined in Northamptonshire and Humberside.

Cornwall is the only county in England that provides the nation with tin ore.

Sand, gravel, widely available, provide raw materials for the construction industry.

Clay and salt are found in the northwestern England, and china clay is available in Cornwall.

More than two-thirds of those employed in England work in the service industries.

London is a major financial, banking, and insurance centre.

Cambridge, Ipswich, and Norwich are important service and high-tech centres.

Nearly a quarter of England's workers are employed in manufacturing. Major industries located in the northern counties include food processing, brewing, and the manufacture of chemicals, textiles, computers, automobiles, aircraft, clothing, glass, and paper products.

Leading industries in southeastern England are' pharmaceuticals, computers, microelectronics, aircraft parts, and automobiles.

England produces 90 % of Britain's coal.

 

London is the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, situated on both sides of the Thames River; it's the political, financial, commercial, industrial, and cultural centre of Great Britain. It is the largest city in Europe with the total population of about 8 million people (over 12 million with the suburbs). About one fifth of the total population of the UK lives in Greater London, that is in London with its suburbs.

London is home for the headquarters of all government departments, Parliament, the monarch and all the major legal institutions. It's the country's business and banking centre and the centre of its transport network. It contains the headquarters of national television networks and of all the national newspapers. The financial services sector is a major source of overall employment in London.

Consumer goods, clothing, precision instruments, jewelry, and stationery are produced in London, but manufacturing has lost a number of jobs in the once-dominant textile, furniture, printing, and chemical-processing industries as firms have moved outside the area. Engineering and scientific research are also important to the economy, as is tourism. The city is a centre for road, rail, and air (its airports include Heathrow and Gatwick), and it is now linked to the Continent by a high-speed rail line under the English Channel. London still remains one of the world's greatest ports. It exports manufactured goods and imports petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar, timber, butter, metals, and meat.

The original walled city of London (then Londinium) founded by Romans was quite small. In the Middle Ages it did not contain the Parliament or the royal Court, because it would have interfered with the interests of the merchants and traders living there. It was in Westminster, another city outside London's walls, that these national institutions met. Today, both 'cities' are just two areas in Central London. The City is London's commercial centre; it is also referred to as the "Square Mile of Money' because of its area. The Bank of England, Lloyd's, the stock exchange, the Royal Exchange and numerous other banks and investment companies have their headquarters there. The City of Westminster contains London's most famous tourist attractions: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and so on.

Other well-known areas of London include the West End and the East End. The former is one of the main tourist attractions of London, where Buckingham Palace and quite a number of world-famous museums are located. It is famous, too, for its theatres, luxurious hotels and restaurants, and expensive shops. The latter is known as a poorer residential area of London.

Central London makes up only a very small part of Greater London. The majority of Londoners live in its suburbs, millions of them commuting into the centre every day to work.

London is a cosmopolitan city. People of several races and many nationalities live there. A survey carried out in the 90s found that 137 different languages were spoken in the homes of just one district of London.

London is not only the political, financial and manufacturing centre of Great Britain. It is the main tourist attraction of the country, too. London's many places of interest attract thousands of tourists every year. Tourists usually want to see Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London.

Westminster is now the political centre of London. In the 11th century king Edward the Confessor decided to build a great abbey church there. Now there are royal tombs in the Abbey, as well as memorials to Britain's famous people, including memorials to writers, poets and musicians in the Poets' Corner. William the Conqueror was crowned there, and since then all the coronations have been held in the Abbey. The Palace of Westminster was built, too, during the reign of Edward the Confessor. It was the royal residence and the country's main court. The Parliament met there since the 16th till the 19th century. The present Houses of Parliament were built after the fire in the Palace of Westminster in 1834. St. Stephen's Tower of the Houses of Parliament contains the famous Big Ben.

Buckingham palace is the Queen's official London residence. Londoners usually watch the Changing of the Guards in the forefront of the Palace, lasting about 30 minutes. St. Paul's Cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece built from 1675 to 1709. It is crowned with a huge dome; inside the dome there is the famous Whispering Gallery. Inside the cathedral there are many memorials, including memorials to Wellington and Nelson. The Tower of London is associated with many important events in British history. It used to be a fortress, a palace, a mint and a prison famous for its prisoners (like Sir Thomas More and Guy Fawkes). The Tower is guarded by 'Beefeaters', the Yeomen guards.

Bond and Regent streets and Covent Garden are noted for their shops. London's most famous parks include Hyde Park with its Speaker's Corner, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park with the London Zoo, and St. James's Park.

London is noted for its museums and art galleries which include the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of the Moving Image, Madame Tusseaud's Museum and many others. London also has numerous commercial art galleries and plays a major role in the international art market. The British Library, one of the world's great libraries, is located in London.

The city is rich in other artistic and cultural activities. Its approximately 100 theatre companies reflect the importance of drama, and it has several world-class orchestras, a well-known opera house, performance halls, and clubs.

 

Political System of Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. It means that the sovereign reigns but does not rule.

Britain does not have a written constitution, but a set of laws.

Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Technically Parliament is made up of three parts: the Monarch, the House of Lords; and the House of Commons. In reality the House of Commons is the only one of the three which has true power.

The monarch serves formally as head of state. But the monarch is expected to be politically neutral and should not make political decisions.

The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II. She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.

The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament. There are 650 of them in the House of Commons. They are elected by secret ballot. General elections are held every five years. The country is divided into 650 constituencies. All citizens, aged 18 and registered in a constituency, have the right to vote. But voting is not compulsory in Britain. Only persons convicted of corrupt and certain mentally ill patients don't take part in voting.

There are few political parties in Britain thanks to the British electoral system. The main ones are: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal / Social Democratic Alliance.

Each political party puts up one candidate for each constituency. The one who wins the most votes is elected MP for that area.

The party which wins the most seats in Parliament forms the Government. Its leader becomes the Prime Minister. His first job is to choose his Cabinet. The Prime Minister usually takes policy decisions with the agreement of the Cabinet.

The functions of the House of Commons are legislation and scrutiny of government activities. The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. The Speaker is appointed by the Government.

The House of Lords comprises about 1,200 peers. It is presided by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has no real power. It acts rather as an advisory council.
It's in the House of Commons that new bills are introduced and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of a bill, it goes to the House of Lords to be debated. The House of Lords has the right to reject a new bill twice.

But after two rejections they are obliged to accept it. And finally a bill goes to the monarch to be signed. Only then it becomes law.

Parliament is responsible for British national policy. Local governments are responsible for organizing of education, police and many others.

 

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is one of the most imposing and popular of London's historical sites. It comprises not one, but 20 towers. The oldest of which, the White Tower, dates back to the llth century and the time of William the Conqueror. Nowadays a lot of tourists visit the Tower of London, because of the Tower's evil reputation as a prison. The Tower is famous as home of the Crown Jewels. Today they can be viewed in their new jewel house. They include the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother which contains the celebrated Indian diamond.

Many stories associated with British history come from the Tower. In 1483 King Edward IV's two sons were murdered in the so-called Bloody Tower. Over two centuries later the skeletons of two little boys were found buried beneath steps in the White Tower.

Traitor's Gate has steps leading down to the River Thames. Countless prisoners, including the future Queen Elizabeth I of England, were brought to the Tower by barge and ascended the steps before being imprisoned. For many it was their last moment of freedom before their death. But Elizabeth was released from the Tower and became Queen. The King's second wife, Anne Boleyn, was brought to trial there in 1536 and beheaded. Six years later her cousin, Catherine, Henry VIII's fifth wife, suffered the same fate. Sir Thomas More was beheaded there in 1535.

Of course, no visit to the Tower would be complete without seeing the ravens; huge black birds who are an official part of the Tower community. Legend states that if the ravens were to leave the Tower the Crown will fall, and Britain with it. Under the special care of the Raven Master, the ravens are fed a daily diet of raw meat. And there is no danger of them flying away, because their wings are clipped.