The other parties

There are other political parties within the UK. The Green party offers economic and industrial policies that relate directly to the environment. The Scottish Nationalist Party wants independence for Scotland within the European Community. Plaid Cymru - the Welsh Nationalist Party - is determined to preserve the Welsh language and culture as the foundation of a distinctive Welsh identity within the UK. Its radical wing has resorted to arson attempts as a means of protest.

The Protestant community in Northern Ireland is represented at Westminster by MPs who are in favour of the maintenance of Northern Ireland as part of the UK. They belong to the Ulster Unionist, the Ulster Popular Unionist and the Ulster Democratic Unionist parties. The Catholic minority are represented by the SDLP: the Social Democratic Labour Party. Provisional Sinn Fein are the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (the IRA), who campaign openly, sometimes by force, for the withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland.

17..Religion has always-played an important part in the national way of life and this is still true today. There is a complete religious freedom in the UK. There are two established churches: in England the church of England(Anglican) and in Scotland the church of Scotland(Presbyterian). The church of England is the national church, it was formed in 1534 by king Henry 8. Who broke away from the church of Rome and declared himself Head of the church of England. But many people considered the church of England too much like the catholic church that it hadn't moved far enough away from the church of Rome. They became known as Puritans, because they wanted pure and simple church. They broke away from the church of England and formed their own churches-The Free of Nonconformist churches. All the main free churches-Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical, salvation army are very simple, as well as their services. They don't have archbishops or bishops. In 1603 the Puritans were persecuted by James 1. The Puritans believed that all worldly pleasures were ungodly. In the 17^th century disgusted by the wickedness of the Old World, a small group of them, the Pilgrims, sailed away to found a new godly society in the New World. And Puritanism still remains strong on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, though it no longer has much influence on young people. British monarchs still bear the title of the Head of the Church of England, as well as the title of Defender of the Faith. The Church of England has two Archbishops-the archbishop of Canterbury, the church's leader, and the Archbishop of York, and the 24 senior bishops who sit in the House of Lords, after them come the remaining 18 bishops. The central governing body of the Church of England is the Central Synod. England is divided into several dozens of districts, called dioceses. Each diocese has a cathedral and is headed by a bishop. It’s divided into parishes headed by the vicar, who often has an assistant, called a curate.
The Presbyterian Church is the established church of Scotland. It’s completely separate from the Anglican Church. It has government by elders, all of equal rank. Presbyterianism is a severe form of Protestantism. The church of Sc. Is powerful and its influence is rather puritanical. Each church is governed locally by the Kirk Session, consisting of the priest and the elected elders of the church. The highest body is the General Assembly, consisting of elected clergy and elders.
In Wales most of the people belong to the Free Churches. 2/3 of the population of NI are members of the Anglican Church and Free, or Protestant Churches, the remaining part constitutes the Catholic minority.
The leader of the-Catholic Church in Britain is the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. All the UK is divided into 7 catholic provinces, controlled by an archbishop. There are about 6 million Catholics in Britain.
There are Christian communities of foreign origin like the Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed churches of various European countries, which have their centers of worship. Great Britain contains adherents of practically even world religion who are free to practice their particular beliefs in a Tolerant and free society.