2020-10-12
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The system of government:
The crown
G.B. is parliamentary monarchy. The head of the state is the King or Queen. The power of the monarch is not absolute but constitutional. The monarch acts only on the advice of the ministers. The hereditary principle upon which the monarchy is founded is strictly observed. The now reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth 2 is the descendant of the Saxon King Egbert, The monarch, be it king or queen, is the head of executive body, an integral part of legislature, the head of judicial body, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the crown, the head of the established church of England and the head of the British Commonwealth nations.
Westminster – the seat of Parliament
The houses of Parliament occupy a magnificent building on the left bank of the Thames in a part of London called Westminster, that has been long connected with royalty and government. This palace was built in 11th century by King Edward the Confessor beside the river Thames. His successors made the palace their main residence. Westminster became the center of government. Opposite the houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey which has stood there since Saxon times. At first it was known as West Monastery. Since William the Conqueror’s times British monarchs have been crowned there and since the 13th century buried. Many other famous people are buried there.
The party system
The two main political parties of GB are the Conservative party and the Labour party. The conservative party (Tory party) is right-wing, tending to be opposed to great and sudden changes in the established order of society. It’s against state control of industry. The labour party (The socialists) has a close association with the trade unions, although it’s now not as left-wing as it used to be. It has many supporters, especially among working-class and middle-class people.
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The Constitution
There is no written constitution. The term English constitution means the leading principle conventions and laws, many of which have been existing for centuries. Though they have undergone modifications with the advance of civilization. These principles are expressed in such documents of major importance as Magna Carta. It’s a famous document in English history agreed upon in 1215 by King John and the barons, which set certain limits on royal power and which was later regarded as a law stating basic civil rights.
Habeas Corpus act (Закон о неприкосновенности) is a law which is passed in 1679, it guarantees to a person arrested the right to appear in court of justice so that the jury should decide whether he is guilty or not. Also they have a Bill of rights, an act of parliament passed in 1689 which confirmed certain rights of the people. There are some laws deciding the succession of the royal family, a member of laws and agreements.
Power in GB is divided among 3 branches: the legislative, the executive, the judicial.
Parliament in GB is the oldest in the world. The legislative consists of:
-The House of Lords consists of more than 1000 peers, including the lords spiritual (высшее духовенство): the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and 24 bishops of the Church of England. The peers have the right to sit in parliament during their lifetime and transmit their eldest sons. During the present century a new practice has appeared: The practice of creating new peers. They are called “life peers” because their children don’t inherit thir titles like the children of hereditary peers. New peers are created by the monarch on the advice of Prime minister. Sometimes a prominent politician is made a peer, sometimes a leading civil servant who has served the country well. As a result about one-third of the Lords today are not representatives of hereditary nobility but company directors, bankers, newspaper proprietors.
- The house of Commons
The members of this house are elected by general election. The whole country id divided into constituencies, everyone of which chooses one delegation. Big cities are divided into several constituencies. Members of the house of commons are elected for 5 years.
Parliament’s main function is to make laws. The procedure of making new laws s as follows: a member of the house of commons proposes a bill which is discussed by the House. If a bill is ok, it’s sent to the House of Lords, which in case doesn’t like it has the right to veto it for one year. If the house of commons passes the bill again the following year, the House of Lords can’t reject it. Finally the bill is sent to the Queen for the royal assent, after which it becomes a law.
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The environment and pollution
Environmental pollution has been a huge concern since many centuries even in a number of developed nations which were characterized by old civilizations and well settled societies that were later on modified by industrialization and modernization that brought in the need for effective waste disposal and implementation of appropriate and effective measures to reduce the extent of land, water, noise, air and countryside pollution. Noise pollution and air pollution became a major concern only after a few decades following the industrial revolution and attention was given to resolve these issues only after major incidents were witnessed across many places in the world such as the London Smog incident in 1952 that necessitated the country’s parliament to take immediate action and pass legislations (Clay & Bassett, 1999, pp. 731-740). River pollution on the other hand also became a great concern at a much later stage when most of the inland rivers had been contaminated with industrial effluents, sewage discharge and untreated wastes. Though the major rivers such as the Thames have become much less polluted and support many fishes after massive efforts that have been taken over the years, other smaller and less popular rivers in interior parts of UK are still being polluted (Farmer, 1997, p. 105). A more detailed introspection of the measures taken by UK is warranted to understand the effects of parliamentary legislations in prohibiting environmental pollution.
