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Image matters

In the age of television, the impor­tance of the personal image of a party's leader to its political success has increased greatly. Since 1960 a great change has taken place with regard to the families of top politi­cians. Before then, the British public did not even know the name of the Prime Minister's wife. These days, the wives of male party leaders are well-known to the media, and their children are often featured with them in photographs to show what loving, normal family men they are.

The British scene has not, at the time of writing, reached the level of absurdity that it has in the USA where, for example, the daughter of Jimmy Carter (President 1975-79) was such a celebrity that the press once thought it worthwhile to report that she had been twelve minutes late for school!

The party system

Britain is normally described as having a 'two-party system'. This is because, since 1945, one of the two big parties has, by itself, con­trolled the government, and members of these two parties have occupied more than 90% of all of the seats in the House of Commons. Moreover, this is not a peculiarly modern phenomenon. Basically the same situation existed throughout the nineteenth century, except that the Liberals, rather than Labour, were one of the two big parties. The Labour party was formed at the start of the twentieth century and within about thirty years had replaced the Liberals in this role.

One reason for the existence of this situation is the electoral system (see chapter 10). The other is the nature of the origin of British political parties. Britain is unlike most other countries in that its parties were first formed inside Parliament, and were only later extended to the public at large. During the eighteenth century Members of Parliament tended to divide themselves into two camps, those who usually supported the government of the time and those who usually did not. During the nineteenth century it gradually became the habit that the party which did not control the government presented itself as an alternative government. This idea of an alternat­ive government has received legal recognition. The leader of the second biggest party in the House of Commons (or, more exactly, of the biggest party which is not in government) receives the title 'Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition' and even gets a salary to prove the importance of this role. He or she chooses a 'shadow cabinet', thereby presenting the image of a team ready to fill the shoes of the government at a moment's notice.

As a result of these origins, neither party existed solely to look after the interests of one particular group (although some groups in society were naturally more attracted to one of the two parties than the other). Furthermore, although they could be distinguished by certain broad differences in their outlooks on life, the two parties did not exist to promote single, coherent political philosophies. The main reason for their existence was to gain power by forming effect­ive coalitions of interest-groups and individuals.

Although the Labour party was formed outside Parliament, and, as its name implies, did exist to promote the interests of a particular group (the working class), it soon fitted into the established frame­work. It is very difficult for smaller parties to challenge the dominance of the bigger ones. If any of them seem to have some good ideas, these ideas tend to be adopted by one of the three biggest parties, who all try to appeal to as large a section of the population as possible.

The fact that the party system originated inside Parliament has other consequences. Parties do not, as they do in many other coun­tries, extend into every area of public and social life in the country. Universities, for example, each have their Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat clubs, but when there is an election for officers of the student union, it is not normally fought according to national party divisions. The same is true of elections within trade unions (see chapter 15).

Another consequence is that it is usually a party's MPs who have the most control over party policy and the biggest influence on the choice of party leader. This does not mean that the parties are undemocratic. Their members who are not MPs can have an effect on policy in a number of ways. First, they can make their views known at the annual party conference. In the case of the three main parties, this takes place in the autumn and lasts about a week. Second, the local party has the power to decide who is going to be the party's candidate for MP in its area at the next election. However, these powers are limited by one important consideration — the appearance of unity. Party policies are always presented as potential government policies, and a party's leading MPs are always presented as potential ministers. If you want to look like a realistic potential government, you don't want to show the public your disagreements. Party confer­ences are always televised. As a result they sometimes tend to be showcases whose main purpose is not so much to debate important matters as to boost the spirits of party members and to show the public a dynamic, unified party. Similarly, if local party members decide not to re-select the present MP as their candidate in an election, it betrays disagreement and argument. Therefore, party members do not like this happening and most MPs can be sure that their local party will choose them again at the next election (see chapter 11).

The modern situation

During the last forty or so years, the traditional confidence in the British political system has weakened. In 1950, Britain, despite the hardships of the Second World War, could claim to be the richest and most stable large country in Europe. Collectively, its people seemed to know what they wanted and what they believed in. They seemed to be sure of themselves.

This is no longer true. Britain is often rated as one of the poorest large countries in Europe, the policies of its governments nave pulled in several different directions, and its people tend to  pessimistic about the future (>A loss of confidence). It is now commonplace for politicians and political commentators, when calling for a change in some matter, to compare the country unfavourably with some other European country.

In these circumstances, it is quite possible that some of the distinct­ive characteristics of British public life will change. The matter of identity cards is one area of possible change. The British have always en rather proud of not having them. This has been seen as proof of he British dedication to the rights of the individual. It has also helped to give British people a feeling of being different. But what is the good of being different if different' means 'worse'? There has been growing concern about increasing crime in the country, and this has resulted in much discussion about identity cards. Britain's fellow states in the European Union would like to see them intro­duced in the country. At the same time, there has been increasing pressure for a Freedom of Information Act.

Another possibility is that Britain will finally get a written constitu­tion. An unwritten constitution works very well if everybody in the country shares the same attitudes and principles about what is most important in political life and about what people's rights and obliga­tions are. In other words, it works very well in a society where everybody belongs to the same culture. However, in common with most other European countries today, Britain is now multicultural. This means that some sections of society can sometimes hold radic­ally different ideas about these things. The case of Salman Rushdie is an excellent example of this situation (> The Rushdie affair). As long as everybody in a country feels the same way, at the same time, about a case such as this, there is no real need to worry about inconsistencies in the law. There is no need to question the existence of laws or to update them. They are just interpreted in changing ways to match the change in prevailing opinion. This is what, up to now, has hap­pened in Britain. But the Rushdie case is an example of what can happen when radically opposing views on a matter prevail in different sections of society at the same time. In these circumstances the tradi­tional laissez-faire attitude to the law can become dangerous.

A loss of confidence

In 1991, Prime Minister John Major remarked on his vision of Britain as 'a nation at ease with itself. However, an opinion poll published in February 1992 suggested that his vision was not reality. Over a thou­sand adults were interviewed face-to-face in 100 areas throughout Britain and were asked about their attitudes to various aspects of life in the country. In one series of ques­tions, interviewees were asked whether they were proud of certain institutions. Here are some of the results of the poll, compared with the results of similar survey's done 20-30 years before.

% agreeing

with

statement

1960s 1992

The British monarch is

something to be proud of 86 26 The British Parliament is

something to be proud of 75 35 The British health service is

something to be proud of 89 41

The British education system

is something to be proud of 77 27

In the 1992 poll, only 5% of those asked said that their pride in Britain and British institutions had increased in recent years; 54% said that it had decreased.

The Rushdie affair

Salman Rushdie is a British citizen from a Muslim background, and a respected writer. In early 1989, his book The Satanic Verses was published. Many Muslims in Britain were extremely angry about the book's publication. They regarded it as a terrible insult to Islam. They there­fore demanded that the book be banned and that its author be taken to court for blasphemy (using lan­guage to insult God).

To do either of these things would have been to go against the long-established tradition of free speech and freedom of religious views. In any case, there is nothing in British law to justify doing either. There are censorship laws, but the}" relate only to obscenity and national security. There is a law against blasphemy, but it refers only to the Christian reli­gion. Moreover, the tendency from the second half of the twentieth century has been to apply both types of law as little as possible and to give priority to the principle of free speech.

QUESTIONS

1 In what sense could the British attitude to 3 How does the role of political parties in Britain

politics be described as 'happily cynical'? Are differ from their role in your country?

people equally cynical in your country? Are they 4 Why does Britain not have a written constitu-

as happy about it? tion? Does it need one?

2 In most Parliaments in the western world, the

place where representatives debate is in the

form of a semi-circle. But in Britain, there are

two sets of rows facing each other. Why is the

British Parliament different in this respect?

SUGGESTIONS

• Try to watch some of the Yes, Prime Minister programmes (available as a BBC video). There is a book of the same name published by BBC Books.

HOW BRITAIN IS GOVERNED (Part 1)

Great Britain is the only major country in the world which has never had its constitution meriting. The main institutions of government have de­veloped gradually since the 12th century. The rules which collectively form the "British constitution" are a description of current practice.

The Monarchy. Great Britain is a monarchy, but the powers of the King or Queen are limited. The present Sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II. She was born in 1926, was married to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh succed ed to the throne in 1952.

The monarchy if hereditary, descending to the sons of the Sovereign order of seniority, or, if there are no sons, to the daughters. Thus, the eldest son of the Queen, H.R.H. (1) Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is the heir to the throne.

According to law, the Queen is. the head of the executive, the head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all Armed Forces of the Government, and the temporal head of the Established Church of England; she summons and dissolves Parliament; as a general rule, she opens the new session of Parliament with a Speech from the Throne (this is prepared by the Prime Minister and may be read by the Lord Chancellor if the Queen is unable to be present); she must give Royal Assent before a bill which has passed through both Houses of Parliament becomes law; her con sent is necessary before a Cabinet of Ministers can be formed or before a treaty may be concluded, war declared or peace made; she appoints all important state officials, including judges, officers of the armed forces and representatives abroad; she confers honours and awards. But in each case the Queen acts not on her own but on the advice of the Government which she cannot constitutionally ignore.

Royal duties include visiting many parts of the United Kingdom each year, making tours of the countries in the Commonwealth, where the Crown is still represented by a Governor-General (as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some other countries), and paying State visits to foreign countries.

The press, radio and television constantly stress the scenes of the royal family shaking hands with the common people, trying to suggest that the British are all one happy family, to insist on the unity of the nation as a whole, and thus presenting ruling-class interests and ruling-class policies as coinciding with those of the whole people.

The British Parliament. This is the supreme legislative body in the country. Parliament consists of two Houses - the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons (call-ed Members of Parliament or MPs for short) are chosen by the electors. They are elected either at a general election, after a Parliament has been dissolved and a new one summoned by the Sovereign, or at a by-election, held when a particular seat falls vacant due to the death of a member, his resignation, or as a result of his elevation to the House of Lords.

There must be a general election every five years, but the Government can "go to the country", i.e. order a general election at any time within that period if it so wishes.

Each session of the House of Commons lasts for about 175 days. Par­liament has intervals during its work. By present custom, a session is divid­ed into five periods; from November (when the session is opened) till Christmas, from January till Easter*, from Easter till Whitsun** from Whit-sun till the end of July, and 10 days in October.

Members of Parliament are paid for their parliamentary work and have to attend the sittings. When Parliament is not meeting, these MPs spend much of their time visiting the constituencies which have elected them, or going to other parts of the country, the Commonwealth and foreign count­ries.

The opening of Parliament is an occasion of very picturesque ceremo­ny. The Queen goes to the House of Lords (according to an old tradition no King or Queen is allowed to enter the House of Commons) and reads a speech which tells what laws the Government intends to make. The mem­bers of the House of Commons listen to the Queen standing at the entrance to the House of Lords.

After the Queen's Speech, MPs go back to the House of Commons. There they carry on the work of government partly by debates, in which all members can take part, and partly by committee meetings which fewer members attend.

The party that has won the general election makes up the majority in the House of Commons and forms the Government. The party with the next largest number of members in the House, or sometimes a combination of other parties, forms the official opposition, and Leader of the Opposition is a recognized post in the House of Commons.

The members sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other for the opposition. The first two rows of seats are oc­cupied by the leading members of the majority and opposition parties (hence the "front-benchers"), whereas the back benches belong to the rank-and-file MPs ("back-benches"). Important members in the House of Commons are the Speaker (7) and the so-called party whips (8).

The sittings usually begin at 10 a.m. People who visit the Houses of Par­liament may sit in the Strangers' Gallery looking down into the House of Commons and listen to the debates. The central entrance hall is usually busy with people coming and going to see the buildings, and others wanting to see their Members of Parliament.

There are 650 members in the House of Commons (most of them are professional politicians, lawyers, etc.). If the number present in the House drops below 40, the House is "counted out" and the debate suspended. During many of the debates, MPs come and go because they are often wanted on business in other parts of the building, but during important de-

Easter - 

**Whitsun -   ,    

bates they remain in the House, and the sittings may go on until late at night.

In the past few hundred years, so many laws have been made by Parlia­ment that it is impossible for anyone to know or even read them all. Many lawyers make a special study of certain sections of the law so that they can give expert opinion on it when necessary. Still Parliament goes on making new laws year after year. The reasons are that many old laws must be brought up to date and new laws added to meet the requirements of the day.

New laws may be proposed in Parliament either by the Government, or by private MPs, or by members of the House of Lords. The proposed law is known as a "bill" when it is first brought in and while it is being discussed. When it has been finally passed, the bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

The main stages of the bill's Progress in each House are still known as "readings", although the bill is no longer read aloud. This is a reminder of the days when printed copies were not generally available and the two Houses had to be informed of the contents of a bill by actually hearing a clerk read it aloud.

Nowadays the first reading is a formality. Only the title of the bill is mentioned, and it is then printed in full for members of the House of Com­mons to read and think about before the second reading.

On the second reading, a discussion takes place. The House may be un­animous in favour of the bill: on many occasions it is clear from the debates what the wishes of the majority of members are: but at other times some members may shout "Aye" (Yes) and others "Nay" (No), in which case a vote has to be taken. A bell is rung so that all members may come and vote. The members leave their benches and walk out into two lobbies. This they do by passing through corridors behind the Speaker's chair, the "Ayes" ("for") on one side and the "Nays" ("against") on the other. As they walk out, they are counted by four tellers - two for each side - and it may take ten or fifteen minutes before the figures are announced.

The largest number of votes "for" or "against" decides whether the bill is passed or not. If the bill is defeated at this stage, it can go no further. But in the political climate of today it seems inconceivable that any Govern­ment bill should be defeated. In fact, if there were enough opposition to the bill to endanger its passage, the Government would know about that oppo­sition. It would either not bring the bill into the House for the second read­ing at all, or it would make sure that the bill would pass, either by offering concessions or by putting pressure on its rebels.

After passing the second-reading stage the bill must go to a committee for detailed examination, in the course of which there may be many pro­posals for amendment. The committee is made up of Government and Op­position members. The committee stage is sometimes taken in a "Com­mittee of the Whole House" - in the Commons' Chamber but with the Speaker absent; but most bills are sent to small "standing committees".

These committees are not specialized, and are not really standing at- all: there is a new committee for each new bill.

The next stage is called the report stage: the House has before it the new text of the bill, incorporating the committee's amendments. Further speeches and amendments are made.

The bill is now ready for its third reading. Again it is fully discussed in the House of Commons, but only sight alterations to wording may be made; apart from these, the bill must be accepted or rejected as it stands.

If the majority of MPs still votes for the bill, it is sent to the House of Lords for discussion..When the Lords agree, the bill is taken to the Queen for the Royal Assent. (If the Lords vote against the bill which the Commons have passed, it can only be delayed for a year before becoming law.) The Queen signs, and the Great Seal is fixed. The bill becomes an Act of Parlia­ment and part of the Law of Land.

Any bill which requires the raising and spending of money is called a Money Bill. Money Bills must come only from the House of Commons, and the Lords cannot delay them.

Over the centuries the British people have fought bitter battles, engag­ed in long and hard campaigns, argued and contested that Parliament might better mirror the opinions and feelings of the common people of the count­ry. Above all, they have sought to make Parliament into a real democratic instrument of the rule of the people.

But in a capitalist country such as Britain, the decisive political and eco­nomic power remains in the hands of a rich and powerful minority.

The Communist Party of Great Britain has proposed its "Charter of Democratic Rights" - rights to be secured in Britain here and now, to be guarded and extended in a future Socialist Britain.

The House of Lords. This House consists of hereditary and life peers and peeresses (9), a certain number of Irish and Scottish peers, the archbi­shops of Canterbury and York, and some bishops of the Established Church of England. The peers and peeresses of the House of Lords are called the Lords Temporal; archbishops and bishops are the Lords Spiritual.

Full membership of the House of Lords is over 1,000. Members of this Upper House, as it is sometimes called, are not elected. They sit there be­cause of their rank and office.

The House of Lords sits, on average, for about 140 days in each ses­sion. Members of the Upper House meet to debate and do business in much the same way as MPs. The Lord Chancellor is chairman and sits on a spe­cial seat called the Woolsack (10).

A peer who attends a debate receives a salary in addition to travelling expenses. About four hundred peers attend fairly often, and on an average day about two hundred are present. For a very important occasion the number may be over five hundred.

Of all the parliaments in the world, the lowest quorum needed to adopt a decision is in the British House of Lords. A decision is held to be accepted if a quorum of three Lords is present - or one third of one per cent of the total House membership. True, one of the three must be the Lord Chan­cellor or his deputy.

As was mentioned above, the Lords cannot deal with a Money Bill, and if they disagree on any other bill, the most they can do is to delay it for a year, if the House of Commons passes it. Members in the House of Lords may introduce new bills, but these have to be sent to the House of Commons for the usual three readings.

The House of Lords includes a certain number of the so-called Law Lords. These are men who have been appointed to undertake the judicial duties of the House. They form the highest Court of Appeal of the country.

The House of Lords is a survival of ancient times, when the medieval feudal assembly ruled the country. A serious attempt at its reform was made in the 1960s under the Labour Government. But the attempt failed in the House of Commons; it was obstructed by right-wing Conservatives. So the old principle was upheld: that the British leave things alone so long as they don't give trouble, and make changes only to settle immediate prob­lems.

Notes

(1) H.R.H. - an abbreviation for His/Her Royal Highness (the title of a prince or princess).

(2) Prince of Wales - a title given to the eldest son of the reigning King or Queen. The first Prince of Wales was Prince Edward (born in 1284), later Edward II. Prince Charles (born in 1948) was made 21st Prince of Wales in 1969. Thus he became "heir apparent to the Bri­tish Throne".

(3) The Crown - the King or Queen, considered not as a person but as an idea (syn. the Monarchy). In legal and parliamentary matters "the Crown" means "the State".

(4) The Established Church of England - a Church that is officially recognized and given support by the British Government. Establishment - formerly, the Established Church of England; now, the ruling class, those families and institutions that are able to exercise power, and tend to be traditional and conservative, e.g. the aristocracy, the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, the Bank of England.

(5) Lord Chancellor - the presiding officer of the House of Lords.

(6) The Government - a term used to mean Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The official name is His/Her Majesty's Government.

(7) Speaker - the chairman, or presiding officer of the House of Commons. He is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House and enforce the rules of order. In carrying out his duties he is required to be impartial; he cannot debate or vote with other members unless the voting is equal, in which case he votes with the Government. The Speaker is the chairman at all the debates. In the House of Commons all speeches are address­ed to the Speaker ("Mr. Speaker"), while in the House of Lords members address the House as a whole.

(8) Party whips - party organizers, who receive special salaries for their duties. They arrange each day's programme in Parliament and tell members when they must attend debates. A programme of business prepared by the whip's office for each week with an indication of the degree of importance attached to a vote is also called a whip. The degree of importance is in­dicated by the number of times that the word "particularly" in the phrase "your attendance is particularly requested" is underlined. If it is underlined three times, the whip is known as a "three-line whip" (having the highest degree of importance), and in this case any member who fails to vote with the party is likely to be called upon to give an explanation.

In general, if a member wishes to be absent when a vote is likely to take place, he may try to find a member of the opposite party who will agree to be absent too, and their mutual agree­ment must be registered by their respective whips. Each party has one whip concerned with this business of arranging "pairs", as they are called. For important votes, or three-line whips, these arrangements are allowed only for very strong reasons.

A Chief Whip has a very high status in the party. In addition to the Chief Whip there are about a dozen other whips, and they have a regional organization. If a member is dissatisfied with some part of his party's policy, he begins by complaining to the whip concerned with his particular region.

(9) Hereditary peers and peeresses - a group of people who inherited the following titles of nobility: duke (duchess), marquess (marchioness), earl (countess), viscount (viscountess), or baron (baroness). The people holding these titles are socially respected and as a rule are still very rich. Hereditary peerages carry with them a right to a seat in the House of Lords, provided the holder is 21 years of age or over.

Life peers and peeresses - a group of people who since 1958 have received titles which are not hereditary. About 15 to 20 life peerages have been conferred each year (by the So­vereign on the advice of his/her Ministers),many of them to politicians, industrialists, bankers, but also to scientists, educators and other people with specialist experience covering most of the activities and interests of the community.

Women have had the right to sit in the House of Lords since 1958. Previously, women had had the right to sit only in the House of Commons.

(10) Woolsack - a large cushion stuffed with wool on which the Lord Chancellor sits in the House of Lords. It dates from the 14th century, when wool became England's main product and merchants put sacks of wool by the King's throne to remind him of English trade.

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What kind of state is Great Britain? 2. Who is the present Sovereign? 3. Who is the heir to the throne? 4. What posts belong to the Queen accord­ing to law? 5. Who prepared a Speech from a Throne? 6. What are Royal duties? 7. What is the supreme legislative body in the country? 8. How long does each session of the House of Commons last? 9. What can you say about the opening of Parliament? 10. What party forms the Government? 11. Who are important members in the House of Commons? 12. How many members are there in the House of Commons? 13. Who does the House of Lords consist of? 14. How long does the House of Lords sit? 15. How old is the House of Lords?

Exercise 2. Find the place in th text to prove that:

a) the Queen opens a new session of Parliament; b) a session of Par­liament is divided into five periods; c) the opening of Parliament is an occa­sion of very picturesque ceremony; d) the Queen isn't allowed to enter the House of Commons; e) the first reading of the bill is a formerly nowadays; f) the Communists regard democracy as a class question; g) the House of Lords consists of hereditary and life peers and peeresses.

Exercise 3. Divide the text into some parts. Suggest a suitable title for each of them.

Exercise 4. Make a short report about the British Parliament.

HOW BRITAIN IS GOVERNED (Part 2)

THE GOVERNMENT

After each general election the King or Queen invites the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons to become Prime Minister and form the Government. This Minister has an official London house while he (or she) is in office; it is at No. 10, Downing Street. He also has the use of a country house, named Chequers (1).

The Prime Minister selects the other Ministers, men and women, whom he wishes to take charge of the chief government departments or to do other government work. About sixty Members of Parliament are required for these special offices. Most of the Ministers are chosen from the House of Commons, but a few must be in the House of Lords so that government plans can be explained there.

Most Ministers are in charge of departments which keep them busy. A few are not in charge of departments but are free to advise and help wherever the government work requires (they are called Ministers without portfolio). The Prime Minister himself often takes charge of one of the departments. He is usually First Lord of the Treasury, the department which deals with the money collected and spent by the Government. Some Prime Ministers have also been Secretary of State (2) for Foreign Affairs.

From all the Ministers the Prime Minister selects about twenty of his leading party members in the House of Commons to take the chief offices in the Government and sit with him in the Cabinet.

The Cabinet is a kind of "inner government" within the Government. Over the years the membership of the Cabinet has varied in size between 17 and 23 and includes the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chan­cellor (who is the representative of the House of Lords), the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, etc.

The main feature of the British political system is "Cabinet Govern­ment", that is, the leading role is played not by the Monarch, who remains head of state, or Parliament, which is officially the supreme lawmaking bo­dy, but the Cabinet.

The Cabinet directs the administration, controls the process of law­making, and dominates the House of Commons. It decides what subjects shall be debated in the House, drafts and proposes all important legislation. Other MPs are limited to criticism of these proposals. And in many cases the Cabinet takes major policy decisions without giving Parliament; the opportunity to express its views until afterwards. In such cases supporters of the Government in the House of Commons are instructed to vote in fa­vour of the Cabinet decision; if they ignore the instruction, they risk with­drawal of their party's support at the next election.

All Ministers must agree on the policy of the Cabinet. If a Minister finds he cannot agree, he resigns. The Prime Minister himself may require a Minister to resign, though in fact resignations of Ministers are usually ar­ranged so as to appear to be voluntary, with polite letters exchanged and published in the newspapers.

From time to time is a "reshuffle" of Ministers: one or two or three Ministers leave the Government, a few new ones are brought in, and se­veral change jobs.

Although each Minister must speak only in the House to which he be­longs, the Government is responsible only to the House of Commons, and the work of each Minister is always kept under observation by the so-called Shadow Cabinet (3).

The Civil Service. The Section on British government offices in Whitaker's Almanac (4) occupies about a hundred pages. Over half a million men and women are employed in this huge number of offices. The em­ployees do not change with governments, but serve Ministers from any of the political parties in power.

Just as there are different ranks in the Army, so there are different grades in the Civil Service. The lowest grade is composed of the clerks and typists who deal with letters, keep the records, or prepare the information required for their seniors or for members of the public. In charge of them in the next, higher rank, are the men and women in the Executive Grade. Their duty is to carry out (execute) the details of legislation. The highest grade of all is the Administrative Grade, composed of the chief officials (men and women) who advise the Minister in charge of a department and decide how laws are to be implemented.

Local Government. Local affairs are managed by councils that vary a great deal in their size and in the powers they have to get things done.

The smallest council in England is the Parish Council* (in Wales - the Community Council). It is formed, that is, its members are chosen by the lo­cal electors, if the population of the parish is more than 300 (if the parish has a population of less than 300, it is governed by the Parish Meeting which all the members of the parish may attend). The powers of the Parish Meet­ing, the Parish Council (and the Community Council) are small. They are limited to the care of such things as street lighting, footpaths, recreation grounds, and cemeteries. All other work is done by the County Council.

The County Council is the largest of the local councils because of the size of the counties. Some counties are so large that they have been divid­ed, each division having a separate council. The County Council controls important local affairs, such as road building, the fire services, the police force, etc.

Side by side with the County Councils there exist the Municipal Brough Councils and the County Borough Councils. The Municipal Borough, or non-County Borough, is a town which has been granted a charter giving  the right to manage its own affairs (but the Municipal Borough Councils do not control certain local affairs, for example the fire services and the force) lice force). The County Borough is a large town to which Parliament has given the same powers as to the County Council. The County Borough council is completely responsible for all matters inside its County Borough boundaries.

County Councils, the Municipal Borough and County Borough Councils are composed of men and women called Councillors. They are chosen by the electors for three years. The Councillors choose Aldermen who number one-third of the Councillors and are usually the wealthiest and the most influential people in the town or county. The Aldermen are chosen for six years.

In an English or Welsh County Council they have a representative of the Crown who is called Lord-Lieutenant (he may be a peer or a major landowner in the county). The Municipal Borough and County Borough Councils are headed by Mayors. The Mayor may be an Alderman or a Councillor elected by the members of the council to hold this office for a year. The position of Mayor is very important: he is regarded as First Ci­tizen of the Town. In some largest towns the Mayor has the title "Lord Mayor".

Most of the work of local government councils is done by the com­mittees, which are meetings of smaller number of Councillors to deal with details. The most important of them is the Finance Committee, which de­cides how money is to be collected and spent for local needs. The Education (Committee is often divided into subcommittees for Staffing, School Build­ing, Youth Employment and other work. There are other committees: for Housing, Highways, Libraries, etc., but different councils have a different number of committees.

The committees meet during each month and once a month there is ft full council meeting. This is the procedure at a Municipal Borough or County Borough Council meeting. When the Mayor enters, following his mace-bearer*, the Aldermen, Councillors and all present stand up. The mace, the symbol of the Mayor's authority, is placed on the table, the Mayor takes his chair, and the meeting begins.

On one side of the Mayor sits the Deputy Mayor and on the other the chief officer of the town, called the Town Clerk (in the counties he is called the Clerk of the County Council). Another important officer is the Borough Treasurer, who collects the taxes. Among the other offices, there are usually a Deputy Town Clerk, a Borough Engineer, a Medical Officer of Hearth, and a Chief Education Officer. All these officers and their assistants are paid servants of the council, they are considered as local "civil ser-vants". The Aldermen and Councillors are not paid, but the Mayor usually has a grant of money for expenses during his year of office.

Relations between the central Government and local authorities are controlled by the Secretary of State for the Environment (5), the Secretary of State for Wales, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Political Parties. The British political scene is dominated by a two-party system: one party in power, the other in opposition. In the nineteenth cen­tury these were the Conservative and Liberal parties, since the decline of the Liberal Party early in the twentieth century - the Conservative and La­bour parties.

The Conservative Party represents the interests of monopoly capita-lists and is described as the party of upper and middle classes, the party of employers.

The Labour Party is composed mainly of trade-union members. Al­though the Labour Party members call themselves socialists, their leaders' policy is not aimed at building real Socialism in Great Britain. The actions of the Labour Party tend to support reformed capitalism.

The Liberal Party is small in size, it represents the interests of liberal bourgeoisie, and its relations with the Conservative and Labour parties are complex.

The Liberal Party comes to the elections in alliance with the Social De­mocratic Party (6). In 1988, the Social Democratic Party at its congress in Sheffield decided to merge completely with the Liberal Party. A similar de­cision was taken earlier by the Liberal Party at its congress in Blackpool. Leaders of the party hope that it will take the place of the Labour Party as the major opposition party.

Recent years have seen the rise of the nationalist parties in both Scot­land and Wales - the Scottish National Party (founded in 1928) and Plaid Cymru* (the Welsh nationalist party, founded in 1925). Members of these parties demand self-government for Scotland and Wales.

There are also extreme right-wing parties of racists. The National Front, founded in 1966, is the largest and most active of them.

The Communist Party of Great Britain was the only party in the count­ry that represents the interests of the working class. It was formed in 1920 and played an outstanding role in the "Hands off Russia" campaign.

Elections. The British people take part in the so-called general election and local election.

General election. By law there must be no more than five years bet­ween general elections, but the Prime Minister can advise the King or Queen to dissolve Parliament for a new general election at any time earlier than that.

*Plaid Cymru. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 areas called constituencies. Each constituency is guaranteed one representative in the House of Commons. A person may represent a constituency even if he doesn't live there.

Although any person can stand as an independent candidate, there seems now to be no chance except as a candidate backed by either the La­bour or the Conservative Party. When the Labour Party organization of a constituency needs a new parliamentary candidate, several people are nominated by sub-units, such as trade-union branches and committees of wards (sub-districts). With the Conservatives any person can propose him­self as a candidate, but the central organization of the Conservative Party keeps a list of suitable names. The same is true of the Liberal Party. Thus with each party the local organization's choice has to be approved by the party's national headquarters. When a person is formally nominated as a candidate for election to the House of Commons, he must pay a deposit of 150 pounds, which he loses if he fails to obtain one-eighth of the votes at the election.

Members of Parliament are elected by direct and secret ballot. Citizens of 18 years and over have the right to vote. At a general election a person votes for the Labour candidate, or for the Conservative candidate, or for the candidate for some other party because of his preference for one party rather than the others. Many people vote without knowing anything about the individual characteristics of the candidate for whom they vote.

About one-third of the people support the Labour Party all the time, another third the Conservatives. The last third consists of people who are ready to change from one of these parties to the other, or possibly prefer some other party.

Support for the Conservative Party is associated with a belief in the tra­ditional basis of society, strong respect for the Royal Family and the pri­vileged class, which became established long ago.

In about one-quarter to one-third of the constituencies it is certain that at the next election the Labour Party's candidate will win by an overwhelm­ing majority; in another quarter to a third it is equally certain that the winner will be a Conservative (these constituencies are the "safe seats" for each of the two parties). Constituencies where the voting is expected to be close are known as "marginal constituencies".

Elections in Britain are decided on a simple majority in each constituen­cy - the candidate with the most votes is elected. And the party with the most elected members wins the election and forms the Government. The party with the next largest number of members (or sometimes a combina­tion of other parties) forms the official opposition. The votes for third parties are generally wasted. So the British electoral system is a two-party system at the expense of third parties.

Local election. In order to elect councillors in Municipal Boroughs, for example, they are divided into districts called wards. Each ward elects a number of Councillors, usually three, although in a large borough it may be six or nine. Every year one-third of the Councillors resigns. Therefore in May each year, there is an election for one-third of the council.

Councillors usually represent a political party. They are elected in the same way as Members of Parliament and by the same electors - people whose names are on the Register of Electors.

Notes

(1) Chequers ['tjekaz] - a mansion in Buckinghamshire (south-east England).

(2) Secretary of State - the title of the Ministers in charge of government departments, especially the most important ones.

(3) Shadow Cabinet - the leading members of the opposition in Parliament. They repre­sent the Cabinet that would be formed if their party were elected. The members of the Shadow Cabinet are called Shadow Ministers.

(4) Whitaker's [iwitikaz] Almanac - a yearly publication, established in 1868 by Joseph Whitaker. It presents a vast amount of information about the government, finances, population, commerce, and general statistics of the various nations of the world with an index containing some 20,000 references.

(5) Secretary of State for the Environment - head of the Department of the Environment which was formed in 1970 and united several Ministers (for example, the Ministry of Housing and Construction, the Ministry of Sport, etc.).

(6) The Social Democratic Party - a party which was formed in 1981 after a split in the Labour Party. The founders of this party were former Labour leaders who represented its right wing.

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

1. Where does the Prime Minister live? 2. Who selects other Ministers? 3. Who is usually First Lord of the Treasury? 4. What is the Cabinet? 5. What is the main feature of the British political system? 6. Must all Minis­ters agree on the policy of the Cabinet? 7. What are local affairs managed by? 8. Who controlled relations between the central Government and local authorities? 9. How many political parties are there in Great Britain? 10. How often do they have elections in Great Britain? 11. Who supports the Conservative Party? 12. What elections do the British people take part in?

Exercise 2. Find the place in the text to prove that:

a) the Cabinet directs the administration, controls the process of law­making, and dominates the House of Commons; b) all Ministers must support the policy of the Cabinet; c) the County Council is an important lo­cal council; d) there are different committees which do most of the work of local government; e) the Conservative Party represents the interests of monopoly capitalists.

Exercise 3. Make a short report about the Government in Great Britain.