How a bill becomes a law

Most bills begin life in the House of Commons, where they go through a number of stages. Then a bill is sent to the House of Lords, where it goes through the same stages. (If the Lords make new amendments, the Commons will consider these).

After both Houses have reached agreement, the bill receives the royal assent and becomes an Act of Parliament, which can be applied as a part of law. The House of Lords can delay a bill from becoming a law for a maximum of 12 months, and then it becomes a law anyway.

This rule has a precedent. In 1910 the Liberal Government proposed heavy taxes on the rich. The House of Lords rejected the proposal, in response the House of Commons passed the tax proposal again as well as a bill limiting the power of the Lords. Again, the Lords rejected both bills. It was a constitutional crisis. To avoid a revolution, the King let it be known that if the Lords rejected the same bills again, he would appoint hundreds of new peers who would vote for the bills. So In 1911 the Lords agreed to both bills. A bill agreed in the Commons could become law without the agreement of the Lords (first - for three years in a row, then his period of time was reduced, and finally it amounted to 12 months).

Questions

1. In what sense could the British attitude to politics be described as “happily cynical"? Are people equally cynical in your country? Are they as happy about it?

2. In most Parliaments in the western countries, 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?

3. How does the role of political parties in Britain differ from their role in your country?

4. Assignments:

5. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box:

   The House of Commons	Prime Minister	Benches	Foreign Secretary
   Cabinet	Ministers	Budget	Shadow Cabinet
   Backbenches	Debates	Speaker	Home Secretary
   Front bench	Leader of the Opposition	Opposition	Chancello' of the Exchequer

7. This is the House of Commons, where Members of Parliament take

8. their seats on the green leather (a) according to their party and

9. position. One of them is chosen to be the (b) , who acts as a

10. kind of chairman of the (c) which takes place in the House.. In

11. front of him on his right sit the MPs of the biggest party, which forms the Government, and facing them sit the MPs of the parties who oppose

12. them, the (d) . The leaders of these two groups sit at the front

13. on each side. MPs without special positions in .their parties sit behind

14. their leaders at the back. They are called (e) . The Leader of the

15. Government, the (f) , sits on the government (g) , of

16. course, next to his or her (h) . The most important of these

17. form the (i) . The minister responsible for relations with other

18. countries is called the (j) . The one responsible for'law and

19. security is called the (k) . The one who deals with financial

20. matters and prepares the annual (I) speech on the economic

21. state pf the country is called the (m) . Opposite this group sits

22. the (n) (the main person in the largest party opposing the

23. government) and the (o) , each member of which specializes

24. in a particular area of government.

25. III.4. THE GOVERNMENT

26. The leader of the party, which obtains a majority of seats in a general election, is named Prime Minister and is formally asked by the Sovereign to recommend a group of ministers to form a Gowernment.

27. The position of a British Prime Minister (PM) is in diresct contrast to that of the monarch. Although the Queen appears to have> a great deal of power, in reality, she has very little. The PM, on the* other hand, appears not to have much power but, in reality, has a very great deal Indeed.

A number of ministers are invited by the PM to attend regular meetings to discuss policy and this group of ministers is known as the Cabinet. The Cabinet consists of the 16 to 24 senior ministers. The Cabinet meets about once a week in No. 10 Downing Street and takes decisions about new policies and the running of the various government departments. Discussion in the Cabinet is very brief and the Cabinet never votes - the Prime Minister’s decision is final. Responsibility, on the other hand, is collective. This means that, if the Prime Minister resigns, the whole Cabinet resigns, too.

Cabinet ministers are heads of the departments. Most heads of government departments have the title ‘Secretary of State’ (as in, for example, ‘Secretary of State for the Environment’).

‘The Foreign Secretary’ is the minister of Foreign and Commonwealth office. The Home Secretary' is in charge of the Home Office. Another important person is the 'Chancellor of the Exchequer', who is the head of the Treasury. His residence is next to Prime Minister’s: 11, Downing Street.

The work of government is carried out through the various government departments, (the Civil Service), each directly or indirectly responsible to a minister. Each department has a large staff of professional civil servants who do most of the work of running the department on the minister’s behalf. The Civil Service is politically neutral; a change of government does not involve a change in the civil servants staffing a department.

'Whitehall' is the symbol of the British government. It is the name of the street in London, which runs from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence are both located here. The phrase 'the opinion of Whitehall’ refers not only to the opinions of government ministers but also to the opinions of senior civil servants.

28. LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The system of local government is very similar to the system of national government. There are elected representatives, called councilors. They meet in a council chamber in the Town Hall or County Hall, where they make policy, which is implemented by local government officers.

The country is divided into counties and regions. There are 47 counties in England and Wales, 26 ones in Northern Ireland, and

10 regions in Scotland. They are responsible for a number Df matters at local level: collection of council tax, education, social sevices, roads and safety, etc.

The story of the Greater London Council (GLC) is ar example of the struggle for power between central and local government. In the early _?1980s Britain had a right-wing Conservative government, but the left-wing Labour party in London won the local election and gained control of the GLC. The Labour controlled GLC then introduced many measures, which the national government did not like (i.e. it reduced fares on London buses and increased local taxes to pay for this). The government decided to abolish the GLC. The powers of tha GLC were either given to the 32 boroughs of London or to special committees. Nowadays, London is the only major city in the western world, which does not have its own governmental authority.

Greater London is divided into 16 boroughs. (Boroughs were originally towns that had grown large and important enough to be*given their own government, free of control by the county).

Still smaller units of local government are parishes for England, and communities for Scotland and Wales. Parishes were originally villages centered on a local church. They have no legal powers but are recognized as neighborhood or village-level forums of discussion.

Questions

1. Do you think the theory of collective responsibility is a good one? Does it exist in your country?

2. What would be the equivalent titles in your country for: Chancellor, Home Secretary, and Foreign Secretary?

3. A British Prime Minister has no status in law, which puts him or her above politicians. So why are modern British PMs so powerful?

4. How does the relationship between central and locaj government in Britain compare with that in your country?

5. Local government in Britain is responsible for most of the things that affect people in everyday life. So why do you thiink so few people bother to vote in local elections in Britain?

III.5. POLITICAL PAKTIES