Great Britain

irreverently – непочтительно

annex – аннексировать, присоединять

cede – уступать, передавать

convention – установление, обычай

to be entitled – иметь право

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

Queen Elizabeth II

Prince Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh

Princess Margaret

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales

Princess Diana

Princess Anne

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York

Sarah Ferguson

Prince Edward

Sophie Rhys-Jones

the Duke and Duchess of Wessex

Prince William

Prince Henry  

2. The Parliament

   Power in Great Britain is divided among three branches: the legislative [`leg3islзtiv] – законодательная branch, the executive [ig`zekjutiv] – исполнительная branch and the judicial [d3u`di∫зl] – судебная branch.

      The legislative branch is represented by Parliament. The British parliament is divided into two ‘houses’ – the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

      The House of Lords consists of hereditary [hi`reditзri] and life peers and peeresses [`piзrisiz], a certain number of Irish and Scottish peers, the Archbishops [`a:t∫i`bi∫зps] of Canterbury [`kæntзbзri] and York, and some bishops of the Established Church of England. Full membership of the House of Lords is over 1000. Members of the House of Lords are not elected. They are members as of right. In the case of some of them, this ‘right’ is the result of their being the holder of an inherited [in`heritid] title. But since 1958 a new practice has appeared: the practice of ‘creating’ new peers. They are called ‘life peers’, because their children do not inherit their titles like the children of hereditary peers. New peers are created by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. The life peerage system has established itself as a mean of finding a place in public life for distinguished retired politicians who may no longer wish to be as busy as MPs in the Commons, but who still wish to voice their opinions in a public forum [`fo:rзm]. Political parties are especially keen to send their older members who once belonged to the leadership of the party to the House of Lords. Informally, this practice has become known as being ‘kicked upstairs’. As a result of the life peerage system there are more than 300 people in the House of Lords are life peers.

      The House of Lords sits, on average, for about 140 days in each session. The Lord Chancellor [`t∫a:nsзlз] is the chairman and sits on a special seat called the Woolsack. A peer who attends a debate [di`beit] receives salary in addition to travelling expenses. Of all the parliaments in the world, the lowest quorum [`kwo:rзm] 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.

      The House of Lords has little real power any more. All proposals [pre`pouzзlz] must have the agreement of the Lords before they can become law. But the power of the Lords to refuse a proposal for a law which has been agreed by the Commons is now limited. After a period which can be as short as six months the proposal becomes law anyway, whether or not the lords agree.

      The modern House of Lords is a forum for public discussion. Because its members do not depend on party politics for their position, it is sometimes able to bring important matters that the Commons has been ignoring into the open. More importantly, it is the place where proposals for new laws are discussed in much more detail than the busy Commons has time for.

      There are 659 members in the House of Commons. They are elected by a general election. There must be a general election every five years, but the Government can order a general election at any time within the period if it is so wished. The United Kingdom is divided into 659 areas called constituencies [kзn`stitjuзnsiz] – избирательные округа. Each constituency is guaranteed [,gærзn`ti:d] one representative in the House of Commons. A person may represent a constituency even if he does not live there. MPs are elected by direct and secret ballot [`bælзt]. Citizens of 18 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 of some other party because of his preference [`prefrзns] for one party rather than the others. Elections in Britain are decided on a simple majority on each constituency – the candidate with the most votes is elected.

      The British political scene is dominated by a two-party system: one party in power, the other in opposition. They are the Conservative and the Labour Parties.

Conservative party.

• History: developed from the group of MPs known as the Tories in the early nineteenth century and still often known informally by that name.
• Traditional outlook: stands for hierarchical [hai`ra:kikзl] authority and minimal [`miniml] government interference [,intз`fiзrзns] in the e`conomy; likes to reduce income tax; gives high priority [prai`oriti] to national defense and internal [in`tз:nl] – внутренний law and order.
• Organization: leader has relatively great degree of freedom to direct policy.
• Votes: the richer sections of society, plus a large minority [mai`noriti] of the working class.
• Money: mostly donations [dou`nei∫зnz] from business people.

Labour party.

• History: formed at the beginning of the twentieth century from an alliance [з`laiзns] of trade unionists [`ju:njзnists] and intellectuals [,inti`lektjuзlz]. First government in 1923.
• Traditional outlook: stands for equality [i:`kwoliti], for the weaker people in society and for more government involvement in the e`conomy; more concerned to provide full social services than to keep income tax low.
• Organization: in theory, `politics have to be approved by annual [`ænjuзl] conference; in practice leader has more power than this implies.
• Votes: working class, plus a small middle-class intelligentsia [in,teli`dgentsiз].
• Money: more than half from trade unions.

      Among the other parties one can mention the Liberal Party, the Scottish National Party, the Welsh Nationalist Party, British National Party (it was previously called the National Front, which was formerly the Communist Party), the Green Party.

      A session of the House of Commons lasts for about 160–170 days. Parliament has intervals during its work. By present custom, a session is divided into 5 periods: from November (when the session is opened) till Christmas, from January till Easter, from Easter till Whitsun [`witsзn] – Духов день, седьмое воскресенье после Пасхи, from Whitsun till end of July, and 10 days in October. Members of Parliament are paid for their parliament work and have to attend the seatings.

      Most MPs are full-time politicians, and do another job, if at all, only part-time. The House does not sit in the morning. From Monday to Thursday, the House does not start its business until 14.30. On Friday it starts in the morning, but then finishes in the early afternoon for the week-end. The average modern MP spends more time at work than any other professional in the country. From Monday to Thursday, the Commons never finishes its work before 22.30 and sometimes it continues sitting for several hours longer. Occasionally, it debates [di`beits] through most of the night. MP’s mornings are taken up with committee work, research, preparing speeches and dealing with the problems of the people they represent. It does not leave MPs much time for their families. Politicians have a higher rate of divorce than the national average (which is already high).

      The opening of Parliament is an occasion of very picturesque ceremony. First, the Queen’s servant, called ‘Black Rod’ (палка) knocks on the door of the House of Commons and demands that the MPs let the Queen come in and tell them what ‘her’ government is going to do in the coming year. The Commons always refuse her entry. This is because, in the seventeenth century, Charles I once burst in to the chamber [`t∫eimbз] and tried to arrest some MPs. Ever since then, the monarch has not been allowed to enter the Commons. Instead, the MPs agree to come through to the House of Lords and listen to the monarch in there. By tradition they always come through in pairs, each pair comprising [kзm`praiziŋ] – заключает MPs from two different parties. So the Queen goes to the House of Lords and reads a speech. 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 to the House of Commons and start their work.

      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 (“Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition’) is a recognized post in the House of Commons. He even gets a salary to prove the importance of this role. He or she chooses a ‘shadow cabinet’ – a group of politicians in the opposition party who each study and speak about the work of a particular minister in the government.

       The members sit on two sides of the hall, one side for the governing party and the other for the opposition. Although MPs do not have their own person seats in the Commons, there are two seating areas reserved for particular MPs. These areas are the front benches on either side of the House. These benches are where the leading members of the governing party (i.e. ministers) and the leading members of the main opposition party sit. These people are known as ‘frontbenchers’. MPs who do not hold a government post or a post in the shadow cabinet are known as ‘backbenchers’.

      Important member in the House of Commons is the Speaker. The Speaker is the person who chairs and controls discussion in the House, decides which MP is going to speak next and makes sure that the rules of procedure [prз`si:d3з] are followed. If they are not, the Speaker has the power to demand a public apology from an MP or even to ban [æ] an MP from the House for a number of days. The Speaker is, officially, the second most important ‘commoner’ (non-aristocrat [`æristзkræt]) in the kingdom after the Prime Minister. The Speaker is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament. Hundreds of years ago, it was the Speaker’s job to communicate the decisions of the Commons to the King (that is where the title speaker comes from). As the King was often very displeased with what the Commons had decided, this was not a pleasant task. As a result, nobody wanted the job. They had to be forced to take it. These days, the position is much safer one, but the tradition of dragging an unwilling Speaker to the chair has remained. In 1992 the first woman Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, was appointed, so that MPs had to get used to addressing not ‘Mr. Speaker’, as they had always done in the past, but ‘Madam Speaker’ instead. Once a Speaker has been appointed, he or she agrees to give up all party politics. the Speaker cannot debate or vote with other members unless the voting is equal, in this case the Speaker votes with Government.

      Each parliamentary day begins with Question time, lasting an hour. During this time MPs are allowed to ask question to government ministers. Questions to ministers have to be ‘tabled’ (written down on the table below the Speaker’s chair) in 48 hours ahead, so that ministers have time to prepare their answers. After the minister has answered the tabled question, the MP who originally tabled it is allowed to ask a further question relating to the minister’s answer. In this way, it is sometimes possible for MPs to catch a minister unprepared.

      After Question time, the main debate of the day takes place. 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 debates they remain in the House, and the sittings may go on until late at night.

      Parliament’s main function is to make laws. The procedure of making new laws is as follows: a member of the House of Commons proposes a bill, which is discussed by the House. If the bill is approved, it is sent to the House of Lords, which, in case it does not like it, has the right to veto [`vi:tou] it for one year. If the House of Commons passes the bill again the following year, the House of Lords cannot reject – отклонить it. Finally the bill is sent to the Queen for the ‘royal assent’ [з`sent], after which it becomes a law. Royal assent has not been refused since 1707.

Vocabulary

legislative – законодательная

executive – исполнительная

judicial – судебная

hereditary – наследственный

peeress – леди

forum – форум, собрание

on average – в среднем

debate – дебаты

quorum – кворум

proposal – законопроект

constituency – избирательный округ

ballot – голосование

hierarchical authority – иерархическую власть

interference – вмешательство

income tax – подоходный налог

minority – меньшинство

donation – денежное пожертвование

alliance – союз, альянс

trade unionist – тред-юнионист

intellectual – интеллектуал, мыслящий человек

equality – равенство

intelligentsia – интеллигенция

Whitsun – Духов день, седьмое воскресенье после Пасхи

‘shadow cabinet’ – «теневой кабинет»

procedure – процедура

veto – вето

reject – отклонить  

3. The Government

      The executive [ig`zekjutiv] branch is headed by the Prime Minister. 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. The Prime Minister has an official London House while he (or she) is in office; it is № 10, Downing Street.

      The Prime Minister selects the ministers to compose the government. 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. Government usually consists of about 100 ministers.

      Most ministers are in charge of departments which keep them busy. Most heads of government departments have the title ‘Secretary of State’, e.g. ‘Secretary of State for the Environment’. The minister in charge of Britain’s relations with the outside world is known to everybody is the ‘Foreign Secretary’. The one in charge of law and order inside the country is the ‘Home Secretary’. Another important person is the ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’ [`t∫a:nsзlз зv ði `t∫ekз], who is the head of the Treasury, the department which deals with the money collected and spent by the Government. The Prime Minister himself often takes charge of one of the departments. He usually First Lord of the Treasury – первый лорд казначейства, номинальная должность главы совета казначейства, которую занимает первый министр.

        The new appointed ministers are presented to the monarch for the formal approval. The most important ministers of the government (about twenty) form the Cabinet. The Cabinet is a kind of ‘inner government’ within the Government. Over the years the membership of the Cabinet has varied [`veзrid] in size between 17 and 23 and includes the Lord President of the Council – лорд-председатель Тайного совета, the Lord Chancellor [`t∫a:nsзlз], the Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Chancellor of the Exchequer [`t∫a:nsзlз зv ði `t∫ekз], the Home Secretary, etc.

      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.

      Members of the Cabinet make joint decisions or advise the Prime Minister. All ministers must agree on the policy of the Cabinet. If a minister finds he cannot agree, he resigns [ri`zainz] – уходить в отставку. The Prime Minister himself may require a minister to resign. Within the Cabinet the Prime Minister is meant to be first among equals. In fact Prime Ministers have much more power. Ministers must obey their will, or persuade the Prime Minister of their own point of view.

      ‘Cabinet Government’ is the main feature of the British political system. So 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.

      Although government is essentially political, it depends upon a permanent body of officials, the Civil Service. Over half a million men and women are employed in the huge number of offices. Governments come and go, but the civil service remains. Civil servants serve ministers from any parties in power, so they know the secrets of the previous government which the present minister is unaware of. The most senior civil servant in a government department has the title of ‘Permanent Secretary’.