Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0050/00508.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00508}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{United Kingdom
Britain's System of Government}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Subject{house
parliament
queen
lords
government
britain
members
royal
state
commons}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       United Kingdom
Book:        Britain's System of Government
Author:      Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Britain's System of Government

Government

     The British constitution, unlike that of most other countries, is not
contained in any single document. Formed partly by statute, partly by common
law and partly by convention, it can be altered by Act of Parliament, or by
general agreement to create, vary or abolish a convention. The constitution
thus adapts readily to changing political conditions and ideas.

     The organs of government are clearly distinguishable, although their
functions often intermingle and overlap. The legislature, Parliament, is the
supreme authority. The executive consists of: (1) the Government-Cabinet and
other ministers who are responsible for initiating and directing national
policy; (2) government departments, which are responsible for national
administration; (3) local authorities, which administer and manage many local
services; and (4) public corporations responsible for operating particular
nationalised industries or, for example, a social or cultural service,
subject to ministerial control in varying degrees. The judiciary determines
common law and interprets statutes, and is independent of both legislature
and executive.

The Monarchy

     The British people look to the Queen not only as their head of State, but
also as the symbol of their nation's unity. The monarchy is the most ancient
secular institution in Britain. During the last thousand years its continuity
has only once been broken (by the establishment of a republic which lasted
from 1649 to 1660) and, despite interruptions in the direct line of
succession, the hereditary principle upon which it was founded has always been
preserved. The royal title in Britain is: `Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace
of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her
other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the
Faith'. The form of the royal title is varied for those other member states of
the Commonwealth of which the Queen is head of State, to suit the particular
circumstances of each. Other member states are republics or have their own
monarchies.

     The seat of the monarchy is in Great Britain. In the Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man the Queen is represented by a Lieutenant-Governor. In the
other member nations of the Commonwealth of which the Queen is head of State,
her representative is the Governor-General, appointed by her on the advice of
the ministers of the country concerned and completely in dependent of the
British Government.

     In the British dependencies the Queen is usually represented by
governors, who are responsible to the British Government for the good
government of the countries concerned.

Succession, Accession and Coronation

     The title to the Crown derives partly from statute and partly from common
law rules of descent. Lineal Protestant descendants of a granddaughter of
James I of England and VI of Scotland (Princess Sophia, the Electress of
Hanover) are alone eligible to succeed, and although succession is not bound
to continue in its present line, it can be altered only by common consent of
the Commonwealth nations, of which the Queen is Sovereign.

     The sons of the Sovereign have precedence over the daughters in
succeeding to the throne. When a daughter succeeds, she becomes Queen Regnant,
and the powers of the Crown are vested in her as though she were a kng. While
the consort of a king takes her husband's rank and style, the constitution
does not give any special rank or privileges to the husband of a Queen
Regnant, although in practice he fills an important role in the life of the
nation, as does the Duke of Edinburgh.

     The Sovereign succeeds to the throne as soon as his or her predecessor
dies and there is no interregnum. He or she is at once proclaimed at an
Accession Council, to which all members of the Privy Council are summoned. The
Lords Spiritual and Temporal (see p 6), the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and other
leading citizens of the city of London are also invited.

     The Sovereign's coronation follows the accession after a convenient
interval. It is a ceremony which has remained essentially the same for over a
thousand years, even if details have often been modified to conform to the
customs of the time. It takes place at Westminster Abbey in London in the
presence of representatives of the Houses of Parliament and of all the great
public interests of Britain, of the Prime Ministers and leading members of
the other Commonwealth nations, and of representatives of other countries.

Acts of Government

     The Queen personifies the State. In law, she is head of the executive,
an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the
commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Crown and the `supreme governor'
of the established Church of England, As a result of a long process of
evolution, during which the monarchy's absolute power has been progressively
reduced, the Queen acts on the advice of her ministers. Britain is governed
by Her Majesty's Government in the name of the Queen.

     Within this framework, and in spite of a trend during the past hundred
years towards assigning powers directly to ministers, there are still
important acts of government which require the participation of the Queen.
These include summoning, proroguing (discontinuing until the next session
without dissolution) and dissolving Parliament; and giving Royal Assent to
Bills passed by Parliament. The Queen is also involved in appointing many
important office holders, including government ministers, judges, officers
in the armed forces, governors, diplomats, bishops and some other senior
clergy of the Church of England; conferring peerages, knighthoods and other
honours; and remitting all or part of the penalty imposed on a person
convicted of a crime. An important function is appointing the Prime Minister
and by convention the Queen invites the leader of the political party which
commands a majority in the House of Commons to form a government. In
international affairs the Queen, as head of State, has the power to declare
war and make peace, to recognise foreign states and governments, to conclude
treaties and to annex or cede territory.

     With rare exceptions (as when appointing the Prime Minister), those acts
involving the use of `royal prerogative' powers are nowadays performed by
government ministers who are responsible to Parliament and can be questioned
about a particular policy. It is not necessary to have Parliament's authority
to exercise these powers, although Parliament has the power to restrict or
abolish a prerogative right.

     Ministerial responsibility in no way detracts from the importance of the
Queen's role in the smooth working of government. She holds meetings of the
Privy Council, gives audiences to her ministers and other officials in Britain
and overseas, receives accounts of Cabinet decisions, reads dispatches and
signs numerous state papers. She must be informed and consulted on every
aspect of national life, and she must show complete impartiality.

     Such is the significance attached to these royal functions that
provision has been made to appoint a regent to perform them should the Queen
be totally incapacitated. The regent would be the Queen's eldest son, the
Prince of Wales, then those in succession to the throne who are of age. In
the event of the Queen's partial incapacity or absence abroad, there is
provision to appoint Counsellors of State (the Duke of Edinburgh, the four
adults next in line of succession, and the Queen Mother) to whom the Queen may
delegate certain royal functions. However, Counsellors of State may not, for
instance, dissolve Parliament (except on the Queen's express instructions),
nor create peers.

Ceremonial and Royal Visits

     Ceremonial has always been associated with British kings and queens, and,
in spite of the change in the outlook of both the Sovereign and the people,
many traditional customs and ceremonies are retained. Royal marriages and
royal funerals are marked by public ceremony, and the Sovereign's birthday is
officially celebrated in June by Trooping the Colour on Horse Guards Parade.
State banquets take place when a foreign monarch or head of State visits
Britain; investitures are held at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of
Holyroodhouse in Scotland to bestow honours; and royal processions add
significance to such occasions as a state opening of Parliament. Each year the
Queen and other members of the royal family visit many parts of Britain.
Their presence at scientific, artistic, industrial and charitable events of
national and local importance attracts nationwide interest and publicity. The
Queen pays state visits to foreign governments, accompanied by the Duke of
Edinburgh. She also undertakes lengthy tours in the other countries of the
Commonwealth. Other members of the royal family pay official visits overseas,
occasionally representing the Queen, and often in connection with an
organisation or a cause with which they are associated.

Royal Income and Expenditure

     The expenditure incurred by the Queen in carrying out her public duties
is financed from the Civil List and from public departments (which meet the
cost of, for example, the royal yacht and the Queen's Flight). All such
expenditure is approved by Parliament. About three-quarters of the Queen's
Civil List provisions is required to meet the cost of the staff who deal,
among other things, with state papers and correspondence, the organisation of
state occasions, visits and other public engagements undertaken by the Queen
in Britain and overseas. The Queen's private expenditure as Sovereign is met
from the Privy Purse, which is financed mainly from the revenue of the Duchy
of Lancaster; her personal expenditure as a private individual is met from her
own personal resources.

     Under the Civil List Acts, other members of the royal family also receive
parliamentary annual allowances to enable them to carry out their public
duties. The Prince of Wales, however, receives no such allowance, since as
Duke of Cornwall he is entitled to the net revenue of the estate of the Duchy
of Cornwall. (He voluntarily surrenders a quarter of this revenue to the
Exchequer.) The Queen pays into the Exchequer a sum equivalent to that
provided by Parliament for certain members of the royal family. Civil List
payments in 1990 amounted to 6.3 million Pounds. From January 1991 these
payments will be fixed at 7.9 million Pounds a year for ten years.

Parliament

     Parliament is the supreme legislative authority. Its three elements, the
Queen, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons, are outwardly
separate and are constituted on different principles. They meet together only
on occasions of symbolic significance such as the state opening of Parliament,
when the Commons are summoned by the Queen to the House of Lords. When
Parliament legislates, however, the agreement of each of its component parts
is normally required.

     Parliament can legislate for Britain as a whole, for any of the
constituent parts of the country separately, or for any combination of them.
It can also legislate for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which are
Crown dependencies and not part of Britain, having subordinate legislatures
which make laws on island affairs.

     As there are no legal restraints imposed by a written constitution,
Parliament is able to legislate as it pleases. It can make, abolish or change
any law; and can destroy established conventions or turn a convention into
law. It can also prolong its own life beyond the normal period without
consulting the electorate.

     In practice, however, Parliament does not assert its supremacy in this
way. Its members bear in mind the common law and have tended to act in
accordance with precedent and tradition. The validity of an Act of Parliament
which has been duly passed, promulgated and published cannot be disputed in
the law courts, but no Parliament would be likely to pass an Act which it knew
would receive no public support. The House of Commons is directly responsible
to the electorate, and in this century the House of Lords has recognised the
priority of the elected chamber. The system of party government helps to
ensure that Parliament legislates with its responsibility to the electorate in
mind.

     As a member of the European Community, Britain recognises the various
types of Community legislation and wider policies, and sends 81 elected
members to the European Parliament.

The Functions of Parliament

     The main functions of Parliament are (1) to pass laws, (2) to provide, by
voting taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government, (3) to
scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for
expenditure, and (4) to debate the major political issues of the day. In
discharging these functions Parliament helps to bring the relevant facts and
issues before the electorate. By custom, Parliament is also informed before
the ratification of all important international treaties and agreements. The
making of treaties is, however, a royal prerogative exercised on the advice
of the Government and is not subject to parliamentary approval.

The Meeting of Parliament

     A Parliament has a maximum duration of five years, but is often dissolved
and a general election held before the end of this term. The maximum life has
been prolonged by legislation in rare circumstances such as the two world
wars. Dissolution and writs for a general election are ordered by the Queen
on the advice of the Prime Minister.

     The life of a Parliament is divided into sessions. Each usually lasts for
one year-beginning and ending most often in October or November. It is
interspersed with `adjournments' at night, at weekends, at Christmas, Easter
and the late (English) Spring Bank Holiday, and during a long summer recess
starting in late July or early August. The average number of `sitting' days
in a session is about 170 in the House of Commons and about 160 in the House
of Lords. At the start of each session the Queen's speech to Parliament
outlines the Government's broad policies and proposed legislative programme.
Each session is ended by prorogation. Parliament then `stands prorogued' for
about a week until the new session opens. Prorogation terminates nearly all
parliamentary business: in particular, Bills which have not been enacted by
the end of the session are lost.

The House of Lords

     The House of Lords consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords
Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the
Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and the 21 next most senior diocesan
bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal consist of (1) all
hereditary peers and peeresses of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the
United Kingdom, (2) life peers created to assist the House in its judicial
duties (Lords of Appeal or `law lords'), and (3) all other life peers.
Hereditary peerages carry a right to sit in the House (subject to certain
disqualifications), provided the holder establishes his or her claim and is
aged 21 years or over. However, anyone succeeding to a peerage may, within
12 months of succession, disclaim that peerage for his or her lifetime.
Disclaimants lose their right to sit in the House but gain the right to vote
and to offer themselves as candidates at parliamentary elections.

     Peerages, both hereditary and life, are conferred by the Sovereign on the
advice of the Prime Minister. They are usually granted in recognition of
service in politics or other walks of life or because one of the political
parties wishes to have the recipient in the House of Lords. The House provides
a place in Parliament for men and women whose advice is useful, but who do
not wish to be involved in party politics.

     In mid-1990 there were 1,189 members of the House of Lords, including the
two archbishops and 24 bishops. The Lords Temporal consisted of 764 hereditary
peers who had succeeded to their titles, 20 hereditary peers who have had
their titles conferred on them (including the Prince of Wales), and 379 life
peers, of whom 19 were `law lords'. Of the total, 88 peers were not in receipt
of a writ of summons and some 142 peers were on leave of absence from the
House. Irish peerages do not entitle their holders to membership of the House
of Lords, but some peers of Ireland are entitled to sit in the House of Lords
as holders of an English, Scottish, Great Britain or United Kingdom peerage.

     Not all peers with a right to sit in the House of Lords attend the
sittings. Peers who attend the House (the average daily attendance is some
320) receive no salary for their parliamentary work, but can recover expenses
incurred in attending the House (for which there are maximum daily rates) and
certain travelling expenses.

     The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who takes his place on
the woolsack as ex-officio Speaker of the House. In his absence his place may
be taken by a deputy speaker, a deputy chairman or, if neither is present, by
a speaker chosen by the Lords present. The first of the deputy speakers is the
Chairman of Committees, who is appointed at the beginning of each session and
takes the chair in all committees, unless the House decides otherwise. The
Chairman and the Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees are Lords, but
receive salaries as officers of the House.

     The permanent officers of the House include the Clerk of the Parliaments,
who is responsible for the records of proceedings and for the promulgation of
Acts of Parliament. He is the accounting officer for money voted to the House,
and is in charge of the administrative staff of the House, known as the
Parliament Office. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, who is also
Serjeant-at-arms in attendance upon the Lord Chancellor, is responsible for
security, accommodation and services in the House of Lords' part of the Palace
of Westminster. The Yeoman Usher is Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms and assists Black
Rod in his duties.

The House of Commons

     The House of Commons is elected by universal adult suffrage and consists
of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs). At present there are 43 women, one Asian
and three black MPs. Of the 650 seats, 523 are for England, 38 for Wales, 72
for Scotland, and 17 for Northern Ireland.

     General elections are held after a Parliament has been dissolved and a
new one summoned by the Queen. When an MP dies or resigns or is given a
peerage, a by-election takes place. Members are paid an annual salary of
26,701 Pounds (from January 1990) and an office costs allowance of up to
24,903 Pounds. There are also a number of other allowances, including travel
allowances, a supplement for London members and, for provincial members,
subsistence allowances and allowances for second homes. (For ministers'
salaries, see p 19.)

     The chief officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by MPs
to preside over the House. Other officers are the Chairman of Ways and Means
and two deputy chairmen, who act as Deputy Speakers, elected by the House on
the nomination of the Government but drawn from the Opposition as well as the
government party. They, like the Speaker, neither speak nor vote other than
in their official capacity. Overall responsibility for the staffing, budget
and administration of the House rests with the House of Commons Commission,
a statutory body chaired by the Speaker.

     Permanent officers (who are not MPs) include the Clerk of the House of
Commons, who is the principal adviser to the Speaker on its privileges and
procedures. His department has responsibilities relating to the conduct of the
business of the House and its many committees. The Clerk is also accounting
officer for the House. The Serjeant-at-Arms, who waits upon the Speaker,
carries out certain orders of the House, is the official housekeeper of the
Commons' part of the building, and is responsible for its security. Other
officers serve the House in the Library, the Department of the Official Report
(Hansard), the Administration Department and the Refreshment Department.

Parliamentary Electoral System

     For electoral purposes Britain is divided into constituencies, each of
which returns one member to the House of Commons. To ensure equitable
representation four permanent Parliamentary Boundary Commissions, one each
for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, make periodic reviews of
constituencies and recommend any adjustment of seats that may seem necessary
in the light of population movements or other changes.

     Elections are by secret ballot. British citizens, together with citizens
of other Commonwealth countries and citizens of the Irish Republic resident in
Britain, may vote provided they are aged 18 or over, registered in the annual
register of electors for the constituency and not subject to any
disqualification. People not entitled to vote include members of the House of
Lords, patients detained under mental health legislation, sentenced prisoners
and people convicted within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal
election practices. Service voters (members of the armed forces and their
spouses, Crown servants and staff of the British Council employed overseas,
together with their wives or husbands if accompanying them) may be registered
for an address in a constituency where they would live but for their service.
The Representation of the People Act 1989 extended the right to vote for
British citizens living abroad by increasing from 5 to 20 years the period
during which they may apply to be registered to vote.

     Each elector may cast one vote, normally in person at a polling station.
Anyone who is entitled to an absent vote may vote by post or by proxy, but
their postal ballot papers cannot be sent to addresses outside Britain.
Service voters, overseas electors, electors who are physically incapacitated
or unable to vote in person because of the nature of their work may vote by
post (unless they are abroad at the time of the election) or by proxy for an
indefinite period. Under the 1989 Act, any elector whose circumstances on
polling day are such that he or she cannot reasonably be expected to vote in
person at his or her allotted polling station-for example, an elector away
on holiday-may apply for an absent vote.

     Voting is not compulsory; 74.6 per cent of a total electorate of 43.6
million people voted in the general election in June 1987. The simple majority
system of voting is used. A candidate is elected if he or she has a majority
of votes over the next candidate (although not necessarily an absolute
majority over all other candidates.)

     British citizens and citizens of other Commonwealth countries, together
with citizens of the Irish Republic, may stand and be elected as MPs provided
they are aged 21 or over and are not subject to any disqualification. Those
disqualified include undischarged bankrupts; people sentenced to more than
one year's imprisonment; clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scotland,
Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Church; peers; and holders of certain
offices listed in the House of Commons DisqualificationAct 1975. The latter
include holders of judicial office, civil servants, some local government
officers, members of the regular armed forces, or the police service, some
members of public corporations and government commissions, and also British
members of the legislature of any country or territory outside the
Commonwealth. A candidate's nomination for election must be signed by two
electors as proposer and seconder, and by eight other electors registered in
the constituency. He or she does not require any party backing. A candidate
must also deposit 500 Pounds, which is forfeited if his or her votes do not
exceed 5 per cent of those validly cast.

     The maximum sum a candidate may spend on a general election campaign is
3,648 Pounds plus 3.1 pence for each elector in a borough constituency or 4.1
pence for each elector in a county constituency. A candidate may post an
election address to each elector in the constituency, free of charge. All
election expenses, apart from the candidate's personal expenses, are subject
to the statutory limit. A review of candidates' election expenses is in
progress.