The Houses of Parliament

The two Houses of Parliament, the Lords and the Commons, share the same building, the Palace of Westminster. The Lords occupy the southern end, the Commons the rest, which includes some hundreds of rooms, among which are the library, restaurants, committee rooms, and private or shared offices for MPs.

The House of Lords has more than 1,000 members. Although only about 250 of them take an active part in the work of the House. There are 26 Anglican bishops, 956 hereditary peers, 11 judges, 185 life peers. And unlike MPs they do not receive a salary. They debate a bill after it has been passed by the House of Commons. Changes may be recommended, and agreement between the Houses is reached by negotiations. The Lords’ main power consists of being able to delay non-financial bills for a period of a year, but they can also introduce certain types of bill. The House of Lords is the only non-elected second chamber among all the democracies in the world, and some people in Britain would like to abolish it.

The Commons debating chamber is usually called ‘the House’. It has seats for only about 370 of its total membership of 650. It is rectangular, with the Speaker’s chair at one end, and with five straight rows of benches (divided by a gangway) running down one side along its whole length, and five rows on the other side. The rows of benches face each other across the floor. One side of the House is occupied by the Government and the MPs who support it, the other facing them, by Her Majesty’s Opposition - all the MPs who are opposed to the Government of the day and who hope that the next general election their party will be in a majority so that they can form the Government. The arrangement of the benches suggests a two-party system.

The front bench up to the gangway, nearest to the Speaker’s right, is the Government front bench, where ministers sit. It has room for about seventeen people, but although there are more than sixty ministers (apart from whips) who are members of the House of Commons. This front bench is rarely full. Ministers do not usually sit listening to debates which do not concern their own departments.

Facing the Government front bench is the Opposition front bench, used by members of the shadow cabinet. There is a long table between the two front benches. Ministers normally speak in Parliament only from the ‘Dispatch Box’ (a reading desk on the table in front of it, which has each of the seats). What they say is said officially, and commits the Government as a whole. So they need a convenient desk for documents including civil servants’ briefing notes.

Members of the House of Commons have been paid salaries since 1911. The rate has lately been nearly twice the average industrial worker’s wage. Since 1965 the allowance for travel, living in London, and paying part-time secretaries and research assistants, have all been improved. The library has been extended. Its greatly increased staff help MPs to get the information they need for their work. But many MPs say that they need to have outside earnings, through journalism, work in the law courts or business, to enable them to live at the standard they expect.

Each chamber has galleries, parts of which are kept for the use of the public, who are described, in the language of Parliament, as ‘strangers’.

Standing Orders set out the main formal rules of procedure. There are also practices established by custom and precedent. In 1844 Sir Thomas Erskine May, who was then Clerk of the House of Commons, published his Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament. It is used and followed in other parliaments of the Commonwealth besides the British. As anyone who reads it can quickly see, very many of the rules are derived from individual decisions of the successive Speakers. A Speaker’s decision on some particular point may establish a precedent in much the same way as a court’s decision on a matter of law.

The choice of an MP as Speaker is made by a vote of the House after the party leaders have consulted their supporters and privately agreed beforehand on a particular person. Three other members hold office as deputy-speakers. They take turns at occupying the Chair. The Speaker and the three deputies abstain from all party activity for so long as they hold office. But they may - and sometimes do - return to ordinary political activity after a time.

Notes*

to share, v. - ділити, розділяти, володіти спільно	to hold office, v. - обіймати (займати) посаду
MPs скороч. від Members of Parliament - члени парламенту hereditary peers - пери по сподковості negotiations, n. - переговори rectangular, adj. - прямокутний gangway, n. - прохід між рядами whips - парламентські партійні організатори a whip, n. - повістка партійному організатору про необхідність бути присутньому на засіданні парламенту shadow cabinet - тіньовий кабінет (опозиційний)	to take a turn - брати (займати) по черзі Standing Оrder - статут, положення, регламент, standing orders - регламент, правила процедури wage, n. - зарплата робітників rate, n. - ставка salary, n. - зарплата службовців to commit, v. - здійснювати, вчиняти ‘Dispatch box’ - валіза для офіційних паперів a pay day – день зарплати

Talking Points*

What’s the structure of the British Parliament?

What’s the function of the House of Lords?

How does the Lower Chamber work?

What are whips?

What does the Opposition do in the British Parliament?

What’s the role of a Speaker in the British Parliament?

Compare the work of the British Parliament with that of the Ukrainian one. Expose similarities and peculiarities in the work of the both bodies.

Have you ever seen…

· The Changing of the Guard. This happens every day at Buckingham Palace, the Monarch’s home in London. Soldiers stand in front of the palace. Each morning these soldiers (the “guard”) change. One group leaves and another arrives. In summer and winter tourists stand outside the palace at 11.30 every morning and watch the Changing of the Guard.

Unit 2

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