The Queen and the Prime Minister

An important function of the Sovereign is the appointment of a prime minister. Normally the appointment is automatic since it is a convention of the constitution that the sovereign must invite the leader of the party which won a majority in the House of Commons to form a government. If no party has a majority or if the party having a majority has no recognized leader, the Queen's duty is to select a prime minister consulting anyone she wishes.

The Queen's closest official contacts are with the Prime Minister whom she receives once every week, when in London, and through him with the Cabinet. She also sees other ministers, generally in order to discuss the affairs of their departments. She sees all the Cabinet papers, the Cabinet agenda, correspondence and other important documents. The Queen is the second after the Prime Minister best informed person in the United Kingdom, as information is one of the important attributes of Queen's power. The Queen is responsible for dissolving Parliament, and this is normally done at the request of the Prime Minister. The appointment or dismissal of ministers is also carried out on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Acts involving the use of "royal prerogative" powers are now performed by government ministers, and the minister is politically responsible for the royal act. The Queen's speech in the Opening of Parliament is prepared by the Prime Minister and contains the outline of the program for the session. That is why it is also said that the Queen has duties and rights but has no power. Of her many rights the most important are: the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn. And with them the monarch has a good deal more power than is commonly supposed.

The Queen has the constitutional right in certain circumstances to disregard her ministers' advice and this is a strong reserve weapon for the case of need. The Queen is, in fact, the only permanent member of the Cabinet having first-hand knowledge of all its secret papers. Since her accession to the throne the Queen has given audience to 12 Prime Ministers. It is unlikely that the Queen should always be in sympathy with her Prime Minister. And though officially she may not have any political views her silent or other way of approval or disapproval of their actions, which usually are revealed by the press, indicate the Queen’s ability to support or weaken her Prime Minister. With her right to be informed, to warn and to be consulted she can by no means influence state affairs greatly.

Notes to the text:

to disregard – пренебрегать, игнорировать

to have first-hand knowledge – знать по собственному опыту

by no means – никоим образом

Task 10. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations: получить большинство голосов, не иметь признанного лидера, повестка дня кабинета министров, атрибут королевской власти, по просьбе премьер-министра, отставка министров, иметь намного больше власти, пренебрегать советом, запасное орудие, вступление на престол, маловероятно, быть в полном согласии с кем-либо, молчаливое одобрение, предупреждать.

Task 11. Find in the text two sentences with the conjunction “since” and translate them. Are these conjunctions similar in their meaning?

Task 12. Form nouns from these verbs with the help of the appropriate suffixes and insert them into the right column: to access, to establish, to discuss, to perform, to use, to refuse, to inform, to appoint, to act, to dismiss, to indicate, to influence, to depend, to consult, to approve, to govern, to support, to interfere.

-ment	-tion/-sion	-ance/-ence	-al	no suffix
…	…	…	…	…

Task 13. Answer the questions:

1. How does the Queen choose a prime minister?

2. Is the Queen the best informed person in the UK?

3. What are the most important rights of the Queen?

4. Does the Queen influence state affairs greatly?

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20