PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Parliament is the most important law-making body of the British people consisting of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Sovereign (i.e., king or queen).

A. The House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament, consists of 650 elected MPs: 523 for England, 72 for Scotland, 38 for Wales, 17 for Northern Ireland.

The main purpose of the House of Commons is to make laws of the land by passing various Acts (of Parliament), as well as to discuss current political issues. The House sits for five days each week. Each "sitting'' starts in the afternoon and may go on throughout the night. The House sits for about 175 days in the year, and has a maximum term of five years.

All speeches in the House of Commons are addressed to the Speaker who is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House and enforce the rules of order.

The debates take place in accordance with a programme previously arranged. It often concerns a broad issue of foreign or home policy, or it may be the examination of the contents of a bill.

So, the House of Commons is themain place where legislation and other decisions of government are criticized. Its work includes the following:

a) legislation: the House spends nearly half of its time making laws,

b) controlling finance: before the Government can raise or spend money, it must have permission from the House of Commons,

c) scrutinizing the Government by asking questions, by holding debates and by committee work.

B. The House of Lords

There are over 1,000 members of the House of Lords. They are an unelected group of people who have either inherited their seats or have been given them by the Government. The Lord Chancellor sits in the middle and supervises debates. He sits on "the wool sack", a seat which contains wool from all the Commonwealth countries.

The House of Lords takes part in the making of laws, the examination of the Government's work and in debating important matters of the day. This second chamber is not as powerful as the House of Commons. It can suggest changes in laws, but is restricted to laws that have nothing to do with the finances of the country (for example, it cannot suggest any changes to the Budget). The House of Lords cannot reject laws that the House of Commons wants to pass, though it can amend them. Even then, the Commons can reject these amendments. The work of the House of Lords includes:

a) legislation: reviewing and giving further consideration to Bills;

b) examining the work of the Government by debate;

c) examining European proposals;

d) hearing legal appeals.

There is an ongoing debate concerning the role of the House of Lords in British politics and there have been attempts to limit its power further. One example of this which has come under frequent scrutiny is the system of hereditary peerage.

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