House of Lords and the House of Commons

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Inglese
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Data:	16.12.2005
Numero di pagine:	4
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

Parliament is made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
People who have the right to sit in the House of Lords are called Peers or Peeresses.
Peers are not elected: they either inherit or merit their title or it depends on their job.
They can be divided into:
1) Lords Temporal: people with inherited titles and people with titles given for their lifetime who are called Life Peers;
2) Lords Spiritual: the two Archbishops and the 24 most senior bishops of the Church of England;
3) Law Lords: the most important senior judges. In fact the House of Lords is also the highest court of law in the country.
There are more than 1,000 Peers and Peeresses but only about 300 attend the House of Lords regularly.
Peers do not get a salary, only expenses if they attend .
The House of Lords has less power than the House of Commons.
It can amend bills sent from the House of Commons, but it has to send them back for approval.
It can delay bills (except for financial ones) for one year, but that is all.
If the House of Commons presents that bill again the following year, it has to pass it.
Even though the powers of the House of Lords have been increasingly limited over the years, there are a number of people who would like to abolish it.
This is mainly because it is not elected and it still gives special privileges to noble families in the twentieth century.
Other people think it does some good work because there is less party pressure and there is more time to study the bills and make thoughtful amendments.
The life Peers also bring their expert knowledge to the discussions.
The House of Commons, presided over by the Speaker, consists of 651 Members of Parliament, who are elected at least every five years by all British citizens over18.
After elections, the party with the majority of seats forms the Government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister.
He or she chooses the minister, about 20 of whom form the executive group called the Cabinet.
The Cabinet, presided over by the Prime Minister; decides government policy and coordinates government departments.
The largest minority party forms the Opposition with its Shadow Prime Minister and Shadow Cabinet, which has the official job of controlling and criticizing government policy.
The Government sits on the Speaker’s right and the Opposition on the left, with the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers on the front benches, and the other party members, called backbenchers, behind them .
MPs do not have their own personal desk and chair: often they have to squeeze up so that they can all sit down.
In fact the House of Commons only seats 437 in comfort, but it has been purposely kept small so that discussions can be as informal as possible, microphones are not needed and communication is easier.
Parliament is made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
People who have the right to sit in the House of Lords are called Peers or Peeresses.
Peers are not elected: they either inherit or merit their title or it depends on their job.
They can be divided into:
4) Lords Temporal: people with inherited titles and people with titles given for their lifetime who are called Life Peers;
5) Lords Spiritual: the two Archbishops and the 24 most senior bishops of the Church of England;
6) Law Lords: the most important senior judges. In fact the House of Lords is also the highest court of law in the country.
There are more than 1,000 Peers and Peeresses but only about 300 attend the House of Lords regularly.
Peers do not get a salary, only expenses if they attend .
The House of Lords has less power than the House of Commons.
It can amend bills sent from the House of Commons, but it has to send them back for approval.
It can delay bills (except for financial ones) for one year, but that is all.
If the House of Commons presents that bill again the following year, it has to pass it.
Even though the powers of the House of Lords have been increasingly limited over the years, there are a number of people who would like to abolish it.
This is mainly because it is not elected and it still gives special privileges to noble families in the twentieth century.
Other people think it does some good work because there is less party pressure and there is more time to study the bills and make thoughtful amendments.
The life Peers also bring their expert knowledge to the discussions.
The House of Commons, presided over by the Speaker, consists of 651 Members of Parliament, who are elected at least every five years by all British citizens over18.
After elections, the party with the majority of seats forms the Government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister.
He or she chooses the minister, about 20 of whom form the executive group called the Cabinet.
The Cabinet, presided over by the Prime Minister; decides government policy and coordinates government departments.
The largest minority party forms the Opposition with its Shadow Prime Minister and Shadow Cabinet, which has the official job of controlling and criticizing government policy.
The Government sits on the Speaker’s right and the Opposition on the left, with the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers on the front benches, and the other party members, called backbenchers, behind them .
MPs do not have their own personal desk and chair: often they have to squeeze up so that they can all sit down.
In fact the House of Commons only seats 437 in comfort, but it has been purposely kept small so that discussions can be as informal as possible, microphones are not needed and communication is easier.