Migration waves

From the beginning of the 15^th century until the 20^th century the balance of migration was outward (внешний) due to colonial expansions (распространение).

During the 19^th century over 20 mln left Britain for destinations outside Europe. Mainly in the common but since 1930 the balance of migration was inward (внутренний). Many immigrants began to return. The greatest wave of immigration was in 1950-60s because many companies needed people from unskilled or semiskilled (полуквалифицированный) jobs. There were a lot of people from Caribbean Islands, Pakistan, Angladesh, India and Hong Kong. Then the government introduced the Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962 which gave it power to restrict (ограничивать) the number of people from Commonwealth especially from Irish Republic. Another Act was past in 1968 and then in 1971. The last reduced the number of people allowed to stay in Britain. Before coming to power Margaret Thatcher promised that a conservative government would finally see amend (внесет поправки) to immigration. During the 1980s her government restricted it further and ended the right of anyone born in Britain to British citizenship.

More than 36000 Londoners described himself as Black British instead of Africans or Afrocaribbean. But Britain hasn’t solved this problem – the number of people asking to settle in Britain – is rising the minorities are concentrated in the cities. There are already several thousand non white British mainly in ports like Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. Some families dated back to the 8^th century and slave trade. In the mid 1960s the government introduced the first of three Race Relationship Act in order to illuminate (разъяснить) racial discrimination. Other government promised absolute equality for non white British citizens but the promise has remained unfulfilled (невыполненный).

British State System

The party which wins the most seats in the General Election forms the government in Britain. The leader of the winning party becomes Prime Minister. As leaders of their political parties and leaders of the country. Prime Ministers are powerful because they have the majority support in Parliament and they can choose their own ministers and government. The PM, chooses a committee of ministers called the Cabinet. This is made up of a selection of senior MPs from the House of Commons and some members of the House of Lords. Each member of the Cabinet is a minister responsible for a government department: for example, the Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible for all the schools, universities and teachers in Britain. The Cabinet of ministers runs the country. The Cabinet meets at the Prime Minister's house 10 Downing Street. The cabinet works as a team and all ministers must accept the decisions of the "group". The team of ministers must always agree in public because they are collectively responsible for the decisions they make. If a minister cannot agree with all the others, he usually resigns from the cabinet. Cabinet meetings are held in private and the details must remain secret for at least 30 years. Margaret Thatcher tried to change this style of the Cabinet and was forced to resign when the other ministers could not agree with her. Cabinet ministers cannot, however, do as they please! They are responsible to Parliament and must answer questions from backbenchers from the House of Commons. Even the Prime Minister must answer questions every Tuesday and Thursday in the Commons — this is called Prime Minister's Question Time Everyone wants to know what has been decided behind the closed doors of the Cabinet Room.

Britain is administered from the Palace of Westminster in London. This is also known as the Houses of Parliament. Parliament is made up of two chambers — the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The members of the House of Lords are not elected: they qualify to sit in the House because they are bishops of the Church of England, aristocrats who have inherited their seats from their fathers, people with titles. There has been talk of reform in this century because many Britons think that this system is undemocratic. The House of Commons, by contrast, has 651 seats which are occupied by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected by the British public. The United Kingdom is divided into constituencies, each of which has an elected MP in the House of Commons. Each of the major political parties appoints a representative (candidate) to compete for each seat. Smaller parties may have a candidate in only a few constituencies. There may be five or more parties, fighting for one seat, but only one person — the candidate who gets the greatest number of votes — can win. Some parties win a lot of seats and some win very few, or none at all. The Queen, who is the Head of State, opens and closes Parliament. All new laws are debated (discussed) by MPs in the, Commons, then debated in the Lords, and finally signed by the Queen. All three are part of Parliament in Britain.

Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Parliament first met in the 13th century. Britain does not have a written constitution, but a set of laws. In 1689 Mary 11 and William III became the first constitutional monarchs. They could rule only with the support of the Parliament. Technically Parliament is made up of three parts: the Monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The continuity of the English monarchy has been interrupted only once during the Cromwell republic. Succession to the throne is hereditary but only for Protestants in the direct line of descent. Formally the monarch has a number of roles. The monarch is expected to be politically neutral, and should not make political decisions. Nevertheless, the monarch still performs some important executive and legislative duties including opening and dissolving Parliament, signing bills passed by both Houses and fulfilling international duties as head of state. The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.

The House of Lords comprises about 1 200 peers. The house is presided over by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has no real power but acts as an advisory council for the House of Commons. As well as having legislative functions, the Lords is the highest court of appeal. The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament who are elected by the adult suffrage of the British people in general elections which are held at least every five years. The country is divided into 650 constituencies each of which elects one Member of Parliament. The Commons, therefore, has 650 Members of Parliament. The party which wins the most seats forms the Government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The functions of Commons are legislation and security of government activities. The house is presided over by the Speaker The government party sits on the Speaker's right while on his left sit the members of the Opposition.

Officially GB is a state of the constitutional monarchy that means that at the head of the state is a monarch, but the power of the monarch is not absolute, but limited by Parliament. British State System comprises (заключается в ) three main rule bodies: Monarchy (or the Crown), Parliament and Government. The oldest of the three institutions is Monarchy.

Monarchy in GB goes back to the 9^th century. The continuity of Monarchy has been broken only once but by Republic and lasted only 11 years (1649-1660). Monarchy is founded on inherited principal. The succession passes to the oldest male child or in absence of male to the oldest female. Now the succession passes to the oldest child irrespective (невзирая) of its sex.

The coronation of the sovereign follows some moths or a year after accession to the throne (вступления на престол).

By the Act of Parliament the monarch must be a Protestant.

Now in new headline the queen in Parliament as the head of the state the queen formally opens Parliament at the beginning of each session with a speech from the throne. For Assent (санкция) is required for bills (законопроект) before they can be Law and she summons (созывает), prorogues (прерывает) and dissolves (распускает) Parliament.

The monarch is also the head of the Church of England and the Prime-Minister advises him on the appointment (назначение) of bishops (епископы).

The Crown as the head of the government

Today the ministers under the leadership of the Prime-Minister frame policy which they offer in the form of advice to the monarch. The queen now always accepts this advice although she is not legally bound to do so, because the crowns guiding to the principals of the act upon the wishes of the majority of her subject as represented in Parliament but it would be a mistake to think that the crown takes no interest in government offers. The monarch reads the Cabinet documents (white papers – тексты междунар. договоров и т.д.). Now as well as telegrams concerning (относительно) government policy from where it parts of the world. She also meets the Prime-Minister when she here is meditates (размышляет) about government policy. On this occasion the queen may if she wishes offer advice and make suggestions in the light of her own experience and in the event of any disagreement the queen will always give away.

Honors ( награды )

The queen is said to be founded of Honors. This means that the queen on the advice of the government honors deserved citizens who have distinguished (отличились) themselves in some brunch of public life. Twice a year on New Year Party and on queen’s official birthday the honors list is published. The names include many people from other countries of the Commonwealth and the honors are most varied.

Knighthood (рыцарство) is probably the best known. It grants the title Sir (adds to the name).

On particular time of Honor must be singed out for special mention because the crown’s right to give it has played a big part in shaping the present form of the British constitution. This is elevation (повышение) to the peerage (пэрство) which gives a seat in the House of Lords.

Government – исполнит. орган, налагает королевскую санкцию

The second part of British State System is Government – the most important feature is discussion. The views of the majority prevail but the minority is never suppressed (подавляется) even though the minority maybe only a small group. The queen’s ministers form Executive Power (исполнительная власть). They decide what shall be done and their policy is carried out by the Civil Service (гос-во служба). All their actions are done in the queen’s name and most of their great power is executed by the crown alone. The power includes the making the treats ( договоры ) with foreign countries – declare war and making peace. All the ministers are also in Parliament. They have to be ready to face criticism and explain their actions. This link between Parliament and Government is very important. It means that the government is responsible to elected representatives ( представителей ) of the ordinary people. The majority of the members of the House of Common ( Палата Общин ) has to support the ministries if the government stays in power.

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