Speak about Oxford and Cambridge.

Say some words about the undergraduate programme.

Summerize the text.

Topic 6. The British Political System

6.1. Read and translate the text:

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy and the King (or the Queen) is the formal Head of the Government, his (her) power was transformed from an active force in politics to a ceremonial head of state.

The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords consists of the whole body of English peers, a number of elected Irish and Scottish peers and a certain number of the Bishops of the church of England. The House of Lords became a place not only for hereditary peers but also for elderly and retired politicians. The House of Commons consists of 650 members elected by popular vote. The election is held every five years and at this election every person at the age of twenty-one has a vote. The House of Commons elects its own president who is called the Speaker. The House of Commons is the real governing body of the United Kingdom. In order to become a law, a new bill proposed by the Cabinet must be approved by both Houses of the Parliament. The Lords cannot veto a bill, but they can delay it for a maximum of one year. Financial bills cannot be delayed by the House of Lords.

Practically only two political parties are represented in Parliament – the Conservative party and the Labour party. The party, which has the largest number of members in Parliament, takes office and is called the Government; the party (or parties) in the minority is called the Opposition. The Government sits on the right of the Speaker’s chair, the Opposition on the left.

When it is known which Parliamentary party has the majority in a newly elected House of Commons, the Queen calls the leader of that party to become Prime Minister. The Prime Minister forms a new Government. He chooses from the Lords and Commons the men numbering about sixty to fill the principal offices and they form Ministries. From these are chosen fifteen to twenty to form the Cabinet of Ministers. The Act of 1937 limited the number of the Cabinet members to 17 of whom not more than 14 may be members of the House of Commons and not less than 3 members of the House of Lords.

These 17 are the holders of the most important offices, for example the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defense, the Minister of Health, the President of the Board of Trade.