The Evolution and Functions of the House of Lords in the UK Political System, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica The Evolution and Functions of the House of Lords in the UK Political System e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! HOUSE OF LORDS - The lords chamber was born as a kind of advisory council to the king, who at the time was more powerful. The council and the king used to meet at the Palace of Westminster to discuss matters of state, but as in 1215 King John was forced to sign the Magna Charta, the nobility got more power. - During Edward III’s reign, the king had 2 groups of advisors organized in 2 chambers : the lords and the commons, who were knights and merchants. - As time passed by, the Commons became more powerful and the king less dominant (Remember that in 1649 the King was executed by the Commons). ➔ The balance of power between the houses swung firmly toward the Commons. - Nowadays, there is a panel who helps the Prime minister to decide who is brought into the house. The members of the lords could be political peers, but also crossbenchers peers, hereditary peers or bishops. ➔ What does the House of Lords do? The House of Lord has three main functions, which are : - To question and challenge the work of the government; - To collaborate with the to shape the laws; - To investigate issues through committees and debates, to help improve the government of the country. ➔ How is the chamber laid out? - (On the right of the throne) One one side there is the government party , and on the other side there is the opposition. - The Crossbenchers, who are peers that do not belong to any party, sit on the cross benches in front of the wool sack. There is a large presence of independent peers. ➔ In the Lords Chambers a majority does not exist, in fact the party in power doesn’t always have the most seats. - The wool sack is where the Lord Speaker sits. It’s made up of wool from sheeps from around the Commonwealth, because it used to be the English main trade and it was supposed to remind the lords to protect English trades. - At the Clerk’s table the administrators sit. - The despatch box is where the government ministers (including the PM) lead with government business or is making a speech or answering questions. In front of it there is the Opposition despatch box, and they both are on the table of the house. ➔ Symbols: - There is a lot of red, because red is the color of royalty. - In the House of Lords there are 2 maces, one is from the reign of Charles II and the other is from William III. Whenever the House meets one of them is placed on the woolsack. When the Monarch is in the chamber in person the mace is absent.