Билет 8.

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

The House of Commons is the chief source of our laws. It became known by this name because those elected to serve in it, as Members of Parliament (MPs) were not members of nobility but ordinary common people, known as «commoners». Once every 5 years a General Election is held, in which everyone who lives in a constituency and who is over the age 18 and entitled to vote, has the opportunity to elect his or her MP. Those who wish to stand for Parliament are called candidates, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in a constituency is elected to become its MP. Almost every MP who is elected belongs to one of the political parties. Some candidates, however, stand as independents, because they are independent from any political party. The 659 Mps who make up the House of Commons decide which laws to pass. They do this by voting in Parliament when each new law is debated. It is the duty of an MP to look after the interests of all the people in his constituency, whether they voted for him or not. The system of Government by the people is called a democracy. In the House of Commons leadership must be provided by the Government. This is formed by the political party which has the majority of Mps. The leaders of the Government are the Prime Minister, and the other Ministers, the most senior ones being members of the Cabinet. The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker, whose job it is to keep order in the House and ensure that its rules are obeyed.

Билет 9.

The House of Lords.

The House of Lords is made up of the Peers of the Realm. There are 2 main groups of Peers. These are called the Lords Spiritual (Hereditary peers) and the Lords Temporal (life peers). Hereditary peers are those whose titles are passed down from generation to generation. Life peers are, as their name implies, made for their lifetime only. The membership of the House of Lords will always include a wide range of highly talented men and women. They may not be truly representative or those who have made a contribution towards the life of the nation, but they at least have each done so, and continue to do so in a different way by being members of House of Lords. A strong body of Mps believes that the House of Lords should be much more representative of the nation, and that a large majority , if not of all its members, should be elected by the people rather then appointed. The members of House of Lords have a duty to examine the laws proposed by the House of Commons, and to suggest amendments if they think they are necessary. They also have the power to block and delay a new law of which they disapprove; but this power is very limited: 1) the Lords are not able to change or delay any laws which relate to finance and taxation. 2) the Lords have the only power to hold up legislation of which they disapprove for a certain period of time. The House of Lords has its own speaker, the Lord Chancellor. He too occupies a residence in the palace of Westminster. The Lord Chancellor still holds a unique position in the constitution.