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Facts and figures | |
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Questions 1. What is the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain? Answers 1. What is the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain? The United Kingdom is made up of the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain, on the other hand, comprises only England, Scotland and Wales. It is the largest island of the British Isles. Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic form the second largest island. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom. They are largely self-governing with their own legislative assemblies and systems of law. The British Government is, however, responsible for their defence and international relations. The term ‘Britain’ is often used informally to mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 2. What is the population of Britain and its major cities? Britain ranks 20th in the world in terms of population size. In mid-2003, the population of the UK was 59.6 million, an increase of 3.7 million since mid-1971. The total population of England is estimated at 49.9 million; Wales is estimated at 2.9 million; Scotland at 5.1 million and Northern Ireland at 1.7 million people. England has the highest population density and Scotland has the lowest. The population of some of Britain’s major cities according to the 2001 census are as follows: London 7,172,091; Birmingham 977,087; Manchester 392,819; Glasgow 577,869; Edinburgh 448,624; Cardiff 305,353. The population of Belfast was estimated at 271,596 in 2003. 3. What are National Parks and where are they? National Parks aim both to protect the outstanding countryside within their boundaries and to provide opportunities for outside recreation for their many thousands of visitors each year. There are nine National Parks in England: Dartmoor, Exmoor, Lake District, North York Moors, Northumberland, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Broads and New Forest. A new National Park is proposed for the South Downs in Southern England. There are three National Parks in Wales: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and the Pembrokeshire Coast together account for about 20 per cent of the total land area. In Scotland Loch Lomond and The Trossachs form the first national park and the Cairngorms became the second in September 2003. At 3,800 square kilometres it is the largest in Britain. 4. Which are Britain’s largest ethnic minority groups? The largest ethnic minorities in Britain are those of Caribbean, African or other black descent (1,149,000 people). The next largest ethnic groups are Indians (1,053,000 people), and Pakistanis and Bangladeshis (1,030,000 people). Overall, ethnic minority groups represent 7.9 per cent of the UK population. The ethnic population has evolved from the substantial immigration of people from former British colonies in the Caribbean and South Asian sub-continent during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, in the 1970s Britain admitted some 28,000 Asians expelled from Uganda and some 22,000 refugees from South East Asia. Considerable numbers of Chinese, Italians, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Poles, Australians, New Zealanders and people from the United States and Canada are also resident in Britain. 5. Which religions are represented in Britain? Everyone in Britain has the right to religious freedom. In the 2001 Census, 72 per cent of people said their religion was Christian. The Anglican Church is legally recognised as the official church of the State. In Scotland, there are over two million members of the Church of Scotland. In Northern Ireland, about 46 per cent of the people regard themselves as Protestants and 40 per cent as Roman Catholics. Britain has one of the largest Muslim communities in Western Europe, with nearly 1.6 million people and over 1,000 mosques and prayer centres. One of the most important Muslim institutions in the Western world is the Central Mosque in London and its associated Islamic Cultural Centre. The Sikh community in the UK comprises 336,000 people, with the largest groups of Sikhs concentrated in Greater London, Manchester and Birmingham. The oldest Sikh temple was established in London in 1908. The Hindu community in the UK accounts for a further 559,000 people. The first Hindu temple was opened in London in 1962, and there are now over 140 throughout Britain. About 267,000 members of the Jewish faith also live in the UK. 6. What are Britain’s main imports and exports? Despite having less than one per cent of the world’s population, Britain is one of the largest trading nations in the world. In 2002, Britain had a 4.4 per cent share of the world trade in exports and a 5.3 per cent share of imports. Britain exports more per head than either the United States or Japan. Machinery and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are Britain’s largest export earners. The UK’s pharmaceuticals industry is the world’s fifth biggest earner in this sector and is second only to the United States in the discovery and development of medicines, including 15 of the world’s top 75 best-selling drugs. Britain is also a major supplier of plastics, aerospace products, electrical and electronic equipment. Britain is the world’s second largest exporter of services, including banking, insurance, stockbroking, consultancy and computer programming. Over 60 per cent of imports into Britain are finished manufactured goods, while just under three per cent are basic materials. EU countries account for seven of the 10 leading suppliers of goods to Britain; Germany is Britain’s biggest supplier of imports. Food, beverages and tobacco are major non-manufactured imports, while other major imports include machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, clothing and footwear. 7. What does the Union Flag stand for and how should it be flown? The flag of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the Union Jack (which derives from the use of the Union Flag on the jack-staff of naval vessels), embodies the emblems of three countries under one Sovereign. The emblems that appear on the Union Flag are the crosses of three patron saints: •the red cross of St. George, for England, on a white background; The Union Flag should be flown with the broader diagonal band of white uppermost in the hoist (near the pole) and the narrower diagonal band of white uppermost in the fly (furthest from the pole). 8. What are ‘GMT’ and ‘British Summer Time’? GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, is the local time of the 0 degree meridian that passes through Greenwich in London - the home of the Royal Observatory - from which the standard times of different areas of the globe are calculated. Thus it is the standard time for Britain, and a basis for other time zones in the world. British Summer Time, or BST, runs from the end of March to the end of October (the last Sunday in each month), when clocks are advanced one hour ahead of GMT to gain maximum use of daylight hours. |
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customs and traditions | |
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Questions 1. Does Britain have a National Day? Answers 1. Does Britain have a National Day? Scotland's National Day is St. Andrew’s Day (30 November) which has now largely been overshadowed by Burns' Night. St. Andrew, one of Christ's twelve apostles, is the patron saint of Scotland. Some of his bones are said to have been brought to what is now the city of St. Andrews in Fife during the fourth century. Since medieval times the X-shaped saltire cross upon which St. Andrew was supposedly crucified has been the Scottish national symbol. St. David’s Day (1 March) is the National Day of Wales. St. David (c.520-588), the patron saint of Wales, was the founder and first abbot-bishop of Menevia, now St. David’s in Dyfed, South Wales. The day is commemorated by patriotic Welsh people wearing of daffodils or leeks. Both plants are traditionally regarded as the national emblems of Wales. St. Patrick’s Day (17th March) is an official Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland. The work of St. Patrick (c.389-c.461) was a vital factor in the spread of Christianity in Ireland. Born in Britain, he was carried off by pirates, and spent six years in slavery before escaping and training as a missionary. The day is marked by the wearing of shamrocks (a clover-like plant), the national badge of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England’s National day is St. George’s Day (23 April) St. George is the patron saint of England. A story that first appeared in the sixth century tells that St. George rescued a hapless maid by slaying a fearsome fire-breathing dragon! The saint’s name was shouted as a battle cry by English knights who fought beneath the red-cross banner of St. George during the Hundred Years War (1338-1453). This is immortalised in Shakespeare’s play Henry V in the lines: I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, 2. How do the British celebrate traditional and religious holidays? In Britain, Christmas Day (25 December) is normally spent at home, with the family, and it is regarded as a celebration of the family and its continuity. Preparations start well in advance, with the sending of Christmas cards and the decoration of a Christmas tree in a prominent place in the home. Although it is now a firmly established tradition, it was first made popular by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who introduced the custom from his native Germany in 1840. Some houses are decorated with evergreens (plants which do not lose their leaves in winter); a wreath of holly on the front door and garlands of holly, ivy and fir indoors. Bunches of mistletoe are often hung above doorways – any couple passing underneath must exchange kisses! Traditional food is prepared such as sweet mince pies, a rich Christmas cake and the pudding. Everyone has their own favourite recipe, but they’re all packed full of spices, nuts, dried fruit and brandy. Presents are bought, wrapped, and traditionally placed under the tree on Christmas Eve. It is both a secular and a religious holiday, and many families like to go to a midnight service at church on Christmas Eve, or mattins on Christmas morning. The English Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, is first recorded in his traditional red and white outfit in a woodcut of 1653, but the story of Santa arriving in his reindeer-drawn sleigh and descending down the chimney to fill children’s stockings with presents derives from the United States. Practically everyone sits down to a special lunch/dinner on Christmas Day, traditionally of roast turkey, although some families prefer goose or roast beef. The turkey is followed by the Christmas pudding, brought to the table flaming hot. Brandy is poured over the pudding, then lit. After dinner, everyone relaxes by going for a walk, playing games, enjoying their presents or watching television. Boxing Day (26 December) is so-called because it’s a time when tradesmen and women receive a Christmas Box - some money in appreciation of the work they’ve carried out all year. Traditionally a time for visiting family and friends and indulging in more feasting, Boxing Day is a popular day for football matches and other sporting fixtures. The day is a public holiday, so the banks are closed. Shops also used to be shut but more recently, many have broken with tradition and now open on Boxing Day to encourage shoppers who can’t wait to spend their Christmas money. New Year is often launched with a party - either at home with family and friends or a gathering in the local pubs and clubs. Merry-making begins on New Year’s Eve and builds up to midnight. The stroke of midnight is the cue for much cheering, hooting, whistling, kissing and drinking toasts. Tradition has it that the first person over the threshold on New Year’s Day will dictate the luck brought to the household in the coming year. This is known as First Footing. At midnight on 31 December, particularly in Scotland and northern England, ‘first footers’ (traditionally a tall, dark, good-looking man) step over the threshold bringing the New Year’s Luck. The first footer usually brings a piece of coal, a loaf and a bottle of whisky. On entering he must place the fuel on the fire, put the loaf on the table and pour a glass for the head of the house, all normally without speaking or being spoken to until he wishes everyone A Happy New Year. He must, of course, enter by the front door and leave by the back. In Wales the back door is opened to release the Old Year at the first stroke of midnight. It is then locked up to ‘keep the luck in’ and at the last stroke the New Year is let in at the front door. In Scotland the New Year remains the greatest of all annual festivals. Called Hogmanay (a word whose meaning has never been satisfactorily established), it’s marked by an evening of drinking and merrymaking, culminating at the stroke of midnight when huge gatherings of people at Edinburgh’s Tron Kirk and Glasgow’s George Square greet the New Year by linking arms and singing Auld Lang Syne. Halloween (31 October) and its associations with witches and ghosts derives from the Celtic Old Year’s Night - the night of all witches, when spirits were said to walk the earth. Witches and supernatural beings are still remembered all over Britainon Halloween, when bands of children roam the streets in ghoulish costumes, carrying special lanterns - pumpkins hollowed out with a ghostly face cut into one side, which glows when a candle is placed inside. In recent years the custom of ‘trick or treating’ has gained in popularity. Although we commonly associate this practice with America, the custom originated in England as Mischief Night when children declared one ‘lawless night’ of unpunished pranks (usually May Day eve or Halloween). Halloween parties (usually for children) include games such as apple bobbing, where apples are either floated in water or hung by a string. The object of the game is for the players to put their hands behind their back and try to seize an apple with their teeth alone. Easter day is named after the Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre, whose feast took place at the spring equinox. Easter is now the spring feast of the Christian church, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. It falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April, according to the church calendar. Traditionally Easter eggs, dyed and decorated or made of chocolate, are given as presents symbolising new life and the coming of spring. Egg rolling competitions take place in northern England on Easter Monday; hard-boiled eggs are rolled down a slope, with the winner being - according to local preference - the one which rolls the furthest, survives the most rolls, or is successfully aimed between two pegs! The most well-known event takes place at AvenhamPark in Preston, Lancashire. Easter parades are also part of the Easter tradition, with those taking part wearing Easter bonnets or hats, traditionally decorated with spring flowers and ribbons. 3. What and when are ‘bank’ holidays? Many public holidays in the United Kingdom are known as ‘bank’ holidays - so called because these are days on which banks are legally closed. Most fall on a Monday. In England and Wales there are six bank holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily 1 May), Spring and Late Summer Holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day. There are also two common law holidays on Good Friday and Christmas Day. In Scotland there are nine public holidays: New Year’s Day, January 2, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily 1 May), Spring and Summer Holidays at the end of May and the beginning of August respectively, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In Northern Ireland there are seven bank holidays: New Year’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day (17 March), Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily 1 May), Spring and Late Summer Holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day. There are also two common law holidays on Good Friday and Christmas Day and a public holiday on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (12 July). There are holidays in lieu of those public holidays which fall at weekends. Shops, museums and other public attractions, such as historic houses and sports centres, may close on certain public holidays, particularly Christmas Day. As this varies, it is advisable to check with the individual establishment beforehand. 4. What is Pancake Day? Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday which falls 41 days before Easter) is the eve of the Lenten fast. On this day in earlier times all Christians made their compulsory confessions or ‘shrifts’ from which the name ‘Shrove Tuesday’ derives, and took their last opportunity to eat up all the rich foods prohibited during Lent. Thus all eggs, butter and fat remaining in the house were made into pancakes, hence the festival’s usual nickname of Pancake Day. Though the strict observance of Lent is now rare, everyone enjoys eating the customary pancakes and some regions celebrate the day with pancake races. The oldest and most famous is held at Olney in Buckinghamshire. The race is run over 415 yards (about 380 metres) by women over sixteen, wearing a cap and apron. They must ‘toss’ their pancake (flip it over in the frying pan) at least three times during the race. The winner receives a kiss from the Pancake Bell Ringer (church bells were traditionally rung to remind parishioners to come to confession) and a prayer book from the vicar! 5. What is Guy Fawkes Night? In 1605 Guy Fawkes, a Roman Catholic, and his fellow conspirators attempted to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament, as they disagreed with the King’s Protestant policies. They succeeded in storing some 30 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the Houses of Parliament, but before it opened on 5 November, the ‘gunpowder plot’, as it has come to be known, was discovered. Guy Fawkes and his colleagues were executed for treason. Since then, 5 November has been celebrated in England by the burning of stuffed figures of Guy Fawkes on bonfires, usually accompanied by firework displays. These may be large organised events open to members of the public, or smaller, private gatherings of family and friends held in people’s gardens. Guy Fawkes Night is also known as Bonfire Night or Firework Night. In the days leading up to the event children traditionally take home-made guys out onto the streets of their town or village and ask passers-by for ‘a penny for the guy’. This money is supposedly used as a contribution towards their fireworks. 6. What is the significance of the poppy and when is it worn? The poppy is traditionally worn on Remembrance Day in memory of service personnel who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and subsequent conflicts like the Falklands War and the Gulf War. The red poppies represent the poppies that grew in the cornfields of Flanders in the First World War, where many thousands of soldiers lost their lives. The paper poppies that are worn today are made by ex-service personnel and are sold by representatives of the Royal British Legion, an organisation of ex-servicemen and women. Remembrance Day falls on the nearest Sunday to 11 November - the day peace was declared in 1918. The day is commemorated by church services around the country and a parade of ex-service personnel in London’s Whitehall. Wreaths of poppies are left at the Cenotaph, a war memorial in Whitehall, built after the First World War. By tradition, at 11.00am on Remembrance Sunday a two minute silence is observed at the Cenotaph and elsewhere in the country to honour those who lost their lives. In recent years, a two minute silence has also been observed at 11.00am on 11 November itself. 7. What are Britain’s national flowers? The national flower of England is the rose. The flower has been adopted as England’s emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) - civil wars between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose). The Yorkist regime ended with the defeat of King Richard III by the future Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, and the two roses were united into the Tudor rose (a red rose with a white centre) by Henry VII when he married Elizabeth of York. The national flower of Northern Ireland is the shamrock, a three-leaved plant similar to clover which is said to have been used by St. Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The Scottish national flower is the thistle, a prickly-leaved purple flower which was first used in the 15th century. It is said that in the Middle Ages when the Norsemen invaded Scotland, the invaders crept up on their foes in their bare feet only to find that the Scots had cannily surrounded their camp with prickly thistles. The three flowers - rose, thistle and shamrock - are often displayed beneath the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. The national flower of Wales is usually considered to be the daffodil, which is traditionally worn on St. David’s Day. However, the humble leek is also considered to be a traditional emblem of Wales, possibly because its colours, white over green, echo the ancient Welsh standard. 8. Where can I find out about British folk songs and folk tales? Numerous books have been written about the United Kingdom's folk tales, and most libraries in the UK stock a selection of books on both local and national folklore. Alternatively, contact: The English Folk Dance and Song Society EFDSS has an extensive library, open to the public. The Folklore Society Access to the library is by a day pass issued to visitors, or by membership of the Society. Please write for details. 9. What are Britain’s national costumes? Although England is a country rich in folklore and traditions, it has no definitive national costume. The most well-known folk costumes are those of the Morris dancers. They can be seen in many country villages during the summer months performing folk dances that once held ritualistic and magical meanings associated with the awakening of the earth. The costume varies from team to team, but basically consists of white trousers, a white shirt, a pad of bells worn around the calf of the leg and a hat made of felt or straw, decorated with ribbons and flowers. The bells and ribbons are said to banish harm and bring fertility. Morris dancing was originally an all-male tradition, but now some teams feature women dancers too. Perhaps the most famous national costume in the United Kingdom is the Scottish kilt with its distinctive tartan pattern. The kilt is a length of woollen cloth, pleated except for sections at each end. It is worn around the waist, with pleats at the back and the ends crossed over at the front and secured with a pin. Each Scottish Clan or family has its own distinctive tartan pattern, made up of different colours. An official register of tartans is maintained by the Scottish Tartans World Register in Perthshire. It forms part of the traditional Highland dress worn by Scottish clansmen and Scottish regiments. In addition to the kilt, a plaid or tartan cloak is worn over one shoulder, and a goatskin pouch, or sporran, is worn at the front of the kilt. Sometimes tartan trousers or trews are worn instead of a kilt. Scottish women do not have their own distinctive national dress, although tartan fabrics are widely used in clothing, and the kilt is also worn. The Scottish Tartans World Register The national costume of Wales is based on the peasant costume of the 18th and 19th centuries. Because Wales was isolated geographically from the rest of the UK, many of the individual traits of costume and materials were retained in Welsh dress long after they had died out elsewhere. Unlike Scotland, the distinctive folk costume of Wales was worn by the women, consisting of a long gown (betgwn) or skirt, worn with a pais or petticoat - the favoured colour was scarlet - and topped with a shawl folded diagonally to form a triangle and draped around the shoulders, with one corner hanging down and two others pinned in front. Aprons were universally worn, sometimes simple, sometimes decorated with colourful embroidery. The most distinctive part of the costume was the tall black Welsh hat or beaver hat, thought to have originated in France at the end of the 18th century. The hats had a tall crown, cylindrical or conical in shape with a wide brim, and were usually trimmed with a band of silk or crepe. Early Irish dress, based on Gaelic and Norse costumes, consisted of check trews for men, worn with a fringed cloak or mantle, or a short tunic for both men and women, worn with a fringed cloak. This style of dressing was prohibited in the 16th century under sumptuary laws, passed to suppress the distinctive Irish dress and so overcome Irish reluctance to become part of England. In particular, the wearing of the fringed cloak was forbidden, as was the wearing of trews or any saffron-coloured garment (saffron yellow was an important feature of Irish costume). Although a strong tradition of wearing folk costume does not survive in Northern Ireland today, folk music and folk dancing are very important. 10. What is Burns’ Night and how is it celebrated? Commemorating the birthday of the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759 -1796), Burns’ Night is a patriotic festival celebrated on 25 January, wherever Scots gather together. First commemorated by the Burns Clubs soon after the poet’s death, the evening begins with traditional food, often with a menu written in the poet’s Lallans (Lowlands Scots) dialect and sometimes in rhyme. This may include such delicacies as Powsowdie (sheep’s head broth); Cabbie-claw (dried cod with horseradish and egg sauce) and Finnantoasties (smoked haddock). But pride of place goes to the haggis - minced mutton, offal, oatmeal and spices boiled in a sheep’s stomach! The meal ends with multifarious toasts, followed by patriotic and sentimental speeches, Scottish dancing and performances of Burns’ narrative poems, especially Tam o’ Shanter and concluding with everybody linking arms and singing the most famous of them all, Auld Lang Syne. The words of Auld Lang Syne which means literally "old long since", or "long ago", are: Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 11. What are the most common superstitions in Britain? There are many superstitions in Britain, but one of the most widely-held is that it is unlucky to walk under a ladder - even if it means stepping off the pavement into a busy street! If you must walk under a ladder you can avoid bad luck by crossing your fingers and keeping them crossed until you’ve seen a dog. Alternatively, you must lick your finger and make a cross on the toe of your shoe, and not look again at the shoe until the mark has dried. Another common superstition is that it is unlucky to open an umbrella in the house - it will either bring misfortune to the person that opened it or to the household. Anyone opening an umbrella in fine weather is unpopular, as it inevitably brings rain! The number 13 is said to be unlucky for some, and when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday, anyone wishing to avoid an inauspicious event had better stay indoors. The worst misfortune that can befall you is incurred by breaking a mirror, as it brings seven years of bad luck! The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods. Black cats are generally considered lucky in the UK, even though they are associated with witchcraft - a witch’s animal-familiar is usually a black cat. It is especially lucky if a black cat crosses your path. A commonly-held superstition is that of touching wood for luck. This measure is most often taken if you think you have said something that is tempting fate, such as "my car has never broken down - touch wood!" |
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SPORT, LEISURE, FOOD AND DRINK | |
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Questions 1. What is the most popular food in Britain? Answers 1. What is the most popular food in Britain? Britain’s most popular fast food is probably fish and chips. Fish and chip shops first made an appearance at the end of the 19th century and since then have been a firm favourite up and down the country. The dish is simplicity itself: fish (usually cod, haddock or plaice) is dipped in a batter made from flour, eggs and water and then deep fried. It is then served with deep-fried chips. Fish and chips are served over the counter wrapped in paper, and traditionalists prefer to eat them there and then because they taste better that way! The best-known UK dish at home has been roast beef, traditionally eaten for Sunday lunch. It used to be so popular in England that the French still refer to UK citizens as les rosbifs! It is served with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy - a sauce made from meat juices and stock, thickened with flour. Yorkshire pudding - batter baked in hot fat in the oven - is a favourite accompaniment to roast beef. More recently, the UK's diet has been enriched by the vast array of ethnic foods available in our shops and restaurants, from Indian and Italian to Chinese and Thai. Indeed curry - a spicy dish with meat, fish or vegetables - is now the UK's most popular meal. 2. Why do the British like drinking tea? Everything in Britain, says a popular song, "stops for tea". It’s certainly true that tea is the most popular drink in Britain - far more popular than coffee, which is more often drunk throughout the rest of Europe and the United States. The Dutch brought the first tea to Europe in about 1610, but it was not until 1658 that the first advertisement for it appeared in a London newspaper. By 1750, it had become the principal drink of all the classes in the UK, despite the fact that a pound of the cheapest tea cost about one-third of a skilled worker’s weekly wage! Tea was jealously guarded by the lady of the house, and kept in special containers called caddies, often with a lock, and carefully doled out by the teaspoon. Gradually, tea-drinking developed into a fashionable social ritual and tea gardens blossomed in places like Vauxhall and Marylebone in London, where couples could stroll in the afternoon and enjoy a cup of tea with bread and butter and cakes. Tea parties at home were also popular, and soon the ritual of afternoon tea was firmly established. Today, throughout the homes, tea-shops and hotels of the UK, the custom of tea-time continues. And it has always been an integral part of any cricket match or summer fête. High Tea, on the other hand, is a more substantial evening meal, popular in northern England and Scotland. Tea in Britain is traditionally brewed in a china teapot; when the kettle boils, a little of the water is swirled around the empty teapot to warm it. One spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot is then added. Great importance is attached to the use of freshly boiled water, which is poured onto the leaves and left to brew for a few minutes. Most people in the UK prefer a rich, strong cup of tea with milk, often with sugar added for taste. 3. What is haggis? Haggis is Scotland’s best-known dish, a rich, spicy concoction made from lamb’s offal (lungs, liver and heart) mixed with suet, onions, herbs and spices, all packed into a skin made of, traditionally, a sheep’s stomach or a casing (similar to the skin which covers a conventional sausage). Traditionally served on Burns’ Night, the haggis is often accompanied by mashed potatoes and mashed swede or turnips. Although to a lot of people it neither sounds nor looks particularly appetising, most of those who try it agree that it is extremely tasty! 4. Is it true that a lot of British dishes are named after places? The rich variety of Britain’s regional cooking is reflected in the names of our favourite dishes. Many regions have their own particular specialty, or are famed for their local produce. Cheeses are produced in many regions. Cheddar, a hard cheese with a strong, nutty taste, is one of the most popular; it originates from a village in Somerset in the west of England, also famous for its gorge. Other types of cheeses include Cheshire, Lancashire, Stilton and Wensleydale. Cornwall in south-west England is famous for its Cornish pasties - a pastry case filled with meat, potatoes and vegetables, which was the traditional midday meal of workers in the region. The town of Bakewell in Derbyshire has a rich pastry tart named after it. The Bakewell tart or pudding was said to have been invented by accident, when a cook forgot to put jam over the custard filling of a pudding - instead she spread it straight onto the pastry case and poured the custard on top. Thus a new dish was born! Welsh cakes, a kind of sweet cake cooked on a griddle, were originally served to hungry travellers when they arrived at an inn for the night while they waited for their supper to be cooked. Many other dishes are named after places: everything from Lancashire hotpot (a casserole of meat and vegetables topped with sliced potatoes) and Dundee cake (a rich fruit cake) to Anglesey eggs (a dish of leeks, mashed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and cheese sauce), baked Ulster ham, and Bath buns (a sweet bun containing spices and dried fruit, originally made in Bath, western England). Indeed, dedicated gourmets could happily munch their way from one county to another! Did you know that HP sauce is said to have been created by the chef at the Houses of Parliament? 5. Where can I look up the rules of cricket? Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack - published annually for the last 136 years - is a mine of information about all aspects of the game, including players, games and statistics. It also contains a summary of the rules of the game - known as the Laws of Cricket. Wisden as it is more commonly known is published by: The Wisden Group The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which was responsible for cricket throughout the world from the late 18th century to 1968, still remains the official guardian of the Laws of Cricket. A copy may be obtained from: The MCC Shop 6. Where can I find out about the origins of the UK's football clubs? The Football Association Those interested in a particular football club can also visit the Football Association Library at their headquarters in London. Please telephone first for details: +44 (0)207 704 4000. Most of the big clubs now have their own websites so you can search for the one you want to read about. Irish Football Association Scotland: The Scottish Football Association Wales: The Football Association of Wales 7. Why does Britain have four teams in international sporting tournaments? In some international sporting tournaments - including hockey, football and athletics (at the Commonwealth Games) - Britain sends four separate teams, representing the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In football, each team represents a separate national sporting association, affiliated to FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) which controls world football. Since 1972, a British football team has not competed at the Olympics, as the four countries of the United Kingdom wish to maintain separate national teams. Under Olympic rules Great Britain is only allowed to send one team. Similarly, Scotland, England and Wales each has its own hockey team, and the countries compete separately at international events. The rugby union touring team, the British Lions, represents England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The side which toured Australia back in 1899 was the first to be totally representative. It is said the British Lions title was given to the team on its tour of South Africa in 1924 when local journalists coined the phrase because of the lion symbol the players wore on their ties. 8. What are the origins of the Wimbledon tennis championships? The famous international tennis tournament at Wimbledon in south-west London had humble beginnings as a small championship competition for some 20 male players who each paid an entrance fee of one guinea each to enter. That first Lawn Tennis Championship was held in 1877 at Worple Road, Wimbledon, home of the All England Croquet Club later to become the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Originally, croquet was considered a more important sport than tennis! Spencer Gore became the first men’s singles champion, winning 12 guineas and a silver cup. In 1884, Miss Maud Watson became the first women’s singles champion. In 1922 the Club moved to its present ground at Church Road, Wimbledon, with its famous Centre Court designed by Captain Stanley Peach. Centre Court currently has room for over 13,000 spectators. Today, Wimbledon fortnight takes place each year at the end of June and the beginning of July, with most of the world’s top tennis players competing for prizes. In 2007 the Club announced that it would pay men and women winners equal prize money which brings Wimbledon into line with all other grand slam tournaments held in Paris, New York and Melbourne. During Wimbledon fortnight over 12,000 kilos of salmon, 27,000 kilos of English strawberries and 305,000 cups of tea are supplied by caterers, together with 12,500 bottles of champagne! Tickets for Wimbledon are issued to the general public by ballot each year. A stamped addressed envelope must be sent for an application form by the end of December. Overseas applicants can send an International Reply Coupon in place of a stamp. To enter the ballot, contact: The All England Lawn Tennis Club 9. What are the Highland Games? The modern popularity of the Highland Games dates back to Queen Victoria’s patronage, which began in the middle of the 19th century. However, well before her involvement, many Highland clans had held annual gatherings which included traditional sports and games. One of the most famous gatherings is held each year at Braemar in Aberdeenshire during early September, opening with a spectacular march of kilted clansmen accompanied by pipers playing the bagpipes. The Games at Braemar and elsewhere in Scotland usually feature displays of Highland dancing and hard-fought contests for players of the bagpipes, as well as gruelling athletic events. These include throwing the hammer - flinging an iron ball on a chain as far as possible; and tossing the caber - tossing a long and unwieldy wooden pole, like a tree trunk, which is said to have originated as a way of heaving felled tree-trunks over ravines or streams! 10. How do people in Britain spend their leisure time? Britain’s most popular leisure activities are home-based or social. Watching television, videos and DVDs, and listening to the radio are by far the most popular leisure pastimes, taking up an average of 22 hours a week. Britain’s regular weekly dramas or soap operas, such as EastEnders and Coronation Street, have more viewers than any other programme. Listening to music is also a popular pastime, with 72 per cent of households owning a CD player. Pop and rock albums are the most common type of music bought, and pop is by far the most popular form of musical expression in the UK. The most common relaxation outside the home amongst adults is going to the pub. Other popular pastimes include visits to the theatre or cinema. Cinemas are numerous - there are over 3,000 cinema screens in Britain - which is partly due to the growth of cinemas with several screens, known as multiplexes. Britain also has about 300 theatres, of which about 100 are in London. Its famous theatre company, the Royal Shakespeare, performs in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and in London and also regularly tours the country. Of all sporting activities, walking is by far the most popular for men and women of all ages. Whilst men tend to dominate golf, snooker and billiards, women generally prefer swimming, keep-fit classes and yoga. 11. Why do people in Britain like going to the pub? One of the main attractions of the pub is that it offers good company in friendly surroundings. Often the style of the pub and its locality will dictate the kind of clientele you can expect to find there. Village pubs with their country furnishings and real ales attract not only local people but city dwellers out for a drive, hikers fresh from a long day’s walk and pensioners enjoying a pub lunch. Town and city pubs tend to have a more mixed clientele: businessmen and women discussing the latest deal, theatregoers or groups of friends enjoying a drink together before going off to a restaurant or nightclub. Good conversation and good beer are the two essentials. Drinking beer is not compulsory, but as any publican will tell you, it remains the mainstay of the trade. It is said that beer is the perfect drink for the pub - it comes in large measures (one pint glasses) so that just one drink provides plenty of conversation time! Many pubs also serve food, from snacks to full meals. Other attractions offered by city and country pubs alike include a game of darts (short, weighted steel darts are thrown at a circular dartboard numbered in sections) and pool, a game similar to billiards. The lure of the pub can lie in its name; each establishment has it painted on a sign hanging outside the premises. A pub name can refer to historical events, landmarks, or sundry beasts. Sometimes its meaning can be a complete puzzle. Some include references to animals, many with their origins in heraldry - The White Hart, the Nag’s Head, the Black Bull, and the Bear to name but a few. 12. What and when are the Proms? The Proms or Promenade Concerts are an annual series of music concerts sponsored by the BBC and held at the Royal Albert Hall and other venues in London. They are called Promenade Concerts because originally the audience promenaded or walked about during the concerts, although now they stand or sit. The Proms originated in 1895, and since that time have become a hugely popular event. The programmes usually consist of classical music, and reflect popular taste as well as the inclusion of more original and adventurous pieces. These days jazz, world music and other styles also feature on the concert programme. The BBC, which has organised and financed the Proms since 1927, broadcasts every concert live on BBC Radio 3. Some are also televised. They take place each year, from mid-July to mid-September, although the most popular evening is the Last Night of the Proms, when concert-goers fill the Hall and stand tightly packed in the arena in front of the orchestra for an evening of stirring music. A programme for the current year's concerts can be ordered from May, either online or direct from good bookshops. Booking for concerts starts in mid-May. Other concerts: seasons of orchestral and choral concerts are also performed regularly in many large towns and cities, while in central London the principal concert halls (including the Royal Festival Hall in the South Bank Centre, and the Barbican Hall) draw packed audiences. Other musical forms popular in the UK range from opera to folk and jazz, to rock and the latest chart-topping pop group. 13. What is UK humour? The British sense of humour is often a source of mystification for other nations, and visitors to Britain sometimes claim that our humour is incomprehensible. However, possessing a sense of humour is usually regarded as a British virtue. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact characteristics of our humour, but it may be loosely defined as an attitude of mind which is readily responsive to the incongruous and ridiculous. Thus the humorous qualities of Dickens’ novels lie in the fact that many of his characters are larger than life - their appearance and personal qualities are highly exaggerated. This is also true of many 1990s' television comedy series, where the lead characters were often wonderfully eccentric and over the top - for example Patsy and Edina in Absolutely Fabulous, played by Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, and The Vicar of Dibley starring Dawn French. The next generation of TV comedies such as The League of Gentlemen, first aired in 1999, and Little Britain (2003), was just as popular, although the humour could probably be described as rather more grotesque than earlier series. Bawdy or slapstick comedy, which can trace its roots back to Chaucer and Shakespeare, is demonstrated in the early films of Charlie Chaplin and the Carry On film series of the 1960s and 1970s, and later television series such as Men Behaving Badly and Blackadder starring Rowan Atkinson. More subtle humour can be found in the satire of Thackeray, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, which highlights the faults and weaknesses of their respective societies. Today, popular television comedy series such as The Office, and the quiz show Have I Got News For You, present modern satire. British humour also has an ever-present but hard to define appreciation of the absurd, originating in radio programmes like The Goon Show and television's Monty Python's Flying Circus. 14. What is the Edinburgh Festival? The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival held in the Scottish capital during August and early September. First held in 1947, it has gained an international reputation, and is widely recognised for providing opportunities for avant-garde theatre groups and emerging new talents to perform their work on the Edinburgh Fringe. Fringe performances are staged at smaller venues and theatres outside the main programme of events, and are often more experimental and offbeat. The quality of the Festival’s professional musical and theatrical productions attract an international audience. Unless you book in advance you are likely to find that every hotel and guest house in the city is full to capacity during festival month. For further information contact Tel: +44 (0) 131 473 2099 |
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PLACES TO VISIT AND FAMOUS LANDMARKS | |
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Questions 1. Why is Big Ben so called? Answers 1. Why is Big Ben so called? Although the name Big Ben is commonly used to refer to the famous clock at the top of St Stephen’s Tower at the Houses of Parliament in London, the nickname is more correctly applied to the bell within the tower. It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was the Chief Commissioner of Works at the time the bell was installed. The original bell, cast in 1856 and weighing some 15 tons, was being tested in New Palace Yard when it developed serious cracks and had to be recast. The recast bell, now weighing a mere 13 tons, was installed in 1858. There are also four Quarter bells in the clock tower weighing between a ton and four tons. These are the bells which the clock mechanism strikes every quarter of an hour, playing a different chime on each quarter. 2. How old is Stonehenge? Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric monument in Britain, is situated on Salisbury Plain in the county of Wiltshire. At various times it has been thought to have been built by the Druids, the Romans, the Danes and even the French. The first stage - a circular ditch and bank with an entrance flanked by a pair of small standing stones - is believed to have been built around 5,000 years ago. The site was subsequently abandoned and rebuilt between 2100 BC and 1800 BC. Many mysteries surround this ancient site. Some of the stones used are thought to have come from the Preseli mountains in Pembrokeshire, Wales; yet exactly how they were transported to the site in such a primitive age is a puzzle. Experts believe they may have been transported most of the way by water, before being dragged overland for the last stage of the journey. It has been suggested that Stonehenge once operated as a massive astronomical clock, and there are even suggestions that it was a landing site for UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects)! A more likely explanation is that Stonehenge was an important centre of worship connected with the sun. It is a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and those following pagan or neo-pagan beliefs. The midsummer sunrise began attracting modern visitors in the 1870s, with the first record of recreated Druidic practices dating to 1905 when the Ancient Order of Druids enacted a ceremony. Despite efforts by archaeologists and historians to stress the differences between the Iron Age Druidic religion, the much older monument and modern Druidry, Stonehenge has become increasingly, almost inextricably, associated with British Druidism, Neo-Paganism and New Age Philosophy. An incident in 1985 between new age travellers and the police and known as the Battle of the Beanfield led to this kind of ritual use of the site being stopped for several years. During the "battle" Wiltshire police prevented a vehicle convoy of several hundred new travellers from setting up a free festival at Stonehenge and the ensuing clash became notorious for the police brutality reported to have taken place. Currently, the ritual use of Stonehenge is carefully controlled. 3. Is Hadrian’s Wall still standing? Hadrian's Wall, the northernmost frontier defence of Roman Britain Hadrian’s Wall is a Roman wall that runs for about 120 kilometres across northern England between Wallsend-on-Tyne in the East and Bowness in the Solway Firth in the West. Begun in 122 AD on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian, it was the northernmost frontier defence of Roman Britain. It was hoped that the wall would help to control the fearsome Scottish tribes, but it was attacked and overrun in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and abandoned in the 4th century. Originally about 3m wide and 4.5m high, substantial sections of the wall were plundered for building materials over the centuries. However, the wall and remains of Roman forts along the way still stand today, with the finest surviving stretch being in the Northumberland National Park around the village of Gilsland. One of the best preserved Roman forts can be seen at Housesteads (Roman Vercovicium), 10 kms north east of Haltwhistle. The Hadrian’s Wall Path is England’s newest national trail. 4. Why is the investiture of the Prince of Wales held at Caernarfon Castle? Caernarfon Castle in Wales is one of the finest castles in Britain. It was built between 1285 and 1322 by Edward I of England, three years after the last independent Prince of Wales, Llywelyn, had been killed and his principality occupied by the English. Entrance is through the Gate of the King, a great arch surmounted by a statue of Edward II, the first English Prince of Wales. Although the castle is now only a shell, it is no less impressive for that. The Eagle Tower, over 40 metres high, can be reached by climbing 158 steps, passing by a small chamber known as the Queen’s Oratory, where Edward II, Prince of Wales, is said to have been born. Legend also tells us that the entrance to the castle on the east side, known as the Gate of Queen Eleanor, was where the infant Edward was presented to the people of Wales as their new Prince. Since those days the ceremony of the investiture of the Prince of Wales has always been held in Caernarfon Castle. 5. What is the Giant’s Causeway? The Giant’s Causeway lies on the north coast of Northern Ireland, near Portrush, County Antrim. It is an impressive formation of some 40,000 basalt columns (basalt is a type of hard, igneous rock) descending like a giant staircase into the sea. The Causeway became known as the Eighth Wonder of the World from the 1700s, when large numbers of visitors came to view this feature of the coastline. The coastal scenery adjacent to the Causeway is stunning, with majestic cliffs and inaccessible bays. Many ships have foundered below these towering cliffs. The columns are mainly hexagonal in shape, and were formed by lava flows pouring into the sea many millions of years ago. According to legend the columns are the start of a causeway constructed by the terrible Irish Giant, Finn MacCool, in an attempt to cross the sea to the Scottish coast! 6. Why is the Tower of London so popular with tourists? The Tower of London is one of the most popular and imposing of London’s historical sites. It comprises not one, but 20 towers, the oldest of which, the White Tower, dates back to the 11th century and the time of William the Conqueror. It is the Tower’s evil reputation as a prison that ensures it remains a much-visited tourist spot today, together with the rich and varied history that surrounds it. Many stories associated with British history come from the Tower. In 1483 King Edward IV’s two sons were murdered in the so-called Bloody Tower, and over two centuries later the skeletons of two little boys were found buried beneath steps in the White Tower, which were assumed to be the bodies of the princes. Traitor’s Gate, set in the southern wall of the Tower, has steps leading down to the River Thames. Countless prisoners, including the future Queen Elizabeth I of England, were brought to the Tower by barge, and ascended the steps before being imprisoned. For many it was their last moment of freedom before their death. Elizabeth was released from the Tower and became Queen. Elizabeth I’s father, Henry VIII, made the Tower the dread destination of his enemies. Sir Thomas More was beheaded there in 1535 and the King’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, was brought to trial there in 1536 and beheaded on Tower Green. Six years later her cousin, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, suffered the same fate. The Tower is famous as the home of the Crown Jewels. Today they can be viewed in their new jewel house from a moving pavement, designed to cope with the huge numbers of tourists. They include the Crown of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, which contains the celebrated Indian diamond, the Koh-i-noor (mountain of light), and St Edward’s Crown which is used for the actual crowning of the Sovereign and which weighs over two kilograms. Everyone has heard of the Yeoman Warders of the Tower or Beefeaters, whose striking Tudor uniform has changed little since 1485. It consists of a knee-length scarlet tunic, scarlet knee-breeches and stockings, and a round brimmed hat called a Tudor bonnet. Their distinctive white neck ruff was introduced by Queen Elizabeth. No visit to the Tower would be complete without seeing the ravens; huge black birds who are an official part of the Tower community. Legend has it that if the ravens were to leave the Tower, the Crown will fall, and Britain with it. Under the special care of the Raven Master, the birds are fed a daily diet of raw meat paid for out of a special fund set aside by Parliament. There is no danger of them flying away, as their wings are clipped! 7. How do London’s tube and buses work? The London Underground, or tube as it is more familiarly known, was the world’s first urban underground railway. It began operating in 1863, when the Metropolitan Railway opened a line between Paddington and Farringdon. Even in those days traffic jams caused by the congestion of horsedrawn vehicles generated complaints and letters to The Times newspaper and, as a result, construction work began on the underground railway in 1860. Although Londoners were originally sceptical about the project, calling it the sewer railway, the service was an immediate success. Trains were steam operated, so travel must have been murky, sulphurous and extremely grimy compared with today’s electrically operated trains. London buses:Over one billion passenger-journeys are made on London’s buses every year. The familiar double-decker buses are one of the capital's most distinctive sights, and no visit would be complete without a trip on one. The most famous design, with an open passenger platform at the rear of the bus, dates back to the 1950s, although these have practically all been replaced with more modern types. 8. What is Speakers’ Corner? Speakers’ Corner in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in central London is by tradition an area where public speeches can be made by anyone who has anything they want to say - no matter how eccentric or implausible. The area was set aside in 1872, after Hyde Park itself became a popular centre for public speaking. Speakers talk to the crowds from a soapbox - an improvised platform once made from wooden packing crates used for soap and other items. Individual speakers or people representing various organisations or special causes deliver their speeches at weekends - to the amusement or bewilderment of passers-by. Crowds often gather around and generally feel free to make comments on the speech or simply to heckle the speaker if they don’t agree with what is being said! Speakers’ Corner is often taken as a symbol of free speech. 9. Where can I obtain tourist information about Britain? Tourist information about Britain can be obtained from: VisitBritain British Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions, along with VisitBritain’s offices overseas, may also be able to supply information. 10. How do I get to Britain from mainland Europe? You can either put your car onto Le Shuttle at Calais or, alternatively, travel on the Eurostar train from Paris, Lille or Brussels. Both Le Shuttle and Eurostar go through the Channel Tunnel. You pay a toll before driving onto Le Shuttle - made up of rail freight vehicles, 800 metres long - the largest purpose-designed rail wagons in the world. At the English end you arrive at the terminal in Folkestone in Kent. There are three different types of shuttle: a double-decker for carrying cars, motorbikes and bicycles; a single-decker shuttle for carrying coaches, cars with caravans and camper vans; and another single-decker for carrying fully loaded freight vehicles weighing up to 44 tonnes. Tickets for Le Shuttle can be bought in advance. It is not necessary to book as there is no fixed check-in time and the service works on a turn-up- and-go basis. Drivers of cars, coaches and heavy goods vehicles can all expect departures up to four times an hour. The journey time from platform to platform is 35 minutes, with 27 minutes in the tunnel. 11. Where can I find out about train services and times? All mainline stations have information desks where you can enquire about train services and timetables. Travel agents should also be able to give advice on timetables, and most public libraries have copies in the reference section. You can also use the very useful journey planner on the National Rail Enquiries website. 12. Where can I find out about customs regulations? For information about customs regulations and duty free allowances contact Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs 13. What is the British weather like? Despite its reputation for grey skies and rain, the climate in Britain is generally mild and temperate. The weather from day to day is mainly influenced by depressions moving eastwards across the Atlantic. Although the weather changes frequently, the temperature is subject to few extremes - it is rarely above 32°C or below -10°C. Rain is fairly well distributed throughout the year, but, on average, March to June are the driest months and September to January the wettest. If you visit the mountainous areas of the west and north you can expect more rainfall than in central parts of Britain. During May, June and July - the months of longest daylight - the mean daily duration of sunshine varies from five hours in northern Scotland to eight hours in the Isle of Wight on the south coast. November, December and January have the least sunshine - only an hour a day in northern Scotland or two hours a day on the south coast of England. The weather section on the BBC website is very useful, containing a five-day forecast for most large towns and cities both in the UK and abroad. 14. When do shops have sales? The biggest sales take place in January, when bargain-hungry shoppers have been known to queue all night outside London’s biggest department stores in the hope of snapping up drastically reduced goods. Some shoppers wait until the end of January, when there may be a smaller choice of bargains, but often the prices have been reduced even further. Other sales take place at the end of spring and summer, when there are reduced prices on out of season goods, although it is always best to check with individual stores first. 15. Where can I buy tickets for shows and sporting events? Contact the arena or theatre where the event is taking place for advice on ticket sales. Many venues list a ticket sales hotline in the telephone directory. By dialling this number you can order tickets and pay for them by credit card. Alternatively, major cities like London have numerous ticket agencies which sell tickets for all major events and shows, and also operate ticket sales hotlines. Check the Central London telephone directory for details. If you are in London you can buy cut-price tickets for the theatre on the day (subject to availability) at the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square. You can now book tickets online at some theatres and concert halls. For instance, in London the Barbican, National Theatre, South Bank Centre and the Royal Opera House all offer this facility. Use a search engine to check whether this is possible at whichever theatre you want to visit. For sporting and other events held at venues like Wembley or the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, tickets are usually booked through the company or body which is organising the game or show, rather than directly through the stadium. |
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TRACING RELATIVES AND FRIENDS; YOUTH AND SCHOOL EXCHANGES; TOWN TWINNING | |
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Questions 1. How can I trace my relatives and friends in Britain? Answers 1. How can I trace my relatives and friends in Britain? It is sometimes helpful to place an advertisement in the personal column of local newspapers in the area where relatives or friends were last known to be living. Newspapers: Addresses of local newspapers in the UK can be obtained from Willings Press Guide, published annually and available from: Chess House Visitors to the UK can trace relatives and friends through telephone directories, or local electoral registers, which contain the names and addresses of everyone over the age of 18 living in particular area . Current telephone directories and electoral registers for the whole country can be viewed at most libraries. Telephone directories dating from the end of the 19th century to the recent past may be viewed at: British Telecom Group Archives Tracing services: The following registered charities offer a tracing service in urgent cases for immediate family members only: Salvation Army Family Tracing Service People living outside the United Kingdom should initially contact the Salvation Army in their own country. 2. How do I organise youth exchanges with the United Kingdom? Connect Youth, a British Council department, promotes informal exchanges of young people between the UK and other countries. Although its primary function is to establish contacts between youth groups in the UK and abroad, overseas groups may be able to advertise in its newsletter, Connect Youth. Connect Youth The Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council (CYEC) promotes contact between groups of people aged 16-25 from Britain and all other Commonwealth countries by means of two-way youth exchanges. It publishes Contact! A Handbook for North-South Youth Exchange and ‘Safety and Welfare – Guidelines for Commonwealth Youth Exchange – essential reading for youth exchange organisers. CYEC is not able to provide direct funding to overseas groups. Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council The European Commission operates the YOUTH Programme, and can put youth groups in 31 European countries in contact with National Agencies. For more details contact: European Commission 5. How do I organise school exchanges with Britain? The Global Gateway (formerly Windows on the World) is a free database for schools and colleges that want to develop links with other institutions worldwide. Attached to the British Council, Global Gateway gives information on how to develop links and case studies of projects. Visit the website below for more details. Email: editor@globalgateway.org The European School Exchange Databank allows schools seeking a partner to register on a database. The information provided will then be passed on to potential partners across Europe. Registration on the database is free, but a listing of registered schools is charged for. European School Exchange Databank 3. How can I twin my town with one in Britain? For a handbook about twinning, contact the International Links Team at: Local Government International Bureau |
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE | |
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Questions 1. Where can I get information about English language courses? Answers 1. Where can I get information about English language courses? The British Council should be the first port of call for details of approved English Courses A list of private language schools which have been recognised by the British Council (BC) is available from the BC in your own country or in the UK. Contact us 2. How many people speak English worldwide? English is one of the most widely-used languages in the world. Recent estimates suggest that around 375 million people speak English as their first language, with about the same number - 375 million - speaking it as a second language. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language. It is the favoured language of the world’s major airlines and international business. Over 80 per cent of the world’s electronically-stored information is in English and two-thirds of the world’s scientists read in English. Of the estimated 200 million internet users worldwide, some 36 per cent of them currently communicate in English. It is an official language, or has a special status, in over 75 countries. If the rest of the world isn’t talking English, they’re borrowing English words to add to their own language: •the Japanese go on a pikunikku (picnic) 750,000 million people worldwide speak English as a first or second language 3. Why are many English words pronounced differently from the way they are spelt? Beware of heard, a dreadful word, English spelling is unpredictable at the best of times, and occasionally totally chaotic - an opinion no doubt shared by UK schoolchildren and those studying English around the world. However, studies of the language claim that there are only about 400 words in English whose spelling is wholly irregular. Unfortunately many of them are among the most frequently used. The problems with English spelling came about partly as a result of the slow development of the language over a period of 1,000 years. Some complications arose early on when the Romans tried to write down Old English using the 23 letter Latin alphabet. Old English contained nearly 40 vowels and consonants. The influence of French after the Norman Conquest also had an enormous impact on English spelling. The word some, for instance, used to be spelled sum before the Normans arrived and quick was spelled cwic. French scribes introduced queen, where Old English had used cween, and gh instead of h in the word night. The introduction of the printing press in 1476 meant that a standard spelling system began to emerge which reflected the speech of the London area. The pronunciation of vowels underwent further changes during the 15th century but, because of the advent of the printing press, spelling never caught up. Previously, scribes would have simply written down a new spelling to reflect the new pronunciation. Thus modern spelling in many ways reflects outmoded pronunciation of words dating back to the Middle Ages. Despite many attempts to reform the English spelling system, no changes have been made since the 16th century - mainly because nobody can agree on the best alternative! 4. Do Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own languages? At the start of the 20th century half the population of Wales spoke Welsh, a language belonging to the Celtic family. However, the numbers of Welsh-speaking people have steadily declined, and today only about a fifth of the population speaks it. Both the government and voluntary groups have taken steps to revive the use of Welsh. It is taught as a first language to all school students between the ages of 5 and 16, and there has been an extended use of Welsh for radio and television programmes. It is widely used for official purposes and is treated equally with English in the work of the Welsh Assembly. Gaelic, also a language of Celtic origin, is still spoken by some 70,000 people in Scotland, with the greatest concentration in the Hebrides. The word whisky, the famous Scottish alcoholic drink, is derived from the Gaelic uiscebeatha or water of life. People in the Scottish Lowlands have for centuries spoken Scots, a dialect derived from the Northumbrian branch of Old English and a completely separate language from Gaelic. This has its own recognised literary tradition - for instance in the poetry of Robert Burns - and has been increasingly used by modern poets. Gaelic is also the language of the Irish people. It is still taught in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The 1991 census in Northern Ireland revealed there were 142,000 speakers of Irish Gaelic. Every English region has its own way of pronouncing words and sentences which identifies the speaker with that particular area. 5. Why is English spoken with different accents? Most British people can recognise where someone was born or brought up by listening to their accent. Every region has its own way of pronouncing English words and sentences which identifies the speaker with that particular geographical area. Differences arose from the time when English was spoken in a variety of different forms during the Middle Ages and could be roughly divided as follows: •Northern (developed from Northumbrian Old English) Today what is known as the Home Counties accent is usually accepted as Standard English. The Home Counties are the counties nearest to London. Standard English is sometimes referred to as BBC English since at one time all announcers on BBC radio and TV were required to speak it. Regional accents have persisted and diversified over the centuries. Today the identification of an accent places the speaker in a general area of the UK - such as West Country or South Wales; or to specific counties or cities, for instance, Liverpool, Yorkshire or Glasgow. Although Standard English was once the accepted form of English for public speaking or broadcasting, today regional accents are widely used on both television and radio. 6. What is cockney rhyming slang? True cockneys traditionally come from a very small part of London. Only those born within the sound of Bow Bells, which ring out from the church of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London could, by tradition, consider themselves cockneys. In reality the cockney heartland lies in the East End of London. Like many other small communities, cockneys had a large number of words and phrases which had special meanings for them, but they took this to extremes by inventing a whole new dialect - rhyming slang - which has been in use since the mid-19th century. Rhyming slang uses a phrase that rhymes with a word, instead of the word itself - thus stairs becomes apples and pears, phone becomes dog and bone and word becomes dicky bird. To add to the confusion for the uninitiated, the rhyming part of the word is often dropped: thus daisies are boots - from daisy roots. Some people complain that rhyming slang is simply spoken to give the cockney an unfair advantage over strangers - the wily cockney spots an attentive or enquiring stranger and lapses into rhyming slang so that he or she can’t be understood. However, numerous colloquial expressions derive from rhyming slang, and have even been used in the House of Commons, for example let’s get down to brass tacks means lets talk facts. There are many ethnic minority languages spoken in the UK including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Cantonese and Creole 7. What are the main ethnic minority languages? Britain’s Afro-Caribbean population does not have its own language, although many second - and even third-generation West Indians speak a dialect of Standard English described as Creole, or Jamaican Creole (patois). The UK’s Asian population speaks a variety of languages, often using different languages for writing and speaking. The national languages of India and Pakistan are Hindi and Urdu respectively. Northern Indian languages - Punjabi, Gujarati and Bengali - are also widely used in Britain. These three languages have a common derivation in Sanskrit, the classical language of ancient India, but are not necessarily mutually intelligible. There are more Asian Punjabi speakers in Britain than any other language, followed by speakers of Urdu, Bengali and Gujarati. Two of the main Chinese dialects spoken in Britain are Cantonese, the language of urban Hong Kong,and Guangdong province, and Mandarin, spoken by those from mainland China. 8. Who are the most popular British writers? The playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and the novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) remain two of the most popular and widely-known UK writers the world over. In addition to writing 35 known plays, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and sometimes acted in small parts in his own plays - he is known to have played the Ghost in Hamlet. His best known plays include: Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dickens began his writing career as a journalist, and all his novels were first published in periodicals in weekly parts. Many of his works highlight the injustice of 19th century social institutions and the inequalities between the rich and the poor. His most famous works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield. The novels of Jane Austen (1775-1817) are known for their subtlety of observation and irony, together with their penetrating insights into the provincial life of the middle- and upper-middle classes in the early part of the 19th century. Her works include Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, all recently dramatised on film and TV to critical acclaim. The Brontë sisters, Charlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48) and Anne (1820-49), were three talented 19th century women novelists whose works are regarded as classics today. Charlotte is best known for her novel Jane Eyre and Emily for Wuthering Heights. Both novels feature strong, independent heroines. Many distinguished works of contemporary fiction have been awarded the Man-Booker Prize, given annually to the author of what has been judged to be the best novel published in Britain. They must be written in English by a citizen of the UK, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Glasgow-born James Kelman is a leading contemporary writer from Scotland whose writing echoes the rhythms of the Glaswegian dialect; whilst the Welsh-Jewish writer, Bernice Rubens, who died in 2004, received much critical acclaim for her novels. Still the rage amongst children and adults alike is J K Rowling's schoolboy wizard, Harry Potter. Geoffrey Chaucer's best-known work is The Canterbury Tales about a group of pilgrims bound for the shrine of St Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in Kent One of the most widely known English poets is remarkable because his work has been continuously transcribed, published, read and commented on since his death. That he lived over 600 years ago is no less remarkable. A modern-day humorous poet is Benjamin Zephaniah whose verse dips and dives through contemporary themes. He is well-known for his live performances. The Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas (1914-53) is perhaps best-known for his play Under Milk Wood. This was first written as a radio drama and broadcast by the BBC in 1954, before being adapted for the stage. Another popular contemporary poet is Seamus Heaney born in Northern Ireland. His early poems reflect Irish rural life and work and can be found in the collections Death of a Naturalist (1966) and Wintering Out (1972). |
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EDUCATION | |
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Questions 1. At what age do children go to school in Britain? Answers 1. At what age do children go to school in Britain? Children in the UK must attend school from the age of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) until they are 16. Before the start of formal schooling, many children attend nursery schools or nursery classes attached to primary schools. Free, part-time school places are available for children aged 3 and 4, if their parents want one. Children first attend the infants’ school. At 7 they move to junior school and the usual age for transfer from junior to secondary school is 11 (12 in Scotland). In some areas, however, first schools take pupils aged 5 to 8, 9 or 10, and pupils within the 8 to 14 age range go to middle schools. 2. What are the different types of secondary school? Nearly 88 per cent of secondary school pupils go to comprehensive schools. These take children of all abilities, and provide a wide range of secondary education for all or most of the children in an area from the age of 11 to 16 or 18. Grammar schools, in Northern Ireland and some areas of England, offer a mainly academic education for the 11-18 year age group. Children enter grammar schools on the basis of their abilities, first sitting an entrance examination. Grammar schools cater for just over four per cent of children in secondary education. A small minority of children attend secondary modern schools (around four per cent). These schools provide a more general and technical education for children aged 11-16. Specialist schools, which only operate in England, give pupils a broad secondary education with a strong emphasis on arts, business and enterprise, engineering, humanities, languages, mathematics and computing, music, science, sports or technology. There are over 1,950 specialist schools. They charge no fees and any secondary school can apply for specialist school status. Academies are publicly funded independent schools sponsored by private and voluntary organisations. Their aim is to offer new responses to the school failure that sometimes occurs in city areas. City Technology Colleges aim to give boys and girls a broad secondary education with a strong technological and business slant. They are non-fee-paying independent schools, set up by the Government with the help of business sponsors who finance a large proportion of the initial capital costs and develop links with the schools. There are 15 such colleges in operation in England. The Government is currently encouraging CTCs to convert into academies (see Academies above), although their are few differences between the two types of school. Eight CTCs have been converted into academies and twelve of the fifteen will eventually be converted. 3 Why are public schools so called? The independent school sector is separate from the state education system, and caters for some seven per cent of all schoolchildren in England and four per cent in Scotland. There are around 2,400 independent schools in the UK. Parents of pupils attending independent schools pay for their education and, in some cases, fees can amount to several thousand pounds a year. Some pupils gain scholarships and their expenses are partially or wholly covered by the schools. About 250 of the larger independent schools are known for historical reasons as public schools. Eton, which was founded in 1440, is said to have been the first grammar school to be called a public school, because scholars could come to the school from any part of England and not, as was generally the case, just from the immediate neighbourhood. Originally, many public schools stressed a classical education, character training and sport, but the curriculum is now closely allied to state education. In Northern Ireland there are a few independent fee-paying schools catering for a very small proportion of the school population; they do not receive any support from public funds. Schools in Scotland supported by public funds are called public schools but they are not fee-paying, independent schools. The ISA is one of the oldest of the independent schools' organisations. It provides professional support to head teachers and offers a wide arrange of sport and cultural activities to the pupils in its 300 member schools. 4. Which are the oldest universities in Britain? The University of Oxford was the first university to be established in Britain. Dating from the 12th century, it is organised as a federation of colleges governed by their own teaching staff known as Fellows. The oldest, University College, was founded in 1249. Other notable colleges include All Souls (founded in 1438), Christ Church (founded in 1546 by Cardinal Wolsey), whose college chapel is also Oxford Cathedral, and Lady Margaret Hall (founded in 1878), which was the first women’s college. Today, the University is made up of 39 separate colleges, one of which is for female students only. The rest take both men and women. In 1209, scholars running away from riots in Oxford set up the first academic community in Cambridge. Like Oxford, the University is also organised as a federation of colleges; the oldest, Peterhouse, dates from 1284. The largest college, Trinity, was founded by King Henry VIII in 1546. Scotland also boasts a number of long-established universities. By the end of the Middle Ages Scotland had four universities at Edinburgh (founded 1583), Glasgow (founded 1450), Aberdeen (founded 1494) and St Andrew’s (founded 1411). The University of Wales was founded in 1893. It consists of six colleges, the oldest one being the University of Wales, Lampeter, founded as St David's College in 1822. Queen’s University, Belfast was founded in 1845 as one of the three Queen’s Colleges in Ireland. It received its charter as a separate university in 1908. |
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POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND THE CONSTITUTION | |
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Questions 1. Why doesn't Britain have a written constitution? Answers 1. Why doesn't Britain have a written constitution? The British constitution has evolved over many centuries. Unlike those of the United States, France and many Commonwealth countries, the British constitution has not been assembled at any time into a single, consolidated document. Instead it is made up of common law, statute law and convention. Of all the democratic countries in the world, only Israel is comparable to Britain in having no single document codifying the way its political institutions function, and setting out the basic rights and duties of its citizens. Britain does, however, have certain important constitutional documents, including the Magna Carta (1215) which protects the rights of the community against the Crown; the Bill of Rights (1689) which extended the powers of Parliament, making it impracticable for the Sovereign to ignore the wishes of the Government; and the Reform Act (1832), which reformed the system of parliamentary representation. The biggest legal and constitutional reform to take place in Britain since the 1689 Bill of Rights was the Human Rights Act (1998) which came into force in January 2000. It enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights - a 50 year-old code of basic rights drawn up in the aftermath of the Second World War and covering such rights as that to a family life, to privacy and to a fair trial. Common law has never been precisely defined. It is deduced from custom or legal precedent and interpreted in court cases by judges. England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own legal systems and in all three systems common law has developed over the centuries through the decisions of the courts. Decisions of higher courts are binding on those lower down the hierarchy. Statute law, principally affecting England, starts in the Westminster Parliament as a Bill on a particular subject, usually introduced by the government of the day. When a Bill has been passed by both Houses - the Commons and the Lords - it becomes an Act of Parliament and goes onto what is commonly called the "statute book" and becomes part of the law of the land. Devolution in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland means that all laws passed by the Westminster Parliament operate in these three countries to a greater or lesser extent. All the countries which make up the UK all have their own legal systems, with considerable differences in law, organisation and practice. Statutes passed by the Westminster or Scottish Parliaments are the ultimate source of law, but there is also a duty to comply with the European Community law, and courts in the UK are obliged to apply the latter in cases where the two conflict. Conventions are rules and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as indispensable to the working of government. Many conventions are derived from the historical events through which the British system of government has evolved. One convention is that Ministers are responsible and can be held to account for what happens in their Departments. The constitution can be altered by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention. The flexibility of the British constitution helps to explain why it has developed so fully over the years. However, since Britain joined the European Community in 1973, the rulings of the European Court of Justice have increasingly determined and codified sections of British law in those areas covered by the various treaties to which Britain is a party. In the process British constitutional and legal arrangements are beginning to resemble those of Europe. 2. What is the Magna Carta? The Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter) is Britain’s best known constitutional document. In 1215 feudal barons forced the tyrannical King John (1199-1216) to agree to a series of concessions embodied in a charter which became known as the Magna Carta. Sixty-one clauses set out a clear expression of the rights of the community against the Crown. The contents deal with the free Church; feudal law; towns, trade and merchants; the reform of the law and justice; the behaviour of royal officials; and royal forests. The King was forced to fix his seal to the Magna Carta in a meadow next to the River Thames at Runnymede between Windsor and Staines in Surrey. Legend has it that he behaved pleasantly to the nobles at the time, but as soon as he returned to his own chamber he threw himself on the floor in a furious rage. Since that day the Magna Carta has become part of English Law and established the important principle that the King is not above the law. Original copies of the charter exist in Salisbury Cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the British Museum in London. 3. How does Britain elect its Parliament? The Westminster Parliament - the law-making body of the British people - consists of three elements: the Monarchy, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They all meet together only on occasions of ceremonial significance, such as the state opening of Parliament, although the agreement of all three is normally required for legislation. However, since devolution Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland can, within certain limits, introduce their own legislation in their own assemblies and parliament. (See devolution sections below). The House of Commons consists of 646 elected members called Members of Parliament or MPs. Election to the House of Commons is an important part of Britain’s democratic system. Its main purpose is to make laws by passing Acts of Parliament, as well as to discuss current political issues. Some of the liveliest sessions in the Commons debating chamber take place at Prime Minister’s Question Time when MPs have the opportunity to quiz the Prime Minister on burning issues of the day. The House of Lords currently consists of 731 non-elected members (92 hereditary peers and peeresses, 603 non-elected life peers and peeresses, 12 law lords, and 24 archbishops and senior bishops of the Church of England). Its main legislative function is to examine and revise bills from the Commons, but the Lords cannot normally prevent proposed legislation from becoming law if the Commons insists on it. It also acts in a legal capacity as the final court of appeal, although Parliament's judicial function will end in 2009, when an independent UK Supreme Court is established. In recent years the House of Lords has undergone a process of reform to make it more democratic and representative. The Labour government introduced legislation in 1997 to remove all hereditary peers from the Upper House as the first step. As part of a compromise, however, it agreed to allow 92 hereditary peers to remain until the reforms were complete. The rest of the hereditary peers were removed making the Lords predominantly an appointed house. The next phase of Lords reform would remove the remaining hereditary peers and establish an independent Appointments Commission. In 2007, MPs voted on a variety of alternative proposals for the upper chamber. Outright abolition, a wholly appointed house, a 20% elected house, a 40% elected house, a 50% elected house and a 60% elected house were all defeated in turn. Finally the vote for an 80% elected chamber was won by 305 votes to 267, and the vote for a wholly-elected chamber was won by an even greater margin: 337 to 224. Significantly this last vote represented an overall majority of MPs, but this was nevertheless an indicative vote only. Many political and legislative hurdles remained to be overcome for supporters of an elected second chamber. General elections are held after Parliament has been dissolved, either by a royal proclamation or because the maximum term between elections – five years – has expired. The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minister of the day. Unlike a number of its European counterparts, the British government does not have to run its full term and can call an election before the five years is up. For electoral purposes Britain is divided into constituencies, each one of which returns one MP to the House of Commons. MPs are elected by the first past the post system – which means the candidate with more votes than any other is elected. In elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the European Parliament forms of proportional representation (PR) are used. All British citizens, together with citizens of other Commonwealth countries and citizens of the Irish Republic resident in Britain, may vote, provided they are aged 18 years or over and not legally barred. People not entitled to vote include those serving prison sentences, members of the House of Lords, EU citizens, and those kept in hospital under mental health legislation. Voting is by secret ballot. At a general election the elector selects just one candidate on the ballot paper and marks an X by the candidate’s name. Voting in elections is voluntary. Postal voting is growing in popularity and there has been some experimental voting in local elections by mobile phone text message and online, although it is recognised that tough safeguards need to be in place to prevent fraud. In the June 2001 general election 59.4 per cent of the electorate voted, compared with 72 per cent in 1997. It rose to 61.3 per cent in the 2005 election. Who can stand for election? Any person aged 21 or over who is a British citizen or citizen of another Commonwealth country or the Irish Republic may stand for election to Parliament, provided they are not disqualified. People disqualified include bankrupts, those sentenced to more than one year’s imprisonment, members of the clergy, members of the House of Lords, and a range of public servants and officials. Approved candidates are usually selected by their local political party in the constituency which they represent, although candidates do not have to have party backing. Independent candidates often stand on particular local issues. The leader of the political party which wins most seats (although not necessarily the majority of the votes) at a general election, or who has the support of a majority of members in the House of Commons, is by convention invited by the Sovereign to form the new government. 4. How is the UK governed? Her Majesty's Government is the formal title used by the UK government. It is called this because the UK executive authority is theoretically vested in the monarch and exercised through her ministers. In effect, the government is an executive authority consisting of the sovereign's ministers. The government is headed by the Prime Minister who lives at 10 Downing Street in London, and includes senior ministers who run departments and make up the Cabinet. The main role of government departments is to implement government policy and to advise ministers. They are staffed by civil servants and generally receive their funding from money provided by Parliament. They often work alongside local authorities and other government-sponsored organisations. Ministers in charge of government departments are usually in the Cabinet. They are known as Secretary of State or may have a special title, as in the case of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 5. How are Scotland and Wales governed? The people of Scotland and Wales now have greater control over their own affairs, thanks to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and a Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. The Scottish Parliament has 129 members – 73 directly-elected on a constituency basis and 56 elected by proportional representation. They are known as MSPs – Members of the Scottish Parliament. The first meeting of the new Parliament was in May 1999. It runs for a four-year fixed term and is responsible for functions which previously were the responsibility of Scottish Office Ministers in the UK government. It is able to make laws on a whole range of matters, including health and education, and to raise or lower the rate of income tax by three pence in the pound. Some powers are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, such as foreign affairs and defence. The Scottish Government - made up of elected MSPs - is the executive arm of government in Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive - which remains its legal title - but its name was changed by the incoming Scottish National Party administration following the May 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The first Scottish Executive in 1999 was run by a Labour and Liberal coalition. No party won an overall majority at the last Scottish elections and the Scottish National Party formed a minority government, with support from the Greens on certain issues. Scottish voters continue to elect MPs to the Westminster Parliament. The National Assembly for Wales has 60 members - known as AMs or Assembly Members - and elections are held every four years. Each registered elector has two votes, the first of which is cast for 40 local constituency Members by the first past the post system. The second vote is to elect 20 regional Members by a form of proportional representation. This second vote goes to a political party rather than an individual candidate. The Assembly is responsible for functions previously carried out by the Welsh Office. It is able to amend laws passed at Westminster which affect devolved areas, such as health, education and transport. It is also responsible for most public expenditure in Wales, and has powers to make a wide range of secondary legislation. It does not have tax-raising powers. The first election was held in 1999. At the most recent election in May 2007 no party won an overall majority and in July that year a coalition Labour and Plaid Cymru government was formed and ministerial positions confirmed. The Assembly delegated its executive powers to nine Cabinet Ministers, including a First Minister, who together form the Welsh Assembly Government. The Government of Wales Act 2006 formally separated the Assembly and the Welsh Assembly Government, giving Welsh Ministers independent executive authority. This was enacted after the May 2007 elections. 6. How is Northern Ireland governed? One of the new institutions created following the Belfast Agreement of April 1998 was a Northern Ireland Assembly made up of 108 members - known as MLAs or Members of the Legislative Assembly - with a similar range of legislative and executive powers as the Scottish Parliament. The Northern Ireland Executive comprises of a First Minister and Deputy First Minister, and 10 Ministers, allocated in proportion to party strengths represented in the Assembly. Members are elected by proportional representation. There are Committees for each of the main executive functions of the Northern Ireland Executive. The membership and chair of each Committee is again allocated in proportion to party strengths. These Committees have scrutiny, policy development and consultative functions. Elections were held in June 1998, a First Minister and Deputy First Minister were elected, and agreement reached on most of the detail of institutions dealing with relationships between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Executive and the institutions have been suspended on a number of occasions since 1999, the longest being from October 2002 until May 2007. During these suspensions the Assembly's powers reverted to the Northern Ireland Office. Following talks between the parties an agreement was reached in November 2006 and an election to the Assembly held in March 2007. Full power was restored to the devolved institutions in May 2007. 7. How is London governed? In 2000 the Government established a London-wide authority for the capital. This consists of a directly-elected Mayor who is able to influence policy on transport, economic development, strategic planning, the environment and culture, and a separately elected Assembly of 25 members with powers to question the Mayor on his or her activities and to investigate issues on behalf of Londoners. 8. What are the origins of the names of the political parties? The Conservative and Unionist Party - which broadly represented the interests of the country gentry and merchant classes - traces its origins back to the Tory supporters of Duke of York, later King James II, in the late 17th century. The name was originally meant pejoratively: a Tory was said to be a type of Irish bandit. The name Conservative was proposed in the 1830s and later officially adopted, but the party is still often referred to as the Tory Party. The Tories more often than not formed the government from the accession of King George III (in 1760) until the Great Reform Act of 1832. That legislation granted seats in the House of Commons to large cities that sprang up during the Industrial Revolution, and took away seats from the rotten boroughs (those with very small populations). The Act also raised the number of men entitled to vote, increasing the size of electorate to 80 percent. Members of the old Tory Party who had been opposed to the reform began forming conservative associations. The name Conservative was first used as a description of the Party in the Quarterly Review of January 1830, because it aimed to conserve traditional values and practices. The Conservative Party today is the leading right of centre party. The term Tory is still used today to refer to somebody with conservative political views. The original title of the Labour Party, the Labour Representation Committee, makes the origins of the party clear – to promote the interests of the industrial working class. The Labour Party's origins lie in the late 19th century increase of the urban working population and the extension of the franchise to working-class males, when it became apparent that there was a need for a political party to represent the interests and needs of those groups. Some members of the trade union movement became interested in moving into the political field, and after the expansion of the franchise in 1867 and 1885, the Liberal Party endorsed some trade union-sponsored candidates. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time with the intention of linking the movement to political policies. Among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In 1900 the Trades Union Congress cooperated with the Independent Labour Party (founded in 1893) to establish the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) with Ramsay MacDonald as First Secretary. The LRC won 29 seats at the 1906 election and at their first meeting the group's MPs changed their name to the Labour Party. The Liberal Party emerged in the mid-nineteenth century as a successor to the historic Whig party. In the late eighteenth century the Whig Party represented those who sought electoral, parliamentary and philanthropic reforms. The Whigs were in favour of reducing the power of the Crown and increasing the power of the Parliament. Although their motives in this were originally to gain more power for themselves, the more idealistic gradually came to support an expansion of democracy for its own sake. After decades in opposition the Whigs came to power under Earl Grey in 1830 and carried the First Reform Act in 1832. After 1832 the mainly aristocratic Whigs were joined by increasing numbers of middle-class members. By 1839 the term Liberal Party was being used, and the first unequivocally Liberal government was formed in 1868 by William Gladstone. The Party was in government several times between that first administration and the 1918 election, latterly as part of a wartime coalition wth the Conservatives. Since then it has had mixed fortunes. In 1988 the old Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - created initially by leading ex-Labour Party figures in 1981 - merged into a single party called the Liberal Democrats. 9. Why is the Speaker of the Commons so called? Contrary to what the title implies, the Speaker of the House of Commons – who is always an MP - does not speak, that is, he or she does not make speeches or take part in debates. The office has been filled continuously since 1377 and originally the Speaker spoke on behalf of the Commons to the monarch, hence the name. The Speaker’s central function today is to act as chairman or woman of the House, maintaining order in a debate. He or she may not vote, other than in an official capacity – that is when the result of a vote is a tie. Even then, he or she is not allowed to express an opinion on the merits of the question under debate and must vote in such a way as to give the House another chance to decide. The Speaker has three deputies – the Chairman of what is called the Ways and Means Committee and two other Deputy Chairmen. Like the Speaker, they can neither speak nor vote other than in their official capacity. They must be politically impartial and, on election, the new Speaker resigns from his or her political party and remains separate from political issues, even in retirement. However, the Speaker will deal with his or her constituents' problems like a normal MP. Traditionally, the Speaker stands unopposed in his or her constituency at general elections. An MP is elected to the role of Speaker by winning majority support in the Commons. This takes place after every general election, or on the death or retirement of the previous Speaker. 10. What happens in the Lords? Has the Lord Speaker replaced the Lord Chancellor? The Lord Speaker is elected internally by Members of the House of Lords. Politically impartial, responsibilities of the Lord Speaker include chairing the Lords debating chamber, offering advice on procedure, and acting as an ambassador for the work of the Lords both at home and abroad The House of Lords elected Baroness Hayman (Labour) as its first Lord Speaker on 4 July 2006. Lord Speakers can sit for two terms only, which last a maximum of five years each. The Lord Speaker assumed some of the responsibilities previously held by the Lord Chancellor, but, unlike him, is independent of government in their appointment and role. The new Speaker has effectively taken over some of the responsibilities of the Lord Chancellor, an historic post dating back to the Norman Conquest (1066), or even earlier. One of the most famous Lord Chancellors was Sir Thomas More, who was executed by Henry VIII, for refusing to support the King's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the monarch's first wife, and later refusing to swear his allegiance to the parliamentary act of succession. More was beheaded in 1535. The Lord Chancellor used to preside over its proceedings from his position on the Woolsack. He was a peer as well as a member of the Cabinet and was responsible for the development and implementation of government policy on the legal system. He was also the head of the judiciary and in charge of the administration of the courts and the legal system. But following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which came into effect in 2007, the Lord Chancellor - although still a Cabinet member - is currently an MP in the House of Commons. The new Lord Chancellor is also Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice - created in 2007 - and the election of a Lord Speaker for the House of Lords has significantly altered the Lord Chancellor's role. 11. What is a whip in Parliament? The term whip is said to owe its origin to the whippers-in – the people who keep the hounds in order at fox-hunting meets. Parliamentary whips are supposed to be similar disciplinarians, controlling the pack of MPs in their party! Government whips are all Ministers of the Crown. The principal task of the government Chief Whip is the management of government business in the House of Commons. He or she must try to ensure that, in spite of the activities of the opposition parties, Parliament has passed all the legislation and done all the tasks which it had planned during that session. Opposition parties have similar arrangements. There are also whips in the House of Lords. Whips in the main parties are organised by subject and by region. They monitor opinions inside their party and report back to the leadership, maintaining valuable day-to-day contact between ministers and their backbench supporters. The Whip also refers to a document sent out weekly to MPs detailing the forthcoming business of the House. Items are underlined once, twice or three times to indicate their importance to the party leadership. When a three-line whip is issued, the leadership is letting MPs know that it expects them to turn up and vote on the matter under discussion. 12. When did Britain join the European Union and how many MEPs does it have in the European Parliament? Britain joined the European Union (EU) in 1973, along with Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, bringing the total number of member states at that time to nine. There are now 27 members, including many former East European bloc countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic. The European Union has four main institutions: the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the Court of Justice and the Parliament. The 2007 EU Reform Treaty, if finally agreed by member states, might mean changes to some of these structures. One of these institutions, the European Parliament, is a democratically-elected body whose members are elected by the peoples of the 27 member nations every five years by direct universal suffrage. Its main role is to scrutinise the activities of the EU institutions, pass the annual EU budget, monitor spending, and shape and decide on new legislation jointly with the Council of Ministers. It has 785 members (MEPs), 78 of whom represent the people of Britain. Britain is divided into 12 geographical regions with each region electing between three and 11 MEPs by proportional representation. Each MEP in a region represents each person living there. |
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THE BRITISH MONARCHY | |
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Questions 1. What powers does the Queen have? Answers 1. What powers does the Queen have? The Crown, which represents both the Sovereign and the Government, is the symbol of supreme executive power. The Crown is vested in the Queen, but in general its functions are exercised by Ministers responsible to Parliament. Thus the UK is governed by Her Majesty’s Government in the name of the Queen. However, the Queen’s involvement is still required in many important acts of government and state occasions. Parliament: the Queen opens the new session of Parliament each autumn, and adjourns or stops it in the summer for MPs' holidays - known as the summer recess. She also ends, or dissolves, Parliament at the end of its term - a maximum term is five years. She opens the new session making a speech from the throne in the House of Lords. This is written for her and outlines her Government’s programme. Justice: The Queen can, on ministerial advice, pardon or show mercy to those convicted of crimes. Although in law the Queen as a private person can do no wrong, she ensures that all her actions strictly accord with the law. Members of the Royal Family are liable to civil or criminal proceedings should these arise. Privy Council: The Privy Council is the body which advises the head of state, that is the Queen. The word privy means private or secret and the first privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors. Royal Prerogative: The Royal Prerogative is a body of authority, privilege and immunity, recognised in common - and sometimes civil - law, belonging to the monarch alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers that a government has, are possessed by and vested in a monarch. Foreign policy: Foreign diplomatic representatives in London are accredited to the Queen, but the power to conclude treaties, to declare war and to make peace, to recognise foreign states and governments and to annex and cede territory, rest with the Government, under the Royal Prerogative. Honours and appointments: The Queen has the power to confer peerages, knighthoods and other honours. She normally does this on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, although a few honours are conferred by the Sovereign personally. The Queen makes appointments to many important state offices, on the advice of the Prime Minister, or the relevant Cabinet Minister. 2. Why does the Queen have two birthdays? The Queen was actually born on 21 April, but it has long been customary to celebrate the Sovereign’s birthday on a day during the summer. Since 1805 the Sovereign’s official birthday has been marked by the Trooping the Colour ceremony, normally held on the second Saturday in June. This ceremony dates from a time when it was essential for soldiers to recognise the flag, or colour, of their regiment so that they could follow it into battle. Each year one of the five regiments of the foot guards (Grenadiers, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) take turns to display their regiment's colour in the ceremony. The ceremony begins with the Queen leaving Buckingham Palace escorted by the Household Cavalry. She rides in a carriage down The Mall to Horse Guards and inspects the 500 guardsmen on parade. The Colour is "trooped" by being carried along the ranks of guardsmen. The Colour party then leads the guards on a march past the Queen, accompanied by the massed bands of the foot guards. No particular annual ceremony is held on the Queen’s true birthday, although the Union Flag is flown on public buildings and the national anthem is sung. 3. Who is next in line to the throne? Line of Succession 1 The Prince of Wales (b 1948) 4. Why is the heir to the throne called the Prince of Wales? The heir apparent has, since the institution of the title by King Edward I in 1301, usually been created Prince of Wales. Edward I led the conquest of independent Wales between 1277 and 1283. He subsequently proclaimed his son, Edward, born at Caernarfon in Wales in 1284, the Prince of Wales. There is no automatic succession to the title, which is only renewed at the Sovereign’s pleasure. Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle on 1 July 1969. 5. What does Royal mean in Royal Borough of ... or Royal Society of ...? The use of the word Royal in connection with a society, borough or organisation indicates that they were founded or established by, or are under the patronage of, a Sovereign or royal person. The title Royal is conferred on Government advice. There are three English boroughs that have the title Royal: Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston-upon-Thames, and Windsor and Maidenhead, indicating that historically a Sovereign has conferred that title upon them. There are many other societies or organisations that have received Royal patronage, among them the Royal Automobile Club, granted the patronage of Edward VII in 1907, and the Royal Society - an organisation incorporated by Charles II in 1662 for the pursuit and advancement of the physical sciences. 7. What are Royal Warrants? Since the Middle Ages, tradespeople who have acted as suppliers of goods and services to the Sovereign have been given formal recognition. In the beginning this patronage took the form of royal charters given collectively to various trade guilds; later the relationship between the Crown and individual tradespeople was formalised by the issue of royal warrants. To become eligible, the head of a company must be able to show that they have supplied a substantial amount of goods and services to the Royal Household for a period of not less than five consecutive years. Application is then made to the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, which supervises the granting of warrants. Once granted, the warrant - which is governed by strict regulations - allows the grantee or their company to use the legend By Appointment and to display the Royal Arms on their products, such as their stationery, advertisements and on their premises and delivery vans. Royal warrants of appointment are granted only by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. 8. What are the words of the National Anthem? The UK's national anthem originated in a patriotic song first performed in 1745. There is no authorised version - the words used are a matter of tradition. On official occasions it is usual to sing the first verse only, the words of which are as follows: God save our gracious Queen! In total about 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydyn and Brahms, have used the well-known tune in their compositions. 9. What is the origin of the mottoes Dieu et mon droit and Honi soit qui mal y pense? Dieu et mon droit (French for God and my right) is the motto of the Sovereign. The words were the countersign (military password) chosen by King Richard I before the battle of Gisors in 1198, meaning that he was no vassal of France, but owed his royalty to God alone. The French were defeated in battle, although the password was not adopted as the royal motto of England until the reign of Henry VI (1422-61). It has since been retained by his successors and the motto appears below the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. Honi soit qui mal y pense (French for Evil be to him who evil thinks) appears on a garter which surrounds the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. This garter symbolises the Order of the Garter, an ancient order of knighthood of which the Queen is Sovereign, and is the pinnacle of the British honours system. Membership is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales and no more than 24 members or Companions. The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III in 1348 during the Hundred Years War with France. The motto may well have been directed at critics of the King’s claims to the French throne; however, according to popular legend, the motto originated at a feast celebrating the capture of Calais in 1347. This legend had it that the King’s mistress, the Countess of Salisbury, was mocked by courtiers for losing her garter during a dance, but Edward at once stepped forward and tied the blue ribbon around his own knee, uttering the motto as a rebuke and declaring that the Garter would soon be held in the highest esteem! 10. What is the Royal Coat of Arms? The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch. Variants of the Royal Arms are used by other members of the Royal Family, and by the British Government in connection with the administration and government of the country. On the left, the shield is supported by the English Lion. On the right by the Unicorn of Scotland. The unicorn is chained because in medieval times it was considered a very dangerous beast. It features both the motto of British monarchs: Dieu et mon droit, and the motto of the Order of the Garter: Honi soit qui mal y pense on a representation of the Garter behind the shield. |
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Etiquette | |
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Questions 1. How does the honours system work? Answers 1. How does the honours system work? British honours are awarded on merit, for exceptional achievement or service. In 1993 the then Prime Minister, John Major, ended the automatic practice of conferring awards on the holders of certain posts, opening the honours system to more people - particularly those in the voluntary sector - who qualify on merit. Most honours are announced in one of the two annual sets of honours lists - one at New Year and the other in June, on the Queen’s official birthday. The Queen chooses the recipients of honours on the advice of the Prime Minister and other relevant ministers, to whom recommendations are made by their departments or members of the public. The various honours include: Baronetcies: A baronetcy is a heritable honour - a title that is passed on to male heirs. Knighthoods: Knights may be either Knights Bachelor, or members of one of the Orders of Chivalry. The honour of knighthood derives from the usage of medieval chivalry, as does the method normally used to confer the knighthood: the accolade, or touch of a sword by the Sovereign. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire: This award is given mainly to civilians and service personnel for public service and other distinctions. The OBE and MBE are the two orders most commonly awarded to men and women for services to their country. 2. What does ‘Right Honourable’ mean? Right Honourable (Rt Hon) is the form of address used for people holding the following titles or offices: an earl or countess, a viscount, a baron, a Lord Mayor (the title given to the Mayor of large cities) and a Privy Councillor. All Cabinet ministers are members of the Privy Council, the private council of the Sovereign. The full title appears in the form ‘The Right Honourable the Earl of Derby’, for example. 3. How should I address someone with a title? Information on the protocol of addressing holders of honours and titles can be found in Whitaker’s Almanac (published annually) and Debrett’s Correct Form (Webb and Bower, Exeter). Some examples are: The Queen is addressed as Your Majesty and subsequently Ma'am. A Royal Prince is addressed as Your Royal Highness and subsequently Sir. A Royal Princess is addressed as Your Royal Highness and subsequently Ma'am. A Knight is addressed as Sir and the wife of a Knight as Lady. An Archbishop is addressed as Your Grace and a bishop is addressed as My Lord. An Ambassador is addressed as Your Excellency. In writing they should be addressed as Dear Ambassador or Dear High Commissioner if a representative of a Commonwealth country, or very formally as Your Excellency. 4. What is the order of precedence for royalty, peers etc? The order of precedence in England and Wales is as follows: The Sovereign; The Duke of Edinburgh; The Prince of Wales; The Sovereign’s younger sons; The Sovereign’s grandsons; The Sovereign’s cousins; The Archbishop of Canterbury; Lord High Chancellor; Archbishop of York; The Prime Minister; Lord High Treasurer; Lord President of the Council; Speaker of the House of Commons; Lord Privy Seal; Ambassadors and High Commissioners. Peers rank among themselves as follows: 1.of England, 2. of Scotland, 3. of Great Britain, 4. of Ireland, 5. of UK and Ireland. Precedence among those with honours and titles: Dukes; Marquesses; Earls; Viscounts; Barons; Knights of the Garter; Baronets; Knights of the Thistle and other orders; Knights Bachelor; Companions. The Archbishop of Canterbury takes precedence in England and Wales after Royal Princes, while Bishops rank above barons but below viscounts. In Scotland precedence alters as follows: The Sovereign; The Duke of Edinburgh; The Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly (while that Assembly is sitting); The Duke of Rothesay (eldest son of the Sovereign); The Sovereign’s younger sons; The Sovereign’s cousins; Lord Lieutenant of Counties; Lords Provost of Counties of Cities; Sheriffs Principal; Lord Chancellor of Great Britain; Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; The Prime Minister. Full details can be found in Whitaker’s Almanac or Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage. |
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BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES AND THE COMMONWEALTH | |
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Questions 1. Where are Britain’s Overseas Territories? Answers 1. Where are Britain’s Overseas Territories? The Overseas Territories retain their connection with Britain because it is the wish of their peoples that they do so. They have a substantial measure of responsibility for the conduct of their own affairs. Local self-government is generally provided by an Executive Council and elected legislature. Governors or Commissioners are appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Foreign Secretary and retain responsibility for external affairs, defence and, usually, internal security and public service. Britain's Overseas Territories comprise: •Anguilla There are also territories with no indigenous population: •British Antarctic Territory 2. What is the Commonwealth? The modern Commonwealth was founded in 1949. From a handful of members then, the Commonwealth has grown to its present-day 53 members, comprising countries from almost every continent in the world. One in three people in the world is a Commonwealth citizen. They are people of many races and traditions, and from very different economic backgrounds. But they have a shared heritage, based on English as a common language, and similar administrative, educational, judicial and legal systems. The Commonwealth has transformed itself into a flexible, modern association of governments, non-governmental organisations and peoples, with shared political ideals and human values. It is committed to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and to the pursuit of sustainable development. Membership of the Commonwealth carries no legal or constitutional responsibilities. The bulk of Commonwealth activity is based on the provision of technical expertise and the sharing of experiences. Many of the Commonwealth’s members are small states with their own unique problems of vulnerability to economic and environmental shocks. Helping these small countries to work to overcome these difficulties is an important focus of the association’s work. Its headquarters, the Commonwealth Secretariat, is in London. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, a role which carries no constitutional responsibilities. She is the Head of State for 16 of the Commonwealth countries. The rest of the Commonwealth countries are republics with a President as Head of State, sultanates or monarchies. In 2002 the UK hosted the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. And in 2014 Glasgow will be the host. These are known as the friendly Games and are one of the key events in the Commonwealth calendar. |
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LAW AND ORDER |
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Questions 1. How are the police organised? Answers 1. How are the police organised? There are 52 police forces in the UK, mainly organised on a local basis. The Metropolitan Police Force and the City of London force are responsible for policing London. Each force in England and Wales and Scotland is responsible to a police authority made up of local councillors, magistrates and independent members. A Policing Board for Northern Ireland, responsible for maintaining an efficient and effective police service, came into being in November 2001. The Royal Ulster Constabulary was renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Provincial forces are headed by a chief constable; in the Metropolitan Police by a commissioner. Thereafter ranks are the same in all forces – chief superintendent, superintendent, chief inspector, inspector, sergeant and constable Police/community liaison consultative groups operate in every police authority; they consist of representatives from the police, local councillors and community groups. Most forces use customer surveys to provide information on public attitudes. These are used to shape the standards of service being provided. The heart of policing is the work done by police constables, who are in constant contact with the public. They patrol the streets on foot or in cars, give advice and deal with disturbances. Local crime prevention panels - each one assisted by the police - identify crime problems and try to tackle them through publicity. The police are closely involved in setting up neighbourhood watch schemes, advising residents on home security and encouraging them to keep an eye on properties in their area and pass on information to the police about suspicious people or vehicles. In 2002 the 43 police forces in England and Wales introduced Community Support Officers trained and equipped to perform a number of tasks formerly carried out by full police officers. Their presence is designed to free up police officers to focus on their own work. They also provide a valuable connection to people in the community. There are now 16,000 PCSOs working in England and Wales. There are about 165,000 full-time police officers across the UK. 2. When can the police carry guns? Usually uniformed police officers carry a truncheon or baton to protect themselves against violence. In England, Scotland and Wales firearms may be issued only to specially trained police officers, known as Authorised Firearms Officers, and then only on the authority of a senior officer. Authority is given when an officer is likely to face an armed criminal, or when an officer is deployed to protect a person who may be at risk of attack. Officers may fire weapons only as a last resort if they believe that their own or other lives are in danger. Each Authorised Firearms Officer is personally responsible for the decision to fire, and may be required to justify this action before the courts. Most forces in England and Wales operate a system of armed response vehicles - patrol cars which carry weapons in a locked box - to provide a speedy initial response to a firearms incident. In Northern Ireland, police officers carry firearms for personal protection. 3. What do the different courts do? What is the difference between a judge, a barrister and a solicitor? A judge is a crucial figure in the trial system. He or she supervises the conduct of the trial and passes sentence on those who have been convicted. Judges are normally appointed from practising barristers (advocates in Scotland) or solicitors and must have at least 10 years professional standing. The kind of judge chosen to preside over a case in court depends on its seriousness and complexity. Very serious offences are tried by crown courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and by sheriff courts in Scotland. The judicial part of the House of Lords in England hears final appeals - both criminal and civil - from England and Wales and Northern Ireland. At the moment in Scotland only civil cases can be appealed to the Lords. In 2009 the judicial function of the House of Lords will be replaced by the new Supreme Court which will be a UK-wide body. It will be legally separate from the England and Wales courts, since it will also be the Supreme Court of both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most minor civil cases are dealt with by county courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and sheriff courts in Scotland. Magistrates courts in England and Wales and Northern Ireland - district courts in Scotland - are the lowest tier of the criminal justice system. Justice is delivered not by professional judges or lawyers, but by appointed representatives of the community, called magistrates. Their main job is to deliver summary justice to people charged with less serious crimes. The legal profession in Britain is divided into two branches: barristers (advocates in Scotland) and solicitors. Solicitors undertake legal business for individual and corporate clients, while barristers advise on legal problems brought to them via solicitors, and present cases in the higher courts. Certain functions are common to both - for example, the presentation of cases in the lower courts. Barristers must pass professional examinations before being called to the Bar, and they must then serve an apprenticeship, or pupillage, with a qualified barrister for one year. Solicitors must also pass professional examinations and serve a two-year period of apprenticeship - called articles - in a solicitor’s office. Once qualified in this way, a newly-admitted solicitor is supervised for three years. 4. Why are wigs worn by judges and lawyers in the courts of England and Wales? Although English legal dress has a long history, it has for the most part evolved in the same way as common law, without written regulation. Before the 17th century lawyers did not wear wigs, but professional discipline required that their hair and beards should be moderately short. Nevertheless, the introduction of wigs into polite society in the reign of Charles II (1660-85) was an innovation which could not be resisted! After a period of disapproval, wigs were generally assumed by lawyers in the 1680s. In the 1860s the counsel were permitted to remove their wigs during a heatwave - this attracted some comment in the press and it was suggested that wigs were abandoned altogether by the legal profession. However, the proposal met with little support, though it has been a common occurrence ever since for judges to allow wigs to be left off in very hot weather, and sometimes turbans are allowed to be worn instead of wigs on religious grounds. Wigs represent only a small element in court "uniform" which is sometimes very elaborate and includes different kinds and colours of gowns and so on. In July 2007 the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales announced that court working dress in future will be much simplified; the reforms took effect on the 1 January 2008. 5. What is the Old Bailey? The Old Bailey is the most famous Crown Court in Britain. Its official title is the Central Criminal Court, and the figure on the dome of the building holding the scales of justice remains one of the most enduring symbols of justice in a free society. The Old Bailey normally has 19 courts sitting at one time. Built on the site of the notorious Newgate Prison, it has brought to trial some infamous murderers - among them Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged for murder in England; the Brides in the Bath Murderer, George Joseph Smith; John Christie who murdered his wife and at least five other women; and the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. The old courthouse, built in 1773, was replaced in 1907 by the present building designed by E W Mountford. The name Old Bailey is taken from the street where the court is situated, which is itself named after an old bailey - a former outer castle wall - which once stood there. |
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Practical advice and useful addresses | |
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Questions 1. How can I claim back VAT? Answers 1. How can I claim back VAT? Tourists who purchase goods at shops participating in the Retail Export Scheme may apply for a refund if they intend to leave the UK for a final destination outside the European Union within three months of the date of purchase. Visitors should ascertain before making their purchase whether or not a refund will be available. At the time of the purchase the retailer will ask to see a passport to establish the customer’s eligibility for the refund scheme. Both parties should then complete the refund document provided by the retailer - form VAT 407 or a refund company voucher. The VAT form or refund voucher must be presented with the goods for certification by HM Customs and Excise when the customer departs from the European Union. Forms cannot be certified after departure from the EU. The certified form should then be sent to the retailer or funding company, and the claim will be processed and a refund cheque (in sterling) sent to the purchaser. Alternatively, the form may be handed in at the refunding company office at the airport for an immediate refund, if applicable. Any correspondence about non-receipt of funds should be sent to the retailer or refunding company, not HM Revenue and Customs or UK Government Offices. An information leaflet about claiming back VAT for overseas visitors may be obtained by telephoning the HM Revenue and Customs advice line on 2. Where can I find out about the BBC World Service? To find out the frequencies for the BBC World Service write to: BBC World Service 3. What are the UK's quarantine regulations? Pet dogs, cats and other rabies susceptible mammals entering the UK must be put into quarantine for six months as soon as they arrive into the country unless they are covered by the new Pet Travel Scheme (PETS). Under PETS, dogs, cats and ferrets from the EU can enter Britain without going into quarantine as long as they have been resident in any of the qualifying countries for at least six months and are: •microchipped PETS also applies to dogs and cats from certain ‘long-haul’ countries which may require additional conditions and documentary requirements. For more information contact: The PETS Helpline 4. Where can I find out about postage rates? Any Post Office in the UK can advise on postage rates within the United Kingdom or overseas. There are two postage rates in the UK - first class and second class. First class postage should be used for letters requiring delivery on the next working day. Second class should be used for items that are not urgent - most second class letters are delivered within three working days. For further information or details of charges call the Post Office helpline on: Tel: 08457 740740 (calls within Britain only) 5. Where can I find out about philatelic clubs and obtain British stamps? The Royal Mail can supply a wide range of British postage stamps and other philatelic items online. Website: Royal Mail The National Philatelic Society is one of the largest in Britain. For details contact: The British Philatelic Society 6. Where can I find the address of ...? The BBC BBC Television Buckingham Palace Charities and voluntary organisations Waterlow Professional Publishing The Charity Commission For details of voluntary organisations consult: National Council for Voluntary Organisations Embassies and High Commissions Government departments Website: Directgov HM Revenue and Customs Website: HM Revenue and Customs Members of Parliament House of Commons Full details of MPs and their constituencies can be obtained from: House of Commons Information Office National newspapers Willings Press Guide Political parties The Conservative Party The Labour Party The Liberal Democrats Museums Website: Department for Culture, Media and Sport Television companies The British Film Institute Film and TV Handbook Universities UCAS Handbook |
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