Natural resources in the UK

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 517.

The Cabinet

The top ministers form an elite group of about 20, known as the Cabinet. These are the people who sit round a table with the PM and decide on the policies of the government.

The role of the PM is very important: he or she appoints all the members of the government. The personal style of the PM varies from authoritarian to democratic. In recent times John Major was a PM who preferred co-operation and consensus. Mrs. Thatcher, the Iron Lady, was so tough that her Cabinet colleagues were all terrified of her. She once wrote: “I don't mind how much my ministers talk – as long as they do what I say.”

3. Discuss the questions:

1. What is the Cabinet?

2. What is the role of the Prime Minister?

3. Who was Margaret Thatcher in the British politics?

4. What was her personal style in the Cabinet?

5. Would you like to see a woman as the head of the government in your country?

Primary industries are those that exploit raw materials: agriculture, fishing, mining, oil extraction, and so on. Agriculture is a small part of the British economy, employing less than 2 per cent of the workforce, and producing less than 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The low level of employment in agriculture is explained by a high level of efficiency: British farms are big and highly mechanised.

Fishing has always been a natural activity for an island population. But this sector, too, employs a small number of people due to increased mechanization and bigger boats with smaller crews.

Cheap available energy is important today. Britain has more energy resources than any other EU country. Previously, that energy came from coal: at its peak in 1913, more than 1 million miners were employed in the coal industry. Most of the mines have now been shut down: today about 18 000 miners are employed.

However, since the 1970s huge quantities of gas and oil have been extracted from fields in the North Sea. The discovery of these fields was a stroke of luck for Britain, which is now the world's sixth largest producer of oil. (Most of the oil comes from Scottish waters, and this has been a factor in Scotland's calls for independence).

1. Match the antonyms:

Small

Increase

Cheap

Previously

Employment

Open

Decrease, decline

Expensive

Shut down

Huge

Afterwards

Unemployment

2. Discuss the questions:

1. Why are agriculture, fishing and oil extraction called primary industries?

2. Does increased mechanization always result in more unemployment?

3. Why has fishing been a traditional activity in Britain?

4. What are the energy resources in Britain?

5. Where in Britain were gas and oil discovered?