THE WESTMINSTER PALACE

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 438.

The Houses of Parliament

A LOOK AT LONDON

The Houses of Parliament is the seat of the British Government. It is a very large Gothic building. It stands on the left bank of the river Thames and is 948 ft (280 me­tres) in length. There is only one building there but it is called the Houses because it is divided into two Chambers – the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The present building of the Westminster Palace was founded in 1840, its oldest part – Westminster Hall – dates back to 1097 and is the only piece left of the old Westminster Palace. All the rest was burned down in 1834. The House of Commons was destroyed by bombing in 1941, but was restored after the war.

The House of Lords and the House of Commons are built in a straight line, with lobbies intervening. The House of Commons sits on the side of the Clock Tower (Big Ben), the House of Lords – to the Victoria Tower side. Members of one House may not enter the other. The exception is the day of the State Opening of Parliament when the Queen makes the Throne Speech in the House of Lords, and on days when the Royal Assent to Bills is announced. The State Opening of Parliament at each new parliamentary session is an impressive traditional ceremony.

When Parliament sits, a flag flies over Victoria Tower by day and a light in the Clock Tower burns above Big Ben by night.

In the House of Lords there is a throne of the Queen which is raised on steps, which when the Parliament is sitting, are used as seat for Councilors and the eldest sons of Peers. There is a crimson-covered woolsack in front of the throne. This woolsack is a traditional seat of the Lord High Chancellor of England. The woolsack is stuffed with wool, a symbol of prosperity.

The central place in the House of Commons is occupied by the Speaker. The seats for the Government supporters are on his right and the seats for the Opposition on his left. There are, facing the Speaker, cross benches for Independent members, those who do not belong to either of the two political parties. The House of Commons has seats for only about two-thirds of its members, the thing that could be difficult to explain.

The British Parliament goes back to the Witenage-mot, a council which advised the Anglo-Saxon kings in the early Middle Ages. It was an assembly of wise men. (The exact meaning of the word is 'meeting of men of knowledge'.)

But they were not a real Parliament since they were not elected by the people, but were nominated by the king himself. In 1215 king John was forced by the nobility to sign Magna Charta, which we may consider as a kind of constitution, and in 1265 the Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort, summoned the first Parliament.