Category: Politics

Politics

Members of the House of Lords

An invitation to join the House of Lords is a coveted reward for past service in Parliament or professional expertise and achievement. […]

An invitation to join the House of Lords is a coveted reward for past service in Parliament or professional expertise and achievement. There are approximately 800 members at present (2018), whereas prior to 1999 there had been 1,330. This reduction was the result of The House of Lords Act 1999, which stopped hereditary membership.

Of the 800, twenty-six are Bishops or Archbishops from the Church of England. There are ninety-two hereditary peers who have retained their membership for the time being. The rest of the Lords are ‘life peers’, which means that the membership is individual and not able to be passed down to an heir. Life peerages are awarded in the Queen’s Honours List and by the Prime Minister in special circumstances.

The purpose of the House of Lords is to act as a minder for the House of Commons, scrutinising, amending and even proposing Bills before they go up for Royal Assent. They also have committees that look at a variety of aspects of government, ranging from international agreements to adult social care and the rural economy, for example. As the world’s oldest, unelected second chamber, the Lords has its critics who would wish to abolish or drastically reform it.

(Image: ukhouseoflords at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

25/10/2018
3 min
7 years
205 words

Politics

An MP’s oath of allegiance

A Member of Parliament (MP) has powers given by the monarchy. Therefore, an MP represents all the people living in his or […]

A Member of Parliament (MP) has powers given by the monarchy. Therefore, an MP represents all the people living in his or her constituency, but must swear an oath of allegiance, not to his or her constituents, but to the King or Queen and all their heirs and successors. If they do not do this, they cannot take their seat, receive a salary, or take part in any voting, as in the case of the nationalist Sinn Féin MPs from Northern Ireland.

The oath, or affirmation, also refers to ‘God’, but an agreed alternative wording is acceptable and a variety of holy books is available for different religious persuasions. The basic version is as follows:-

“I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His/Her Majesty King/Queen [Name}, his/her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.“

This process must be performed at the start of every new Parliament after a General Election and every change of monarch, as occurred in 2022:-

(Image: UK Parliament at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

20/10/2018
3 min
7 years
183 words

The Divine Right of Kings

The Divine Right of Kings was a theory that the monarchy was appointed by a divine being, or God, making the monarch’s […]

The Divine Right of Kings was a theory that the monarchy was appointed by a divine being, or God, making the monarch’s position unassailable. In medieval times this was used as a way to stop other nobles from trying to take the throne for themselves. In the 16th and 17th centuries in Britain, it was also used as a way to separate the country from the power of the Catholic Pope in Rome.

To this day, the motto of the UK monarchy is “Dieu et mon droit” (God and my right), which it is said was first proclaimed by French-speaking King Richard I (1157-99) in reference to his royal bloodline. The British royal line of succession through the centuries has by no means been straight and simple ~ look at King George I, for one example ~ so the ‘right’ is somewhat diluted by rules regarding gender, religion and parents’ marital status.

The photograph above shows the magnificent gilded Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords at Westminster which was installed in 1847 and can only be occupied by one who successfully ticks all the boxes.

(Image: ukhouseoflords at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0)

19/10/2018
3 min
7 years
192 words

History / Politics / Religion

The English Civil War

The English Civil War took place in the middle of the 17th century and was a struggle between different religions for dominance, […]

The English Civil War took place in the middle of the 17th century and was a struggle between different religions for dominance, along with a struggle between the monarchy and Parliament.

“Across the country as a whole, it was religion which ultimately divided the two parties. Puritans everywhere supported the Parliament, more conservative protestants – together with the few Catholics – supported the King.” (Stoyle, bbc.co.uk/history, 2011)

*King Charles I (Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)*

Parliament’s army, known as the ‘Roundheads’, eventually defeated the King’s forces, called the ‘Cavaliers’, and King Charles I (1600-49) was publicly executed for treason in 1649. This was delayed a few hours while Parliament hurriedly put through a Bill to stop his son (Charles II (1630-85)) from immediately inheriting the throne. However, Oliver Cromwell‘s Republic eventually failed, the monarchy was reinstated in 1660 with the return of King Charles II to the throne in a period called ‘The Restoration‘.

There are several re-enactment societies who commemorate various battles of the Civil War on the anniversary dates. The photograph above shows one such society re-enacting the siege of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire which took place in the autumn of 1643.

(Top image: Dave Hitchborne at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

18/10/2018
3 min
7 years
204 words

Basic principles / Politics

Local Council funding

Local Council funding comes from the Council Tax (Rates in N.Ireland) which residents pay (38% of the total) and from Business Rates […]

Local Council funding comes from the Council Tax (Rates in N.Ireland) which residents pay (38% of the total) and from Business Rates which companies pay (20% of the total). The other 42% comes from Government grants, plus various fees and charges for permits, licences, applications, etc.. This income then pays for numerous local services, from bin collections to school admissions to the police.

One glance at the homepage of your local council’s website will be enough to convince you of the necessity of these services running smoothly, but budgeting for them can be an extremely difficult juggling act.

Rates in N.Ireland are charged as a multiplication of a property’s rateable value as at 1st January 2005 by a figure determined annually by each council. Elsewhere in the UK, council tax is charged according to the property’s value on 1st April 1991 (2003 in Wales). New prperties are assessed backwards. There are eight council tax bands (nine in Wales), from A to H (I in Wales) and each year every council adds up all projected expenses and divides that by the number of residential properties to find the base amount for band D. The bands below pay less and the bands above pay more by set ratios.

16/10/2018
3 min
7 years
205 words

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Quoting Neil Oliver...

I love Britain more than anywhere else in the world. With all my heart I declare that those of us born here, or who have made a home here by choice, are the luckiest, most blessed of all people. I am British. I will always be British.