Parliament represents the publics interests and makes sure they are taken into account by the Government. Parliament has to agree before the government can make new laws or raise taxes.
Parliament is made up of people we have elected and people who have been appointed.
They sit in two separate Houses:
- The House of Commons, where all the people we have elected at the General Election work, as MPs, for the next five years. This includes people in other political parties, as well as those in the winning party who were not chosen to be ministers.
- The House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed for life rather than elected. They have often been chosen because of their achievements and experience. Many do not belong to a political party.
Parliament’s job is to look closely at the Government’s plans and to monitor the way they are running things.
Parliament works on our behalf to try to make sure that Government decisions are:
- open and transparent
- workable and efficient
- fair and non-discriminatory
Government ministers are required to come to Parliament regularly to answer questions, respond to issues raised in debates and keep both Houses informed of any important decisions they take. In this way, Parliament can hold the Government to account for its actions.
Parliamentary Language
Examples of language followed within Parliament:
Absolute majority - more than half the total votes of all those eligible to vote
Bill - a proposal for a new law which has been presented to Parliament
Budget - a plan placed before Parliament each year showing what money the government expects to receive (revenue) and how the government wants to spend it (expenditure)
Constitution - the set of basic rules by which a country is governed
Referendum - a vote by all voters on a proposed law to alter the Constitution
Seat - a place for a member in a house of Parliament
Westminster system - a system of government originating in Britain, the main features of which are a head of state who is not the head of government, and an executive which is drawn from and directly responsible to the Parliament. The word 'Westminster' is the name of the building in which the British Parliament is housed
Unparliamentary Language
Certain rules and standards are set within parliament, meaning there are words and phrases which are deemed inappropriate as they break the rules of politeness in the House of Common Chamber. This includes dishonesty and profanity, as well as suggesting another member is dishonourable.
The Speaker will tell an MP who has used unparliamentary language to withdraw it. Refusal to withdraw a comment may lead to an MP being disciplined for example the Speaker could 'name' the member.
Words which have previously seen objection include:
- blackguard
- coward
- git
- guttersnipe
- hooligan
- rat
- swine
- stoolpigeon
- traitor
