Pressure groups - Britain has lots and lots of organisations that campaign publicly on political issues such as poverty, pensions, and the environment. Sayle founded Killing Kittens in 2005, organizing members-only masked parties in exclusive venues with a focus on "the pursuit of female pleasure," according to its website. To understand fully any country's political system, one needs to understand something of its history. The UK does not have its own Bill of Rights. Furthermore, in recent centuries, Britain has not had a revolution of the kind experienced by so many other countries. However, much of the Anglo-Saxon world - the USA, Canada, and the UK but not Australia or New Zealand - uses a method of election called the simple majority system or 'first past the post' (FPTP). The head of the Treasury is called the Chancellor of the Exchequer and is currently Rishi Sunak. Historically most British governments have been composed of ministers from a single political party which had an overall majority of seats in the House of Commons and the 'first-past-the-post' (FPTP) electoral system greatly facilitates and indeed promotes this outcome. The head of the judiciary is the Lord Chief Justice. The independence and professionalism of the British civil service are fundamental features of the British political system. Under normal circumstances, all these stages must be completed in both Houses in one session of Parliament; otherwise the process must begin all over again. The House of Commons has two types of committee: Select Committees are appointed for the lifetime of a Parliament, 'shadow' the work of a particular Government Department, conduct investigations, receive written and oral evidence, and issue reports. Clearly this is totally undemocratic and the last Labour Government abolished the right of all but 92 of these hereditary peers to sit in the House. The final important part of British political history is that, since 1973, the UK has been a member of what is now called the European Union (EU). British attitudes towards the rest of Europe have been insular, not just geographically but culturally, which was a major factor behind the Brexit decision of 23 June 2016. There have been shifts in liberal thought, the most prominent of which was the move from classical liberalism (minimal role of state, unsecured liberties) to progressive liberalism in the early twentieth century. I was a national trade union official for 24 years and believe strongly in independent trade unions. However, England - which represents about 84% of the total UK population of around 65 million - does not have a clear and strong sense of regionalism. All rights reserved. This came into operation in May 1999 and it covers the 5.3 million citizens of Scotland. I can only think of Sweden. This gives the party an overall majority of 80 in the Housae of Commons. It is virtually impossible for someone to be elected to the House of Commons without being a member of an established political party. The Parliament Act of 1911 first raised the prospect of an elected upper house but it has still not happened. This situation could become even worse as Parliament attempts to deal with all the legislation needed to take the UK out of the European Union (Brexit). Debates on most Bills are timetabled through a programme motion (when Government and Opposition agree) or an allocation of time motion which is popularly known as a 'guillotine' motion (when Government and Opposition do not agree). Now it's all the rage, when it sued the New York City transit system. Morningstar: Copyright 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.