Country Information

 

Society and legislations

The politics in the United Kingdom (the UK) operate within a ‘constitutional monarchy’ similar to countries like Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Denmark, Japan, and the Netherlands. The head of state is the monarch (currently, Queen Elizabeth II) who is unelected and who occupies that position by virtue of birth. In practice, the role of the monarch is largely ceremonial. The Prime Minister is head of government.

The UK Parliament in London is at the heart of the political system in Britain and is the legislative body for the UK and British overseas territories. Parliament has two legislative parliamentary bodies – the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords includes three types of members: Bishops from the Church of England, nobility (British honours system) and Law Lords (Judges). The House of Lords is not elected and is not a representative body. Most members of the House of Lords are life peers appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958. Such peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, who receives advice on who to put forward from a non-political Appointments Commission.

The House of Commons is a representative body, the membership of which is democratically elected Members of Parliament from various different political parties. Elections are held every five years.  Certain persons are disqualified from membership by profession or occupation (for example, full-time judges) or by status (for instance, persons under the age of 21). The Speaker is the Chairman of the House of Commons and carries out his or her duties impartially such as by ruling on procedural points. By convention, the Prime Minister is a member of the House of Commons.

The United Kingdom has three separate legal systems: one each for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This reflects its historical origins. The UK has a parliamentary system of governance, with the Westminster Parliament being the supreme law-making body. The doctrine of supremacy (or sovereignty) of Parliament means that the courts accept that legislation enacted by Parliament takes precedence over the common law (essentially, judge-made law as developed through cases).

England has a distinct system of local government, which has evolved over the centuries. The shires, or historic counties, that developed during Anglo-Saxon times persisted as geographic, cultural, and administrative units for about a thousand years. All citizens at least 18 years of age are eligible to vote in elections, and elections in England are contested at three levels: local, national, and supranational. Local councillors are elected for four-year terms.

The UK formally joined the European Community (now the European Union) on 1 January 1973. European law was incorporated into UK law by the European Communities Act 1972. Since then, EU law has been considered to be a binding and valid source of UK law. On 29 March 2017, the UK Prime Minister served notice of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the European Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, officially triggering a process known as Brexit. The UK left the European Union on the 31^st January 2020.

 

Health & Welfare

The National Health Service, an organ of the central government, provides comprehensive medical services for every resident of England. Doctors, dentists, opticians, and pharmacists work within the service as independent contractors. Social services are provided through local-authority social service departments. The services are directed toward children and young people, low-income families, the unemployed, the disabled, the mentally ill, and the elderly. The National Insurance Scheme insures individuals against loss of income because of unemployment, maternity, and long-term illnesses. It provides retirement pensions, widows’ and maternity benefits, child and guardian allowances, and benefits for job-related injuries or death.

 

Education

In England the Department for Education is responsible for all levels of education. Education is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. At the completion of secondary education, students (in both privately and publicly funded schools) receive the General Certificate of Secondary Education if they achieve the required grades in examinations and course-work assessments. More than half of England’s young adults receive some form of postsecondary education through further education, sixth form colleges or universities.

 

Gender issues

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion and belief, marital status and age. The Act implies a sex equality clause into everyone’s contract of employment, modifying any term that is less favourable to someone of the opposite sex. According to Eurostat data, the gender pay gap in the UK narrowed substantially between 2002 and 2011, from 27.3% to 19.5%. In 2014, however, the gap increased again to 20.9%.

 

Employment and working life

The United Kingdom ranked well in most indicators for quality of life, particularly in relation to life satisfaction, optimism about the future, mental wellbeing and the ability to make ends meet. There is also a relatively significant proportion of people who say that they were free to decide how to live their lives: one third of respondents felt they could lead their lives as they wanted, up from 27% in 2011, and above the EU average of 26%. Salary: for workers, the reward for work and main source of income; for employers, a cost of production and focus of bargaining and legislation. A national minimum wage has been in place in the UK since 1997. The National Living Wage was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2015 and came into force on 1 April 2016. To qualify for the National Living Wage, the worker must be over 25 years of age.

 

Culture & social customs

Significant changes have accompanied the decline of the class system, which also had reinforced distinctions between town and country and between the less affluent north of England and the country’s wealthy south. For example, whereas in the past, English radio was renowned for its “proper” language, the country’s airwaves now carry accents from every corner of the country and its former empire.

Many holidays in England, such as Christmas, are celebrated throughout the world, though the traditional English Christmas is less a commercial event than an opportunity for singing and feasting. English cuisine has traditionally been based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and fish, all cooked with the minimum of embellishment and generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable. Fish and chips, traditionally wrapped in old newspapers to keep warm on the journey home, has long been one of England’s most popular carryout dishes. However, fast-food restaurants now dot the landscape, and the growth of holiday travel to Europe, particularly to France, Spain, Greece, and Italy, has exposed the English to new foods, flavours, and ingredients.

 

Adapted from Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/  on the 09.03.2020