Arguing House of commons, or Dry House of Lords = Parliament

Today was interesting. I was actually able to sit in on 2 of the 3 Parliaments

1. The House of Commons
2. House of Lords
3. The Queen

This is approx made up of 1500 members of all political parties, which is also known as legislature

• The House of Commons is made up of democratically elected people
• The House of Lords is made up of appointed officials.
• But before 1999 the House of Lords had inherited the honor of being apart of the House of Lords through birth. But when they reformed it in '99 they kept like 67 (or a few more I don't remember the exact number) of the original Lords that had inherited the title, as a base to build the new House of appointed Lords.
• The Queen is only at Parliament in official business (aka: The Opening of Parliament)

London's Government is chosen by the Prime Minister who choses the Senior and Junior Ministers. All from majority party/parties which is approx 120 members. Also known as the Executive.

Their Function

Keeping the government accountable .... The House of Commons - Where the Liberals scrutinize the Conservatives (Basically asking questions to each side to resolve things)

Over all they Discuss, Debate, then make a Decision

Today at 2:30 the House of Commons opened with Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. These random questions are asked to each branch of government (Conservative/Liberals/Liberal Democrat), and because there are SO many people (approx 1500) only 20 are randomly picked. 

In today's House of Commons Chamber Business today there was 12 Conservative questions, 10 Liberal questions, and 1 Liberal Democratic questions selected.

We sat in for the hour of questions. All ranging from:

• Social Housing and Rent constantly rising to the tenants who already are in poverty and cannot afford housing, can't afford it even more because of it being out of their income availability
• Future and local welfare assistance 
• Assessments made of recent trends in the number of household being found homeless, but not in priority need by the authorities
• Discussing steps being made to increase home-building
• Assessments that have been made of the effect on local authorities of the freeze on council tax
• There was small talk about children who are sexually abused and how those who know need to speak up for the safety. But as soon as it was brought up.... it was gone. SOOOOOO Disappointing!!!! Still operating on the "minding your own business mentality"

There was more but I won't go into it. Things got really heated at 3:30PM when the Prime Minister, David Cameron started his discussion of the European Council. To be honest, I did not understand what points were being argued.... but let me tell y'all.... Things got REALLY heated!!! The Speaker of the House called a man out by name more than once to tell him that he has kids that act better than he did, and to control himself. That was funny.

There was a lot of stand up then sit down... which I didn't understand fully. At one point I thought it was to signal you wanted to speak, but then EVERYONE stood at one point in time.

At 4 PM we left the House of Commons, to go and see what the House of Lords was all about. WOW, talk about a 180 degree turn!!! Needless to say we spent over an hour in the House of Commons, and not even 5 minutes in the House of Lords. In comparison of the two Houses the decor is an obviously hugely different. In the House of Commons is filled with finely carved wood, and green pews and carpets, there is no adorning fixtures made of gold except the Queen's Mace. 

The 3 Clerks had on those old fashion "President Washington" wigs on. That was kind funny.

Where as the House of Lords' Chamber has no part of it undecorated, except the wool sack which is where the Lord Speaker sits. This room is dominated by the Queen's Golden Throne, and has gilded ornamentation as a reminder that Britain was at the height of its wealth and Parliament. There are stained glass windows that make up almost half the height of the east and west walls. Wooden panelling covers the lower parts of the east and west walls, and is the most ornate in the Palace. There are paintings that are on the walls of Religion, Justice, and Chivalry and chosen to reflect the 19th century roles of the House of Lords: Lords Spiritual, Law Lords and Lords Temporal. 

The Queen's Throne (on your left) actually sits 1" hire than the Duke's

The way the House of Lords sounded was like a monotone script being read aloud. There was no bantering like there was in the House of Commons.... that's why we only lasted 5 minutes (if that). Some of the Business on the slot to discuss (but not argue about) was:

• Plans they have to increase the emphasis on citizenship studies in the school curriculum
• How the Assessment of complex need for dyslexics will be achieved under the new Disabled Students' Allowance arrangements
• Plans they have to introduce new treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
• What assessment they have made of the link between busking crime and disorder; and what plans they have to issue revised guidance on the use of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 in respect of busking

Leaving I got some more pictures of the inside of Westminster Hall, to show how Grand it truly is:

I was standing at the top of the first set of steps (Where the railing starts on both sides) to take the Westminster Hall shot to give you an idea of how Grand it truly was.