The house of commons

X. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below

Cabinet

Backbenchers

Prime Minister

Ministers

Debates

Benches

Budget

Speaker

Front bench

Opposition

Foreign Secretary

Shadow Cabinet

Home Secretary

Leader of the Opposition

Chancellor of the Exchequer

This is the House of Commons where Members of Parliament take their seats on the green leather … according to their party and position. One of them is chosen to be the … who acts as a kind of chairman of the … which take place in the House. In front of him on his right sit the MPs of the biggest party, which forms the government, and facing them sit MPs of the parties who oppose them, the … . The leaders of these two groups sit at the front on each side. MPs without special positions in their parties sit behind their leaders at the back. They are called … . The leader of the government, the … sits on the government … , of course, next to his or her … . The minister responsible for relations with other countries is called … . The one responsible for law and security is called … . The one who deals with financial matters and prepares the annual … speech on the economic state of the country is called … . Opposite this group sits the … (the main person in the largest party opposing the government) and the … each member of which specialized in the particular area of government.

The picture below shows a view of the House of Commons from the Public Gallery. Match each of the following people or group of people with a letter on the picture.

Backbenchers Government Leader of Opposition

Cabinet Prime Minister Shadow Cabinet

Opposition Speaker

Picture

XI. Translate into Ukrainian:

The Prime Minister was forced to admit in the House of Commons that Britain had rejected the Argentine offer to negotiate the Falklands’ crisis.
The amendment was rejected by the majority of the Security Council.
The Foreign Secretary was questioned in the House of Commons about the attitude of the British Government to the sentences on Nazi war criminals.
In the Social-Democratic parties of the America over many years left-wing groups of militant fighters had been growing up.
The Tory government would have the British people believe that the US missiles would strengthen the country’s security.
The President accused the Congress controlled by the Democrats of failing to meet the need for reform in the US.
The Prime Minister will arrive on Friday when he will address the House of Commons.
The Tory card castle of illusions of the British Empire’s glorious future lay in ruins.

XII. Read and translate the text. Be ready to retell it using your active vocabulary. Write from the text all interesting words.

The most serious allegations relate to expenses claims for mortgages that had already been fully paid and allegations of wrongful payment for overnight accommodation.

Three Labour MPs – Jim Devine, Elliot Morley and David Chaytor – have come under scrutiny in relation to mortgage payments. Three peers are also understood to have been investigated. The DPP Keir Starmer, QC, will personally announce his decision on whether to prosecute in any cases.

The news came as the scandal descended into fresh controversy, with the retired High Court judge chosen to rule on MPs’ appeals clashing with the auditor who went through their claims. Sir Paul Kennedy criticised Sir Thomas Legg for imposing retrospective demands on some expenses and arbitrary limits on others.

Such an approach was bound to have unfortunate consequences, he said. He saw little, if any, evidence of deliberate wrongdoing by MPs forced to repay thousands in gardening and cleaning bills. He added that it was damaging, unfair and wrong to taint some MPs for making claims that were only later deemed out of order.

Sir Paul’s findings were seized on as evidence that many MPs had been traduced by Sir Thomas. One senior MP said that 200 MPs would have escaped censure if Sir Thomas had taken the same approach in his original audit that Sir Paul took on appeals.

Sir Paul upheld appeals, fully or in part, from 44 of the 75 MPs who challenged Sir Thomas’s findings, letting them off a total of £180,000. He sympathised that he could not let them off because his hands were tied by his remit.

Those words of comfort did not diminish the force of another humiliating day for the Commons as the full financial reckoning of the expenses debacle was laid out for the first time.

Some 364 MPs were forced to repay a total of £1.12 million as Sir Thomas criticised a “deeply flawed” system overseen by clerks in the Commons Fees Office and the “culture of deference” exploited by MPs that allowed it to flourish. Some MPs were so anxious to put themselves above reproach that they repaid £172,000 more than they were asked for. The audit cost £1.16 million.

XIII. Complete the table

Name	Conservative Party	Labour Party	Liberal Democratic Party	Other Parties
Also known as	the Tory
Current leaders
Main support			Middle class
Colour				Green

XIV. Study the two charts below showing the results of the 1987 General Election and explain why the percentage of votes and seats is not the same.