British Civilization THE UNITED KINGDOM

Scotland Scotland was once an independent kingdom. In 1603 the king of Scotland inherited the English throne. He ruled as James I of England and as James VI of Scotland. In 1707 the Scottish parliament was merged with the English parliament and Scotland lost its political independence.

Despite some independence from the rule of the central government in London, especially in running their educational, legal and local government systems, in recent years that has not been enough for many Scots. Since the discovery of oil in the North Sea off the Scottish coast, they felt they should have even more independence from Westminster.

DEVOLUTION A Scottish National Party was formed in 1934, some of its members wanted the complete independence. Others fought for devolution

What did devolution mean What did devolution mean? It meant having a separate parliament in Scotland to deal with Scottish affairs and an Assembly in Wales.

Fighting for independence A first referendum was held in 1979 to find out how much the Scots really wanted to rule their country. However, only the 33% of the total electorate voted “yes” for devolution and this was not enough for the United Kingdom Parliament to grant it. Only during the premiership of Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007, a Scottish Parliament was finally set up.

Anti-independence campaigners said that an independent Scotland would inevitably hold less sway. They question whether an independence Scotland would be better didn’t convince the majority of the Scottish who voted “No”. They believed Scotland would have less influence in the world.

Brexit

Political system Parliamentary democracy. The country is governed by representatives of people within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. The Monarch is the head of state, and the Prime Minister of the UK is the head of government. The Prime Minister. Apart from running the Government, he represents the nation in political matters. He is also the leader of the majority party. The Monarch. The Sovereign is also the Head of Commonwealth and the Head of Church of England. Making laws. Apart from this, Parliament exams government policy, provides money for government through taxation, debates political matters.

The Labour Party and the Conservative Party The Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party, right of centre, supports traditional British values and institutions. The Labour Party, left of centre, promotes extensive social services, traditional ties with trade unions, and a heavy governmental role in society. The British Constitution is unwritten in one single document allows for flexibility and continuity of development. The British Constitution is based on such documents as the Magna Carta; the Bills of Rights; the Act of Union; together with customs, tradition and common law.

Election First-past-the-post. The candidate that has received the most votes is elected to represent the constituency or ward. There is no requirement that the winner gains an absolute majority of votes, but rather a relative majority.