Understanding London
Does Class still matter in Britain?
Why is it that our most culturally important pop stars are from PRIVATE SCHOOLS (but call them “Public Schools”)
o Because government started providing education in 1870, but if you had enough money to pay for the public schools you could go there, so people never stopped calling these private schools “Public”
·Definition of class: o By Job o Background (parental occupation, education) o Habits · Office of National Statistics (ONS) = surest way of getting accurate information o Breaks down groups · By Job – group description o Higher Professional and Managerial Workers o Lower Managerial and Professional workers o Intermediate occupations o Small Employers and non professional self employed o Lower Supervisory and technical o Semi Routine Occupations o Routine Occupations o Long term unemployed
· New study in 2013 of class, the three components of class were types of capital: Economic, Cultural, and Social. o Elite o Established Middle Class o Technical Middle Class o Technical Middle Class o New Affluent Workers o Emergent Service Workers
o Traditional Working Class – shrinking o Precariat · Failure of social mobility for interventionist state o But led by a very narrow social group o David Cameron (Conservative party) went to Eton college prep and then Oxford o George Osborne (Sec of Treasury: person in charge of finances) went to St. Paul’s in London o Both are part of the same elite social clubs
Social Mobility · Britain has some of the lowest social mobility in the world · Education is not evenly distributed o 1990s → the government wanted to expand education so higher education was not free anymore
MONEY · Bank of England created in 1694, UK Central Bank · Interest rates (Base Rate) have been at a record low of 0.5% since March 2009 · Examples of previous rates o 5.75%, 7.50%, 15,13% · This is due to the declining economy · Trying to encourage people to spend and stimulate the economy, not save and be subject to inflation (interest rate is 2.6% right now) · Encourage banks to lend cheap money to invest in business · Put a squeeze on public finances During the first months of 2013, there were fears of a triple dip recession → two successive quarters with ‘negative growth’, but not fearful of this now · Growth rates, however, are still at historically sluggish levels. UK and EU presently debating the worth of continuing with ‘austerity’ policies. Scotland ·Looking to become independent ·Referendum in 2014: a vote by whole population (of Scotland) on a basic in or out question. In the UK or not? · 1973 Britain joined the EU, and yet PM promises that if conservatives win in 2015, BRITAIN might threat with a referendum to get out of EU (reclaiming some powers first) by 2017. ·UK Independence Party made gains in May 2013
Eurozone Crisis · 27 member states, 490 million people · Euro currency of 17 of member states · Crisis mainly in Spain, Greece, · Some of Britain’s powers (parliamentary ) are seeded in the EU · Should Britain be a part of this “club” which is a liability right now with the crisis?
Births → Prince William’s baby due in July · Pass legislation to end discrimination against women
Marriage → Same sex marriage in England and Wales · Cameron wants equal marriage to build a stronger and fairer society · Conservatives threaten to destroy the bill on Monday · Labor Party came to help pass the bill · Important because socially conservative members who don’t like what Cameron is doing externally and with domestic policy, two problems that are coming together to hurt government as a whole · So there is a coalition government
· Present government o 305/650 MPs are conservatives o 57 liberal opposition o 257 Labor opposition · If conservative party starts rebelling against government, there could be a huge problem in government.
Monarchy · Ceremonial · Prime Minister writes her speeches, the queen is more of a “symbol” than a political power o National unity o Continuity
· Criticism b/c the Queen is the queen because of her parents · 80% don’t care about having a Republic, having a monarchy is not very controversial · Appoints the Prime Minister · In extreme circumstances, the Queen can protect the Constitution by getting rid of the PM à this would be a huge crisis
Unwritten Constitution · One of 3 countries w/o a written constitution · Uncodified, no 1 document · Conventional laws are followed by everyone · No constitution, so no lawyers are needed to debate it, so there is no “supreme Court that has political power in interpreting the constitution (there is a high “supreme Court” though) · No special procedure for amending the constitution o If a law wanted to be passed to change something, then it would be voted on and passed
Parliamentary Sovereignty · Parliament has the right to make or unmake any law whatever, whenever. · Parliament is the final decision maker o Different than US where everything is equal · Parliament’s word is supreme to everyone else’s · In reality, the British Parliament is very weak, but in the long run it is the ultimate power o US system is much more powerful · The Parliamentary system has no separation of powers between executive and legislative · House of lords/house of commons--> two chambers o House of commons is what matters more o Commons is elected, Lords are not o Everything is green décor o 650 MPs (Member of Parliament) o Elected every 5 years o 139 women MPs · Parliament does… o Chooses the executive powers o PM is leader of party that has the majority o Most people don’t even know the name of the local party representative, the only thing that matters is the name of the party o They can also de-elect the prime minister o Party identity is very strong · PM appears every Wednesday and can be asked anything, it is aired on TV. o Supposed to hold the PM accountable o PM has become very clever (by making a joke) in answering questions they don’t like
· House of Lords o Made a lord just for their own lifetime o Most British people want at least SOME of them to be elected o Every so often the House of Commons wants to change the way things work in the House of Lords Cabinet Government · Treasury Secretary is important · Doesn’t function the same as the US Cabinet · PM is the chairman of the Cabinet, but all together come up with a policy that they agree on · Collective decision making · PM appoints the cabinet o Sometimes have to appoint people he doesn’t like due to o Can only choose people who are members of Parliament o Limited to about 1,300 · Informal operations · PM introduces the topic, they all discuss, then PM · Relationship between the cabinet members is very sensitive because they were at one time running against the others and they are always trying to get rid of someone and get more power
Margaret Thatcher · 1979-1990
Conservative Party John Major · 1990-1997 · Conservative · Opposite of MT · Party was divided over an issue Tony Blair · Very powerful b/c he had massive majorities in parliament · Lots of reform · Labor Party · PM 1997-2007 · Wanted to change to the Euro · Everyone knew that behind closed doors Gordon Brown and Blair hated each other Gordon Brown · PM 2007-2010 · Labor Party · Many hold him responsible for the economic crisis · Weak leader David Cameron · PM 2010-Present · Conservative · There is now two parties in the house of Parliament · Must discuss everything in advance with the Liberal leader → Nick Clegg
Unitary State · England + Scotland + Northern Ireland + Wales + Iceland
Part of a Supranational Organization · European Union Power lies with: · PM · British Public