VIDEO.  Bills and Voting. (03:36 min)

https://youtu.be/ctrfygrTAQU

Watch the film and make notes. Explain the terms “Hansard” and “ping-pong”.

Text 4 The House of Lords

Before you read. Think over the following questions:

- What do you know about the structure of the House of Lords?

- Why is there an opinion that this institution is obsolete?

Read the following text. Translate the underlined passage into Russian.

The House of Lords is the second chamber of the U.K. Houses of Parliament. Members of the House of Lords (known as ' peers ') consist of Lords Spiritual (senior bishops) and Lords Temporal (lay peers). Law Lords (senior judges) also sit as Lords Temporal. Members of the House of Lords are not elected. Originally, they were drawn from the various groups of senior and influential nobility in Britain, who advised the monarch throughout the country's early history.

Following the House of Lords Act 1999 there are only 92 peers who sit by virtue o f hereditary peerage. The majority of members are now life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

While the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 797 sitting Lords. The House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house.

In general, the functions of the House of Lords are similar to those of the House of Commons in legislating, debating and questioning the executive. There are two important exceptions: members of the Lords do not represent constituencies, and are not involved in matters of taxation and finance. The role of the Lords is generally recognised to be complementary to that of the Commons and it acts as a revising chamber for many of the more important and controversial bills.

All bills go through both Houses before becoming Acts, and may start in either House. Normally, the consent of the Lords is required before Acts of Parliament can be passed, and the Lords can amend all legislation, with the exception of bills to raise taxation, long seen as the responsibility of the Commons. Amendments have to be agreed to by both Houses. The House of Lords is as active as the Commons in amending bills, and spends two-thirds of its time revising legislation.

Following the Lords' rejection of the Liberal Government's budget of 1909, the Parliament Act of 1911 ended their power to reject legislation. A power of delay was substituted, which was further curtaile d by the Parliament Act of 1949. The House of Commons can present a bill (except one to prolong the life of Parliament) for Royal Assent after one year and in a new session even if the Lords have not given their agreement. There is also a convention (known as the 'Salisbury' convention) that the Government's manifesto commitments, in the form of Government Bills, are not voted down by the House of Lords at second reading.

Historically, the House of Lords held several judicial functions. Most notably, until 2009 the House of Lords served as the court of last resort for most instances of UK law. Since 1 October 2009 this role is now held by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The Speakership of the House of Lords was traditionally performed by the Lord Chancellor, but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 transferred these roles to the Lord Speaker. The Lord Speaker's powers as Speaker have been very limited compared with those of the Speaker of the House of Commons, since the Lords themselves control the proceedings under the guidance of the Leader of the House. The Leader of the House occupies a special position in the House of Lords: as well as leading the party in government he has a responsibility to the House as a whole. It is to him, and not the Lord Speaker, that members have turned for advice and leadership on points of order and procedure.

Lords business is expected to be conducted in an orderly and polite fashion without the need for an active Speaker. The Lord Speaker sits on a special seat called the Woolsack except when the House is in committee, but does not call upon members to speak and has no powers to call the House to order.

The Woolsack is a seat stuffed with wool on which the Lord Chancellor sits. It was introduced by King Edward III (1327-77) and originally stuffed with English wool as a reminder of England's traditional source of wealth - the wool trade - and as a sign of prosperity. Today the Woolsack is stuffed with wool from each of the countries of the Commonwealth, to symbolise unity.

Other office holders in the House of Lords include government ministers and whips, the Leader and Chief Whip of the main opposition party, and two Chairmen of Committees and the Principal Deputy Chairman.

These office holders and officers receive salaries. Government ministers are paid by the relevant government departments. All other members of the House of Lords are unpaid, but may claim a flat rate attendance allowance of £150 or £300 for each sitting day they attend the House.

The Clerk of the Parliaments, a role like that of a chief executive, is head of the administration. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod has ceremonial and royal duties and is in charge of security, access and domestic matters.