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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The publish er an d aut hor would like to thank th e followin g
fo r their per mi ssion to use extra cts from co pyr ight mat eri a l:
BBC Enterprise s Ltd for extracts from Yes. Prime Minister by Jonathan
Lynn and Anton}' Jay.
Cam bridge University Press for extracts from 'The Invisible Scot'
in English Today 18 April 1989.
Penguin Books Ltd. for extracts from HoII' to be lmmitcble by George
Mikes (Penguin Books 1966, first publi shed by Andre Deutsch)
co pyright 0 George Mikes, 19600
Radio Times/BB C Magazines for extract from ' Peter Snow 's Armchair
Guid e,' Radio Times. April 1992.
Reed Consume r Books for extracts from The Quttn and I by Sue
Townsend (Meth uen. London) , 0 1992 by Sue Townse nd .
Time s News papers Ltd for extracts from 'Mad about plaid ' by
A A Gill, Tht Sunday Times, London , 2~ January 1994 , Time s
Newspapers Ltd 1994 : ' Who gives a caber toss?' by Harry
Ritchie, The Sunday Times. London, 2~ Janua ry 1994 . Times
Newsp apers Ltd 1994 : ' Defiant English hold out against
Welsh arsoni sts' by Stu art Wavell, Tht Sunday Times, Londo n,
1S" November 199 2. tJ Times Ne...,spapers Ltd 199 2: and
' Britain bans EC Medals ' from News Digest, The Sunday Times,
18 April 199 ~. Times Newspapers Ltd 199~ o
A P Wall Ltd on behalf of The National Trust for extracts from 'The
Wh ite Man's Burden ' and 'Recessional' by Rudyard Kipling.
Cover photograph:
Collections Photo Library/Gary Smith
The publish er would lik e to thank th e foll o w in g fo r the ir
pe rmissio n to re produce photographs and oth er co pyright
material:
Action Images page 199; AKG Londo n page 21 (Henry VIII );
Allsport Photo Library page 196 (R Cheyne ): Aquari us Photo
Library page 16o; The Automobile Association (for use of their
logo) page 162; BBC photo Library pages S"0. 1 0 ~, (old
swingomcm) . 107 (Dixon of Dock Green) : Barclays Bank (for use of
their logo) page 14 7; The Bridgeman Art Library/J ohn Noo t
Galleries, Broadway page 2~ ; Br-yant Home s page 1H : Collections
Photo Library pages I l; (R Hallman), J? (Land's End: P waus) .
1~8 (A Gordon), 209 (rock shop: A Lc Garsrncur}: Color spcn page
Lure Cun ha page 172: Dom inic Pictures page 2 1 ~ (C Ashmo re);
The Environ men tal Picture Library page 197 (A Testa):
Eye Ubiqu itous page ~7 (farmland: T Page); Garden News page 192
(T Sandall); Sally and Richard Greenhill Photo Library pages 182,
2 14; Sue Hallet page 202; House of Commons Press Office page
97 (Black Rod) ; Hulto n Deutch Library page 27: Images/ Landscape
O nly photo Library pages 16,40: The lndc pcndant page 129
(R Perry); The Ko bal Collection page 17: The Labour Party (for
usc of their logo) page 73; The Liberal Democrats (for lise of their
logo) page 73: Life File pages 61 (Pcleder Locey: A Ward), 80
(I Richards) , 156 (J Hoar e) : Lloyds Bank (for usc of thei r logo)
page [47; lord Snooty. DC Thompson and Co Ltd 1989 page
S"9: Magnum Photo Library pages lIS" (C Steele-Perkins), 119 (Pree
Dmy: L Freed), [ ~I (P Marlow }. 187 (M Parr) : Mary Evans Picture
Library pages [0, 11,21 (Elizabeth I ) ; Midland Bank (for use of
thei r logo) page 147; NatWes t Bank (for use of their logo) page
147; Neal's Yard Remedies page 173; Network Photo Library pages
61 (allotments: H Sykes}. I II (M Abraham s), 119 (Frmlom Fightm
mural; G Mendel), 12~ (both pies by H Sykes). 147 (B Lewis) , 149
(Barry Lewis), 163 (B Lewis), 164 (traffic rones: H Sykes) . (koch:
P Jo rdan) ; The Perfonning Arts Library page 204 (C Barda}:
Photofusio n pages 144 (J Martin) , 189; Popperforo pages 4 7
(0 Joyner), 66 , 79, 124; The Press Associatio n pages ss. 74, 83, 9l;:
Punch Publications Ltd page 190: RAC (for the use of their logo)
page 162: RSPCA Photo Library page 64 (T Sambrook): The
Retrograph Archive page 21 0 : Rex Features pages S-6. 69, 78 (D
Hartley}. 90 . 97 (state opening of Perhement}. 101 (J Bradley),
1 0 ~ (00\ swinllOmrttr: P Brooker) , 188, 206 (N Jo rgense n); The
Samaritan s page 170 : Scope Featur es page 107 (Tht Bill ); Skyscan
Balloon Photography page 178; Frank Spooner Pictur es pages 31
(Gamm a. T Bitchburn) . 6l; (K Bernstein/ESP) , 9 1 (Gam ma:
K Bernstein) , 114 (Gam ma); The Still Moving Picture Compa ny
page 43: The Sun Newspaper/ New s Internatio nal page 118: Joh n
Walmsley Photo Library pages ~8, 44 , 164 (traffic warden) : Warwick
University page 139.
We would also like to thank Gertrude Erbach at the referenc e
library. News International for her help in o btainin g illustrative
material and Derek Heater , founder Chairman of the Politi cs
Associatio n. for his advice on the chapt er s co ncerni ng history and
politi cs.
 o o

James O'Driscoll

Oxford University Press

+

Contents

Introduction 6

Country and people 8 6 Political life 6]

Geogra phic ally speaking . Politically speaking . The public aui tude to politi cs . The style of
The four nauons . The dominance of England . de moc racy . The con stit uu on . The style of polities.
Natio nal loya lties The part y srs tem . The m odern situatio n

2 History I, 7 The monarchy 77

Prehi story. The Roma n period (43 -4 10) .
The German ic invasions (410--1066) . The medieval
period ( I 0 66-148r;) . The sixteenth cen tury .
The seventeenth century . The eighteenth c('mmy .
The nineteenth ccntury . The twentiet h century
3 Geography JI
Cllm atc . Land and settlement . The environment
and pollut ion . Londo n. Sout hern England.
Th e Midlands . Northern England. Sco tlan d .
Wales. No n hern Ireland
4 Identity
Ethnic iden tity: the native British. Ethnic ident ity:
the non- native British . The family . Geographical
idcn u ry . Class. Men and women . Religious and
poli tical iden tity . Social and everyda y contacts .
Identity in No n he rn Ireland . Being British
The eppeerencc : The realit y . The role o f the
monarch. The value of the m onarchy. The futur e
of the monarchy
8 The government 82
The cabinet . The Prime Ministc r . The civil scrvtcc .
Centr al and local governme nt , Local government
services
9) Parliament 90
The atmosphere of Parliam ent . An MP 's life .
Parliamen tary bustness . The pany system in
Parliament . The House of Lord s
10 )Ele ct io ns
The system . Formal arrangem ent s . The cam paign .
Polling day . Election night. Recent results and the
future

5 Attitudes
Stereotypes and chan ge . English versus Bnti sh . II The law 106
Multi cu lturali sm . Conservatism . Being different .
The love of nature . The love of antmals . Formality The police and the pu blic . Crim e and crim inal
procedure . The system of justice . The legal
and info rmality . Publi c spiritedness and
ama teurism . Privacy and sex profession
 Con ten ts S'

12 International relations 113 18 W e lfa re 168

The end o f empire . The arm ed forces. Transatlantic The benefits system, Social services and charities,
rclauons . The sove reig nty of the uni on : Europe . The national health sen-icc , The medical profession
The sovereignty of the union: Scotla nd and Wales .
The sovereignty of the uni on: Northern Ireland
19 Housing 174

Ho uses, no t flats , Private propert y and public

13 Religion 1 21
Religio n and politic s. Anglican ism. Catholi cism.
Ot her convent ion al Chri stian churches . Other
religi on s, chur ches and religious movements
property, The im porta nce of ,hom e' , Ind ivid uality
and con formity , Interiors: the im po rtance of
cosiness , Owning and renting , Hom elcssncss

20 Foo d a nd d r ink 184

14 jEd uca t io n 130
Attitudes to food , Eating out ' Alcohol, Pubs
- Historical backgro und . Organization . Style. Recent
development s. Schoo l life . Public exams .
Education beyond sixteen 21 Sport and competition 191

A nation al passion , The social imp ortance of sport '

15 The economy and
everyday life
Earning mon ey . w ork organizations . The struc ture
of trade and indus try . The di stribution o f wea lth. 22 The arts
Finance and investment - Spending money:
shopping . Shop openi ng ho urs
Cricket , Football, Rugby, Anim als in sport , Other
spo ns ' Gambling
201
The arts in society - The characteristics of British arts
and letters , Theat re and cinema, Music , Literature .
The fine arts

16 h he m e d ia 15 1

The importance of the national press . The two types 23 Holidays and special 208
of national ne wspaper , The characteristics of the occasions
nat ional press: po litics , The characteris tics of the
national press: sex and scand al. ' The BBC ' Tradi tional seaside holidays. Modem holidays .
Television: orga nization , Television: style Christmas and New Year . Other no tab le annual
occasions

~ Transport 16 2

On the road , Public transport in tow ns and cities ,

Pu blic transport between towns and cities, The sto ry
o f the chunnel ' Air and wat er
6

Introduction

W ho this book is for

This book is for learners of Englis h as a foreign language, at any level
of proficiency fro m intermediate upwards, who need to know more
about Britain. It will be invaluable to students on British Studies
courses and to those who are study ing British cult ure as pan of a
general English course. It is for all people who recognize that a know-
ledge of British life is necessary to improve the ir unders tanding and
use of the English language as it is spoken in Britain.
How many times have yo u not fully understood a phrase in a
British text an d fo und that th e dic tionary did not help' How many
times h ave yOll understood every word that a British pe rson has said
but no t understood what he or she meant? In any soc iety, writers and
speakers leave some things unsaid or unexplained because they
assume that the ir readers and listeners are equipped wit h th e basic
know led ge which comes from sharing the same cultural bac kground.
You may have reached a high level of proficiency in English. but find
Britis h people hard to understand because you lack th is background
knowledge. This book aims to fill in the gaps so that, when you
encounter British w riters an d speakers, you are closer to being in the
same positio n as an averagely educated British pe rson wou ld be .
Of course, it is impossible for you to put yourself in exactly the
same pos ition as natives of Brita in. They h ave been sharing many,
d istinctly British, experiences an d influences ever since they were
born . Therefore, th is book also looks behi nd the facts and figures,
so tha t you can begin to understand the British approach to life in
general.

W hat thi s book is abo ut

Thi s book cont ains all the basic in form atio n you nee d abou t the
structure of the British political system and other aspects of public
life. But it has m or e tha n that. Throughout the book , part icul ar atten -
tio n is pa id to the atti tudes of Brit ish people. Knowledge of these is
very importa nt becau se they are wha t' co lour' the lang uage used by
British people . For example, to un derstand the word 'Ca tholic' as
used in Britain , it is not enough to know the legal pos ition ofCatholi-
cism an d how man y Catholics there are; you also have to know some -
thi ng about the general place of religion in British people's minds
and how different relig ious groups in the country feel about each
o the r (see chapter 1.3 ) . Because att itudes are so important, the re
 Introdu ction 7

are two chapters concerned entirely w ith them : one is abou t how
British people feel abou t them selves (chap ter 4) and the othe r is
abou t their attitudes to certain aspec ts of life in general (chapter 5).
All the pieces of infor m ation in this book are included for one or
both of tw o po ssible reason s. Some of them, for example the
mention of the Uni on Jack (see pag e J 3), are there because they form
part of a British person 's general knowledge. But othe rs , for example
the description of the pairing system in Parliament (see page 72 ) , are
not so w ell -kno wn . They are there to serve as illustrations o f more
gen eral point s.
This book is not an enc yclopaedia . Britain shares many character-
istics w ith o ther countries. This bo ok concentrates on what makes
Britain differen t.

Using this book

In each chapter there is a main text plus extra material in the margins
and elsewhere , w hich is pre sented in various forms (tables, graphs,
text, pictures etc) . You w ill sometimes find an invitation in the main
text to refer to this extra material, indicated by the symbol t- .
The information provided in this way may illustrate a po int made in
the main text. or add some extra de tail, or introduce a related issue.
The two types of material can be read indepen dently.
As you read , remem ber that 'facts' are relative things. For example.
whe n you read (on page 10) that St Andrew is the pat ro n saint of
Scotland , you are getting a hard- and-fast fact. How ever, som e of the
most important aspects ofhfe canno t be described in terms of hard-
and -fast facts. For example, this book refers to the importance of
privacy in Britain. This is not a fact; it is on ly an interpretation of the
facts. Of co urse, such co m me nts have not been made lightly - and in
most cases other com me ntators on Britain have made the same o nes.
But it is always possible that another co m me ntato r, loo king at the
same set of facts, mig ht arrive at a different co nclusio n.
At the end of each chapter there is a Questions section . The que stions
are intend ed as 'taking o ff ' point s fo r discussion in class , as top ics
fo r w ritten w ork, or simply to get yo u thinking abo ut the variou s
aspects of British life de scribed in the chapter, partic ularly in compar-
ison w ith life in yo ur own co untry. You w ill sometimes also find
suggestio ns fo r further reading and o ther activities.
A note o n terminology
In this bo o k you w ill encoun ter the w ords state, country and nation .
These are sim ilar in meaning but are not used in terch angeably. The
word statehas a po litical meaning. It is used when referring to a unit
of governmental authority. The word notion is used when referri ng
to English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish people an d w hen the focu s is on
the sense of ident ity wh ich these people feel. The word country is
used m ore ge nerally, to refer to either Britain or one of its nation s
w itho ut speci fic allusion to either governme nt or peop le .
8

I
Country and people

This is a book about Britain. But what exactly is Britain? And who are
the British ' The table below illus trates the problem. You might th ink
that, when it co mes to inte rnational sport. the situation would be
simple - one country. o ne team. But yOll can see that this is defini tely
no t the case w ith Britain . For each of the fou r spo rts or sporting eve nts
listed in the table . there arc a differe nt numb er of nation al teams
which m ight be called 'British ' . Th is chapter describes how this situ-
ation has come ab o ut and explains the differ ent names which are used
when people talk about Britain.

Geographically spea king

Lying off the north-west coast of Europe , there are two large island s
and several mu ch smaller ones. Collec tive ly, they are kno wn as The
British Isles . The largest island is called Great Britain. The o ther lar ge o ne
is called Ireland (t> The Bri tish Isles) .

Polit ically speaking

In the British Isles there are two states. One of these goy erns most of
the island of Ireland. This state is usually called The Republic of Ireland.
It is also called ' Eire' (its Irish langu age name). Inform ally it is referred
to as just ' Ireland ' or 'the Repu blic '.
Th e other state has auth or ity o ver the res t of the British Isles (the
whole of Great Britain, the no rthea stern area o fIreland and most o f
th e sm aller islands). Th is is the country that is the main subject of
this bo ok . Its o fficial name is The Un ited Kingdom ofGreat Britainand Northern

~ N ati on al t eams from th e British Isles in selected sports

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Irish Republic

o lympics QX9 United Kingdom Irish Republic

cricket
iii England Scotland Ir eland

rugby
union l.'JP England Wa les Ireland

football ~ England W ales Scotl and N orthern Ireland Irish Republic

 Politically speaking 9

Ireland althoug h it is usuall y known by a shorte r nam e. At the Euro - ... Crown depend enci es
visio n Song Contest, at the Un ited Nations and in the Europe an There are tw o sm all pans of the
Parliam ent , for in stance , it is re ferre d to as ' the United Kingdom '. In British Isles w hich have special polir -
ever yda y speech this is often shortened to ' the U K' . In o ther contexts ical arrang em ents. These 'Crown
depende ncies' are the Channel
it is referred to as 'Great Britain'. This, fo r exa m ple , is the name you
Island s and the Isle of Man. Each has
hear whe n a go ld meda! winner steps onto the rostru m at the complete internal self-
Olympic Games. The slicker s on cars ('G B') are another example of governmelH, including its own
the use of th is name. In w riting and speaking that is no t especially Parliam ent and its own tax system.
formal or info rm al, th e na me ' Britain ' is used . The no rm al adjec tive, Both are 'ruled ' by a Lieutenant
w he n talkin g about som eth ing to do with the UK, is 'British' . Governor appointed by the Bnush
governmen l.

T he British Isles

NORTHER
IRELAND

5)~
.0
~ ~
\j\UNl iTEDAl KINGDOM
IRELAND r: ' Isle
MM
0(1
REPUBLIC
'" OF I RELA N D "bublin
>U( EIR E) ) GREAT BRITAIN

~ ENGLAND

Oxford University Press

Channel
.
Islands *It
10 I Cou ntry and pe ople

Some historical and The four nations

poetic names
People often refer to Britain by ano the r nam e. They call it ' England'.
Albion is a w or d used in some poe tic But th is is not strictly correct, and it can m ake some people angry.
or rhetorical contexts to refer to
England is only one of the four nations of the British Isles (England,
England . It was the original Rom an
name for Britain. It may come fro m the Scotland, Wales and Ireland) . Their political unification w as a
Latin word albus, meaning 'wh ite'. The gradual process tha t took several hundred years (see chap ter 2). It
w hite cha lk cliff" aro und Dover on the wa s com pleted in 1 80 0 w hen the Irish Parliament w as joined wit h
south coast are the first pan of Englan d the Parliament for England, Scotland and Wales in Westm inster, so
to be seen when crossing the sea from
that the w hole of the British Isles becam e a single state - the United
the European mainland.
King do m of Great Britain and Ireland. Ho w ever, in 19 2 2, most of
Britannia is the name that the Romans Ireland becam e a separate state (see chapter 12) .
gave to the ir southern British pro vince
At one time the four nati on s w ere distin ct from each other in
(which covered, approxim ately, the
area ofpresent-day England ). It is also
almost every aspect oflife. In the first place , they w ere different
the name given to the female em bodi-
ment of Britain, always shoe....n wearing
a helmer and ho lding a tride nt (the .... Identifying symbols of the four nations
symbol of power over the sea) , hence
the patriotic song which beg ins 'Ru le England Wa les Scotland Ireland
Britannia, Britannia rule the waves'.
The figure of Britanni a has bee n on the

EB ~~
reverse side of many British coins for
more tha n 300 years.

Flag St George's Dragon of St Andrew's St Pat rick's

Cross Cadwallader Cross Cross

~
Lion rampant Republic of
Ire land

Britannia Plant Rose

tl
Leek/DaffodilI Th istle Shamrock

Colour 2

Patron saint
D
St George

St David St Andrew St Patrick
Sai nt's day 23 Apri l I March 30 November 17 March

I The re is som e disagreement among Welsh peo ple as to which is t he rea l national
plant. but t he leek is the most we ll-known .
2 As typically worn by sports team s of the different nat ions.
 The four nations I I

racially. Th e peo ple in Ireland , Wales and highland Scotland belon ged Joh n Bu ll is a fictional character
to the Celtic race; those in England and low land Scotland w ere m ainly who is supposed to personify
Englishness and certain English
of Germanic origin. This di fferenc e wa s reflected in the languages
virtues. (He can be compared to
the y spo ke. People in th e Celti c areas spoke Celtic lan gua ges: Irish Uncle Sam in the USA.) He features
Gaelic, Sco ttis h Gaelic and We lsh . Peo ple in the German ic areas spoke in hundreds of nineteenth century
Germa nic dialects (inclu d ing th e one w hich has developed in to cartoons. His appearance is typical of an
modern Englis h). The nations also te nde d to have di fferen t econom ic, eighteenth century country gentleman,
evoking an idy llic rural past (see
social and legal systems .
chapter s).
Today these differen ces have become blur re d . But the y have not
completely d isappeared . Although th ere is o nly one government for
the whole of Britain , and peo ple h ave the sam e passpo rt regard less of
where in Britain th ey live , som e aspec ts of gov ernmen t are or ganize d
separately (and sometimes d iffer ent ly) in the four parts of the Uni ted
Kingdo m. Moreover, Wels h , Sco ttish and Irish peo ple feel the ir iden -
tity very strongly.

.. Other signs of national ide nt ity

The following are also associated by
British people with one or more of
the four nat ions.
Names
The prefix 'Mac' or 'Me' in surnames
(such as McCall, MacCarthy,
MacDonald) is always either Scottish
or Irish . The prefix' 0' (as in
O'Brien, O'Hara) is distinctly Irish.
A very large number of surnames
(for example, Davis, Evans, Jones ,
Lloyd, Morgan, Price, Rees.
Williams) suggest Welsh origin
(alt hough many of these are found
thro ughout Englan d). The most
common surname in both England
and Scotland is actually 'Smith' .
First nam es can also be indicative.
The Scouish form of 'John' is ' Ian'
and its Irish form is 'Sean' (although
all three names are common
th roughout Britain). There are also
nick names for Scottish, Irish and
Welsh men . For example, an
English, Welsh or Irish person
mig ht refer to and address a Scott ish
frien d as 'Jock', whatever his first
name is. Irishm en are called 'Paddy '
or 'Mick' and Welshmen are kno wn
as 'Dai' or 'Taffy'. If the person is not
a friend the nickname can sound
rather insulting.
Clothe s
The kilt , a skirt w ith a tartan pattern
worn by me n, is a very well -known
symbol of Scottish ness (though it is
hardly ever worn in every day life) .
Musica l in st rumen ts
The harp is an emblem of both Wales
and Ireland. The bag pipes are John Bull
regar ded as d istinctively Scottish
(though a sma ller type is also used
Briton is a word used in official con -
in traditional Irish music) .
texts and in formal writing to
Charac te r ist ics describe a citize n of the Un ited
The re are certain ster eotypes of Kingdom. 'Ancient Britons' is the
nat ional character which are we ll- name given to the race of people
known in Britain . For instance, the who lived in England before and
Irish are sup pose d to be grea t during (he Roman occ upation
talkers, the Scots have a rep uta tion (AD 43-410) . These are the ancestors
for being care ful wi th money, and of the present-day Welsh people.
the Welsh are ren ow ne d for their
Caledonia. Cam bri a and Hibernia
sing ing ability. These characteristics
were the Roman names for Scotland,
are , of course, only caricatures and
Wales and, Ireland respectively. The
are not reliable descriptions of indi -
vidual people from these cou nt ries. w ords are commonly used today in
scholarly classlficauons (for example,
Nevertheless, they indicate some
the type of English used in Ireland is
slight di fferences in the value
sometimes called ' Hibcrno-Enghsh ')
attac hed to certa in kinds of beh avi-
and for the names of organizations
our in the countries concerned.
(for exam ple, the airline 'British
Caledonian ').
Erin is a poetic name for Ireland . 'The
Em erald Isle' is another way of refer-
ring to Ireland, evoking the lush
greenery of its countryside.
l2 I Countr y and people
... Th e invisibl e Sc ot
Here are some brie f extracts from an
article w ritten by a Scotswoman,
Janet Swinney , which expresses
anger at how the dominance of
England over Scotland is reflected in
the way things are described.
First, there is 'domination by
omission'. A map appeared in the
Observer newspaper in May 1989
under the heading 'Britain's Dirty
Rivers'. It showed only England and
Wales. Janet Swinney says: 'What is
the meaning of this illustration?
Does Scotland have no rivers or no
dirty ri vers, or has someone sim ply
used the word Britain to mean England
and Wales?'
Second, she points out the
common use of England/English to
mean Brilain/Brilish : 'When I wen t to
Turkey a few years ago with an
assorted group of Britons , most of
the En glish w ere happy to record
their nationality on the ir em barka-
tion cards as English, and saw nothi ng
offensive about it. It's not un usu al,
either, for Scots to recei ve mail fro m
elsew here in the UK addressed SCOl -
land , England .. . Last year, wo rks of art
from the Soviet Union intended for
d isplay at the Edin bur gh Interna-
tional Festival w ere sent to the City
Art Gallery add ressed Edinburgh,
England'.
A third aspect of domination can
be seen in the names given to pub -
lications and or gani zations : 'The
practice is to label any thi ng that per-
tains to England and (usually) Wale s
as tho ugh it we re the norm , and
anything Scottish as though it were
a dev iation from it. Wh y else do w e
have The TimesEducational Supplement
and The Times Educnioncl Supplement
(Scotland), the "Nationa l Trust" and
the "Na tional Tru st for Scotland ",
the "Trades Union Cong ress " and
the "Scottish Trades Union Con-
gress"? In a society of equals, all
these names would carry their geo -
graphical markers: The TimesEduca -
tionalSupplement (England and Wales) etc'.
J Swinney, 'The Invisible Scot' ,
English Today, April [989
The dom inance of England
There is, pe rhaps , an excuse for people w ho use the word 'England'
when they mean 'Britain', It cannot be denied that the dominant
culture of Britain today is spec ifically English. The system of politics
that is used in all four na tions today is of English origin, and English
is the ma in language of all four na tions . Many aspects of every day life
are organized according to English cus tom and pra ctice. But the po lit-
ical unification of Britain was not achieved by mutual agreement. On
th e contrary. It happened beca use England wa s able to exert her
economic and milita ry power over the other three nat ion s (see
chapter 2).
Today En glish domina tion can be detected in th e wa y in which
various aspects of British public life are described (C> The invisible Scot).
For example, the supply of money in Britain is contro lled by the Bank
of England (there is no such thing as a 'Bank of Britain'). The pre sem
queen of the country is uni versally known as 'Elizabe th the Second' ,
even though Scotlan d and Northern Ireland have never had an 'Eliza-
beth the First " (Elizabeth I of England and Wales ruled from 1553 to
160 3.) The term 'Anglo ' is also commonly used . (The An gles were a
Germanic tribe who settled in En gland in the fifth century. The word
'Eng land' is derived from thei r name.) For example, ne\vspapers and
the television news talk about 'Anglo-American relati ons' to refer to
relations between the governments of Britain and the USA (and not
just those between England and the USA).
Nat ional loyalti es
When you are talking to people from Britain, it is safest to use 'Britain'
when talking abo ut where they live and 'British ' as the adjective to
desc ribe the ir nat io nality. This wa y you w ill be less likel y to offend
anyone , It is, of course, not wrong to talk about 'people in England '
if that is what yo u m ean - people who live w ith in the geographi cal
boundaries of England. After all, most British people live there
(C> Populations in 1995). But it should always be remembered that
England does no t make up the whole of the U K.
There h as bee n a long history of migration from Scotland , Wale s
and Ireland to England . As a result there are millions of people who
live in England but who would never describe themselves as English.
They may have lived in England all their lives, but as far as they are
concerned they are Scottish or Welsh or Irish - even if, in the last
case, they are citizens of Britain and not of Eire. Th ese people su pport
the country of their parents or grandparents rather than England in
sporting con tests. They would also, given the chance, play for that
country rather than Engla nd. If, for example, you had hea rd the
members of the Republi c of Ireland World Cnp foo tball team talking
in I 994c , you wo uld have hea rd several different kinds ofEnglish
accent and some Scottish accen ts, but onl y a few Irish accen ts. Mo st
 Nat ional loyalties I 3

of the players did not live in Ireland and were not bro ugh t up in ... Populations in 1995
Ireland. Nevert heless, most of them would never have considered
England 48.9 million
playing for an y country other than Ireland! Scotland 5.1 million
The sam e holds true for the further million s of British citizens Wales 2.9 million
whose fam ily origins lie o utside the British Isles altogethe r. Peop le N orthern Ireland 1.6 million
of Caribbean or so uth Asian descent . fo r instance , do not m ind being UK total 58.6 million
described as 'British ' (many are proud of it), but many of them
would nat like to be called 'Eng lish ' . And whenever the West Indi an These figures arc est imates provided by
or Indian cricket tea m plays agains t England, it is certainly not England the Governm ent Actuary's Departme nt
that they support! of the UK, based on the 19 9 I Census .
It is expe cted that the total population
There is, in fact, a complicated divisio n of lo yalties anlong many
of Britain will co ntinue to rise by very
people in Britain, and especially in England . A black per son w ho se small amou nts until around the year
family are from the Caribbean will pass iona tely support the West 202 !;.
Ind ies when the y play cric ket agains t England . But the sam e person
is quite happy to support England just as passio natel y in a sport such
as football , which the West Indies do not play. A person whose
family are from Ireland but who has always lived in England would
want Ireland to beat England at football but would want England to
beat (for example) italy just as much . This cros sove r of loya ln es can
work the other wa y as well. English people do not rega rd the Scottish ,
the Wel sh or the Irish as 'foreig ne rs' (or. at least , not as the sam e kind
o f foreigners as other foreigners !). An English co mmentator of a
sport ing eve n t in which a Scottish, Irish o r We lsh team is playing
agains t a team from o utside the British Isles tend s to iden tify with
that team as if it were English.
A wonderful example of double ident ity was heard on the BBC
during the Eurovision Song Con test in 1992. The cornrnen tator for
the BBC was Terr y Wogan. Mr Wogan is an Irishman w ho had become
Britain's most popular television talk-show ho st dur in g the 1980s.
Towards the end o f the programme , with the vot ing for the songs
nearl y complete, it became clear that the contest (in which Euro pean
countries compete to present the best new popular song) wa s going
to be won by either Ireland or the Uni ted Kingdom. Within a five-
minute period , Mr Wogan could be heard using the pronouns 'we'
and ' LIS' several times; so me tim es he meant the UK and so me times
he meant Ireland!
... Th e Uni on Jack
The Union Jackis the national flag of
the UK. It is a co mbinatio n of the
cross ofSt George, the cross o f
St Andrew and the cross of St Patrick
(e> Idcmifying symbolsof the four nations) .

The Union Jack

14 I Country and People

QUE STIO N S

1 Think of the most well-known sym bo ls and
tokens o f nation ality in yo ur country. Are they
the same types of rea l-life o bjects (e.g . plan ts,
clo thes) that are used in Britain?
2 In 1970, the BBC showed a series of pro-
graln mes abo ut the histo ry ofthe British Empire.
Befo re the ser ies started, they advertised it. The
advertisement me ntione d 'England's history'.
Wi thin a few hours, the BBC had recei ved thou-
sands of angry calls of pro test and it was for ced
to make an apology. W ho do you think tlie angr y
callers were' Why did the BBC ap olo gize ?
3 In 1991, UEFA (the Union of Euro pean Foot ball
Associations) in troduced a new regulatio n. This
limi ted the num ber of foreign players w ho w ere
allowed to play for a foo tball clu b in Euro pe an
co mpetitions. For example, a German club team
cou ld have o nly a certain numbe r of players in
it w ho were not Gennan. Und er the new regula-
tion a player in the Liverpoo l team, Ian Rush ,
was classified as 'foreign', even thou gh he was
bo rn only twen ty mil es fro m Liverpool and had
lived in the same area all hi s life. Man y o the r
players of Eng lish clu b team s fo un d them selves
in the same position. Many peo ple in England
thoug ht th at this w as ridiculous. Ho w d id th is
happen' Do you think it was ridi culous?
4 The dominance of En gland in Britain is reflected
in the organization of the government. There
are m inisters for Scotland, Wales and No rthern
Ireland , but there is no min ister fo r England.
Do you th ink th is is good for the people of the
other British nations (they have special atten-
tio n and recognition of their distinct identity)
or is it bad (it gives them a kind of second -class ,
colonial status)?
5 Are there any distin ct national loya ltie s in you r
count ry (or are they better desc ribed as reg io nal
lo yalties) ? If so , is the relationship bet ween the
'nations' in any way similar to that betw een the
nations in Britain? If no t, can yo u think of any
o ther co untries where such loyalt ies exist? Do
these lo yalties cause problems in those coun-
tries?

SU G GES TI ON S

Britain, an Official Handbook (HM SO) is pu blished annuall y and is pre-

pared by the Central O ffice of Info rmation. It incl udes facts and
figures on aspects of British life suc h as politi cs an d law, economic
and socia l affairs, arts and spo rt.
Dictionary of Britain by Adr ian Room (Oxford Un iver sity Press) is an
alphabetical guide to well-known British or ganizations, people ,
eve nts , traditions and o ther aspects of life in Britain.
 15

2
History

Prehi stor y
Two thousand years ago there was an Iro n Age Celtic cu lture through-
o m the Briti sh Isles. It see ms that the Cells, who had been arriving
from Europe fro m the eighth cent ury Be o nwards, interm ingled w ith
th e peo ples w ho were alread y th er e. We know tha t religious sites
that had been built long before the arrival of the Celts continued to
be used in the Celtic period .
For people in Britain today, the ch ief significance of'the pr ehistoric
period (for which no written records exist) is its sense of m ystery.
This sense find s its fo cu s most easily in the astonishing m on umental
arch itect ur e o f this perio d, th e rem ains of which ex ist thro ughout
the co untry. W illsh ire, in so uth- w estern England , has two spectacu lar
examples: Silbu ry Hill , the large st buri al mound in Euro pe , and
Stoneheng e (c- Stonehenge) . Such places have a spec ial importance for Ii> Stonehenge

an yone int er ested in the cultural and relig ious pra ctices of pr ehi storic Stonehen ge was bu ilt on Salisbury
Britain. We know very little abou t these practices, but there are some Plain so me time between 301)0 and
organization s tod ay (for exam ple, the Order of Bards, Ovates and 2300 Be . It is one or the mo st famous
and mysterious archa eological sites
Druids - a small gro up of eccent ric intellectu als and m ystics) w ho
in the wo rld . One of its m ysterie s is
base their beliefs on them . how it was ever built at all with the
technology of the tim e (the sto nes
come from over 2 0 0 mil es awa y in
Wales). Another is its purpose. It
appears 1O functi on as a kind o f
astronomical clock and w e know it
was used by the Druids for cere-
monies marking the passing of th e
seasons. It has alwa ys exerted a fas-
cination on the British im aginatio n.
and appears in a number o f novels,
such as Thomas Hardy's Tess of the
D'Urbevilles.
These days Sto nehe nge is not o nly
of interest to tourists, but is also a
gathering point for certain minority
groups such as hippies and 'N ew
Age Travellers' (see chapter I 3) . It is
no w fence d o ff to protect it from
Stonehenge damage .
16 2 History

... Hadrian's Wall The Roman period (43-4 I 0)

Hadrian's Wall w as built by the
Romans in the second century
across the northern border of their
prov ince of Britannia (along nearly
the same line as the present English -
Scouish border) in order to protect
their territory from attacks by the
Scots and the Picts.
Hadrian's Wall
The Roman province of Britannia covered most of pr esent -da y
England and Wales. The Romans imposed their ow n wa y of hfe and
culture , makin g use of the existing Celt ic aristocracy to go vern and
encouraging this ru ling class to adopt Roman dre ss and the Roma n
language (Latin). They exerted an influ ence , w ith out actuall y gov-
erning there, over only the southern part of Scotland. It wa s durin g
this time that a Celtic tribe called the Scots migrated from Ireland to
Scotlan d , where they became allies of the Piets (an other Celtic tribe)
and opponents of the Roman s. This div ision of the Celts into those
w ho experienced direc t Rom an rul e (the Britons in England and
Wales) and those who did not (the Gaels in Ireland and Scotland)
may help to explain the development of tw o distinct branches of the
Celtic group oflanguages.
The remarkable thing about the Romans is that , despit e their long
occupation of Britain , they left ver y little behind . To many other
parts of Europe they bequeathed a system of law and administra tion
which forms the basis of the modern system and a lan guage w hich
developed in to the mod ern Romance fam ily oflanguages. In Britain ,
the y left neither. Moreover, most of the ir villas, bath s and temples,
their im pressive ne twork of roads, and the cities they founded,
including Londin ium (London) , w ere soo n destro yed or fell int o
disrepair. Almos t the onl y lasting rem ind er of their pr esence are
place -n ames like Ches ter, Lancaste r and Glou cester , w hich in clude
variants of the Roman word castra (a m ilitar y cam p).

The Germanic invasions (4 I 0- 1066)

One reason w hy Roman Britannia disappeared so qu ickly is pro bably
tha t its in fluence w as large ly confined to the towns. In the coun try-
side, where mos t peop le lived , farming m eth ods had remained
unchan ged and Celtic speech continued to be dominant.
The Roman occupatio n had been a matter of colonial con trol rather
than large -scale settlement. But, during th e fifth century, a number
of trib es from the north-western European mainland in vade d and
settled in large num bers. Two of these trib es w ere the Angle s and

Some important dates in British history

* BC means 'before Chri st'. All the o ther
dates are AD (Latin anne Domini), wh ich
signifies 'after the birth of Chri st '.
SS BC *
The Roman general Julius Caesar lands
in Britain wi th an expedi tiona ry force ,
w ins a battle and leaves. The first' date'
in po pular Briti sh histor y.
AD 4- 3
The Romans come to Slay.
61
Queen Boudicca (or Boadicea) of the
Iceni tribe leads a bloody revolt against
the Rom an occupation. It is suppressed.
There is a statue of Boadicea. made in
the nin eteenth cen tury, outside the
Houses of Parliament. This has helped
to keep the memory of her alive. ;
 Th e Ger ma nic invasions 17

the Saxons . These Anglo-Saxons soon had the south-east o f the .... King Arthur
co untry in their grasp. In the west o f the co untry their advance w as King Arthur provides a wonderful
tem porarily halte d by an army of CCeltic) Bri tons under th e com m and example o f the distortio ns of
of the legendary King Arth ur Co> King Arthu r). Neve rt heless , by th e end pop ular history. In folklore and
of the sixth cen tury, they an d the ir way of life pred om ina ted in nearl y myth he is a great English hero, and
he and his knight s o f the round table
all of Engla nd and in pa rts of southern Scotland. The Celtic Britons
are regarded as the perfect ex amp le
wer e either Saxonized or driven wes twards, where their culture and o f medieval nobility and chivalry. In
language survived in south-west Scotland, Wales and Cornwa lL fact . he lived long before me dieval
The Anglo- Saxo ns had little use for towns and cities. But they had times and was a Roma nized Celt
a great effect on the countryside , where they introduced new trying to hold back the advances of
farm ing methods and founded the thousa nds of self-sufficie nt vil- the Anglo-S axons - the very peopl e
w ho became 'the English '!
lages which form ed the basis of English society for the next thousan d
or so years.
The Anglo -Saxons were pagan when they came to Britain. Chris-
tianity spread throughout Britain fro m tw o different directions
during the sixth and seventh centuries . It carne directly from ROIn e
when St Augustine arrived in 597 and established his headquarters
at Canterbury in the south -eas t of En glan d . It had alread y been int ro -
duced into Scotlan d and no rt hern Engl and from Ireland, w hich had
becom e Christian mo re than 150 years earlier. Althoug h Roman
Ch ristianity eventually too k over the whole of th e Bri tish Isles, the
Celtic model persisted in Scotland and Ireland for several hundred
years. It was less centrally organize d, and had less need for a strong
monarchy to support it. Th is partly exp lains why both secu lar and
religio us power in these tw o cou ntries co ntinue d to be both more
locally based and less secu re than it was elsewhere in Britain throu gh-
ou t the me dieval period.
Britain experienced ano ther wave o f Germanic invasion s in the
eighth century. These invaders, know n as Vikings , Nors emen or King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and one of
Danes , came from Scandinavia. In the ninth century they conquered the kn ights ofthe round table, from the
and settle d the extreme north and west of Scotland, and also SOlli e film 'Camelot'
coastal regions ofIrelan d. The ir conq uest of En gland was halted when
they were defeated by King Alfre d of the Saxo n kin gd om of Wessex
Co> KingAlfred). Thi s resulted in an agreem ent w hich divide d En gland
between Wessex, in the south and wes t, and the 'Danelaw ' in the
north and east.

,p o S97 87 8
The Ro mans leave Britain. St Augustine arrives in England. The Peace of Edington partitions
England betw een the Saxons, led by
4 31 793 King Alfred, and the Danes.
Sr Patrick co nverts Ireland to The great mo nastery on the island o f
Christianity. Llndisfarne in northeast England is 9 73
destroyed by Vikings and its monks Edgar, grandson of Alfred, becomes
killed. king o f all England.
18 2 History
~ King Alfred
King Alfred was not on ly an able
v....arrior but also a ded icated scholar
and a wise ruler. He is known as
'Alfred the Great' - the only
monarch in English history to be
given this title . He is also popularly
known for the story of the Durning
of the cakes.
While Alfred was wandering
around his country organizing res-
istance to the Viking invaders , he
travelled in disgu ise. On one occa-
sion, he stopped at a wo man's ho use.
The woman asked him to watch
some cakes that were cookin g to see
that they did not burn, w hile she
went off to get food . Alfred became
lost in thought and the cakes
burned. When the wo man returned,
she shouted angrily at Alfred and
sent him away. Alfred never told her
that he was her kin g.
~ 1066
This is the most famous date in
English history. On I 4 October
1066 an invadi ng army from Nor -
mandy defeated the English at the
Battle of Hastings. The battle was
close and extremely bloody. At the
end of it, most of the best warrio rs
in England were dead , includi n g
thei r leader, King Harold. On
Christmas day that year the Norman
leader, Duke Wilham of Norm andy,
was crowned king of England. He is
known in popular histo ry as
'W illiam the Conqueror'. The date
is remembered for being the last
time that England was successfully
invaded.
10 14-
Brian Boru's Irish army defeats the
Vikings at Clontarf (near mo dern
Dublin). As a result, Viking settlem ent
in Ireland remains limite d and Ireland
retains its Celtic identi ty, never becom -
ing pan of the Scandinavian empire.
However, the cultural di fferences between Anglo -Saxon s and
Danes were comparatively small. The y led roughly the sam e way of
life and spoke tw o varieties of the same Germanic tongue (which
combine d to form the basis ofmodern English). More over, the Danes
so<;m converte d to Christiani ty. These sim ilar ities made political uni-
fication easier, and by the end of the tenth cen tury England wa s one
kingdom with a Germanic culture th ro ughout.
Most of modern -day Scotland wa s also united by this tim e , at least
in name, in a (Celtic) Gaelic kingdom .
The me dieval period ( t 066- t 485)
The successful Norman invasion ofEngland in 1066 (0) 1066) brought
Britain into the mainstream of we stern European culture . Previou sly
most lin ks had been with Scandinavia. Only in Sco tland did this hnk
survive; the wes tern isles (until the thirteenth cen tury) and the
northern islands (until the fifteenth cen tury) remaining under the
control of Scandinavian kings. Throughout thi s period the English
kings also ruled over areas ofland on the con tin ent an d w ere often at
war with the French king s in disputes over ownership.
Unlike the Germanic inva sions, the Norman inva sion wa s sm all-
scale. There was no such thing as a Norm an village or a Norm an area
of settlem en t. Instead, the Norman soldiers w ho ha d be en part of the
inva ding army were given the ow nership ofland - and of the people
living on it. A strict feudal system was imposed. Great nobles, or
barons, were responsible direc tly to the king; lesser lor ds, each
owing a village , were directly responsible to a baron. Under them
were the peasants, tied by a strict system of mutual duties and obliga-
tions to the local lord, and forbidden to travel w ithout his permission.
The peasants were the English -speak ing Saxons. The lords and th e
barons were the French-speaking Normans. Th is wa s th e beginning
of the English class system (0) Language and class) .
The strong system of government which the No rm ans in troduced
meant that the Anglo -Norman kingdom wa s easily the most power-
ful poli tical force in the British Isles. Not surpnsin gly therefore, the
aut hority of the English monarch gradually extended to o the r parts of
these islands in the next 250 years. By the end of the thirt eenth
century, a large part of eastern Ireland wa s contro lled by Anglo-
Norman lords in the name of the English king and th e whole ofWales
10 66 10 86
The Baule of Hasting s (I> 1066) King William 's officials complete the
Dom esday Book, a very deta iled,
village-by-village record of the peo ple
and their possessions throughout his
king dom .
 The mediev al period J9

was under his direct rule (at w hich time the custom o f naming the II- Language and class
mo narch 's eldes t son the ' Prince of Wales' began) . Scotland managed The existence of two words for the
to rema in po litically independent in the m edieval period . but w as larger farm anim als in modern
obliged to fight occasional wars to do so. English is a result of the class di v i-
The cultural story of this period is differen t. Two hund red and fifty sions established by the Nor man
co nquest. There are the words for
years after the Norm an Conquest, it was a Germanic language
the livin g anima ls (e .g. (0\\'. pig.
(Middle English) and not the Norman (French) langu age which had sheep) . which have their origins in
become the dominant one in all classes o f society in England. Fur- Anglo-Saxon. and the w ords for the
thermore . it w as the Anglo- Saxo n concept of common law , and no t me at from the animals (e .g. bttf. pork.
Roman law . which formed the basis of the legal system. mu tton) . which have their o rigins in
Despite Eng lish rul e. no rthern and central Wales was never settled the French language that the
Normans brought to England. Only
in great numbers by Saxon or No rman. As a result the (Cehic) Welsh
the Normans norma lly ate meat ; the
language and cu lture remained stro ng . Eisteddfods. nationa l festivals poor Anglo-Saxon peasants did nOI~
of Welsh song and poetry. continued thr oughout the medi eval period
and still take place today. The An glo-Norm an lords of eastern Ireland II- Robin H ood
remained loyal to th e En glish king but , despit e laws to the co ntrary.
Robin Hood is a legendary folk hero .
mostly ado pted th e Gaelic language and customs. King Richard I (I 189-99) spent
The poli tical independe nce of Scot land did not prevent a gradual most of his reign fighting in the cru-
sw itch to English language and customs in the low land (southern) sades (the w ars between Christians
part of the co untry. First, the Anglo -Saxon elem ent here w as and Muslim s in the Middle East).
Wh ile Richard w as away. England
strengthened by the arrival of man y Saxo n aristocrats fleeing the
was governed by his brother Jo hn.
Nor man co nques t of England. Second. the Celtic kings saw that the who was unpopular because o f all
ado ption o f an Anglo -Norman style of government would the taxes he imposed. Accord ing to
strengthe n roy al power. By the end of this perio d a cultural split had legend. Ro bin Ho od lived wit h his
developed between the lowlands, where the way of life and lan guage band o f 'me rry men' in She rwood
Forest outside No ttingham . stealin g
wa s similar to that in England, and the highlands, where (Celtic)
from the rich and givi ng to the poor.
Gaelic culture and language prevailed - and where, because of th e
He was co nstantly hunted by the
mountainou s landscape , the authority of the king was hard to enforce . local sheriff (the ro yal representa-
It w as in this period that Parliamen t began its gradual evo lutio n tive) but w as nev er captured.
into the dem ocratic body which it is today. The word 'parliament',
wh ich co mes fro m the French word parler (to speak) , was first used
in Eng land in the thirteenth cent ury to describ e an assembly of nobl es
called together by the king. In I 29 5. the Mod el Parliam ent set the
pattern for the futur e by including elected repr esent atives from
urban and rural areas.

117 0 117 1 121 S'

The murder o f Thomas Becket. the
Archbishop ofCamerbury. by soldiers
of Kin g Henr yl l . Becket (also known as
Thom as aBecket) was made a saint and
his grave was visited by pilgrim s for
hundreds o f years. Tht Canterbury Tales.
w ritten by Geo ffrey Chauce r in the
fourteenth centu ry. reco unts the stories
told by a fictio nal group of pilgrim s o n
their way to Cante rbury.
The Nor man baron kno w n as Strongbow
and his followers settle in Ireland.
An alliance of arist ocracy. Church and
me rchants force King John to agree to
the Magna Carta (Great Charter). a docu -
me nt in which the king agree s to follow
certain rules of governmen t. In fact.
neither Jo hn nor his successors enti rely
follo wed them. but Magna Ca rta is
rem emb ered as the first time a monarch
agreed in writing to abide by formal
procedures.
10 2 H istory

.. Th e Wars of th e Ros e s The six tee n th century

During the fifteenth century the
throne of England was claimed by
representatives of two rival grou ps.
The pmver of the greatest nobles ,
who had their own private armies,
meant that constant challenges to
the pos ition of the monarch were
possible. The Lancastn ans. whose
symbol w as a red rose, supported the
descendants of the Duke of Lancaster,
and the Yorkists . whose symbol was
a white rose, supported the des-
cendants of the Duke of York . The
struggle for power led to the 'Wars
of the Roses ' between 1455 and
1485. They ended wh en Henry VII
defeated and killed Richard III at the
Battle of Bosworth Field and we re
followed by an era of stability and
slrong government which w as we l-
comed by those weaken ed and
impoverished by dec ades of w ar.
.. Off with his he ad!
Being an important person in the
sixteenth century was not a safe
position to be in. The Tudor mon -
archs were disloyal to their officials
and mercil ess (Q any no bles who
oppose d them. More than half of the
mos t famous peopl e of the period
finished their lives by being
executed as traitors. Few peopl e who
wer e taken through Traitor's Gate (Q
become prison ers in the Tower of
London came out again alive.
The power of the English monarch increased in thi s period. The
strength of the great baro ns had been greatly w eakened by the Wars
of the Roses (r- The Wars of the Roses). Bubonic plague (kn own in
En gland as the Black Death ) contributed to the reduction of the ir
pow er. It killed about a third of the population in its first outbreak in
En gland in the middle of the fourteenth cen tur y and con tinued to
reappear periodically for another 300 years . The shor tage ofla bour
which this cause d, and the increasing importance of trade in the
towns, helpe d to weaken the traditional ties between feudal lord
and peasant.
The Tudor dy nasty (1185- 160 3) establishe d a system of govern-
ment departments, staffed by professionals wh o depended for their
positio n on the monarch. As a result, the feudal baro ns were no
lon ger needed for implementing government policy. The y were also
needed less for making government policy. Parliament was tradition -
ally split in to tw o 'Houses'. The House of Lord s consisted of the
feu dal aris toc racy and the leaders of the Church; the House of
Com mons consisted of represen tatives from the towns and the less
important landowners in rural areas. It was now more importan t for
monarchs to get the agreemen t of the Commons for policy-making
beca use that was where the newly pow erful m erchants an d land -
owners (the people w ith the money) were represented.
Unlike in m uch of the rest of Europe, the direct cau se of the rise of
Pro testantism in England wa s political and personal rathe r than doc-
trinal (" Henry VII I). Henr y VIII wanted a divorce which the Pope
would not give him. Also, by making himself head of the 'Church
of England' , independent of Rome, all chur ch lands came under hi s
co ntrol and gave him a large new so urce of income.
Th is rejection of the Roman Church acco rd ed with a new spirit of
patriot ic confidence in En gland. The count ry had fina lly lost any
realistic claim to lands in France, thus becoming more con sciou sly a
distinct 'island nation '. At the same tim e , increasing European
exploration of the Americas and othe r parts of the world meant that

IJ. 7 5" 13 2 8 15"34-

Llew ellyn , a Welsh prince. refuses to
submit to the authority of the English
monarch.
12 84-
The Statute of Wales puts the w hole of
that country under the contro l of the
English monarch.
After several years of w ar betw een the
Scottish and English kingdoms . Scot-
land is recog nized as an independent
kingdom .
The Act of Supremacy declares Henry
VIII to be the supreme head of the
Church in England.
15"3 6
The admin istration of gov ernment and
law in Wales is reformed so that it is
exactly the same as it is in England.
 The sixteenth century 2I

England w as closer to the geographical centre o f w estern civilisation ~ HenryV l1i

instead of bein g, as previously. on the edge of ir.Ir w as in the last Henry VIII is one of the most well-
quarter of th is advent urous and optimistic century that Shakespeare known mon archs in English history,
bega n w riting his famo us plays. chiefly because he took six wives
It was the refor e patriotism as m uch as relig ious conviction that during his life. It was during his
reign that the Reformation took
had caused Pro testant ism to become the majori ty religion in England
place. In the I 530s, Henry used
by the end o f the cent ury. It took a form known as Anglicanism. Parliament to pass laws whi ch swe pt
which was not so very di fferent from Catholicism in its organ ization away the power of the Roman
and ri tual. But in the low land s of Scotland it took a mor e idea listic Church in England . His quarrel with
form . Calvinism , w ith its strict insi stence on sim plicity and its dislike Rom e was nothing ( 0 do with doc -
of rit ual and celebration , became the dominant religion. It is from trine (it was because he wanted to
be free to marr y again and to
thi s date that the ste reotype of the dour , thrifty Scot develop ed .
appoint wh o he wi shed as leaders o f
How ever. the Scottish highlands remained Catholic and so furtlier the Chur ch in England) . In the same
w idened the gu lf between the tw o parts of the nation . Ireland also decade, he had a law passed which
rema ined Catholic. There , Protestanti sm wa s ide ntified w ith the demanded complete adherence to
English. who at that time were making fur ther attemp ts to control the Catholi c belief and practice. He had
also pre viously wr itten a polemic
whole of the country.
against Protestant ism , for \v hich the
pope gave h im the title Fidei Defensor
(Defender of the Faith) . The initials
FD still app ear on British coins tod ay.
~ Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII,
(t> Henry Vllf) was the first of three
long-re igning queens in British
history (the other two are Quee n
v ictoria and Elizabeth II). Dur ing
her long reign she established, by
skilful dip lomacy, a reasonable
degre e of internal stability in a
firmly Protestant England, allowing
the grO\vth of a spirit of patriotism
and general confidence. She never
marri ed, but used its possibilit y as a
diplomatic tool. She became known
as ' the virgin qu een ' . The area
w hich later became the state of Vir-
ginia in the USA was named after
her by one of the many English
explorers o f the time (Sir Walter
Raleigh). Eliza beth I Henry VIIl

153 8 I S80 160 3

An English language version of the Bible
replaces Latin bibles in every church in
the land.
15'60
The Scottish Parliament abo lishes the
auth orit y of the Pope and fo rbids the
Latin mass.
Sir Francis Drake completes the first
voyage rou nd the wo rld by an
Englishman .
I S8 8
The Spanish Armada, a fleet ofships sent
by the Catholic King Philip o f Spain ( 0
help invade England , is defeat ed by the
English navy (with the help o f a
violent storm").
James VI ofScotland becomes James I
of England .
160 S
The Gunpowder Plot : a grou p of Cath-
olics fail in their anempt to blow up the
king in Parliament (see chapter 23) .
22 2 History

.. The Civil War The seven teen th cent ury

This is popularly reme mbered as a
co ntest between fun -loving . aristo -
cratic, royalist 'Cavaliers', w ho
neverth eless were 'w rong ' in {heir
be liefs, and over -serious, puritan
parliamentarianRouudhcads'
(because of the style of their hair-
cuts), who ne vertheless had right on
their side. The Roundheads w ere
victorious by 1645, although the
war periodically started up again
until [649.
When Jam es I becam e the first English king of the Stuart dynasty, he
was already king of Scotland , so the crowns of these two cou ntries
were united. Although their parliamen ts and adm inistrative and judi-
cial systems conti nued to be separate , their lingui stic differe nces
w ere lessened in this century. The kind of Middl e English spok en in
lowland Scotland had developed in to a writte n language known as
'Scots'. However, the Scottish Protestant church adop ted English
rather than Scots bib les. This, and the glamour of the En glish cour t
w here the king now sat, caused modern English to beco me the
written standard in Sco tland as well.
In the sixteent h century religion and politics became inextricably
linked. This link became even more intense in the seventeenth
cen tury. At the beg inning of the century , some people tried to kill
th e kin g because h e wa sn' t Catholic enough (see cha pter 23). By the
end of the cent ury, another king had bee n killed , partly be cause he
seemed too Cath olic, and yet another had been for ced into exile for
the same reason.
This was the co ntext in which, during the century, Parliament
establishe d its suprelnacy over the m on archy in Britain. Anger grew
in the country at the way that the Stuart mon archs raised money,
espec ially because they di d not get the agreeme n t of the House of
Com mons to do so first. This was against ancient tradition . In addi-
tion , ideological Protestantism , especially Puritanism , had grown in
En gland. Pur itans regar ded m any of the practi ces of the An glican
Church, and also its hi erarchical structure, as im moral. Some o f them
thou gh t the luxur ious lifestyle of the king and his follow ers wa s
im moral too . They were also fiercely anti -Catholic and suspicious of
the appare nt sym pathy tow ards Catholicism of the Stuart monarchs.
Thi s con flict led to the Civil War (c- The Civil War), which ended
w ith com plete victory for the parliamentary forces. The king
(Charles I) wa s capture d an d becam e the first monar ch in Euro pe to
be executed after a for mal trial for crimes against his people. The
lead er of the parli amentary army, Oliver Crom well , be came 'Lord
Protector' of a re pub lic w ith a mili tary gove rnment w hich, after he
had bru tally crushed resistance in Ire land , effectively enc om passed
the whole of the British Isles.
But whe n Cromwell died , he , his system of governme n t, and the
puritan ethics that went w ith it (theatres and o ther fo rms o f amuse-
me nt had been banned) h ad become so unpopular that the son of the
execut ed king was asked to re tu rn and take the th ro ne. The Anglica n

1641.
The Civil War beg ins (e> The CivilWar).
16 4 9
Charles I is execu ted. For the first and
o nly time, Britain briefly becomes a
republic and is called 'the Commo n-
wealth '.
16 6 0
The monarchy and the Anglican
religion are restored .
 The seventeenth ce ntury 23

A nineteen th-centu ry painting of

victorious Roundheads with two captured
Cavaliers after theboule of Naseby in
1645

Chu rch w as restored. How ever, the co nflict betw een monarch and
Parliament soo n re-emerged. The monarch , James II, tried to give
full right s to Catholics, and to promote them in hi s govern me nt.
The 'Glorious Revolut ion ' (' glor ious' because it w as bloodl ess)
followed , in w h ich Prin ce William o f Orange, rul er of th e
Netherlands , and his Stuart wife Mary, accepted Parliament 's invita-
tion to becom e kin g and queen. In this wa y it wa s establishe d that a
monarch could rul e only wi th the support of Parliam ent. Parliament ... Ring -a-ring-a-roses
immed iately dr ew up a Bill of Rights, which limited some of the Ring-a-ring-a-rost'S
powers o f the m onarch (notably, the pow er to dism iss judg es). It A pocket full of posies
also allowed Dissent ers (those who did not agree wi th the pra ctices Atishoo!Anshoo!
of Anglicani sm) to pract ise the ir religion freely. This m eant that the We all fall down.

Presbyter ian Church , to which the majori ty of the low land Scottish This is a w ell-known chil dren's
belonged , wa s gu aranteed its legality. However, Dissenters were not nursery rhyme today. It co mes from
the time of the Great Plague of 166t; .
allowe d to hold gove rn me nt posts or be Members of Parliam en t.
w hich was the last outbreak of
Jam es II, meanwhile , had fled to Irela nd . But the Catho lic Irish
bubo nic plague in Britain. The ring
army he gathered th ere w as defeat ed . Law s we re then passed forbid- of roses refers to the pattern of red
ding Catho lics to vote or even own land . In Ulster, in the north of the spo ts on a suffe rer's body. The posies
count ry, large numbers o f fiercely anti-Catholic Scottish Presbyteri ans (bags of herbs) w ere thought to give
settled (in possession ofall the land) . The descendants of these people protection from the disease.
'Aushoo ' represents the sound of
are still known today as Orangem en (after their pa tro n William of
sneezing, one of the signs of the
Orang e) . They form one half of the tragic split in society in modem disease . after which a person could
Northe rn Ireland , th e ot her half being the ' native' Irish Catholics sometimes 'fall down' dead in a
(see cha pter 13) . few hours.

1666
The Great Fire of London destroys most
of the city's old wooden buildi ngs. It
also destroys bubonic plague , wh ich
never reappears. Most of the city's finest
churches . including St Paul's Cathedral,
date from the period of rebuilding
whi ch foll ow s.
1688 16 9 0
The Glorious Revolution The Presbyt erian Church becomes the
official 'Church of Scotland'.
The Battle of the Boyne, in which
William JII and the Ulster Protestants
defeat James II and the Irish Catholics.
24 2 History

The eighteenth cent ury

Politically, this cent ury w as stable. Mon arch and Parliament got on
quite well together. On e reason for this was that the monarch's
favourite politicians, through the ro yal pow er of patron age (the
ability to give peo ple jobs), w ere able to control the elec tio n and
voting hab its of a large number of Members of Parliament (MPs) in
the House of Commons.
W ithin Parliament the divisions of the previous century, though
far less bitter than before , w ere echoed in the formation of two
vaguely opposed loose collections of allies. One group, the Whigs,
were the po litical ' descendants' of the parliamentarians. They sup -
po rted the Protestant values ofhard work and th rift, we re sympathetic
to Dissenters and believed in governme nt by monarch and ari sto -
cracy toget her. The other group, the Tories , had a greater respect for
the idea of the monarchy and the im portance of the Anglican Church
(an d some times even a little sym pathy for Catholics and the Stuarts).
The tw o terms, Wh ig and Tor y, had in fact first been used in the late
1 6 7 0 S and allegiance to one side or the other was more ofien the
result of fam ily or region al loyalty than of political beliefs. This could
be said , however, to be the beginning of the party system in Britain
(see chapter 6).
The mod ern system o f an annual budge t drawn tip by the mo n-
arch's Treasury officials for the approval o fParliamcnt was
established during this century. So, too , was the habit o f the mon arch
appo inting o ne principal, or 'Prim e ', Minister from the ranks o f
Parliament to head his gov ernme nt.
At the begin ning of the centur y, by agre em ent , the Scottish Parlia-
ment jo ined with the English and Welsh Parliament at Westm inster in
Lo ndon . However, Sco tland retaine d its own system of law , more
sim ilar to co ntinental European systems than to that of England.
It does so to this day.
The only part of Britain to change radically as a result of poli tical
forces in this century was the highlands area of Scotland. This area
twi ce supported failed attem pts to put a (Catholic) Stuart monarch
back on the throne by force. After the second attemp t, many

177 1] 4 6 1]]1

The Act of Union joins the Parliament
of Scotland with that of England and
Wales.
1]08
The last occas io n on which a British
m onarch refuses to accept a bill which
has been passed b)' Parliament.
At th e Banlc o f Cullod en , a governm ent
ann)' o f English and lowland Scot s
defeats the highland arm)' o f Charles
Edward, wh o. as grand son of the last
Stuart king . claimed the British throne.
Altho ugh he made no attempt to
prote ct his suppo rters from revenge
afterward s, he is still a popular roman -
tic figure in the highlands, and is known
as 'Bo nnie Prince Charlie'.
For the first time . Parliament allo ws
w ritten recor ds o f its de bates to be pub -
lished freel y.
17 8 2
James Watt invent s the first steam
engine.
1] 83
After a war , Britain recogn izes the ind e -
pendence of the Ame rican colo nies .
 The eighteenth century 2 r;

inhabi tants o f the highla nd s were killed o r sent awa y fro m Britain
and the wearing o f hi ghland dress (the tartan kilt) wa s banned . The
Celtic w ay of life w as effectively destro yed .
It was cultural chan ge tha t w as m ost ma rked in this century. Britain
grad ually expanded its em pire in the Ame ricas . along the west African
coa st and in Indi a. The in creased trade w h ich resulted fro m the links
w ith the se new marke ts was one factor wh ich led to the Industrial
Revo lut ion . The many tech nical innovations in the areas of manufac-
turing and transport during this period w ere also im portant
contributing factors.
In England. the growth of the in d ustrial m ode of production .
together with advances in agriculture. cause d the greates t upheaval
in the pattern of everyday life sinc e the Ang lo-Saxon invas ions. Areas
of common land . which had been available for use by eve ry bo dy in
a village for the grazing of animals since Anglo -Saxo n tim es, d isap-
peared as lando w ners in corporated th em into thei r increasingly large
and more efficie nt far m s. (Some pie ces of co mmon land remain in
Britain to day. used mainl y as pu blic parks. They are often called 't he
co m mon ' .) Hund reds of thousands of pe ople m oved from rural area s
in to new tow ns an d cities. Mo st o f these new tow ns and cit ies were
in the nor th of Eng land. where the raw ma terials fo r industry were
available . In th is wa y, the north , w hich had previously been eco nom -
ically backw ard co m pared to the so uth, became the industrial
heartland of the co un try. The right co nd itio ns for industri alisation
also ex isted in lo wl and Sco tland and sou th Wales, w h ich accent uat ed
the differences between th ose parts of th ese co untries and th eir non-
ind ustrialised areas.
In th e so uth o f England, Londo n cam e to do m ina te , not as an
ind ustrial ce ntre but as a business an d tradi ng cent re. By th e end of
the century. it had a popul atio n close to a m illion.
Despite all th e urban develo pmen t , social po wer and prestige
rested o n the possession ofland in the count rysid e. Th e outward
sig n of this prestige wa s the ow nership of a co unt ry seat - a gracious
co untry ma nsio n w ith land attached. More th an a th ousand suc h
m ansio ns were built in the eigh teenth century.

17 8 8
The first British senle rs (convicts and
sold iers) arr ive in Australia.
180 0
The separate Irish Parliament is closed
and the United Kingd om of Great
Britain and Ireland is formed.
18 0 s
A British fleet under (he command of
Adm iral Horatio Nelso n defeats Napo-
leon 's French fleet at the Banle of
Trafalgar. Nelson's Colum n in Trafalgar
Square in London commemorates this
na tional hero. who died during the
batt le,
182 9
Robert Peel. a government m inister.
organizes the first mod em police force.
The poli ce are still sometimes know n
toda y as 'bobbies'. {Bobby' is a sho rt
form of the name ' Robert"}
Catholi cs and non -Anglican Protest-
ants arc given the right to hold
government posts and become MPs.
26 2 History
18 31
The first law regulating factory working
conditions is passed. (It set a limit on
the number of hour s that ch ildren
co uld work .)
Slavery is made illegal throughout
the British Empire .
The nineteenth cent ury
Not lo ng before thi s cen tury began , Britain had lo st its most important
American colonies in a war of independence . When the century
began, the cou ntry was locked in a wa r with France, during which
an invas ion by a French army was a real possib ility. Soon after the
end of the cen tury, Britain co ntrolled the biggest empire th e world
had eve r seen (see chapte r J 2).
One section o f this emp ire w as Ireland . During this cent ury it was,
in fact, part of the UK itself, and it wa s durin g thi s cent ur y that th e
British cultur e and way of life came to predomin ate in Ireland . In th e
18 4 0 5, the po tato crop failed tw o year s in a row an d there w as a
terr ible famine . Million s of peasant s, those wi th Irish Gaelic lan gu age
and cus toms , either died or emigrated. By the end of the century
almost the whole of the remaining population were us ing English as
their first language.
Another part of the empire was made up of Canada, Australia
and New Zealand, where settlers from the British Isles formed th e
majority of the population. These countries had complete internal
self-go vern m en t but recognized the overall authority of the British
government. Anot her was India, an enormous co untry w ith a culture
more ancient than Britain's. Tens of thou sands of British civil servants
and troo ps were used to gove rn it. At the head of this adm inistration
w as a viceroy (go vernor) w hose position wi thin the co untry was
similar to the monarch's in Britain itself. Because India w as so rar
aw ay, and the journey from Britain too k so lo ng , these British officials
spe nt most of the ir working lives there and so developed a di stinctly
Anglo-Indian w ay of life . They im posed British ins titutions and
met ho ds o f governm ent on the country, and returned to Britain
when they retired . Large parts of Africa also belonged to the empire.
Except for South Africa, where there was som e British settlement,
most ofBritain' s African colonies started as trading bases on the co ast,
and we re only incorporated into the empire at the end of the century.
As we ll as th ese area s (Canada, Australia , New Zealand, India and
Africa) , the empire included numerous sm aller area s and islands.
18 68 188 6
The TLlC (Trades Unio n Congress) is After m uch debate. an atheist is allo wed
forme d. to sit in the House of Commons.
18 7 0 18 9 3
Free primary educati on (up to the age The first socialist. Keir Hardie. is ele cted
o f eleven) is established . to Parliament . He enters the Ho use o f
Commo ns for the first time wearing a
clo th cap (which remained a symbol of
the British w orking man until the
19 6 os) .
 The nineteent h cent ury 27

.... Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria reigned from 1837
to 190 I. During her reign, although
the modern po werlessness of the
monarch was confirmed (she was
often forced to accept as Prim e
Ministers people she personally
disliked ) , she herself became an
increasingly po pula r symbol of
Britain 's success in the world . As
a har d-w orking. religious mo ther
o f nin e children, devo ted to her
husband . Prince Alben, she w as
regarded as the person ification of
conte mporary morals. The idea that
the monarch should set an exam ple
to the people in such ma tters was
unknown before this time and
created problems for the monarchy
in the twentieth cemury (see
chapter 7).
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and (heir ninechildren, photographed in 1857

Some , such as those in th e Caribbean, were th e result of earli er British

settlem en t. but m ost were acquired because of th eir strategic posi-
tion along trading ro utes.
A change in attitude in Britain tow ards co lo nizatio n d urin g th e
nin ete enth cen tury ga ve new enco uragem ent to the em pire builders.
Previo usly. colonization had been seen as a matter of settlement . of
com merce, or of military strategy. The aim was sim ply to possess
territo ry, but not necessarily to go vern It. By the en d of th e centu ry,
co lonization w as see n as a ma tter o f destiny. There was an enormo us
increase in wealth during the century. so that Britain becam e th e
world's fo remost econo m ic power. Th is, tog ether w ith lo ng years of
po litic al stability uneq ualled anywhere else in Euro pe, gave th e
British a sense of supreme co nfidence, even arrog ance, about their
culture an d civilizatio n, The British came to see the mse lves as having
a d ut y 1O spread thi s culture and civilizatio n aro und th e world. Being

19 2 1 91 I 19 16
Nation w ide selective secondary The power of the Hou se of Lords is The 'Easter Rising ' in Ireland against
ed ucation is introduc ed . severely red uced . British rule is suppressed. Its leaders
Sick pay for m ost w or kers is are execut ed .
198 introdu ced.
The first old-age pensions arc 19 18
in troduced. 1 91 4- The right to vote is extended to include
Britain declares wa r on Germ any. Un til women over the age of thiny.
the 19+OS. the First Wo rld War was
known in Britain as 't he Great War' . 19 20
The British government partitions
Ireland .
28 2 History

... The White M an 's Burd en
Here are some lines from the poem
o f th is title by Rudyard Kipling
(1865~1936 ), who is sometimes
referred to as 'the poe t o f
imperialism' .
Toke uptheWhiteMan's burden -
Send forth the best yebreed -
Go, bind your sons !O exile
To sene you r captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk andwild-
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Other races, the poem says, are
'wild' and have a 'need' 1O be civil-
ized. The white man's noble duty is
to 'se rve' in th is ro le. This is no t a
quest for mere pow er. The du ty is
bestowed by God, whom Kiplin g
invokes in another poem
(Recessional) in a reference to the
British empire in tropical land s;
God ofour fathers, known ofold ,
Lord ofourfar-flung bottle-line,
Beneath whoseawful handwe hold
Dominion ever palm and pine -
the rulers of an em pire was the refore a matter of moral obligation . It
was, in fact, known as 't he w hite man's burden' (r> The WhiteMan's
Burden) .
There were great changes in social structure. Most people now
lived in tow ns and cities. They no longer depen ded on country
landowners for their living but rather on the owners ofindustrie s.
These factory owner s held the real power in the country, along w ith
the new and growing middle class of trade speople. As they estab-
hs hed their power, so they estab hshed a set of valu es which
emphasized hard work, thrift, rehgious ob servance , family life, an
awa reness of one's duty, absolute honesty in public life and extreme
respectability in sexua l matters. This is the set of values which w e
now call Victorian.
Midd le-class religious conviction , together with a conscious beli ef
that reform was bett er than revolution, allowed reforms in political
an d public life to take place. Britain wa s gradually turn in g into some-
thing resembling a modern state. There w ere not only political
reform s, but also reforms which recognized some human rights (as
we now call them). Slavery and the law s against pe op le on th e basis
of religion we re abolished , and law s were made to pr ot ect workers
from some of the w orst forms of exploitation resulting fro m the
in du strial mode of production . Public service s suc h as the police force
were set up.
Despite reform , the nature of the new ind u stria l society forced
many people to live and work in very unpleasant con ditions . Writers
and intellectuals of this period either protested against the horrors of
this new style of life (as Dickens did) or sim ply ign ored it. Many ,
espec ially the Romantic poets, praised the beauties of the co un tryside
and the sim plicity of cou ntry life. This wa s a new development. In
previous cen tu ries the countryside had just existed , and it w asn 't
something to be discussed or admired. But from thi s time on, most
British people developed a sentimen tal attachment to the id ea of th e
countryside (see chapter 5).

19 2 1
Treaty between Britain and th e Irish
Parliam ent in Dublin is Signe d.
19 22
The Irish Free State is born .
19 26
Gene ral Strike
19 2 8
The right 1O vote is exte nde d again.
All m en and women ove r the age of
twe nty-one can now vote.
19 39
Britain declares wa r on Germany.
19 44
Free compulsory secondary education
(up to the age o f fifteen) is established
and seco ndary modern schools are set
up (see chap ter [4 ) .
194 6
The National Health Service is estab-
lished (see chapter 18) .
Coal mines and railways are na tional-
ized. Other indust ries follow (see
chapt er [ 5).
19 4 9
Ireland becomes a republic .
19 5'3
Coronation of Elizabeth II
19 5"8
The Clean Air Act is the first law ofwide-
spre ad applic ation to attempt to control
po llution (see chapter 3).
19 5"9
The first motorway is opened (see
chapter [ 7) .
 The twe ntiet h century 29

The twentieth century

By the beginning o f thi s cent ury , Britain w as no longer the world's
richest count ry. Perhaps thi s caused Victo rian confidence in gradual
reform to weaken . W hatever the reason , the first twent y yea rs o f the
ce ntury w ere a pe rio d o f ex trem ism in Britain . The Suffrage ttes.
women demanding the right to vote, w ere pr epared bo th to dam age
propert y and to die for their beliefs; the problem o f Ulster in the
no rth ofIreland led to a situatio n in w hich some sec tio ns of the army
appeared ready to disobey the government; and the gove rn me nt's
in troduction of new types and level s o f taxation was o pposed so
absolu tely by the House ofLords that even Parliam ent, the founda-
tion of the po litical system , see med to have an uncert ain future in its
traditional form. But by the end of the First World War, tw o of these
issues had been resolved to most peopl e's satisfactio n (the Irish
proble m rema ined) and the rather un-British climate of e xtrem ism
died out.
The sig nificant c hanges that took place in the tw enti eth cen tury
are dea lt w ith elsewhe re in this book. Just one thing shou ld be not ed
here. It was from the beginning of this century that the urha n wo rking
class (the majority of the population) finally began to make its voice
heard . In Parliament, th e Labour party gra dually replaced the Liberal s
(th e ' desce ndants' of the W higs) as the main op po sition to the
Con servatives (the 'descendants' of the Tories) . In addit ion , trad e
unions ma nage d to orga nize th em selves. In 1926, they were pow erful
enoug h to ho ld a General Strike, and fro m the 19 305 until the 1980s
the Trade s Union Congress (see cha pte r 14 ) was probably the single
m ost powerful political force outside the institut ion s of go vernment
and Parliament.

19 63 197 1 19 84
The school-leaving a.ge is raised to Decimal currency is introd uced (see Privatizatio n of Bnush Telecom . This is
sixteen. chapter 1 1)) . the first time that shares in a national -
ized company are so ld direct to the
19 68 1973 public (see chapter I ) ) .
The 'age o f majorit y' (the age at which Britain joins the European Economic
so mebod y legall y beco mes an adult) is Community. 199 0
reduced from twent y-on e to eigh teen. Gulf War (see chapter 12 )
19 8 1
1969 Marriage of Prince Charles and Lady 1994
British troops are sent to No rthern Diana Spencer. Cha nnel tunnel o pens .
Ireland.
Capi tal punishm ent is abolished. 19 8 2
Falklands War (sec cha pter 12)
30 2 History

QUESTIO N S

I 1066 And All That is the title of a we ll-known joke
hi stor y book publishe d before the Second World
War which satirizes the way that history wa s
taught in Briti sh schoo ls at the time. This typi c-
ally in vol ved memorizing lots ofda tes. Wh y, d o
yo u think, did the writers choose this title ?
2 In 19 8 6 , the BBC released a computer-video
packag e o f d etail ed information ab out ever y
place in Britain. It took a long time to prepare
this pa ckage but the decision to publish it in
1986 (and not.for example , 19850r 19 8 7) wa s
deliberate. What is significant about the dat e '
3 Which of th e famous names in popular British
history could be described as 'resistance
fight ers'?
4 Around the year 1500, ab out 5 million people
used the English langu age -less than the popu-
lation ofBritain at the time. Today, it is estimated
that at least 600 million people use English regu-
larl y in every day life - at least ten times th e
presen t population o f Britain . Why ha s th e use
of Engli sh expanded so much in th e last 50 0
years?
5 How would yo u de scribe th e chang ing relation-
ship be tween religion and politics in British
hi story? Are the changes that ha ve taken place
similar to those that have oc curred in yo ur
countr y?
6 Britain is unusual among European countri es in
that, fo r more than 300 years now, there has
no t been a single revolutio n or civil war. What
reasons can yo u find in this chapter which
migh t help to expla in th is stability?

SUG GES T I ONS

Understand ing Britain by Jo hn Randle (Basil Blackwell, Ox ford ) is a very

readable history of Brita in, written w ith the student in mi nd.
TheStory ofEnglish is a BBC series ofnin e programmes w h ich is available
o n video. Episo des 2-4 are largely histo rical in co nten t and very
in teresting.
There is a stro ng tradition o f historical novels in Eng lish (se t at various
times in Britain's hi sto ry) . Th e w ritings o f Geo rget te Heyer, Norah
Lofts , Jean Plaid y, Ro semary Sutcliffe an d Henry and Geo ffrey Treece
are good exam ples.
 3'

3
Geography

It has been claime d that the British love of compromise is th e result

of th e count ry's physical geography. Th is ma yor ma y no t be tru e, but
it is certainly true that the land and clima te in Britain have a notabl e
lack of extremes. Britain has mountains , but non e of th em are very
high; it also has flat land, bu t yo u cannot travel far wi thout encoun-
tering hill s; it has no reall y big rivers ; it doesn't usually get ver y co ld
in the winter o r very hot in the sum mer; it has no active volca noes,
and an earth tremor which does no mo re than ra ttle teacups in a few
ho uses is repor ted in the national new s m edia.

8'w 4 ~W Shetland tf. 0"

1$lan~s ~ .
The
~ British landscape

,
100 200
I

land height in metres above sea leve l

N ORTH
, EA More than 500
-55.N-II- ..".J~,...
200 - 500

len than 200

8" Ox(f1Td University Press

I
32 3 Geography

Climate
The climate of Britain is m o re or less the sam e as tha t of the north-
wes tern part of the Europea n mainland . The po pu lar belief that it
rains all the time in Britain is sim ply not true. Th e image of a wet,
fogg y land wa s created tw o tho usand years ag o by the in vading
Romans and ha s been perp etuated in m odern tim es by Ho llyw ood,
In fact , London gets no m ore rain in a year than m ost ot her m ajor
European cit ies, and less th an som e (I> How wet is Brttcin/) .
The am ount of rain that falls on a lawn in Britain depe nd s o n
w he re it is. Gene rally spea king , the furthe r west yo u go, the m o re
rain you get. The mild winters mean that snow is a regular featur e of
the higher area s o nly. Occasionally. a w ho le w inte r goes by in low er -
lying parts w ithout an y snow at all. The w in ters are in ge ne ral a bit
co lde r in the east o fthe co untry than they are in the west , w hile in
sum mer, the so uth is slightly w armer and sunn ier than the no rth.
Wh y has Britain 's climate gO( suc h a bad reputa tion? Perhaps it is
for th e same reaso n that British people always seem to be talking about
the wea the r. Thi s is its changeability. There is a saying th at Britain
doesn't have a climate. it o nly ha s w eathe r. It m ay not rain very much
alto gether. but yOUcan never be sure of a dry day; there can be cool
(eve n co ld) da ys in July and so m e quite wa rm days in Jan uary.
The lack of ex trem es is the reason wh y. o n th e few occ asio ns when
it ge ts ge nUinely hot or freezing cold, th e co un tr y seems to be totally
unp repared for it. A bit of sno w and a few days of frost and the trains
SlOp working an d the roads are blo cked; if the th ermometer goes
above 80 F ( 27C) [o How hot or cold is Britain' ). people beh ave as if
th ey were in th e Sahara and the tem pe ratu re m akes front-page head -
lin es. These things happen so rarely tha t it is no t worth o rganizing
life to be ready for them .
.... How wet is Britain?
Annual total rainfall (approximate) in so me European cities
west east

---- -
IOoo mm
900mm ..
800mm :: ..
700mm
600mm -- -- - ---
::::

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- - - - --
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400mm .........
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,0 o~ "",e< ~o~. 'b~
-<!:'~'( 11"" ~e" o~ '5.)<'"
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 Land and sett lement 33

Land and settlement ... Th e vanishi ng co a stlin e

Britain has neither towering mountain ranges, nor impressively large Britain is an island under constant
anack from the surrounding sea.
river s, plains or fore sts. But thi s does not mean that its landscape is
Every year.Hnle bits of the east coast
boring. What it lacks in grandeur it makes up for in variet y. The vanish into the North Sea. Some-
scenery changes noticeably over quite short d istances. It has often lime s the land slips away slowly. But
been rem arked that a journey of 10 0 m iles ( 1 6 0 kilometres) can, as at ot her limes n slips away ve ry sud-
a result , seem twice as far. Overall, the south and east of the co untry denl y. In 1993 a dram atic example
is comparatively low -lyin g, consisting of either fiat plain s or gen tly of this process occurred near the
town of Scarborough in Yorkshire .
rolling hill s. Moun tainous areas are found only in the north and
The Holbc ck Hotel. built on a
west, although these regions also have fiat areas (r- TheBritish landscape). clifftop overlooking th e sea, had
Huma n influ en ce has been extensive. The for ests that on ce covere d been the best hot el in town for J J 0
the land have largely di sappeared. Britain has a grea ter proporti on years. But on th e mo rni ng o f +Jun e,
of grassland than any o ther country in Euro pe excep t the Republic of guest s aw oke to find cracks in the
walls and the doors stuc k. When
Ireland. One di stinctive human influence. especially common in
they loo ked o ut of the window ,
southe rn England, is the enclosure of fields w ith hedgerows. This instead of seeing fifteen me tres of
feature increases the impression ofvariety. Although many hedgerow s hote l garden , they saw nothin g-
have di sappeared in th e second hal f of th e tw ent iet h century (farmers except the sea. The re was no time to
have dug them up to increase the size of their fields an d become more collect their belongings. They had to
efficient). there are still enoug h of them to support a grea t variety of leave the hotel immedi ately. During
the da y various rooms of the hot el
bird-life.
started lean ing at odd ang les and
... H ow hot o r c old is Britain? then slipped do wn the cliff The
Holbeck Hotel 's rol e in the tourism
Ann ual temperature range (fro m hottest mo nt h to co ldest mo nt h) in some
industry wa s over. How ever, by
Europ ean cities
'dying' so dramatically, it provided
west east one last great sight for tourists. Hun -
dreds of them watched the action
throughout the day.
OF C
86 30
77 25
68 20
59 15
50 10
41 5
32 0
23 -5
14 -10
I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I...

The Hol beck Hotel falling into thesea

Most people in Britain are happier using the Fahrenhe it scale of measurement (F).
To them. a temperature 'in the upper twenties' means that it is freezing and on e
'in th e low seventies' will not killyou - it is just pleasantly warm.
34 3 Geography

The Bri t ish Isles: where people live

Int ernat ional boundary

National boundary
County boundary
1
Sel e cted ci t ies a n d towns
over 500 000 inhabita nts
200 000 to 500 000 inhabitants
under 200 00 0 inhabitan ts
Persons per square kilometre

more than J 500

1000 -1 500
500 - 1000

250 - 500

100 250
50 - 100
10 SO

_,,",~.ftl ew castl e . u po n . Ty ne

"'-
Norwich

.
4'.

OxfordUniversily Press
 The env ironmen t and pollution 3 S-

Much of the land is used for human hab itation . This is not just
because Britain is den sely populated (e- The British Isles: where people lire) .
Partly because of their desire for privacy and their love of the country-
side (see chap ter 5) , the English and the Welsh don't like living in
blocks of flats in city cent res and the proporti on of people wh o do so
is lower than in ot her European countries. As a result , cities in
England and Wales have , wherever po ssible , been buil t outwards
rather than upwards (although this is not so much the case in Scot tish
cities). For example , Greater London has abo ut three tim es the popu-
latio n o f greater Athe ns but it occupies len tim es the area afland .
How ever, beca use most people (abou t 75 %) live in tow ns o r cities
rather than in villages or in the countryside, this habit of building
outwards does not mean that yo u see buildings w herever you go in
Britain. There are areas o f co m pletely open countryside ever ywhere
and so me o f the m ountainous areas remain virtually untouched .

The en vironment and pollution

It w as in Britain that the word 'smog ' wa s first used (to describe a
mix ture of smoke and fog) . As the world 's first indu strialized
co untry. its cities w ere the first to suffer this atmo spheric cond ition .
In the ninet eenth century Londo n 's 'pea -soupcrs ' (thick smogs)
became famo us thro ugh descriptio ns of them in the works of Charles
Dickens and in the Sherlock Holmes sto ries. The situation in London
reached its w orst po int in 1952. At the end of that year a part icularly
bad smog, which lasted for several days, was estimate d to have caused
between 4.000 and 8 ,000 deaths.
Water pollution wa s also a problem. In the nineteenth century it
was once suggested that th e Houses of Parliament should be wrapped
in eno rmous wet shee ts to pro tec t tho se inside from the awfu l smell
of the RiverThames. Until the 1960s, the first thing that happened
to people who fell into the Thames was that th ey were rushed to
hospital to have their sto machs pumped out!
Then, during the t 96 0s and 1970 s, laws were passed which
forbade the hea ting of homes wi th open coal fires in city areas and
which stopped mu ch o f the pollution from factories. At one time, a
scene of fog in a Hollywood film was all that was necessary to
sym bolize Lon don. Thi s image is no w out of date, and by the end of
the 1970S it was said to be possible to catch fish in the Tham es
out side Parliam ent.
How ever. as in the rest o f western Europe. the great inc rease in
the use of the mot or car in the last quarter of the tw ent ieth cent ury
caused an increase in a new kind of air po llution .This problem has
become so serio us that the television weather forecast now regularl y
issues warnings o f 'poor air quality' . On some occ asio ns it is bad
enough to prompt official advice that certain people (such as asthma
sufferers) should not even leave their ho uses, and that nobody should
take any vigo rous exe rcise . such as jogging. o ut o f doors.
36 3 Geography

Lond on
Lond on (the largest cit y in Europe) dominates Britain . It is home for
the headquarter s of all government departmen ts, Parli am ent . the
major legal institutions and the monarch. It is the country's business
and bankin g ce ntre and the centre o f its trans po rt network. It contains
the headqu arters o f the national tele visio n netwo rks and o f all the
national newspapers. It is about seve n times larger than any other
city in th e co u n try. About a fifth of the total populat ion of th e UK
lives in the Greater London area.
Th e o rig inal wall ed cit y ofLondon was q uite small. (It is kno w n
co lloq uially today as 'the sq uare m ile ") It did not co n tain Parlia m ent
or the ro yal co urt, since this would have interfered with the au to-
nom y of the merchant s and traders w ho lived and worked there . It
wa s in Westminster, another 'city ' o utside Lo ndon 's w alls, that these
natio nal institutions met. Toda y, both 'cities' are just tw o areas of
central London . The square mile is home to the cou ntry's main finan -
cial organizati ons, the territory of th e stereo typical Engli sh ' city
ge nt'. During the da ytime , nearly a million people work th ere, but
less tha n 8 ,000 people actually live there.
Two other well -known areas of Lo nd o n are the West End and the
East End. The former is known for its man y theatres, cinemas and
expensive sho ps. The latt er is known as the po o rer rcsidcnrial area of
central Lo nd on . It is th e home of the Cockney (see chap ter 4) an d in
the twen tie th ce ntury large numbers of imm ig rants se ttled the re.
There are m any ot her pans of cen tral Lo nd o n w hich have their
own distinctive characters, and cent ral London itself make s up on ly
a very small pan o f Greater London . In common with many o ther
European cit ies, the population in. the central area has de creased in
the second half o f the twentieth century. The maj ority o f 'Londoners'
live in its suburbs, millions o f them travelling into the ce ntre each
day to work. These suburbs cover a vast area o fl and.
Like ma ny larg e cities , London is in so me w ays unt ypi cal o f the
rest o f th e co u ntry in tha t it is so co smopolitan . Although all of
Britain's cities have so me degree of cu ltural and racial variety, the
variety is by far the gr eatest in London . A survey car ried out in th e
1980s found that 137 different languages w ere spoke n in the homes
o f just o ne district.
In recent years it has been claimed that Lo ndo n is in decline . It is
losing its place as one o f the world 's big gest finan cial ce ntres an d , in
co m pariso n with man y o ther western European c ities, it look s rather
dirty and negle cted. Nevert heless, its popularity as a tourist d estina-
tion is still growing . And it is not only tour ists w ho like visiting
London - the readers of Business Trareller magazin e o ften VOle it their
favo u rite city in the world in which to do busin ess. This popularit y
is probably the result of its com bination o f ap parent ly infinite cul-
tural variet y and a lo ng hi story which ha s left man y visi ble signs o f
its richness and drama.
 Southern Eng land 37

South ern England

The area surrou nding the outer suburbs of London has the repu tatio n
of being 'co mm uter land' . This is the most densely populated area
in the U K wh ich does not include a large city, and mill ion s of its
inhabitants travel into Londo n to w ork every day.
Further out from Londo n the region has more ofits own di stinctive
character. The county of Kent, w hich you pass thro ugh when travel-
ling from Dover or the Channel tunnel to London, is known as 't he
garde n of England ' because o f th e man y kind s offru it and vegetables
grown there. The Downs, a series of hills in a horseshoe shape to the
south ofLondon, are used for shee p farm ing (though not as intens-
ively as they used to be). The son them side o f the Down s reaches the
sea in many places and for ms the white cliffs o f the south coast. Man y
retired people live along this coast. Emplo yment in the south-e ast of
England is mainly in trade, the provision o fservices and ligh t manufac-
turing. There is little heavy industry. It has therefore not suffered the
slow econo m ic declin e of man y ot her part s of England .
The regi on know n as 'the West Country' has an attractive image of
rural beaut y in British peop le's minds - not ice the use o f the word
'country' in its nam e . There is so me industry and on e large city
(Bristol wa s once Britain's mos t im por tant po rt after London), bu t
farming is m ore widespread than it is in most o ther reg ions. Some
parts o f th e we st country are we ll-known for their dairy produc e, Farmland in southeast England
such as Devonshi re cream , and fruit. The so uth-west pe ninsu la, wit h
its roc ky coast, numerous sma ll bays (once noted for sm ugglin g
activities) and w ild m oorlands such as Exmoor and Dartmoor, is the
most popular holida y area in Britain. The winters are so mild in so m e
low-lying parts that it is even possible to grow palm tree s, and the
tourist industry has co ined the phra se 't he English Riviera' .
East Anglia , to the north-east ofLondon, is also comparatively
rural. It is the o nly regi on in Britain where there are large expanses
of uniformly flatland . This flatness, together with the com paratively
dry climate, has mad e it the main area in the co un try for the growing
of w heat and other arabl e crops. Part of this regi on , the area known
as the Fens, has been reclaimed from the sea, and mu ch of it still has
a very watery, misty feel to it. The Nor folk Broad s, for exam ple, are
criss-crossed by hundred s o f waterways but the re are no towns here,
so thi s is a pop ular area for boating holidays. Land's End, theextreme southwes t point
ofEngland
The Midlands
Birmingham is Britain's second largest city. During the Indu strial
Revolut ion (see chapte r 2) , Birm ingham, and the sur ro und ing area
o f th e West Midl and s (sometim es kno wn as the Black Country)
developed into th e co untry 's major engineering centre. Despit e the
decline of heavy industry in modern tim es , factor ies in thi s area still
co nv ert iron and steel into a vast variety of goods.
38 3 Geography
... Th e north-so ut h divide
The re arc many aspects ofltfe in
Britain which illustrate the so-called
'no rth-so uth divid e', This is a well-
known fact o f Brirish life . although
there is no actual geographical
bo unda ry. Basically , the south has
almost always bee n mo re prosper-
ous than the north . w ith lower rates
of une m ployment and m o re ex pens-
ive houses. This is especially true of
the sout h-eastern area surrounding
London. Th is area is often referred
to asthe ' Home Counties". Th e w ord
'home' in this co ntext high lights the
im po rtance attached to London and
its dom ination of public life .
An industrial town in northern England
There arc other indu strial areas in the Midlands, notabl y the town s
between the Black Country and Manc hest er known as The Pott eries
(famous for producing china such as that made at the factori es of
Wedgewood , Spode and Minton), and several towns in the East
Midla nd s, such as Derby, Leicester and Nottingham . On the east
coast, Grim sby, although a com paratively sm all town, is one of
Britain's most important fishing pons.
Although the midlands do not have man y positive associations in
th e minds of British people, tourism ha s flourish ed in 'Shakespeare
count ry' (ce nt red on Stratford -upon-Avon, Sha kespe are's
birthplace) , and No ttingham has suc cessfully capitalized on th e
legend of Robin Hood (see chapter 2) .
Northern England
The Pennine mountains run up the middle o f northern England like
a sp ine. On either side , the large deposits of coal (u sed to provid e
power) and iron ore (used to make machiner y) en abled the se area s
to lead the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century. On the
we stern side , the Manchester area (connected to the port of Liverpool
by can al) became, in the ni neteenth century, the world' s leading
prod ucer of cot ton goods; o n the eastern side , to\VI1 S such as Bradford
and Leeds beca me the world's leadin g producers of woollen goods.
Many o ther towns sprang up on both sides of the Pennines at this
time , as a result o f the grow th o f certain auxiliary industries and of
coal mi nin g. Further south, Sheffield became a cen tre for the produc-
tio n of stee l goo ds. Furt he r north , around Newcastle, sh ipbuild in g
was the majo r industry.
In the m inds of British people the pro totype o f the noi sy, dirty
factory that sym bolizes the Ind ustrial Revol ution is found in the ind us-
trial north. But the achievemen ts o f these new industrial towns also
induce d il feeling of civic pride in their inhabitant s and an energetic
realism, epitomized by the cliched saying 'where there's muck there's
bra ss' (wherever there is dirt , there is money to be made) .
The decline in heavy industry in Europe in the seco nd half of the
twentieth cen tur y hit the industrial north of England hard . For a
long tim e, the region as a w hole ha s had a level o f un employm ent
significantly above the national average.
The towns on either side ofthe Pennines are flanked by steep slopes
on which it is difficult to build and are surrounde d by land most
of which is un suitable for an y agr iculture othe r th an sheep
farming. Therefore , the pattern of settlement in the north of
England is oft en different from that in th e sout h . Op en and
uninhabited co untryside is never far away from its cities and
tow ns. The typically industrial and the very rural interloc k. The
wild , windswept moors which are the sening for Emily Brame 's
famou s novel Wuthering Heights seem a world away from the smoke
and grime of urba n life - in fact, they are just up the ro ad (about
15 kilometres) from Bradford '
 Scotland 39

Further away from the ma in ind ustrial areas , the north of England
is sparsely populated . In the north -western corner of th e country is
the Lake District. The Romantic poets of the nineteenth century,
Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey (the ' Lake Poets), lived here
and wrote about its beauty. It is the favourite destination of people
who enjoy wa lking ho lidays and the whole area is classified as a
National Park (the largest in Engl and).

Scotland
Scotland has three fairly clearly-marked regions. Just north of the
border with England are the southern up lands , an area of small
towns , qu ite far apart from each other, whose econo my depends to
a large extent on sheep farmin g. Further no rth, there is the central
plain. Finally, there are the highlands, con sisting of mountains and
deep valleys and including numerous sm all islands off the we st coast.
This area of spectacular natural beauty occupies the same land area as
southern England bu t fewe r than a mill ion people live there. Touri sm
is important in the local eco nomy , and so is the production ofwhisky.
It is in the central plain and the strip of east coast extending north-
wards from it that more than 80 % of the populatio n of Scotland lives.
In recent times , this reg ion has had m any of the same difficult ies as
the industrial north of England , althoug h th e No rth Sea oil ind ustry
has help ed to keep unem ployment dow n,
Sco tland 's tw o m ajor cities have very different reputations.
Glasgow is the third largest city in Britain, It is associated with heavy
industry and som e of the w orst housing conditions in Britain (the
district called the Gorbals . although now rebuil t, was famous in this
respect) . However, thi s image is one-sided, Glasgow has a strong
arti stic heritage. A hundred years ago the work of the Glasgow
School (led by Mackintosh) put the city at the forefro nt of
European design and architect ure. In J 990 , it was the European City
of Culture. Over the centuries, Glasgow has received ma ny immig-
rants from Ireland and in some wa ys it reflects the di vision s in the
com munity that exist in Northern Ireland (see chapter 4). For
exam ple, ofits two rival football teams , one is Catholic (Celtic) and
the other is Protestant (Range rs) .
Edinburgh, whic h is half the size of Glasgow, has a comparatively
mid dle-cla ss im age (although class differences between the two
cities are not really very great). It is the capital of Scotland and is
associated wi th scholarship , the law and adm inistration. This repu ta-
tion , toge ther w ith its man y fine histor ic buil dings, and also perhaps
its topograph y (there is a rock in the middle of the city on which
stands the castle) has led to its being called 't he Athens of the north '.
The annual Edinburgh Festival of the arts is internationally famous
(see chapter 22) .
+0 3 Geography

Part of Snowdonia Notional Pork

Wales
As in Scotland. most people in Wales live in one sm all part of it. In
the We lsh case, it is the so uth- east of the country that is mo st heavily
populated . Coal has been m ined in man y pan s of Britain . but just as
British peop le wo uld locate the pro totype factor y of the indus trial
revolutio n in the no rth of England. so the y w ould loca te its pro totype
coal mine in so uth Wales. Despite its indu stry. no really large cities
have grown up in this area (Cardiff, the cap ital of Wales. has a popula-
tio n o f about a quarter of a million). It is the only part of Britain with
a high proportion o f industri al villages. Coal mining in sout h Wales
has now ceased and, as elsew here, the transitio n to o ther forms o f
em ployme nt has been slow and painful.
Most of the rest of Wa les is mountainous. Because of this, com-
mu nica tio n between so uth and nor th is very difficult. As a result , each
part of Wales has closer con tact wi th its neighbouring part of England
than it does w ith ot her pa rts of Wales: the north with Liverpool . and
mid-Wale s w ith the En glish wes t midlands. The area around Mount
Snowdo n in the no rth-west of the country is very beautiful and is the
larges t Nat ional Park in Britain .

Northern Ireland
Wi th the exce ptio n of Belfast , w hich is fam ous for the manufacture
of linen (and w hich is still a shipbuilding City) , thi s region is, like
the res t ofIreland, largely agricu ltura l. It has several areas of spectacu-
lar natural beaut y. One of these is the Giant's Causew ay o n its north
coast, so-called becau se the ro cks in the area form w hat lo ok like
eno rmous step pin g stones.
 Questions and sug gestions .... 1

QUE STIO NS

I Bearing in mind its climat e and general charac- 5 In the sho rt 'tour' of the regions of Britain in
ter, whic h part of Britain would yo u choose to thi s chapter. so me sectio ns are lo nger than
live in? Why? Is this the same part that you others. This is partly because some reg ions have
would like to visit for a holiday' Why (not)? 'higher profiles' than others - that is, more is
2 How is the pattern of human se ttlem ent in your known o r imagi ned abo ut them than others.
country differen t from that in Britain ? W hich arc the regi on s in Britain that seem to
3 Does the capi tal city of yo ur count ry stand in the have the higher profiles' What do their reputa-
same relation to the rest o f the country as tio ns co ns ist of?
London does LO Britain?
4 The two big television news organizations in
Britain, the BBC and lI N, bot h have 'North of
England' corre spondents. But nei ther has a
'South of Eng land' correspondent. W hy do yo u
thin k this is ?W hat is it an exa m ple o f?

SUGG ESTIONS

Spotlight on Britoin by Sheerin , Seath and W hite (Oxford University

Press) is a book written for the non-native student of Britain using a
geographical approach.
If you enjoy travel writ ing . there are several book s w hic h o ffer
accounts of journeys through o r around Britain . The Kingdom by the Sea
by the respec ted novelist Paul Theroux (Penguin) is an example,
There are many n ine teen th -century Eng lish novels w hich invo ke a
sense of place, The action in Thomas Hard y's novel s, such as Return
ofthe Native and Tess of the D'Urberrilles, usually takes place in the south
west of England (mainly the co unty o f Dorset) , in an area w h ich
Hard y called Wessex. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte has the York-
shire moors as its se ll ing . More rece ntly, Graham Sw ift's no ve l
Waterland (Picador) , as its title suggests, takes acco un t of the effect of
the land scap e of the fen s in East Anglia on the actions of the people
who live the re,
42

4
Identity

How do British people identify themselves' Who do they feel they

are? Everybod y has an image of themselves, but the things that make
up this imag e can vary. For example. in so me parts o f the w orld , It is
very important that yo u are a member o f a particular family ; in o the r
part s of the world , it might be more important that you come from
a particular place; in o thers, that yo u belong to a certain social class.
This chap ter explores the loyalties and senses of identity most typic-
ally felt by British peop le,

Eth nic id entity: th e native Briti sh

National (' ethnic' ) loyalties can be strong among the people in Britain
w hose ancestors were no t English (see chapter I) , For som e people
living in England who call them selves Scottish , Welsh or Irish , this
loyalty is little more than a matter of em o tiona l aua chmen t. But fo r
others, it goes a bit fur ther and th ey m ay even join one of the sport ing
and socia l club s fo r 'ex iles ' from these nations. These clubs promote
natio nal folk music, org anize parties o n special national days and
foster a consciou sness of do ing things differently from the Eng lish,
For people living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the way
that ethnic ident ity commonly exp resses itself varies. Peopl e in Scot -
land have constant reminders of thei r distincti ven ess. First, several
important aspects o f public life are organized separately, and differ-
ently, from the rest of Britain - notably, education , law and religion .
Second , the Scotti sh way of speaking English is very distin ctive, A
modern form o f the dialect known as Scots (see chapter 2) is spoken
in everyday life by mo st of the wor king classes in the lowl and s. It
has man y features which are different from othe r forms of English
and cannot usually be understood by peopl e who are not Scottish.
Third , there are m any sym bols of Scottishness whi ch are well-known
throughout Britain (see chapter I ),
However, the feeling of being Scotti sh is not that simple (e- Wh at
docs it mean to be Scottish' ), This is partly because o f the historical cultural
split between highland and lowland Scotland (see chapter 2). Agenu-
inely Scottish Gaelic sense of cultural identity is, in modern times,
felt on ly by a few tens of thousands of people in some o f the western
isles of Scotland and the adjoining mainland . These peop le speak
Scottish Gaelic (w hich they call 'Gallic') as a first language,

110' What doe s it m e an to be
Scottish?
On 25 Jan uar y eve ry yea r , ma nr
Sco ttish people an end 'Bu rn s'
su ppers'. At these pa r ties th ey read
fro m th e w ork o f the eight eenth
cent ury poet Rober t Burns
(regar ded as Sco tla nd's na tio nal
poet) , wear kilts. sing traditional
songs. dance tr aditional da nc es
(calle d 'r eel s') and eat haggis (made
from shee p's heart. lu ngs and
liver }.
Her e are two op pos ing views of
th is way of ce lebrat ing Sco u ishness.
The sent ime nta l nat io nalist
That national pride that ties knot s in
your stomach w hen r ou see you r cou n-
try's fla~ so me w here unexpected is par-
ucularlj- stro ng among the Scots. On
Burns' Night. people all o ver the w orld
figh t their wa y through haggi s and Tam
o 'Shantc r! . not really liki ng either.
They do it because they feel allegiance
to a sma ll, we t. under-p op ulat ed.
bullied country stuck on th e edg e of
Europ e.
Many Scottish Scots hate the ro man-
tic , sentimental view of thei r count ry;
the kilts. the pipes , the haggis, Bonnie
Prince Charlie. The sight of a man in a
skin . or a Dundee cakes. mak es them
furious. To them , thi s is a tou rist view
of Scotland invent ed by the Eng lish . But
I adore the fierce romant ic, tartan. sen-
timental Scotland. The dour McStalin -
ists are mi ssing the point - and the fun.
In the eighteenth century. the English
practicall y destro yed High land Scot-
land. The norm alizing of relati ons
between the two countries was
accomplished by a novel ist . Sir Walter
Scott . whose stor ies and lege nds
intrigued and excited the English.
Under his d irection , the whole co u nt ry
reinvented itself. Everyone , v ho co uld
get hold of a bit o f tanan w ore a kilt ,
ancie nt ceremonies were invented. In a
few mont hs , a wa steland of da ng erous
beggarly savages becam e a na tion of
noble, brave , exotic wa rriors. Scott did
the best public relations job in history.
The ceremoniol cutting ofthe haggis at a Bums' supper
The realpolitik! Scot doesn 't see it
like that. He on ly relates to heavy ind us-
try. 1966 trade un io nism and a sup
po sed class system that put s
Englishmen at the top of the heap and
Scottish w or kers at the bottom. His
heart is in the Gorbals. no t th e High -
lands. But 1 feel moved by the pipes.
th e old son gs, the po em s, th e ro m antic
stories , and the tearful. sent im ental
nationalism of it all.
A A Gill , The Sunday Times,
23 january 19 94 (ad apt ed)
I the title of a poe m by Burns. and also
the name for the tradition al cap of
hi ghland dr ess
z a rich fru it cake, supp ose dly ongm-
ating from the town of Dundee
3 an ap proach to po lities based on real-
itie s and m aterial needs
Th e realist
When 1 assur e English acq uaintances
tha t I would rath er sing a chorus of
Land of Hope and Glory! than attend a
Burn s' supper, the ir eyebrows rise .
Who cou ld po ssibly object to suc h a fun
ni gh t o ut ?
In fact. only a fcv.. . Scots are prepared
to suffer the bor ed om of these occa -
sions . The people who arc really keen
o n them aren 't Scottish at all. The y think
they are. especiall y on 25 Jan uar y or
Saint Andrew's Day or at inte rnational
Th e n ative British 43
ma tch es at Murrayfield - . when they all
mak e a great bu siness of wea ring kilts.
dancing reels, reciting their Tam
o'S hanter s and tr ying to sar ' loch '3
properly without coughing up
phlegm . But thes e pseudo-Scot s have
English accent s because they w ent to
posh public schools . Th e}' are Scottish
only in the sens e that their fami lies
have, for generations, ow ned large
part s of Scotl and - while living in
London.
Thi s usc o f Scontsh symbols by
pseud o -Scots ma kes it vcry awkward
for the rest of us Scots. It means that w e
can 't be sur e which bits of our heritage
are pure. Tartan ? Dun no- . Gay
Gordons" Don 't care. Whisky? No
w ay. that 's ours. Kilts worn wit h frilly
shirts? Pse udo-Scotti sh . Lions ram pant ?
Ours, as any Hamp dene crowd will
prove. And Burns' suppers? The Far-
quhar-Seato n- Bethune - Bucci euc hs 7
can keep them . And I hop e they all
choke on their haggis.
Harry Ritchi e. The Sunday Times.
23 january 19 94 (adapted)
I a pat riot ic British song w hi ch refers
(Q the ' rebellious Scots'
2 the Scottis h nationa l ru gby stad ium
3 'loch' is Gaelic for 'lake'
-4 i.e. ' I don't know'
S the name o f a partic ular reel
6 th e Scottish nat ional football
stadium
7 r>What'5 in a namt?
44 4 Identity

The people of Wales do not have as many reminders o f their

Welshness in everyday life.The organization o f public life is sim ilar
to that in England . Nor are there as man y well-known symbo ls of
Welshness. In additi on, a large minority of the peopl e in Wales
probably do not consider themselves to be especially Welsh at all. In
the nineteenth century large numbers o f Scottish, Irish and English
people we nt to find work there, and toda y man y English people still
make their homes in Wales or have holida y hou ses there. As a result,
a feelin g ofloyalty to Wales is often similar in nature to the fairly
wea k loyalties to particular geographical areas found throug hout
England (see below) - it is regional rather than nat iona listic.
However, there is one single highly-imporlant symbol of Welsh
iden tity - the Welsh language. Everybod y in Wales can speak English,
but it is not everybod y's first language. For abou t 20% of the pop ula-
tion (that 's more than half a million people), the moth er- tongue is
Welsh. For these peopl e Welsh identity obv iously means mor e than
just living in the region kno wn as Wales. Moreove r. in comparison
A sign in Welsh and English
to the other small min orit y languages of Europe. Welsh shows sig ns
o f continued Vitality. Thanks to successive cam paigns, the language
receives a lot ofpublic support. All chil dren in Wales learn it at school.
there are man y local newspapers in Welsh . there is a Welsh televisio n
channel and nearly all public notices and signs are written in both
Welsh and English.

.... M eibi on G lyndw r Troubl e at L1 langybi

Most of th e Welsh-speaking We lsh
fee l a certain ho stility w the
English cultural invas ion of their
country. Usually. this feeling is not
personal. But sometimes it can be ,
and there are extremist groups who
use violence to achieve thei r aims.
This newspaper article desc ribes
the actions of one such group.
Every morning , Ray and Jan Suno n
check their mail and car for bo mbs.
Targeted last w eek by arsonists, the
defiant English couple arc deaf to the
abuse hurled from passing veh icles
at their village shop.
The Suttons are ho lding out
against an ultimatum to leave Wales
by St David's day next year or be
burnt out o f the village store they
have run for seve n years at U langybi.
They are on a hit list issued by the
my sterious group Meibi o n
Glyndw r, Of Sons of Glendow er I .
Over the past thirteen years the Sons
of Glendower have le ft a fiery trail of
destructio n across north and west
Wales , claiming responsibility for
attacks o n Eng lish holiday homes,
estate agents, boatyards and shops.
Last year, Ray Sulton refused to
put up a poster in Welsh. The shop's
policy for the past twenty-six years
had been to accept only bilingual
posters, he said. The warning letter
he received read 'You are an English
co lonist . you are racist and ami -
Welsh. You arc on Meibion
Glyndwr 's blacklist. You mus t leave
Wales by the first of Marc h 199 3.'
Julian Cayo-Evans . a local busi -
nessma n and for m er 'supreme
commandant' o f the Free Wales
Army, denied having links w ith the
terrorist gro up but said . 'They have
a po int . You ng Welsh peop le are
forced to emigrate whereas these
crooks from Birmingham buy
second homes and live in them for
three weeks of the year."

Stuart Wa vell. The Sunday Times, 1~ No vember 1992

I Owen Glcndower fought against the English in medieval times.

 The non-nat ive British 45"

The question of identi ty in Northern Ireland is a much m ore

complex issue and is dealt w ith at the end of this chapte r.
As for English identity, most people who describe themselves as
English usually make no distinction in their m inds between 'English'
and ' British ' . There is plenty of evidence of this. For example , at
in ternational foo tball or rug by ma tch es, w he n the players stand to
attention to hear their national anthem s, the Scottish, Irish and Welsh
have their o w n son gs, w hile the Engli sh o ne is just 'God Save the
Queen ' - the same as the British national anthem .

Ethnic identi ty: the non -na tive British

The long centuries o f co ntact betw een the peop les of the four natio ns
of the British Isles means that there is a limit to their significant
d ifferences. W ith m inor variatio ns , they lo o k the sam e , speak the
same language , eat the same foo d , have the same religi ou s heritage
(Ch ristian ity) and have the same att itudes to the ro les o f men and
women.
The situation for the seve ral millio n people in Britain whose fam ily
roots lie in the Caribbean or in south Asia or elsewhere in the world
is different. For them . ethnic identity is more than a question o f
dec id ing which sports team to su p port, No n-wh ites (about 6% of
the to tal British population) canno t , as w hite non-Eng lish grou ps
can, choose when to advertise their ethnic identity and when not to.
Most no n-whites, although them selves born in Britain , have
parents who were born o utside it. The great w ave ofimmigralion
from th e Caribbean and so uth Asia took place be tween ' 950 an d
19 65. Th ese immigr ants, especially th ose from so uth Asia, brough t
w ith them d ifferemlanguages, different religions (Hin d u an d
Muslim) and everyday habits and attitudes that were sometimes
radically d iffe rent from trad itional British o nes. As th ey usually
married among themselves, these habits and customs have, to some
ex tent, been preserved. For some yo ung people brough t up in Britain,
this m ixed cu llural background can create problems. For example,
many young Asians resen t the fact that their parents expec t to have
more co ntrol over them than most black or w hite parents expect to
have over their children. Nev ertheless , they canno t avo id these
exp erien ces, which therefore make up part o f their identi ty.
As well as this 'given ' identity, no n-white people in Britain often
lake pride in their cultural ro o ts. This pride seems to be increasing as
th eir cultural practices, th eir everyday habits an d att itu de s, gradually
become less d istin ct ive, Most of the country's no n- w hites are British
citizens. Part ly because of thi s, the y are on th e way to de veloping the
same kind of d ivisio n ofloyalties and id en tit y that exists fo r ma ny
Irish , Scottish an d Welsh people. Pride can increase as a defen sive
reaction to racial discrimination. There is qui te a lot of this in Britain.
There are tens of thousands of racially motivated attacks on people
every year, including one or tw o m urders. All in all, how ever, overt
racism is not as common as it is in man y o ther parts of Europe.
46 4 Identity

.... Children born outside marriage The famil y

in Britain
In comparison w ith most other places in the world. family identity
% of all births is rather weak in Britain . espe cially in England. Of course. the fam ily
35 unit is still the basic living arrangeme nt for mos t people. But in Britain
this defin itely m eans the nuclear famil y. There is littl e sense of
30 extended fam ily ide ntity. except among some racial mi no rities. This
is reflected in the size and composition of households. It is unusual
25 for adults of di fferent generations within the family to live together.
20
The average number of people living in each household in Britain is
lower than in mos t other European countries. The proportion of
15 elderly people living alone is similarly high (e- Family size).
Significant famil y events such as weddings. births and funerals are
10 ......._ - not aut omatically accompanied by large gatherings of people. It is
still common to appo int peop le to certain roles on such occasio ns,
5
such as 'best man' at a w edd ing , or go dmother and go dfathe r when
a chil d is bo rn. But fo r most people these appointmen ts are of sen ti-
/ .9... /.9... / .,9 /.9 /..9 men tal significance only. They do not imply lifelong responsibili ty.
-> "d- (9/ CPo- 31/ In fact. fam ily gatherings of any kind beyond the household unit are
all births outside marriage rare. For most people. they are confined to the Christmas period .
birth registered by both parents Even the stereotyped nuclear family of father. mother and children
birth r egistered by mother only
is beco m ing less common. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than
Source: Key Data anyw here else in Europe except Denmark and the pro portion o f chil-
dren bo rn ou tside m arriage has risen dramatically and is also o ne o f
the highest (abou t a th ird of all births) (r- Children born outside marriage in
Britain). However. these trends do not necess arily mean that the
nucl ear family is di sappearing. Divor ces have increased . bu t the
maj ority of marriages in Britain (about 55%) do not break down. In
additio n . it is notable that about three-quarters of all births outside
marriage are officially registered by both parents and more than half
ofthe ch ildren concerned are born to parents who arc living together
at the time.

..... Family size

Average number of persons per household People over the age of 6S living alone
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 % 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Spain Germany
Ireland Denmark
Portugal Netherlands
Greece Britain
Italy Ireland
Luxembourg France
France Italy
Netherlands Portugal
Britain Spain
Germany _ Greece
Denmark _ Luxembourg

Source: Europe in Figures

 Geog raphical identity 47

Geographical iden tity ... What is a Cockney ?

A sense of identity based on place of birth is, like fam ily identity, not Traditio nally. a true Cockney is
anybody born within the so und of
very common or strong in most parts of Britain - and perhaps for
Bow bells (the bells of the churchof
the same reason . People are just too mobile and very few live in the St Mary-le-Bow in the EaSI End of
same place all their lives. There isqu ite a lot oflocal pr ide, and people London). In fact. the term is com -
find many opportunities to exp ress it. This pride , how ever, arises mon ly used 10 denot e peopl e who
because people are happy to live in what they co nsider to be a nice come from a w ider area o f the inner-
m os t eastern suburbs of London and
place and often when they are fighting to preserve it. It does no t
also an adjoining area so uth of the
usually me an that the peo ple of a locality feel stro ngly that they belong
Thames .
to that place. 'Cockney' is also used to describe
A sense of identity w ith a larger geographical area is a bit stro nge r. a strong London accent and, like any
Nearly everybody has a spo ken accent that identi fies them as co ming such local accent, is associated w ith
from a particular large city o r regi o n. In so m e cases there is quite a working -class o rigins.
A feature of Cockney speec h is
stro ng sense of identification . Liverpudlians (from Liverpool) , Man-
rhym ing slang , in w hich, for
cunians (from Man chester), Geor dies (from the Newcastle area) and example, 'wife' is referred to as
Cockneys (from London) are often proud to be known by these 'trouble and strife", and 's tairs' as
names (c- What is a Cockney?) . In other cases, ident ity is associa ted with 'apples and pears' (usuall y
a county . These are the most ancient divisions of Eng land . Although sho rtened to 'apples') . Some
rhyming slang has passed into
their bo undaries and names do not alw ays co nform to the modern
general informal British usage ;
arrangement oflocal gove rn ment (see chapter 6), they still claim some examp les are 'use your loaf',
the allegiance of some peo ple. Yorkshire, in the north of England , is which means ' thi nk ' (from 'loaf
a notab le example . Ano ther is Cornwall , in the south-w est corner o f of bread' = 'head') and 'have
England . Even tod ay, some Cornish peop le still talk abo u t ' go ing to a butche r's', whi ch means
England ' when th ey cross the county border- a testame nt to its ethn ic 'have a look ' (from 'butcher's
hook' = 'look ') .
Celtic hi stor y.
Many English people see them selves as eithe r ' no rtherne rs ' or
'southe rne rs'. The fact th at the sou th is on the w hole richer than the
no rth, an d the dom ination of the media by the affairs ofLond on
and the south-ea st, leads to resentment in the north. This rein forces
the pride in their northern roots felt by many no rtherners, who,
stereo typically, see themselves as tougher, more honest and warm er-
hearted than the soft, hypocritical and unfriendly sout herners. To
people in the sou th , the stereotypical no rtherner (who is usually
ma le) is rather ignor ant and unculture d and int erested only in sport
and beer-drinking .

Regional identity is often felt strongly at sporting events such as football match"
48 4 Identity
~ What's in a name?
In En gland , the no tion of the honour
of the family name is almost non -
existent (though it exis ts to some
degree in the upper classes, in the
other three British nations and
among ethnic m inorities). In fact. it
is very easy to change your fam ily
name - and you can choose any
name you like. In the [9 805 on e
person changed his surname to
Oddsocks McWcirdo El Tutt i Frulti
Hello Hippo potam us Bum.
There arc 110 laws in Britain abo ut
w hat surname a wife or child must
have. Because o f this freedom,
names can be use ful pointers to
social trends . The case of double-
barrelled names is an exam ple.
These are surnames w ith tw o pans
sepa rated by a hyphen; fo r ex am ple,
Barclay -Finch . For centuries they
have bee n a symbol of up per-class
status (originating in the desire to
preserve an aristocratic na me when
there was no ma le heir) . U nul
recently, most people in Brit ain have
avo ided givi ng themselves do uble -
barrelled names - they w o uld have
been laughed at for the ir preten -
sions . In 1962, on ly o ne in eve ry
300 surnames was double-ba rrelled.
By 1992, however, o ne perso n in
fifty had such a name. W h y the
change? One reason is fem inism .
Although an increasing num ber o f
women no w keep their m aiden
name when they marry, it is still
nonual to take the husband 's name.
Independent -mi nded wome n are
no w finding a compromise by doing
both at the same time - and then
passin g th is new double-barre lled
nam e onto their ch ildren . Another
motive is the des ire of parents from
d ifferent cultural and racial back-
grounds for their chil dren to ha ve a
sense of bot h of th eir he ritages.
The same lack of rigid trad ition
applies with rega rd to th e first
na mes that can be given to children.
This is usually sim ply a ma tter of
taste . Mor eover, the concept of
celebrating name-days is Virtually
unknown.
Class
Histor ians say that the class system ha s survived in Brita in because of
its flexibility. It has alway s bee n pos sible to buy or marry or even
w ork your way up, so that your children (and their ch ildr en ) belong
to a higher social class than you do. As a result, the class system has
never been sw ept awa y by a revolu tion and an awareness of class
forms a ma jor part of most people's sense of id entity.
People in modern Britain are very con sciou s of class differ ences.
They rega rd it as di fficult to become friends with some body from a
differe nt class. This feeltng has little to do with conscious loyalt y, and
nothing to do with a posi tive belief in the class system itself. Most
people say they do not approve of class division s. No r doe s it have
very much to do wi th political or religiou s affiliations. It result s from
the fact that th e different classes have different sets of attitudes and
da ily habits. Typically, the y tend to eat differen t food at different
tim es of day (and call the m eals by different names - see chap ter 20) ,
they like to talk about different top ics usin g different styles and
accen ts of Eng lisIi , they enjoy di fferent pastime s and sports (see
chapter 2 I), they h ave different values about w h at things in life are
mos t importa nt and differ ent idea s abo u t the correct wa y to behave.
Stereotypically, tliey go to different kinds of sch ool (see cha pter 14).
An in terestin g feature of the class structure in Britain is that it is
not just, or even mai nly, relative wealth or the appearance ofit which
determines S0111eOne's class. Of course, wealth is part of it - if yo u
become wealthy, you can provide the conditions to enable yo ur
childre n to belon g to a higher class than you do. But it is not alwa ys
possible to gue ss reliably the class to which a per son belongs by
lookin g at his or her clothes, car or bank balance. The most obvious
and im me diate sign comes w he n a person ope ns his or h er mouth,
giving the listener clues to the speaker's attitudes and interests, both
of which are in dicative of class.
But even more indica tive than what the spe aker says is the ~YQ Y tha t
he or she says it. The Eng lish grammar and vocabulary w hich is used
in public spea king, radio and television news broadcasts, books and
new spapers (an d also - unless the lessons are run by Ame ricans - as
a model for learne rs of English as a foreign language) is known as
's tandar d Brit ish En glish ' . Most working -class people, however, use
lo ts of words and grammatical forms in their everyday spe ech which
are reg arded as 'non -standard'.
Nevertheless, nea rly everybo dy in the count ry is capable of using
standard En glish (or something very close to it) w hen the y judge
that the situation de ma nds it. They are taught to do so at school.
The refore, the clearest ind ication of a pe rson 's class is often his or
he r accent. Most people cannot change this convincingly to suit the
situation . The most prestigiou s accen t in Britain is known as
'Receive d Pronunciation' (RP) . It is the combination of standard
Eng lish spoken wi th an RP accent that is usua lly meant w he n peo ple
 Class 49

... Poshos
Scene: Nighthas just fa llen. The ex-queen and herhusband arrive with a driver in a
furni turevan (with all their belongings in it), ready tomove in to thehousewhich they The extract on the left illustrates how
have been allotted. Their new neighbours, Tony and Beverly Threadgold, are standing at people from different classes do not
the front door of their house. like to mix and how language is an
important aspect of class. It is taken
The Threadgolds watched as a shadowy figure ordered a tall ma n out of from a fantasy novel in which a
the van. Was she a foreigner? It wasn't English she was talking w as it ? republican government is elected in
But as their ears became m o re accustome d they realized it was Eng lish, Britain and the royal family are sent
but posh Eng lish, really posh. to live on a working-class housing
'Tone , why they moved a pasha in Hell Close?' asked Beverly. estate, in a road known to its inhabit -
ants as 'Hell Close'.
'Dun no .' repli ed Tony, peering into th e glo om, 'Christ, [ust our
bleedtn" luck to have pashas nex' door. '2
A few mi nut es later , the Queen addressed th em . 'Excuse me, but
would you have an axe I could bor row?'
'An ix?" repeated Ton y.
' Yes, an axe.' The Queen came to their front gate.
'An ix?" puzzled Beverly.
'Yes.'
'I dunno what an " ix" is,' To ny said .
'You do n't know what an axe is?'
'No.'
'One uses it for chopping wood.' The Queen was gro w ing im patient.
She had made a simple req uest; her TIe\\, ne ighbou rs w ere obviously
morons. She was aware that educational standards had fallen, but no t to
know w hat an axe was . , . It was a scandal.
'I need an implement of some kind to gain access to m y hou se.'
'Arse?'
'House! '
The driver volunteered h is services as translator. His hours talking to
the Queen on the motorw ay had give n him co nfidence.
'Th is lady w ants to know if you' ve got an axe.'
Just [hen , the Queen came down the garden path towards the
Th readgolds and th e light fro m the ir hall illuminated her face. Beverly
gasped. Tony clutched the fro nt -d oor fram e for support before saying,
'It's out th e back, I' ll gedd it.'
Left alone, Beverly burst into tears.
'I mean, w ho would believe it?' she said later, as she and Tony lay in
bed unable (Q sleep. 'I still don 't believe it, Tone.'
'Nor do 1, Bcv. I mea n, th e Queen ne xt door. We 'll put in for a
transfer, eh?' 3
Slightly comforted , Beverly w en t (Q sleep .

From The Queen and I by Sue Townsend

1 a fairly strong swear \....ord
2 I.c. he is automatically unhappy about somebody fro m a different class moving in
next door
3 t.c. they wil l ask the local council to move them to another ho use
~o 4 Identity
~ Th e thr e e cla ss es
A stereotyped view of the upper.
middle and working classes (left LO
right). as seen in a satirical television
programme. Fmst om England. in
1967. This view is now quite a long
way from the reality. but still lives
011 in people's minds.
A stereotyped representation of the three
classes
talk about ' BBe English' or 'Oxford Engli sh' (re ferring to the univer-
sity, not the town) or 'the Queen's Engli sh' .
RP is not associated with any particular pan of the cou ntry. The
vast majority of people . ho w ever. speak with an accent w hich is
geogr aphically limited. In England and Wales , an yone w ho spea ks
wit h a strong regi onal accent is automat ically assumed to be w orking
class. Conversely, anyon e wit h an RP accent is assumed to be upper
or upper -middle class. (In Sco tland and No rthern Ireland, the situ -
atio n is slightly di ffer ent ; in th ese pla ces, some fo rms of reg ional
accent are almost as prestigious as RP.)
During th e last quarter of th e twentieth century, the way th at
people w ish to ide nt ify thems elves seems to have change d. In Britain ,
as anywh ere else w here there are recog nized social classes, a certain
am ount of 's oc ial climbing ' go es o n; that is, peopl e tr y to appear as if
th ey belong to as high a class as possible. These days, however,
nobody wants to be thought of as sno bbish. The word ' posh' illus-
tra tes this tendency. It is used by people fro m all classes to m ean 'of
a class higher tha n the one I (the speaker) belong to' and it is normally
used wit h neg ative connotations. To accuse so meone of being posh
is to accuse them of being pretentious.
Working-class people in particular are traditionally pro ud of their
class m embership and would not usually wi sh to be th ought of as
belo nging to any other class. Interestingly, a survey co nd uc ted in the
early 19905 showed that the propo rtion of peo ple who describe
them selves as wor king class is actually greater than the proportion
w hom socio log ists would classify as such! This is one manifestation
of a phenomenon known as 'inverted snobb ery', w hereby mid dle-
class people try to ad opt working-class values and habits. Th ey do
thi s in the belief tha t th e working classes are in so me w ay 'better '
(for exam ple, m or e honest) than the middle classes.
In thi s egalitarian climate , the u noffi cial segregatio n of the classes
in Britain has become less rigid than it was. A person wh ose accen t
shows tha t he o r she is w orking class is no longer prohibited from
most high-statu s jobs for th at reas on alone. Nobo dy takes elocution
lessons any more in order to sou nd more upper class. It is now
acceptable for radio and television presenters to speak w ith' an
accent' (i.e. not to use strict RP) . It is also not able th at, at the time of
w riting. o nly one of the last six British Prime Ministers went to an
elitist school for upper-cla ss child ren , w hile almost every previous
Prime Minister in history did.
In general, the different classes mi x more readily and easily w ith
eac h o ther th an they use d to . There has been a great increase in the
number of peopl e from w orking-cl ass origins who are houseowners
(see chapter 19) and who do traditionally m iddle-class jobs (see
chapter 15). The lo wer and middle classes hav e draw n closer to each
other in their attitudes.
 Men and cvonicn ~ r

Men and women

Generally spea king, British people inves t about the same amou nt of
their ident ity in their gender as people in ot her parts of northern
Europe do . On the one hand , society no longer ove rtly endorses
differences in the public and socia l ro les of men and women , and it
is illegal to discriminate on the basis ofsex . On the ot her ha nd , people
still (often unconsciously) expect a fairly large nu mber of differences
in everyday behaviour and domestic ro les.
In terms of everyday habi ts and mannerisms, British society prob-
ably expects a sharper difference between the sexes than most ot her
European societies do. For example, it is still far more acceptable for
a man 1O look un tidy and scruffy than it is for a woman; and it is still
far more acceptable for a WOIl1an to display emotions and be demon-
strably friendly than it is for a ma n to do so.
As far as ro les are concerned, most people assume that a famil y 's
financia l situation is not just the responsib ility of the man. On the
other hand, they would still normally complement the woman, no t
the man, on a beautifully decorated or we ll-kep t house. Everyday
care of the children is still seen as ma in ly the wom an's responsib ility.
Although almost as ma ny women have jobs as men , nearly half of
the jobs done by women are part-time. In fact, the majority of
mothers with children under the age of tw elve either have no job or
work only during school hours. Men certainly take a more active
domes tic role than they did forty years ago. Some thi ngs, however,
never seem to change. A comparison of ch ild-rearing habi ts of the
1950S and the 19 80s showed that the proportion of men who never
changed a baby's nappy had remained the same (40%) !
In gene ral, the sharpest distinction between the expected roles and
behaviour of the two sexes is found in the lower and upper classes.
The distinction is far less clear among the middle classes, but it is
still there.
At the public level there are contradictions . Britain w as one of the
first European cou nt ries to have a woman Prime Mini ster and a woma n
chairperson of debate in its Parliam ent. However, in the early
ni net ies, only about 5% of MPs were women , only 20% of
lawye rs in Britain were wome n , less tha n 10% of account ant s
were women and the re was one female consultan t br ain surgeon
in the w hole country (see also chapter 15) .
At the 1997 elect ion the proportion of women MPs in creased
sharp ly (to 18%) and nearly every in stitu tion in the country has
opened its doors to WOIl1en now . One of the last to do so was the
Anglican Church, which, after much debate , decided in favour of
the ordination of women priests in '993. How ever , the re are a
few institutions w hich, at the tim e of writing, still do n't accept
female members - for example, the Oxford and Cambridge Club
in London , an association for graduates of these tw o universities.
52 4 Identity

Religious and political identity

In comparison with so me o ther European countries, and w ith the
one notable exce ptio n of No rthern Ireland (see below) , nei th er reli-
gion no r poli tics is an im portant part of peop le s soc ial identi ty in
m od ern Britain , This is partly becau se th e tw o do not, as they do in
some other countries, go to geth er in any significam way.
o f co urse, there are many people who regard themselves as
belong ing to this or that church or party. Some people among the
minority w ho are regular churchgoers and the very small minority
w ho are active members of politica l parties feel this sense of
belong ing strongly and deeply. It m ay form a very important part of
their own idea of themselves as individu als. But even for these people
it plays littl e part in determin ing o ther aspects of their lives such as
w here they work, w hich trad e union they belong to , who thei r
friends are o r w ho they would like the ir neigh bo ur s to be. For the
vast majority o f parents in the country (some ethnic gro ups
excepted), th e re ligion or vo tin g habits of their fu ture son -in- law's
or daught er -in -Iaw 's famil y are of only passi ng interest and rarel y the
major cause o f o bjec tio n to the proposed marriage.

Social and everyday contac ts

British people give a rela tively high value to th e everyday perso nal
co ntacts that they m ake. Some w riters on Britain have talked about
th e British desire to 'belong' , and it is certainly tru e that the pu b, or
the working man's club, or the numero us o the r clubs devot ed to
variou s spo rts and pastim es playa very imp ortant pan in man y
peo ple s lives. In these places peopl e for ge co n tacts w ith ot her peo ple
who share so me of the sam e interests and altitudes. For m any people
these co ntacts are an imp ortant part of their social ident ity. Another
facto r is work. Man y people make th eir social co ntacts through work
and , partl y as a resul t of this, the professio n or skill which they
practise is also an imp ortant aspect ofth eir sense of identity. How ever ,
since British peo ple do not spend m or e of the ir free tim e o ut of th e
hou se than m ost other Euro peans do , these means of self-ident ifica-
tion should not be ove r-emphas ized.

Identity in Northern Ireland

In this part of the U K, the pattern of identity and loyalty outlined
above does not ap ply. Here , ethnicity, family , politics and religion
are all inter-re lated , and social class has a comparatively m inor role
in establis hing ide nt ity. Nor thern Ireland is a polarized society where
most peopl e are bo rn into, and stay in, one o r other of thc two
co mm unities fo r the w ho le of th eir lives.
On o ne side o f the divid e are peo ple whose ancestors carne from
lo wl and Scotl and or En gland. They are self-consciously Protestant
and want No rthern Ireland to remain in the UK. On the o the r side
 Being British 5" 3

Ill- A div ided community

This is the wall. built in 1984, w hich

separates the Cathol ic Falls Road
from the Pro testant Shankhill Road-
a vivid sign o f segre gatio n in Bel fast.

are people whose ancestors were native Irish. They are self-co n-
sciously Catholi c and w ould like Northe rn Irelan d to become pan of
the Irish Republic.
Although the two communities live side- by-side, their lives are
almost entirely segregated. They live in different housing estates ,
listen to different radio and television programm es, register w ith
different doctors, ha ve pr escriptions m ade up by che mists of thei r
own denom inations, m arch to commemorate different anniversaries
and read different new spapers. Their ch ildren go to different
schools, so that those who go on to university often find the mselves
mixing with peop le from the 'o ther' community for the first time in
their live s. For the majority who do not go to university , me rely
talking to so me body from the other community is a rare event.
In this atmosphere, marrying a member of the o ther community
is traditionally regarded wi th horro r, and has some times even
result ed in the deaths of the Romeo s an d [u liets concern ed (as pu nish-
me nt for the ' be trayal' of their people) . The extremes of these hard-
line attitud es are gradua lly softe ning. It sho uld also be not ed that they
apply to a much lesser ex tent among the middle-classes. It is illustrative
of th is that while in football, a ma inly wor king -class spo rt, Nor thern
Ireland and the Republic have separate teams, in rugby, a more
54 4 Identity

middle-class spo rt , there is only one team for th e w hole of Ireland ,

in which Prote stants from the nor th play alongside Catho lics from
the so uth wit h no sign o f disharmony whatso ever.

Bein g British
Last of all, a few words about British ide nt ity and lo yalty. How im po rt-
ant is it to British people th at they are British ' Do they feel they
' belo ng ' to Britain '
Perh aps because of th e long tradi tion of a clea r separat ion between
the ind ividual and the state, British peop le, although ma ny of them
feel proud to be British, are not normally actively pat riot ic. They
often fee l unco mfor table if. in co nversation w ith somebody from
ano therco untry. that person refers to 'yo u ' where 'you ' mea ns Britain
o r the British govern me nt. They are individ ualistic and do not like
to feel that they are person ally representing th eir co untry.
Durin g th e last q uaner of the twentiet h centu ~y the re was a
dramatic and severe lo ss o f co nfidence in British publi c institutio ns
(see chapter 6). Nearly on e third of the peop le q uestio ned in an
op in io n poll in the early I 99 0S said that the y co uld th ink of nothin g
abo u t Britain to be proud of. In addi tion , almost half said that they
wo uld em igrate if they cou ld - suggesting a low degr ee of attachment
to the co untry.This decrease in confidence was accompanied by
a change in the previous rather patronizin g attitude to foreign ers
and foreig n way s. In the days of em pire, foreigner s w ere o ften co n-
sidered amu sing. even interesting, but no t really to be taken
serio usly. These days, many fo reign way s o f doing thing s are adm ired
(altho ugh perhaps a bit resentfully) and ther e is a grea ter o pen ness
to forei gn influen ces.
Along wi th this o penness , however, goes a sense of vulnerab ility,
so that patrioti sm o ften takes a rather defensive fo rm. For ins tance ,
there are worries abo ut the lo ss of British ident ity in the European
Uni on (see chapter 12) . This is perhaps w hy the British cling so
obstinately to certain distinctive w ays o f doing things, such as driving
o n the left and using di ffer en t systems of measurement (see
chapter s).
It is in this clima te of opinion that the dramatic increase in support
for the government during the Falklands /Malvinas War in 19 8 2 must
be interpreted (see chapter 12). Here was a rare modern occasion for
the British people to be actively patrio tic. Man)' of them felt that
here , for once, Britain was doing something righ t and doing it
effec tively!
The mod ern British are not really chauv inistic. Open hos tility to
people from o ther co umries is very rare. If there is any chauv inism
at all, it ex presses itself through ign orance. Most British people know
rema rkably little about Eur ope and w ho lives there . The popular image
of Europe see ms to be that it is so mething to do w ith the French. An
entry in the Radio Times can serve as an exam ple. This is a very pop ular
 Questions and suggestions 5 1)

magazine which gives details of all the week's radio and television
programmes. In April 19 94 it subtitled its int roduc tion to a pro -
gramme wh ich previewed that year's entries for the Eurovisio n Song
Cont est as ' tips fo r Ie top'. Notice th e ' le'. It is an indicatio n of the
apparently w idespread assum ption that Euro pe is a place w here
eve rybody speaks Fren ch.
Th e British co ntinue to be very bad about learning o the r pe oples '
languages. Fluency in any European lan guage other than English is
generally regarded as exo tic. But there is not hing defensive or deliber-
ate about thi s att itu de . The British do not refuse to speak other
languages. They are just lazy.

QUE STIO N S

I In the early years of th e twentieth century. the
playwright and soc ial commentator George
Bernard Shaw re m arked that an English man only
had to open his mouth to make some other
Englishman despise him . What wa s he talking
about' Would he say th e sam e thing toda y'
2 In the 19 30S people in middle-class ne ighbour-
hoods o ften reacted angrily to th e building of
ho using estates for the wor king class nearby. In
one area they even built a w all to separate the
two neighbourhood s I Thi s co uld never hap pen
to day . Why not' W hat has cha nged?
3 Standard English is used ' naturally' in everyday
speech by between 1,% and 30 % of rhe popula-
lion in Britain (it depends how you define it).
Recei ved pronunciation (RP), again depending
on how you define it, is used in everyday speech
by o nly 3% to 12% of the population. So wh y
is standard English w ith an RP accent the usu al
m odel for people learning British English as a
foreign language ? What justificati on can yo u
find for thi s pra ctice '
4 Do the social classes in yo ur co unt ry differ enti -
ate them selves in the same ways as they do in
Britain? Do language, accent, clothes, money,
habi ts and attitu des play the sam e ro les in your
co untry?
, Th is chapter considers several factor s that can go
towards creating a person 's sense of identity.
Some of these are m ore important in Britain and
some are less important. Are the same factors
the im portam o nes in yo ur co untry?

SU G G ESTI ON S

Mauy BBC television co m edy programmes depend for m uch of their

humour on habits and values de termi ned by social class. Recent
examples (which you may be able to gel o n video) include Only Fools
and Horses and Birds ofa Feather, bo th of which portray Cockney value s,
and Keeping Up Appearances , which makes fun of the pretentiousness of
so m e middle-class people.
If you are interested in accents an d di alects, EnglishAccents and Dialects
by Hug hes and Tru dgill (Edward Arnold) is an academic book w ith
lo ng texts exemplifying the main type s of English spoken in Britain .
There is an acco m panying cassette.
TheQueen and I by Sue Townsend (Mandarin) is fu n to read and portrays
working class characters humorou sly con trasted w ith memb ers o f
the upper classes (the ro yal family).
56
.. Land o f tradition
A reputation for tradition can lead to
its artificial preserv ation - o r eve n
its re-introduction. A notable
example is the Asquith taxi. This wa s
introduced onto the streets of
London in 1994. It is an exact replica
of Lo ndon taxis of the 19 305
(ex cept, of course, that it has
modern facilities - and a m o dern
mctcrl). It is deliberately des ig ne d
that vvay to appeal to tourists, w ho
equate London with traditi on.
Similarly , w hen Lo ndo n's fam ou s
red buses w ere privatize d (sol d to
private companies) in the early
1995, the differen t bus companie s
wanted to paint their buses in their
company co lours . The go vern me nt
ruled that all buses had to Slay red
because that is what the peop le o f
London wanted, and that is wh at the
government believed would help
the tourist trade .
An Asquith taxi
5
Attitudes
The British , like the peop le of every country, tend to be attributed
w ith certain characteristics which are supposedly typical. However,
it is best to be cautious about accepting such characterization s too
easily, and in the case of Britain there are three particular reason s to
be cautio us. The first three sections of this chapter deal w ith them in
turn and com ment on several stereotyped imag es o f the British.
Stereotyp es and chan ge
Societies change over time w hile their reputation s lag behind . Many
thin gs w hic h are often regarded as typically British derive fro m
bo oks , so ngs or plays w hich were wri tten a long time ago and w hich
are no longer representative o f modern life. One exam ple of this is
the popu lar belief that Britain is a ' land of tradi tion ' . Thi s is what
most tourist bro chur es claim (I> Land of tradi tion). The claim is based
on what can be seen in public life and on centuries of political con -
tinui ty. And at this level - the level of public life - it is undoubtedly
true. The annual ceremony o f the state opening of Parliam en t, for
instance , carefully follow s customs which are centuries old (see
chapter 9) . So does the military ceremony of ' trooping the colour '.
Likewise, the cha nging of the gu ard outside Bucking ham Palace
never changes.
How ever , in their private eve ryday lives, the British as individuals
are pro bably less incl ine d to follow traditio n than are the people of
most othe r co untries. There are very few ancient customs that are
followed by th e m ajor ity of fam ilies on spec ial occa sion s. The
co untry has few er local parades or processio ns wit h genuine folk
ro ots than most other co untries have. The Engli sh language has fewer
sayings or pro verbs that are in common everyda y use than many
o ther languages do . The British are too individualistic for these
thi ng s. In addition , it should be not ed that they are the most enthusi-
astic vide o-watching people in the w orld - the very opposite of a
tradition al pastime !
The re are m any exam ples of supposedly typical Briti sh habits
w hich are simply not typ ical any more. For exam ple, the stereotyped
image of the London 'ci ty gent' in clu des the wearing of a bow ler hat.
In fact, this type of hat ha s not bee n commonly worn for a lo ng time.
Foo d and drink provide other exam ples. The traditiona l 'Bri tish' (or
 English versus British .57

'English') breakfast is a large 'fry-up' (see ch apter 20 ) precede d by

cereal wit h m ilk and followed by toas t, bu tter and marmalade , all
washed down with lo ts of tea. In fact, only ab out 10% of th e people
in Brit ain actually have this sort of breakfast. Two- thirds hav e cu t out
the fry -up and jus t have the cereal, tea an d toast. Th e rest have even
less. W hat the vast majority of British people have in the m o rni n gs is
therefore much closer to w hat they call a 'continent al' (i.e .
European) brea kfast than it is to a 'British' one. The im age ofthe
British as a nat ion of tea -d rinkers is an o th er stereotype w hich is
somewhat out of da te. It is tr ue that it is still prepared in a di stin ctive
way (strong and w ith m ilk), but m o re coffee than tea is n ow bou ght
in the country's shops. As for the trad ition of afternoon tea w ith
biscuits, scones, san dwiches or cake, th is is a minority activity,
largely confined to retired peo ple and the leisured u ppe r- m idd le class
(although preserved in tea shops in to urist resorts) .
Even w hen a British ha bit conforms to the stereotype, the wrong
conclusions can sometimes be drawn from it. The su pposed British
love of q ue uing is an example. Yes, British people do fOrI11 queues
w he never they are wa iting fo r so mething, but this does not m ean that
they en joy it. In 199 2, a su rvey found tha t the average w ait to pay in
a British supermarke t was three mi n utes an d twe n ty-t hree seconds,
an d that the average wait to be serve d in a bank w as tw o m inutes an d
thirt y-t hree seco nds. You m ight th ink tha t these times sound very
reasonable. But The Sunday Times new spaper did not think so. It referr ed
to th ese figures as a ' problem' . Some ba nks now promise to serve
their customers 'within tw o mi n utes' . It would therefore seem w rong
to conclude tha t the ir habi t of q ue ui ng shows that the British are a
patient people. Appa ren tly, th e Bri tish ha te hav in g to w ait and have
less patien ce th an people in many o the r coun tries.

En glish versus British

Because English culture do m in ates the cu ltures of th e o ther three
nations of the British Isles (see chap ter I) , everyday ha bi ts, at titudes
and values among the peopl es of th e fo ur n ations are very similar.
However, they are no t identical, an d w ha t is often regarded as typi c-
ally British may in fact be only typ ically Eng lish. Th is is espec ially
true with regard to one no table cha racteristic - anti-in tellectualism.
Among m an y people in Britain , there exists a suspicion of intelli-
gence, education and 'high culture ' . Teach ers and acad emic staff,
although respected, do not have as hi gh a status as the y do in most
o ther countries. Nobody n ormally pro clai ms their academ ic qu ali-
ficat ions or title to the w orld at large. No pro fessor would expect, or
want, to be ad dressed as 'Professo r' on any but the m ost form al occa-
sion. Th ere are large sections of bo th the u pp er and w or kin g class in
Britain w ho, tradi tio nally at least , have na t encoura ged the ir child ren
to go to univer sity (see ch ap ter 14 ) . This lack a f en thusiasm for
ed uca tio n is certainly decreasing. Nev ert heless , it is still unusual for
S8 5 Attitudes
... Swots
The slang word 'swot' was first used
in publi c schools (see cha pter 14)"
It describes someone wh o w or ks
hard and does well acade mically" It
is a term of abuse" Swots are not verr
popular. In the English mind. schol-
arship is something rather strange
and exotic. so much so that the sight
of the ma nager of a footb all team
simply wr iung so met hing down
during a match is considered worth y
of comment. During the 1990
English football Cup Final. when he
saw this happening. the BBC com-
mentator said (Witham apparent
iron}"). 'And }"OU can see Steve
Coppell's been 1O university - he's
takin g notes !'
parents to arrange extra pr ivate tuition for thei r ch ildren, even among
those who can easily afford it.
Anti -inte llec tual att itu des are held consciou sly only by a small
pro portion of the po pulation, but an indication of how deep they
ru n in society is that the y are reflected in the English language. To
refer to a per son as somebo dy who 'gets all their ideas from books'
is to spe ak of them ne gatively. The word 'clever ' o ften ha s nega tive
connot ations. It suggests some one who uses tricker y, a person w ho
cannot quit e be tru sted (as in the expression ' too clever by hal f ')
(t- Swots).
Evidence of thi s attit ude can be found in all four na tion s of the
British Isles. How ever, it is probably bett er seen as a specifically
English characteristic and not a British one. The Scottish have alw ays
placed a high value on education for all classes. The Irish of all classes
place a high value on being qui ck , read y and able w ith words. The
Welsh are fam ou s for exporting teacher s to other pans of Britain
and beyond .
Multicultura lism
The third reason for caution about gen eralizations relates to the large-
scale immigration to Britain from places outside the British Isles in
the twentieth cent ur y (see chapter 4). In its citi es at least , Britain is a
m ulticult ural socie ty. There are areas of london , for exam ple , in
w hich a distinctively Ind ian w ay of hfe predominates, w ith Ind ian
shops, Indian clothes, Indian langu ages. Because in the local schools
up to 90 % of the pupils may be Indian , a distinctively Ind ian style of
learning tends to take place.
These 'new British ' people have bro ugh t w idely di ffering sets of
attitudes with them . For example, while som e seem to care no more
about education for their children than people in tradi tional Eng lish
culture, ot her s seem to care about it a great deal more.
How ever , the diver gen ce from in di genous British attitudes in new
British com m un ities is constantly narrow ing. These com m unities
some times have their own newspapers but none have the ir own TV
stati on s as they do in the United States. Th ere, the nu mber s in such
com m un ities are larger and the physical space betwe en them and
othe r com m un ities is grea ter, so that it is possible for people to live
their w ho le lives in such comm un ities without ever really learning
Eng lish. Thi s har dly ever happens in Britain.
It is therefore still possibl e to talk abou t British characteristics in
gen eral (as the rest of thi s chapter does) . In fact, the new British have
made their ow n cont ribu tion to British life and attitudes. They have
probably he lped to make people more informal (see below ) ; they
have chan ged the na ture of the 'corner shop ' (see chapter 15) ; the
m ost popular, we ll-attende d festival in the whole of Britain is the
annual NOlting Hill Carn ival in London at the end of Augu st, w hich
is of Caribbean inspiration and origin .
 Co n ser vatism 5"9

Conservatism III- Lord Sn o oty

The Briti sh ha ve few living folk traditions and are too individ ualistic Lord Snooty illustrates the enthusi -
asm of British children for charac -
to have the sam e everyday habi ts as each other. Ho wever, th is does
ters from earlier times. He first
not mea n that they like change. Th ey do n' t. They m ay no t beh ave in appeared in the Beano, a chil dren's
tradi tio nal wa ys, but they like sym bo ls of tradi tion an d stability. For comic, in 19 38 . He is a you ng
example. there are some very untraditional attitudes and habits wi th English ar istocrat aged abo ut ten.
regard to th e famil y in m odern Britain (see cha pter 4) . Neverthele ss, w ho loves sneaking out of his castle
to play with local village children.
po lit icians often cite their ent hus iasm for 'traditional fam ily values '
He has always worn the same
(bot h parents m arr ied and living together. parents as th e main so urce
clothes. typical of wealthy young -
of aut honty for ch ild re n etc) as a way o f winning su pport. sters of an earlier age but by now out
In gen eral. the British valu e con tin u ity over modernity for its own of date. Surely. the children of the
sake. Th ey d o not co nside r it especially sm art to live in a new house 1990S wo uld prefer a present -day
and , in fact , th er e is prestige in livin g in an obviously old one (see hero wit h whom to iden tify? That is
wh at the ed itors of the Beanothought.
chapter 19) . They have a general sen timent al attachmen t to o lder,
In 199 2 they decided to give Lord
sup posed ly safer, tim es. Their Christmas cards usuall y depi ct scenes Snooty a rest. But loud protest fol-
fro m past centuries (see chapter 23); they like the ir pubs [ 0 loo k old lowed , and he quickly found a new
(see chapter 20) ; they we re relu ctant to chan ge their system of cur- job in The funday Times (the children's
rency (see chap ter 15). comic which is issued with The
Moreover, a look at ch ild ren's reading habits su ggests that this Sunday Timesnewspaper) . as well as
making further appearances in the
attitu de is not go in g to change. Publishers tr y hard to make their Beano.
books for child ren up -to -d ate. But perhaps the y needn't tr y so hard .
In 19 92 th e two m ost popular children '5 writers were noticeably
un -rnodern (they were bo th, in fact, dead ) . The m ost popula r of all
was Roald Dah l, w hose fantasy stories are set in a rat her o ld -
fashioned w orld. The seco nd m ost popular wr iter was Eni d Blyton,
whose stories take place in a co m fo rtable whi te m idd le-cla ss world
before the 19 605. Th ey co nt ain no references to other races or classes
and m ention nothing m ore modern than a radi o . In other words,
they are m ostly irrele vant to m odern life (Do Lord Snooty) .

Bein g different
Lord Snooty
The British can be parti cul arl y and stub bo rn ly co nser vative abo u t :0 0 C ThOJmon & Co lId 1989
anyth ing which is perceived as a to ken of Britishness. In these
matters, their co nservatism can combine wit h the ir individualism;
th ey are rath er proud of being different. It is , for example , ver y
diffi cult to imagine that the y will ever agree to change from driving
on the left -ha nd side of th e road to driving o n the right. It doesn 't
matter that nobody can think of any intrinsic ad vantage in driving on
the left. Why sho uld they change just to be like eve ryone else? Ind eed,
as far as they are concerned , not being like everyone else is a good
reas o n not to change.
Development s at European Un ion (EU) level which migh t cause
a change in so m e everyday aspect of British life are usually greeted
with su spici on and hostilit y. The case of double- decker buses (see
chapter 17) is an exam ple. Whenever an EU committee makes a
recommend ati on about standa rd izing th e size and shape of the se , it
60 5 Attitudes

pro voke s warn ings fro m British hus builders about 't he en d of the
double-decker bus as we know it ' . The British pu blic is alwa ys ready
1O listen to such predictions of doom .
Systems of measu rem ent are another exam ple. The Briti sh gove rn-
ment has been trying for years and years 1O prom ot e the metric
system and to get British peop le to use the same scales that are used
nearly everyw he re else in the world . But it has had only limited
success. British m anu factur er s are obliged to give the we ight of their
tins and packets in kilos and grams. But everybo dy in Britai n still
sho ps in pound s and ounces (see chapt er 15). The we athe r forecaster s
on the telev ision use the Celsius scale of temper atur e. But nearly
everybody still think s in Fahr enheit (see chapter 3) . British people
continue to measur e distances, amounts of Ii quid and the mselves
using scales of measurem ent that are not used anywher e else in
Eur ope (0- HoII' for? HOIl' big' HoII' much ') . Even the use of the 24 -hou r
cloc k is comparatively restricted .
British government s sometimes seem to promote this pride in
being d ifferent. In 199 3 the ma nagers of a pub in Slou gh (w est of
Londo n) started selling glasses of beer which they called 'swi fts'
(25 el) and ' larges' ( 50 el) , sm aller amounts than the traditional
... H ow far? H ow big? How much?
British equivalents of half a pi nt and a pint. You might th ink that the
Distances on road signs in Britain are au thor ities would have been pleased at thi s voluntary effort to ado pt
sho wn in mile s, not kilome tres, and
European habit s. But they we re not. British law dem ands that drau ght
peo ple talk about yards, not m etres.
If you described yours elf as being
beer be sold in pi nts and half-p in ts only. The pu b was fined 3, I 00
J 63 tall and we ighi ng 67 kilos a
by a court and was ordered to stop selling the 'continental' measur es.
British person w ould not be able to British gover nm ents have so far resisted pressur e from business people
im agine what you looked like. You to adop t Central European Tim e, rem ain ing stubbornly one hou r
would have [0 say you were 'five behind, and they contin ue to start their financial year not , as othe r
foot four' ( s feet and + inche s tall)
countries do , at the beginning of the calend ar year but at the
and weighed ' ten sto ne seven ' or
't en and a half stone' ( 10 stone and begi nn ing ofApril!
7 pounds). British peopl e th ink in
pounds and ounces wh en buying
their che ese, in pims w he n bu ying The love of nature
their m ilk and in gallons when
buying th eir pet rol. Americans also Most of the Briti sh live in towns and cit ies. But the y have an idealized
use this non -m etric system of visio n of the count ryside . To the British, the co unt ryside has almost
weights and m easures. non e of the ne gative associatio ns which it has in som e cou ntries,
Imperial Metric such as poor facilit ies, lack of ed uca tiona l oppo rtunities. unem ploy -
ment and povert y. To them , the countryside means peace and qui et,
I inch 2.54 centimetres
beauty, good health and no crime. Most of them would live in a
12 inches ([ foot) JO .48centimetres
count ry village if they thought tha t they could find a w ay of earn ing
3 feet ([ yard) 0. 9 2metres
1760 yards {t mile) 1.6 kilometres a livin g the re. Ideally, th is village would consist o f thatche d co ttag es
[ ounce 28.35 grams (see chapter I 9) built around an area of grass know n as a 'village
[6 ounces ([ pound) o.+S- 6 kilograms green ' . Nearby, the re would be a pond w ith ducks on it. Nowadays
[+ pounds ( I stone) 6.38 kilograms suc h a village is not actuall y very common , but it is a stereotypical
[ pint o.cstnres
picture that is w ell- kno wn to the British .
2 pints (I quar t) r.r e lnres
8 pints ( I gallon) +.6+lures
Some history conne cted with the building o f the Channel tunnel
(see chapter 17) provides an ins tructive exam ple of the British
 The love o f n ature 6 I

attitude. While the 'chunnel ' was bein g built , there were also plans Ill- The Nati o nal Trust
to build new high-speed rail lin ks o n eit her side of it. But what route A not able ind icatio n of the British
would these new railway lin es take ? On the French side of the reverence fo r bot h th e co un tryside
cha nnel, co m munities battled w ith each ot her to get the new line and the past is the stre ng th o f the
built through their tow ns. It would be good for loca l bu siness. But National Trust. This is an officially
recognized charily whose aim is to
o n the Eng lish side, the oppos ite occurred. No body wanted the rail
preserve as much of Britain 's coun-
lin k nea r them ! Commun ities battled w ith each other to get the new tryside and as m an y of its histo ric
line bu ilt so m ew here else . Never mind about business, they wanted buildings as possible by acquiring
1O preserve their peace and quiet. them ' for the nat ion'. Wi th m ore
Perhaps thi s love of the countryside is another aspect of British than one-and -a-half m illion
conservatism. The countryside represents stability. Those who live me mbers, it is the largest conserva -
tio n org ani zation in the wo rld . It is
in to w ns and cities take an active interest in country ma tter s and th e
actuall y the third largest lando wner
British regard it as both a right and a pr ivilege to be ab le to go 'into in Britain (after the Crown and the
the co un try' w he never they wa nt to . Large area s of th e country are Forestry Commission ). It owns
official ' national parks' w he re almost no bu ilding is allowed . There more than /jOO mile s of th e coast-
is an organ ization to w h ich th o usands of enthusiastic co unt ry wal kers line . The im po rtance of its work has
belong , the Ram blers' Associa tion. It is in co ns tant batt le w ith land- been supported by several laws,
among wh ich is one wh ich doe s not
owners to keep open the pub lic 'rights of way' across the ir lan ds.
allow even the government to take
Maps can be bought which mark , in great detail, the routes of all th e over any of its land without the
public footpath s in the country. Walkers often stay at youth hostels. approval of Parliament .
The Yo uth Hostels Association is a charity whose aim is 'to help all,
especially young people of lim ited m ean s, to a gre ater kno wl ed ge,
love and care of the co untrys ide '. Th ei r hostels are cheap and rat her
self- co nsc iously bare and sim ple. There are more than 300 of them
around th e co untry, m ost of them in th e midd le of nowhere !
Even if they cannot get in to the co untrys ide, ma ny British people
still spend a lot o f their tim e w ith 'nat ure' . They grow plants. Gar -
denin g is one of the most popular ho bbies in the country. Even those
unlucky people who do not have a garden can pa rticipate. Each local
au thority o w ns several areas ofland w hich it ren ts very cheaply to
these people in sm all pa rce ls. O n these' allo tments', peo ple grow
mainly vege tab les.

Polesden Lacey, built in Ihe , 8205 and

non: owned by the National Trus t

Allotments in London
62 5 Altitud es
... Th e railway cats
It is said that the British often treat
their an imals as if they we re people.
Well. this is true. One of the most
co mmon th ings that people do is to
be employed. And so, on British
railways, are cats.The names of Olive.
Katie. Pickles and around 200 others
appear on the company payro ll,
officially recognized as employees.
Their job is to catch rats and other
vermin. There is usually one cat per
stanon. Their pay (tax free) is food.
and they also get free medical treat-
ment (Without deductions from
their salary). They are very popu lar
with the human BR staff, who admit
that their 'productivity rate' is not
always very high (in other wor ds,
the)' don't catch many rats) but
claim that they are good for morale.
~ Th e RS P CA
The desire for animal welfare has
official recognitio n. Cruelty to
an imals o f any kind is a criminal
offe nce. Such offences are investi-
gated and acted upon by a we ll-
known char ity, the Royal Society for
the Prevention of Cru elty to
Animals (RSPCA).
The love of anima ls
Rossendalc Pet Cemetery in Lancashire is just one exam ple of an
animal gra veyard in Britain. It wa s starte d by a local farmer who ran
over his dog w ith a tractor. He was so up set that he pu t up a headston e
in memory of his dog . Now, Rossendale has thou sand s of graves and
plot s for caskets of ashes, w ith facilities for every kind of animal,
fro m a budgie to a honess. Man y people are prepared to pay quite
large sums of money to give their pets a decent bur ial (a trait they
share wi th man y Ame ricans). As thi s example shows , the British
tend to ha ve a sentime ntal atti tude to ani mals. Nea rly half of the
hou seholds in Britain keep at least one dom estic pet. Most of the m
do no t bother wi th such grand arrangem ents w hen their pets die , but
th ere are mill ion s ofinformal graves in people's back gardens. Mo re-
over, the status of pets is taken seriously. It is, for example, illegal to
run ove r a dog in yo ur car and then keep on driving. You have to
sto p and inform the owner.
But the love o f animals goe s beyond sent ime ntal att achment to
domestic pe ts. Wildlife programmes are by far the most pop ular
kind of television do cumenta ry. Million s of famili es have 'bird-
table s' in their gar dens. These are raised platforms on w hich bi rd s can
feed. safe from local cats, du ring the win ter mont hs. Ther e is even a
specia l hos p ital (St Tiggywinkles) w hich treats in jured w ild animals.
Per haps th is ove rall concern for animals is pan of the British love
ofnatur e, Stud ies in dicating that SOIl1e w ild species of bird or mam mal
is decreasin g in num bers become prominent articles in the na tiona l
pre ss. Tho usan ds of people are enthusiastic bir d-watcher s. Thi s
peculiarly British pastime often involves spending hours lying in w et
an d cold undergrowth , trying to get a glimpse of some rare spe cies.
Forma lity and informa lity
The tourist view of Britain involve s lots of formal ceremonies. Some
pe opl e have dr awn the conclusion from thi s that the British are rather
forma l in their gene ral behaviour. Thi s is not true. Ther e is a di ffer -
ence between ob serving formah ties and being formal in everyday
life. Attitudes towards clothes are a good ind ication of thi s di fferen ce.
It all depends on whether a person is playing a public role or a private
ro le. When peop le are 'on duty', they have to obey some qui te rigid
rul es. A mal e bank em ployee , for example, is expected to wea r a suit
with a tie , even if he cannot afford a very sm art one. So are politicians.
There wa s on ce a mild scandal during the I 980s bec ause the Leade r
of the Opposition (see chapter 8) wore clot hes on a pu blic occas ion
w hich w ere conside red too informal.
On the other hand, when people are not playin g a public ro le-
w hen the y are just being themselves - the re seem to be no rul es at
all. The British are probably more tolerant of ' strange' clo thing than
people in most other coun tries. You ma y find , for exam ple , the same
bank employee, on h is lunch br eak in hot w eather, w alkin g through
 Formality and informality 63

the streets with his tie round his waist and his collar unbuttoned. He ...Th e scruffy Briti sh
is no longer 'at work ' and for his employers to criticize him for hi s The British are comparatively unin -
appearance would be seen as a gross breach of privacy. Perhaps terested in clo thes. They spend a
because of the clo thing forma lities that many peop le have to follow low er prop o n io n of their inco me on
during the week, the British , unlike the peo ple of m any o ther cou n- cloth ing than peopl e in most othe r
European co un mcs do . Many people
tries, like to 'dress down' on Sundays. They can 't w ait to take off their
buy second-ha nd clot hes and arc
respectab le working clothes and slip in to something really scru ffy. not at all em barrassed to admit this.
Lots of men wh o wear suits during the week can then be seen in old If rou are somewhere in a Mediter -
sw eaters and jeans, so metimes with hol es in them . And male politi - ranean holiday area it is usually
cians are keen to get themselves photographed not wearing a tie possible to identify the British
wh en 'officially' on holiday, to show tha t they are really ordinary tourist - he or she is the one who
looks so badly dressed!
people.
This difference between formalities and formality is the key to
w hat people from other countries some times experience as a
cold ness among the British . The key is this: being friendly in Britain
ofte n involves sho w ing that you are no t bo thering w ith the formalit-
ies. This means not addressing som eone by his or her title (Mr, Mrs,
Profe ssor etc) , not dressing smartly when entertaining gue sts, not
shaking hands when meeting and not saying 'please' wh en making a
request. When they avoid doing these things with you , the British
are not being unfriendly or disrespectful, the y are implying that you
are in th e category 'friend' , and so all the rules can be ign ored. To
address someone by hi s or her title or to say 'please ' is to observe
for m alities and therefore to put a distance betw een the peop le
involved. The same is true of shaking hands. Altho ugh this sometimes
has the reputation of being a very British thing to do , it is actually
rather rare. Most people would do it on ly when being introdu ced to
a stranger or when me eting an acquaintance (but not a friend) after
a long tim e. Sim ilarly, most British peopl e do not feel welcomed if.
on being invited to some body 's house, they find the ho sts in smart
clothes and a grand table set for them . They do not feel flattered by
this, the y feel intimidated. It makes them feel they can 't relax.
It is probably true that th e British , especially the En glish, are more
reserved than the people ofmany other co un tries. They find it compar-
atively difficult to indicate friendship by open displays of affection.
For example, it is no t the convention to kiss w hen meeting a friend.
Instead , friendship is symbolized by behaving as casually as possible.
If you are in a British person 's house , and you are told to ' help
yourself' to some thin g, your ho st is not being rude or suggesting
tha t you are of no importance - he or she is sho wing tha t you are
com pletely accep ted and just like 'one of the family'.
In the last decades of the twent ieth cent ury, the general amo unt of
info rma lity increased. Buffet-type mea ls, at w hich peop le do no t sit
down at a table to eat, are now a co mmon form of hosp italit y.
At the same time , the tradition al reserve has also been breaking
down. More group s in society now kiss when meeting each other
(wom en and women, and men and women, but still never men
and me n!) .
64 5 Altitudes

~ Self-h elp Publi c spiritedness and am ateurism

The National Trust is one example of In public life Britain has tradi tionally followe d w ha t migh t be called
a charity which became very
.the cult of the talen ted amateur' , in w hich bein g lO O pro fessionally
Important without any government
involvement. Another is the Family dedi cated is looked at with suspicion. 'Only doing yo ur job ' has never
Planning Association. By [938, this bee n accep ted as a justification for actions. Ther e is a common
organization ran 935"clinics around assumption that socie ty is best served by everybo dy 'c hippi ng in ' -
Britain which gave advice and help that is, by lot s o f people giving a littl e bit of their free time to hel p
regarding birth control to anybody
in a variety o f ways. Thi s can be seen in the structu re of the civil
who wanted it. Not until ten years
later, with the establishment of the
service (see chapte r 8). in the circumstan ces under which Members
National Health Service (sec chapter of Parliamen t do the ir w ork (see chapte r 9), in th e use of unpa id
18), did the British government non- lawyers to run m uch o f the legal system (see chapter I I) , in
involve itself in such ma uers. some aspec ts of the education system (see chapter 14 ) , and in the
A further example ofself-help ' is fact that, un til recently, m any of the most popular spons in the
the Consumers' Association. In
co unt ry we re o fficially amateur even at top level (see chapter 2 I ).
195"7,a small group of people
working from an abandoned garage Th is characteristic , how ever , is on the declin e. In all th e areas
started Which.', a magaz ine expos in g menti oned above, ' pro fessionalism ' has changed fro m havin g a
abuses in the marketplace, investi- negat ive conno tation to having a po sitive one. Neve rthe less, so me
gat ing trickery by m anu factur ers new areas o f ama teur particip ation in public life have develop ed in
and com paring different com pan-
the last decade , such as ne ighbourhood wa tch sche mes (see chapter
ies' brands of the same pro d uct.
Thirty years later, 900,000 peopl e
I I). Moreover, tens of thousands of 'amateurs' are still actively
regularly bought this m agazine and in volved in charity work (see chapter 18) . As w ell as givin g direct
the Consume r's Association wa s help to those in nee d, they raise money by orga nizing jumble sales ,
making a [0 m illion sur plus (not a fetes and flag days (on which they stand in the stree t collecting
'profit ' because it is a registered mo ney). This volu ntary activity is a basic part of British life. It has
char ity). By th en it had successfully
ofte n bee n so effective that w ho le countrywide ne tw or ks have been
campaigne d for m an y new law s
pro tectin g consumers and Which? set up wi thou t any gove rnmen t help at all ( ~ Self-help) . It is no accident
had become the British consum er 's that man y of the world's largest and most w ell-kn own ch arities (for
bible. example, Oxfam, Amne sty International and the Save the Children
Fund) began in Britain . No te also tha t, each year, the co unt ry 's blood
... Supp orting th e underdog tran sfu sion service collects over two million donation s of blood
Some customs o f road use illu strate fro m unpaid volunteers.
the British tendency to be on the side
of 'the underdog ' {i.e. the weaker
side in any competition). On the
roads the underdog is the pedestrian.
The law states that if a person has
just one foot o n a zebra crossing then
vehicles must stop. And they usually
do. Conversely, British pedestrians
interpret the colour of the human
figure at traffic lights as advice. not
as an instruction. If the figure is red
but no cars are approaching, they
feel perfectly entitled to cross the
road immediately. In Britain , jay-
walking (crossing the roa d by
dodging in between cars) has never
been illegal.
Volunteers ready to collect money for the RSPCA
 Privacy and sex 65"

Privacy and sex ... Lovely weath er we 're having

Respect for privacy underlies many aspects of Briti sh life. It is not just The British are always talking about
the weather. Unlike many othe rs.
privacy in your own hom e w hich is important (see chapter 19) . Just
this stereotype is act uall y true to life.
as im portant is the indi vid ual's rig ht to keep in formation about But constant remarks about the
himse lf or herse lf private. De spite the incr ease in informality, i t is weather at chance meetings are not
still seen as rud e to ask people what are called ' personal' question s the result o f polite con ventions.
(for example, about how mu ch money they earn or about their famil y They are not obligatory. Rather, they
or sex life) unless you kn ow them very well. No tice that the conven- are the result of the fact that, on th e
one hand , to ask personal questions
tional formula on being introduced to some one in Britain , ' how do would be rude while, at the same
you do ?', is not interpreted as a real request for infor mation at all; time, silence would also be rude .
the conventional rep ly is not to 'answ er the que stion' but to reply The wea ther is a very co nvenient
by saying 'how do you do " too. topic w ith which to 'fill the gap' .
The modern British attitude to sex is an example of how, while
moral attitudes have cha nged , the hab it ofkeeping things private is ... Blind Date
still dee ply ing rained. British (like Am erican) publi c life has a reputa- Blind OGle is a ,wy popula r television
tion fo r dema nd ing pu ritanical standards of behaviour. Revelation s programme. In it, a member of one
about ext ra-marital affairs o r ot her deviatio ns from what is cons id- sex asks three mem bers of the
oppo site sex (w hom he or she
ered normal in pr ivate life have, in the past, ruined the careers of
cannot see) questions and then
many public figures. Thi s would seem to indi cate a lack of respect for chooses wh ich o ne to go OUI With.
privacy and that the Briti sh do not allow their politi cians a pri vate The que stions and answers are
life . However, appearances in th is matt er can be m isleading. In m o st always full of sexual innuendo. The
of these cases , the di sgrac e of the po litician co ncerned has n ot been audience lo ves it.
On one show in 19 9 3, one of thc
becaus e of h is sexual activity. It has happen ed because this activity
po ssible blind dates was a German
was m ixed up with a ma tter of natio nal sec urity. or invol ved breaking girl. In con versation with the sho w 's
the law or indicated h ypocri sy (in actin g agains t the stated policy of host, her kno wledge o fl anguages
the politician's part y) . In other words, the pri vate sexual activity had came up. The girl said, 'My teacher
a direct relevance to the po liti cian 's public role . The scandal wa s that told me that the qu ickest w ay to
in the se cases , the politicians had not kep t their private lives and learn a forei gn language is to have
sex with a native speaker. And you
public role s separate enough . W hen no such connec tio ns are
know, it really works!' Uproar!This
involved , there are no negative consequen ces for the politicians. In remark caused the loudest audience
fact when , in 199 2, a leading politician ann ounced that five years reaction , the most hysterical laughs,
previou sly he had had an affair with his secretary, hi s popularity which the sho w had ever known.
actually incr eased! The show 's popularity is precisely
because sex is possibl y on the
In 199 2 a million copies of very explicit and realistic videos with
agenda, bur this was the first time
titles such as SuperVirility, Better Sex, The Gay Man's Guide (0 Safer Sex and that anyone on the programme had
The Lovers' Guide w ere so ld in Britain. There wa s some de bate about actually admitted to having sex. Very
whe ther they sho uld be banned. However, an opinion poll showed uri- British!
that the British pu blic agreed that they were not 'porno graphic' but
'e ducat ional' . Three out of four of those asked were happy for the
video s to be freely on sale. Examples such as this suggest that mod ern
Briton s have a positive and open attitude to sex. However, they
continue to regard it as an absolutely private matter. Sex may no
lon ger be ' bad ' , but it is still em barr assing. Take the example of sex
educat ion in schools. Partly because of worries about AIDS, thi s is
no w seen as a vital part o f the schoo l curriculum . It is the legal
responsibi lity o f schools to teach it. However, research in the early
The television programme 'Blind Date'
I 990S sugges ted that little o r no sex educatio n w as taking place in
66 5 Attitudes

.... Carryon laughing nearl y half of the scho ols in the country. W hy' Th e most co m mon
In the history of Bnush co medy,
rea son was that teachers Sim ply felt too embarrassed to tackle the
there is a special place for the Corry subject. Similarly. public reference s to sex in popular entertainme nt
On series of films. Starting in the late are very common, but th ey typically take th e fo rm of joking inn uendo
19 50S and continuing into the m id and clumsy double-entendre eo> Carry an laughing and see chapter 23).
1970s. there were twe nty-n ine Carry
The same mixture o f tolerance and em barrassment can be seen in
On films. All of them used the same
formul a (and always w ith more or
th e official attitude to prostitution in Britain . It is not illegal to be a
less the same set of actors) : a w ell- prosti tute in Britain, but it is illega l to publicly behave like one. It is
kno wn struauon or place (a hospital. against the law to 'solicit' -that is , to do anyt hing in public to
the army, the British empire in find customers,
India) peopled with absurd charac-
ters whose dialogue consists of
almost noth ing but puns relating to
sex or to ile ts.
Nevertheless. they became. over
the rears, an esse ntial part of British
culture. Anybody who went to see a
Ceny On film knew exactly wh at sort
of thing to expect. This predictability
in fact. was part of the enjoyment,
The jokes, so obvious and co ntinu-
ous , could often be spotted by the
audience be'fore (hey came. A poster advertising a 'Carry On' film

QUES TIONS

I Frequent ment ion is made in this chapter of
British individualism. How m an y examples of
th is can yo u find? Can you think of any others'
2 It has been said that the British are suspicio us of
things in public life which are logical or system-
atic. Can yo u find examples in thi s chapter which
could be used to suppo rt thi s opinion ?
3 Imagine this situatio n: you are at home. just
about to have lunch, when there is a knock at
the door. It is a British friend of yours , not a very
clo se friend . but closer than a mere acquaint-
ance , He or she has come to pay you an
unexpected visit. You suggest that yo ur friend
comes in and stays for lu nch . But your friend is
embarrassed to find tha t he or she has called at
a mealt ime and refuses the invitation, You want
to persuade your friend to change hi s or her
mind , Here are two possible ways of doing thi s:
A Pleosestcy. Wedan't have much, I'm afraid, butwe'd
be honoured, Whatever we han is yours.
BIt's no trouble at all. There's plenty af food. Don't think
twice about it. We're used to people popping in.
Which of the se tw o do yo u think w ould be a
more successful wa y to persuade a British
person ? A or B? W hy?
4 Which (if any) of the Briti sh characteristics
de scribed in this chapter would you regard as
also characteristic of people in yo ur country' To
w hat ex tent?

S U G G ES T IONS

Geo rge Mike s' humorous books about the English, su ch as How to be
an Alien, How to be Inimitable and How to be Decadent Call publish ed by
Penguin) are easy and fun to read . As th ey span thirty years,
together th ey offer in sights into changing attitudes in Britain .
Read Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson , a humorous tour
round Britain by an American wh o lived there for many years.
6
Political life

Look at the extract from a fictio na l diary on the next pa ge (0) The killer
instinct} , It is taken from the book of Yes , Prime Minister, a very pop ular
radio and television comedy of the I 980s. Like all political satire, this
pro gram me co uld only ha ve been popular because people believed
that it was, at least partly, a true reflection of reali ty. It therefore
illustrates the British atti tude to politicians and politics.

The public atti tude to politi cs

Politicians in Britain do not have a good reputation. To des cribe
someone who is not a professional politician as 'a po litician ' is to
criticize him o r her, suggesting a lack of tru stworthine ss, It is no t that
people hate the ir politicians. They just regard them wi th a high
deg ree of sus picion . They do not expe ct them to be corr upt or to use
their po sition La am ass personal wealth, but they do expect them to
be frequently dishonest. People are not really shocked w he n the
government is caught lying. On the other hand , they would be very
shocked ind eed if it wa s discove red that the gove rn ment wa s doing
anything actually illegal. A scandal such as the Watergate affair in the
USA in the early t 9 70 S would endanger the stability of the whole of
political life .
At an ear lier point in the ' diary', Jim Hacker is wondering w hy the
Prime Minister has resigned . He do es not believe the Tumour that
I million w orth of diamonds have been found in the Prime Minis-
ter's hou se. Thi s is partly, no doubt , becau se he does not th ink the
Prime Minister could be so co rrupt bu t it is also because 'it's never
been offici ally denied .. . The first ru le of poli tics is Never Believe
Anything Until It's Been Officially Denied' . Thi s is the basis of the
joke in the two co nversations in the extract. Duncan and Eric are
only sure tha t Jim wants to be Prime Minister after he implies tha t
he doesn 't '
The lack of enthusiasm for politicians m ay be seen in the fact that
surveys have show n a ge ne ral ignorance o f w ho they are. More than
half of the adults in Britain do no t know the name of their local
Mem ber of Parliament (M P), even thou gh there is just one of these
for each area, and qui te a hig h proportion do not even know the
names of the important government mi nisters or leaders of the m ajo r
political parties.
68 6 Politica l life
.... The killer instinct
In this extract from Yes, Prime Minister,
the Prime Minister has just resigned .
There are two candidates to be the
new Prime Min ister, Eric Jeffries and
Duncan Short, both of them minis-
ters in the present government.
Another minister, Jim Hacker, also
wants the job. He has recently learnt
some scandalous in form ation about
events in the pasts of the other two
candidates. so now he has the oppor-
tunity to make them withdraw.
Here is an extract from his diary.
Adapted from Yes, Prime Minister by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.
I PM is short for 'Prime Minister' .
2 Number Ten Dow ni ng Street is where the Prime Minister lives.
1 He finally un ders tood (that Hacker intended to be PM).
I told Duncan that some information had come my way . Serious
infor matio n. To do with his personal financial ope rations. I referre d to
the collapse of Continental and Genera l.
He argued that there was no thi ng improper about that. I rep lied tha t
tech nically there w asn't, but if you look ed at it in conjunction w ith a
similar case at Offshore Securit ies ... I indicated that. Ifhe stayed in the
ru n ning for PM I, I would be obliged to share my knowledge w ith senior
members of the part y, the Fraud Squad, and so forth. The America ns
would also have to know. And Her Majesty ..
He panicked. ' Hang on ! Financial ma tters can be misinterpreted.'
I sippe d my drink and w aited. It di dn't take long. He said that he
did n' t really want Number Ten! at alL He felt that the Foreign Office
was a much better job in many ways. 'Bur I won' t support Eric!' he
insisted ho tly.
'How w ou ld it be if you transferred all your support to someone
else?' I suggesred.
Duncan looked blank. 'Who?'
'Someone who recognized your qualities. Someone who'd want you
to stay on as Foreign Secretary . Someone who would be discreet about
Cont inental and Gene ral. Someone you trust.'
Gradually, I saw it dawnin g upon him. 'Do yo u mean you?' he asked.
-e
I pre tended surprise. 'Me? I have absolutely no ambitions in that
direct ion .'
'You do mean you,' he observed quietly. He knows the code .
*
I told Eric what I knew. He went pale. 'But you said you we re going to
hel p me get elected Prime Minister.'
I pointed out that my offer to help him was before my knowledge of
the shady lady from Argentina . And others. ' Loo k, Eric, as party Chair-
man I have my duty. It would be a disaster for the party if you were PM
and it came out. I mea n , I w ouldn 't care to expla in your pr ivate life to
Her Majesty, would you ?'
'I'll w ithdraw ,' he m uttered .
I told him reassuringly that I would say no more about it. To anyone.
He thanked me nasti ly and snarled that he supposed that bloody
Duncan would now get Number Ten .
'Not if! can help it,' I told liim.
'Who then ?'
I raised m y glass to him, smiled and said, 'Cheers.'
The penny drcppeds . So did his low er jaw. 'You don 't mea n -you?'
Again I put on my surprised face. 'Me? ' I said innocently. 'Our chil-
dre n are app roaching the age when Annie and I are thinking of spen ding
m uch m ore time w ith each ot her.'
He un de rstood perfectly. 'You do m ean you.'
 The style of democracy 69

The British ",'ere not alwa ys so unenthusiastic. In centuries past, it ... Collectors' items?
was a maxim of gentlemen's clubs that nob ody should mention polit - An indicatio n of the poor reputation
ics or religion in polite conversation. If anyb ody did , there was a o f politicians in Britain is the value
danger that the conversation would become too heated, people o f their signatures. Autographs can
would become bad-tempered and perhaps violent. However, there sometimes be worth qui te a lot of
money - but not those of most poli-
has been no real po ssibilit y ofa revolution or even of a radical change
ticians . Even those of Prim e
in the style ofgovernment for almost two centuries now. This stability Ministers are not very valuable. In
is now generally taken for gran ted. Most people rarely see any reason 1992 the signature of Margaret
to become passio nate abou t po lities and no body regards it as a 'dan- Thatcher, Prime Minister thro ugh -
gero us' top ic o f co nversatio n. They are m o re likely to regard it as a out the 19805, wa s w orth 75 if
boring to pic o f co nversation ! However, this lack of enthus iasm is not accompanied by a pho tograph; the
signature of John Major. Prim e Min-
the same as complete disenchan tm ent. Three-quarters of the adult
ister at the time, was w orth 20;
popu lation are interested enough in poli tics to vote at national elec - those of o ther recent Prime Minis-
tions, even though voting is no t co mp ulsory. There is a general feeling ters wer e worth even less. The one
of confidence in the stability and workability of the system. exception was Winston Churchill.
Yes, Prime Minister is just one of many programmes and publications His Signed photograph was said to
be wort h I ,000.
devoted to political satire. All of them are con sistently and bitingly
critical. Moreover, their criticism is typically not about particular
... Figure s offun
policies but is directed at the attitudes of politicians , their alleged
dishonesty and disloyalty, and at the gene ral style of political life Spitting Image was an example of tele-
visio n satire. It was a programme
(to> Figures offun). Given this, you mi ght think that people wo uld be
'which sho we d puppets o f w ell-
very angry, that there would be loud demand s that the system be known public fig ures speaking in
cleaned up , even public demonstrations. No t at all' The last demon- fictional situations in order to make
strations about such matters took place 150 years ago. You mi ght also fun of them. Not e that the figures
think that the polit icians them selves would be worried abou t the were not naturalistic. Instead , they
negative picture that these satires paint o f them . Far from it! On the w ere more like car tocns , grot-
esquel y emphasizi ng certain
back cover of the 1989 edition of Yes, Prime Minister there is a trib ute features. The SpittingImage format
from Margaret Thatcher, the real Prime Minister of the coun try was co pied in other European
throughou t the 1980s. In it, she refers to the boo k's 'close ly observed cou n trtes.
portrayal of what goe s on in the corridors of power' (suggesting it is
accurate) and how this portrayal has given her 'hours of pure joy'.
In Britain it is generall y accepted that politics is a dirty business, a
necessary evil. Therefore, politicians make sure that they do not appea r
too keen to do the job. They see themselves as being politicians out
of a sense of public duty. That is why, in the extract, Jim Hacker does
not adm it that he actually wan tsto be Prime Ministe r. Ericand Duncan,
and Jim himself, all know and accept that to be the Prime Minister is
the ultimate goal of most politicians. But for Jim Hacker to adm it this
openly, even in private co nversation, w ou ld make him seem danger-
ously keen on power for its own sake.

The style of democracy

The 'Spitting Image' puppet ofMorgoret
The British are said to have a high respect for the law. Although they Thatcher (Prime Minister 1979-91 )
may not have much respect for the present institut ions of the law
(see chapter 1 I), this reputation is more or less true wi th respect to
the principle oflaw. Of co urse , lots of crimes are committed , as in any
o ther country, but the re is little systematic law- breaking by large
70 6 Political life
~ Official secrets
In 1992 the existence ofM I6 , the
British Secret Service, was publicly
admitted by the government for the
first time . Nobody was surprised.
Everybody already knew that there
was a secret service, and that its
name was MI6. But the admission
itself was a surprise. British govern -
ments do not like public revelations
of their activities, even if these are
no lon ger secret. (In this case, the
reason for the new openness was
that, w ith the cold war over, MI6
had to start justifying w hy it needed
money from taxpayers.)
For years during the 1980s, for
instance , the government success-
fully prevented the publication in
Britain of the book Spycc tcher (the
memoirs of an MI6 agent) even
though, by the end of the decade,
it had already been published in
several other countries and could
therefore not contain any genui ne
secrets. Eventually , in 199 1, the
European Court rule d that publica-
tion should be allowed in Britain
too .
sections of th e population. For example, tax evasion is not the national
pastim e that it is said to be in some countries.
How ever , while 't he law ' as a concept is largely respected , the
British are comparatively unenthusiastic about maki ng new laws.
The general feeling is that, w h ile you have to have law s some times ,
wherever possible it is best to do wi thout them . In many aspec ts of
life the country has comparatively few rul es and regulations. This
lack of reg ulatio n works bo th \vays. Just as ther e are comparatively
few rules telling the individu al what he or she must or m ust no t do ,
so the re are compara tively few rule s telling the government w hat it
can or cannot do . Tw o unique aspe cts of British life will mak e thi s
clear.
First, Britain is one of the very few European countries w hose
citizens do not h ave id entity cards. Before the 197 05 , w he n tour ism
to foreign coun tries became popular (and so the holdin g of passports
became m ore common), most peopl e in the country w ent thr ou gh
life w ithou t ever owning a documen t whose m ain purpose w as to
ident ify them. British pe ople are not obliged to carry identification
with them. You do not even have to have your drivin g licence w ith
you in your car. If the police ask to see it, you have tw enty-four h our s
to take it to them !
Second, and on the other hand, Britain (unlike some other coun-
tries in wester n Europe) does not have a Freed om ofInforma tion
Act. There is no law which obliges a govern ment authority or agency
to show you what information it has collected about you. In fact, it
goes fur ther than that. There is a law (called the Official Secre ts Act)
which obli ges ma ny govermnent em ployees not to tell anyone about
the deta ils of their work. It SeeITIS tha t in Brita in, both your ow n
ide ntity and the information which the government ha s about your
identi ty are regarded as, in a sense, pri vate matters.
These tw o aspects are ch aracteristic of the relation ship in Britain
betw een the individual and the state . To a larg e de gree , the tradit ional
assumption is tha t bo th should leave each ot h er alone as much as
poss ible, The dut ies of the individual towards the state are confined
to not break ing the law and paying taxes. There is no nati on al service
(m ilitary or otherwise); people are not ob liged to vo te at elections
if they can't be bothered ; people do not have to register their change
of address with any government authority w he n they ITIOVe house.
Similarly. the gove rnmen t in Britain h as a comparatively free han d.
It would be correct to call the country ' a dem ocracy' in the gen era lly
accepted sense of th is w ord . But in Britain thi s dem ocracy inv olves
less participation by or dinary citizens in governing and law m aking
than it does in many ot her countries. There is no concept of these
things being do ne 'by the people' . If the governm ent wa nts to mak e
an important change in th e w ay that the count ry is run - to change ,
for example, the electoral system or the powers of the Prim e Minis-
ter - it does not have to ask the people . It doe s not even have to have
 The constitution 7I

a special vote in Parliamenl wi th an especially high pro portion ofM Ps

in favour. It just needs to get Parliament to agree in the same way as
for any new law (see chapter 9) .
In many countries an importan t const itutional change cannot be
made without a referendum in which everybody in the co untry has
the chance to vote 'yes' or 'no'. In other co untries, such as the USA,
people often have the chance to vote on particular proposals for
changing laws that directly affect their everyday life. on smoking in
pu blic places or the location of a new hospit al, for example. No thing
like this happ en s in Britain . There has only been one cou n trywide
referendum in British h isto ry (in 1975, on w hethe r the coun try
shou ld stay in the European Com m unity). In Britain dem ocracy has
never meant tha t the people have a han d in the runn ing of the
country ; rather it means that the people choose w ho is to govern the
country, and then let them get on w ith it!

The constitution
Britain is a constitutional monarchy. That means it is a cou ntry gov-
erned by a king or queen who accepts the advice of a par liament. It
is also a parliamentary democracy. That is , it is a country w hose
governmenl is controlled by a parliament w hich has been elected by
the peop le. In other words , th e basic system is not so differ ent fro m
anywhere else in Euro pe. The high est position s in the government are
filled by member s of the directly elected par liament. In Britain, as in
many Europ ean co untries, the official head o f state , whe ther a
mo narch (as in Belgiu m , the Ne therlands and Denmark) or a presid-
ent (as in Germany , Greece and Italy) has little real pow er.
Howe ver, there are features o f the British system of governm ent
which make it different from that in other countries and which are
not 'modern ' at all. The most notable of these is the question of the
constitution. Britain is almost alone among modern states in that it
does not have 'a constitution ' at all. Of cou rse, there are rules, regula-
tions, principles and procedures for the running of the country - all
the thi n gs that poli tical scientists and legal experts study and w hich
are know n collectively as 'the co nstitutio n'. But there is no single
written document w hich can be appealed to as the highest law of the
land and th e final arb iter in any matter of dispute. Nobody can refer
to 'article 6' or 'the first amendment' or anything like that, because
nothi ng like that exists.
Instead , th e principles and procedures by whic h the count ry is
gove rne d and fro m which people's rig ht s are derived come fro m a
nu m ber of di fferent so urces. They have been built up , bit by bit, ove r
the centur ies. Some of them are wr itten dow n in laws agreed by
Parliament, some of them have been spo ken and then w ritten do w n
(judgements made in a court) and some of them have never been
written down at all. For examp le. there is no w ritten law in Britain
that says anything about who can be the Prim e Ministe r or what the
72 6 Political life
II> The pairing system
The pairing system is an excellent
examp le o f the habit of co- o pera-
tion among po litic al pani cs in
Britain . Un der this system , an MP o f
one pany is 'paired' wit h an MP o f
ano ther party. When there is go ing
to be a vote in the Ho use o f
Commons, and the t wo MPs know
that they would vote o n o ppo site
sides , neither of them bot her to turn
up for the vote. In this w ay , the dif-
ference in numbers between on e
side and the othe r is maintained,
w h ile the MPs are free to gel on w ith
other work. The system works vcry
well. There is hardly ever any
'cheating' .
powers of the Prime Minis ter are, even though he or she is probably
the most powerful person in the country. Similarly, there is no single
written document w hich asserts people's righ ts. Some rights which
are co mmonly accepted in modern democracies (fo r example, the
rights not to be discrim inated against on the basis of sex or race) have
been formally reco gnized by Parliament through legislation; but
ot hers (for example, the rights no t to be discriminated against on the
basis of religion or po litical views) have not. Nevertheless, it is
understood that these latter rights are also part of the constitution.
The style of politi cs
Despite recent changes such as the televising of Parliament, po litical
life in Bri tain is still influenced by the tradit ional British respect for
privacy an d love of secrecy. It is also comparatively informal. In both
Parliamen t and government there is a tendency for important
decis ions to be taken , not at official public mee tings, or even at pre-
arranged private meetings, but at lunch, or over drinks, or in chance
encounters in the corrido rs ofpower. It used to be said that the Ho use
of Commons was 'the most exclusive club in Lon don '. And indeed ,
there are m an y features ofParliament which cause its members (MPs)
to fee l special an d to feel a special sense of be lo nging wit h each
ot her, even among tho se who have radically opposed political ph ilo -
sophies. First, co ns titu tio nal theory says that Parliament has absolute
con trol over its own affairs and is , in fact, the highest power in the
land. Second , there are the anc ie nt tra ditions of procedure (see
chapter 9) . Many o f these serve to rem ind MPs of a tim e when the
main division in politics was not betw een this party and that party
but rath er betw een Parliam ent itself and the monarch. Even the archi-
tecture of the Palace of Westminster (the home of both Ho uses of
Parliam ent ) co nt ributes to th is feeli ng. It is so confusing that only
'insiders' can possibly fin d their way around it.
These featu res, togethe r wi th the long years of political stability,
have led to a genuine habit of co-operation among politicians of
di ffer ent parties . When you h ear politicians ar guin g in the House o f
Com mons or in a telev ision studio, you might thin k that they ha te
each other. Thi s is rarely the case. Often they are good friend s. And
eve n when it is the case, bo th no rmally see the practical advantage of
co-operation . The advantage is th at very litt le time is was ted figh ting
about h ow political bus iness is to be co nducted fairly. For example,
the order o f business in Parliament is arrange d by representatives of
the parti es beforehand so that enoug h time is given for the various
po ints of view to be expressed . Another example is television advert-
ising. By agreement, po litical parties are no t allowed to buy time on
televisio n. Instead, each party is given a strict amoun t of time, wi th
the tw o biggest part ies getting exactly equal amounts. A very no tab le
exa m ple is the system of ,pa iring ' ofM Ps (I> The pairing system).

A guide to British political parties
Conservative party
CONSERVATIVE
4'
History: developed from the gro up of
MPs kno wn as the Tories in the early
ninet eenth cen tury (sec chapter 2)
and still o ften known info rmally by
tha t name (es pecially in new spapers,
because it takes up less space').
Truduioncl outlook: right of cent re;
stands for hi erarch ical au thority and
m inimal gove rnment interfere nce in
the economy: likes to reduce income
(ax; gives high priority [ 0 national
defence and Internallaw and order.
Since 1979: ag gre ssive reform of ed u -
calion, w elfare . ho usin g and m any
public servic es designed to inc rease
consume r-cho ice and ! o r to intro-
d uce ' market econ omics' into their
o peratio n.
Organization: leader has relati vely great
degr ee of freedom to direct po licy.
Leader (May 2002) : lain Du ncan Smith .
Voters: the riche r sections o f socie ty,
plus a large m inor ity of the ' ....o rking
classes.
Money: m ostly do na tions from busi-
ness people.
Natio nalist parties
Both Plaid Cyrn ru (' party of Wales' in
th e Welsh language ) and the SNP
(Scoms h Natio nal Party) fight for
devolution of gove rn me ntal powers.
Many o f the ir m ember s, especially in
th e SNP,are willing to co nsi der to tal
independence from the UK. Both
part ies have us ually had a few MPs at
Westminster in the last fifty years, but
we ll u nd er half of the tot al nu m be rs of
MPs fro m their respective co untries.
Labour pa rty
History: for me d at the begin ning
of the twentiet h cent ur y from an
allian ce o f tr ade unio nists and
inte llectuals. First gove rnment
in 19 23.
Traditional outlook: left of centre ; stan ds
for equa lity, for the w eaker peop le
in socict y and for more go vernment
involvement in the eco no my; mor e
co nce rned to provide full socia l ser-
vices tha n to keep income tax low.
Since 1979: o ppos ition to Con servat-
ive reforms, altho ugh has accept ed
m an y of th ese by no w; recently.
emphasis o n co m m unity ethics and
loo ser link s wit h trade unio ns (sec
chapter I S").
Organization: in th eor y, poli cies have to
be approved by annual conferen ce;
in practice. lead er has more power
than this implies.
Leader (May zoozlTony Blair.
Voters: working class, plus a small
m iddl e -class int elligent sia.
Money: more than half fro m tra de
un ions.
Parti es in No rt hern Ireland
Parti es here norm ally represent
eith e r the Protestant or the Cath oli c
comm u nities (see ch apte r 4): Th ere
is o ne large co m parat ively moderate
party 0 11 each side (th e Prot estant
Ulster Uni o ni sts an d the Catholic
Social Dem ocratic and Labour Part y)
and one or more o ther parties of
more extreme view s o n each side (fo r
example, the Pro testant Democratic
Uni on ists and the Catholic Sinn
Fein) . Ther e is o ne pany which asks
for support fro m bo th co m munities
- th e Alliance party. It had not, by 2002,
won an y seats.
The st ylc of p o liti cs 73
Libe ral Dem ocratic party
Liberal
Democrats
History: formed in th e late 1980s fro m
a union of the Liberals (who
developed fro m the W h igs of the
earl y nineteenth cent ury) and the
Social Democrats (a brea kaway
gro up o f Labo u r poli tician s) .
Policies: rega rde d as in the centre o r
slightly left of centre; has always
been strongly in favou r of the EU ;
places more emphasis on the envi r-
o nment than other panics ; believes
in givin g greater powers 10 local
government and in refo rm of the
electoral system (sec chapter 10).
Leader (May 2002): Cha rles Kenn ed y.
Voters: fro m all classes, but mo re fro m
the m iddle class.
Money: private donat ions (much
poorer th an the big two) .
Other parties
There are numerous very sm all par ties,
suc h as the Green Party. which is su p
pa n ed by envi ro nmentalists. There is a
sm all pany which wa s form erly the
Communist -party. an d a number of
othe r left-Wing part ies, and also an
ex trem e righ t-Wing pa rty which is
fairly o pe nly racist (by most definitions
of thai \ v o rd). It wa s previous ly called
the Na tional Front but since the 19 80s
has been called the British Natio nal
Party (BN P). At the tim e of writing ,
none of th ese par ties had w o n a Single
seat in Parliam ent in the second half of
the twentieth ce ntu ry. In 1993.
however. the BN P briefly w o n a seat
o n a local council.
74 6 Political life
.... Image matters
In the age of telev isio n. the impo r-
tam:" o f the personal image of a
party's leader 1O its po litic al success
has increased greatly. Since 19 60 a
great change has taken place with
regard to the families of w p politi-
cia ns. Before then. the British pub lic
did not even know the name o f the
Prime Minister 's wife. These days,
the wives of male pany leaders are
well-known to the me dia, and their
chi ld ren are often feature d with
them in photographs to show what
loving . normal family men the y are .
The British sce ne has no t, at the
time of wriu ng. reach ed the level of
absurd ity that it has in the USA
wh ere , [or exa m ple. the daug hter of
Jimmy Carter (President 197 5-7 9)
was such a celebrity that the press
o nce tho ugh t it worthwhile to
rep on that she had been twelve
min utes late fo r scho o l!
Tony Blair with his wife and three
oldest children outside Number 10
Donning Street, the official residence
of the Prime Minister
The part y system
Britain is no rmally described as having a 'two-party system '. This is
because , since t 945 , one o f the two big parties has , by itself. con-
tro lled the gov ernment, and m embers of the se tw o parties have
occupied more tha n 90% ofall ofth e seats in the House of Commons,
Moreover , thi s is not a peculiarly modern phenomenon , Basicall y the
sam e situatio n existed throughou t the nin eteenth centur y, except that
the Liberal s, rather than Labour, were one of th e two big parties,The
Labour party wa s formed at the start of th e twentieth cent ury and
within about thirty years had replaced the Liberal s in thi s role,
One reason fo r the exi stence of this situatio n is the elec toral system
(see chapter 10 ) , The other is the nature of the origin of Briti sh
poli tical parties. Britain is unlike most other countries in that its
parties were first formed inside Parliament, and were onl y later
ex tended to the public at large. Durin g the eighteenth century
Membe rs of Parliam ent tended to divide them selve s into two camps ,
those who usually su pported the government of th e time and th ose
w ho usually did not. During th e ninetee nth century it gradually
beca me th e habit tha t the party w hic h did no t control the government
presented itself as an alternative government. This idea o f an alternat-
ive governme nt has received legal recognition . The leader o f the
seco nd biggest party in th e House of Com m o ns (or, m o re exac tly,
of the bi ggest party w h ich is not in go vernment) rece ives th e title
' Leade r of Her Majesty's Opposition' and even ge ts a salary to pro ve
the importance of this role. He or she chooses a 'shadow cabine t',
th er eb y pr esenting the im ag e of a team read y to fill th e shoes of th e
governme nt at a moment's notice.
As a result of th ese o rigins , neither party existed so lel y to loo k after
the int erests of o ne parti cular gro up (although some groups in society
were naturally more attracted to o ne of the two parties than the
o the r) , Furt hermore, although they could be d istin gui shed by
certain broad di fferen ces in their o utlooks on life , the two parties did
not ex ist to promote single, coheren t po litical philosophies. The
main reason for their exis tence w as to gain power by fo rming effect-
ive coali tions of interes t-groups and individuals.
Although the Labour pa rty was formed outside Parliament , and, as
its name im plies, did exist to promote the interests of a particular
group (the working class), it soon fitted into the established frame -
work. It is very difficult for smaller parties to challenge th e
dominance of the bigger ones. If any of them seem to have so m e
good ideas, these ideas ten d to be adopted by one of the three biggest
parties, who all try to appeal to as large a section of the population
as possible.
The fact that the part y system origina ted in side Parliament ha s
other consequences. Parties do not, as they do in man y other co un-
tries, ex tend into every area o f public and social life in the country.
Universities , fo r exam ple, each have the ir Conservative , Labour and
 The modern situatio n 7S

Liberal Democrat clubs, but when there is an election for office rs of II'- A loss of confidence
the student union , il is not norma lly fo ught acco rding to nation al In 1991 , Prime Minister John Major
party division s. The same is true o f elections w ithin trade unio ns (see rem arked o n hi s vision of Brit ain
chapter 1 5). as 'a natio n at ease wi th itsel f ',
However. an opini on poll published
Anoth er consequence is that it is usually a part y's MP s who have
in February 1992 sug gested that his
the most control ove r part y policy and the bigg est in fluence on the vision w as not reality. Over a thou-
choi ce of party lead er. This does not mean that the parties are sand adult s wer e in terviewed face-
undemocratic. Thei r members who are not MPs can have an effe ct on to-face in 100 areas thro ughout
policy in a number of way s. First , they can make their views known Britain and were asked abo ut their
at the annual party co nference. In the case of the three main parties. attitude s to various aspe cts ofl ife in
the country. In one series o f qu es-
this takes place in the autu mn and lasts about a week. Second , the
tions. interviewees were asked
local part y has the power to decide w ho is go ing to be the part y's whether they we re pro ud of certain
candidate for MP in its area at the next election. How ever, these ins titut io ns. Here arc so m e o f the
powers are limited by o ne im po rtant consideration - the appearance results o f the poll , co m pared wi th
of unity. Party polici es are alwa ys pre sented as potential government the results o f similar surveys don e
20-30 years before .
policies, and a part y's leading MPs are alway s pre sented as potential
mini sters. If you want to look like a reali stic potential government,
% agre ei ng
you don't want to show the public your disagreem ent s. Party confer- w ith
ences are always televise d. As a result they some times tend to be statemelH
show cases whose ma in purpose is no t so mu ch 1O debate im po rtant
1960s 199 2
matt ers as to boost the spirits o f party members and to show the
The British monarch is
pu blic a dynamic, unified part y. Similarly, if local part y members
something to be proud of 86 26
decide not to re-select the pre sent MP as their candidate in an electi on, The British Parliament is
it betrays disagreement and argume n t. Therefore , part y mem bers do so me thin g to be prou d o f 75 3 S-
not like this ha ppening and most MP s can be sure that their loca l The British health service is
party will choose them aga in at the next election (see chapte r 1I ) . somet hing to be proud o f 89 +I
The British education system
is something ( 0 be proud o f 77 27
The modern situation
During the last forty or so years, the tradition al confidence in the In the 1992 poll , only s % o ft hose
asked said that their pride in Britain
British poli tical system has w eaken ed . In 19 50 , Britain, despi te the
and British ins ti tu tions had increased
hard ships of the Second World War, could claim to be the richest and
in recent years; 54% said that it had
most stable large country in Europe . Collectivel y, its people seemed decreased.
to know what the y wanted and what they believed in . The y seemed
to be sur e of themselves.
Th is is no lo nger tru e. Britain is o ften rated as one of the
poorest large co untries in Europe , the po licies o f its governments
have pu lled in several dilTerent direction s, and its people tend to
be pessimistic about the future ( t>A loss ofconfidence) . It is now
co mm onplace for politicians and political commentators, wh en
calling for a change in some matter, to co m pare the co untry
un favourably w ith so me o ther Europ ean co untry.
In these circumstances, it is quite poss ible tha t some of the distinct-
ive characteristics of British public life will change. The matter of
identity cards is one area of possible change. The Briti sh have alway s
been rather proud o f not having them . This has been seen as proof
of the British de dication to the rights of the indi vidual. It has also
helped to give British people a feeling of being different. But w hat
76 6 Political life

.... Th e Rushdie affai r
Salman Rushdie is a British citizen
from a Mus lim background , and a
respected w riter. In early [989 , his
book The Satanic Ve rses was pu blished .
Many Muslims in Britain we re
extremely angry about the book's
publication . They regarded it as a
terr ible insult to Islam . They the re-
fore demanded that the book be
banned and that its author be taken
(Q court for blasphemy (using lan -
guage to in sult God).
To do either of these things would
have been to go against the lo n g-
established tradition of free speech
and freedom of religious views . In
any case, there is nothing in British
law to justify doing eithe r. There are
cens or ship law s, bu t the y relate o nly
(Q obscenity and national security.
There is a law aga ins t blasphemy , but
it re fers only to the Chri stia n reli-
gion . More over, the tendency from
the second half of the twent ieth
century ha s been to appl y both
types oflaw as little as possib le and
to give priority to the princip le of
free speech.
is the good of being different if 'different' means 'worse" There has
been growing concern about increasing crime in the country, and
this has resulted in much discussion about iden tity cards. Britain's
fellow states in the European Union would like to see them intro-
duced in the country. At the same time, there ha s be en inc reasing
pressure for a Freedom of In formation Act.
Another po ssibility is that Britain w ill finall y get a written cons titu-
tion. An unwritten constitution works very well if ever ybody in the
coun try shares the same attitudes and pr inciples about what is most
important in political life and abou t what people's rights and obliga-
tions are . In other words, it works very well in a society whe re
everybody belongs to the same culture. However, in com m on with
most other European countries today, Brita in is now multicultural.
This means that some sections of soci ety can som etimes hold radic -
ally different ideas about these things. The case of Salm an Rushdi e is
an exce llent example of this situation (C> The Rushdie affair). As long as
everybody in a country feels the same wa y, at the same tim e , abou t a
case such as this, there is no real need to worry about inconsistencies
in the law . There is no need to question the existence oflaws or to
update them. They are just interpreted in changing wa ys to match
the change in preva iling opinion . Thi s is what, up to now, has hap-
pened in Britain. But the Rushd ie case is an example of w hat can
happen when radically opposing views on a matter pr evail in different
sections of society at the same time. In these circumstances the tradi-
tional laissez-faire attitude to the law can become dangerous.

QUESTIONS

I In what sense could the British attitude to 3 How does the role of political parties in Britain
po litics be de scribed as 'happily cynical'? Are differ from their role in your country?
people equally cynical in your country? Are they 4 Why does Britain not have a written constitu-
as happy about it? tion? Does it need one?
2 In most Parliaments in the western world, the
place where representatives deba te is in the
form of a semi-circle. But in Britain, there are
two sets of rows facing each other. Why is the
British Parliament differen t in this respect?

SUGGESTIONS

Try to watch som e of the Yes, Prime Minister programmes (available as

a BBC video). There is a book of the same name published by
BBC Books.
 77

7
The monarchy

The appea rance ... The house of W indsor

Windsor is the famil y name of the
The position of the mon arch in Britain is a perfect illustration of the
royal famil y. The press so met imes
con tradicto ry nature of the constitutio n. From the evidence o f refers to its me mbers as 'the Wind -
w ritten law only. the Queen has almost absolute power, and it all sors'. Queen Elizabeth is o nly the
seems very un democratic. The American constitution talks abo ut fourth monarch w ith thi s name. This
'government of the peop le for the people by the people' . There is no is not because a 'new' royal family
took over the throne of Brirain four
law in Britain which says anything like that. In fact, ther e is no legal
reigns ago . It is because George V,
concept of ' the people' at all. Elizabeth's grandfather, ch anged the
Every autumn , at the state op ening of Parliament , Elizabeth II, who family name . It was Saxe-Coburg-
became Queen in 1952 , make s a speech. In it, she says what 'my Gotha, but during the First World
gove rnment' intend s to do in the coming year. And ind eed , it is her War it w as thoug ht better for
government, not the people's. As far as the law is co nce rned, she can the king not to have a German -
sounding name.
choose anybody she likes to run the government for her. There are
no restriction s on whom she picks as her Prime Minister. It does not
have to be somebody w ho has been elected. She could choose me;
she could even choose you. The same is true for her choices of people
to fill some hu ndred or so other ministerial positions. And if she gets
fed up with her mini sters, she can just dismiss them. Officially
speaking, the y are all 'se rvants ofthe Crown' (not servants of anything
like 'the country' or 'the people') . She also appears to have great
power over Parliament . It is she who summons a Parliament, and she
who dissolves it before a general election (see chap ter to). Nothing
that Parliament has decided can become law unt il she has agreed to it.
Similarly, it is the Queen , and not any other figure of authority,
who embodies the law in the cou rts. In the USA, when the police
take so m eone to court to accuse them of a crime, the court records
show that 'the people ' have accuse d that person . In o ther co untries
it mig ht be 'the state ' that makes the accusation . But in Britain it is
'the Crown' . This is because of the legal authorit y of the monarch.
And wh en an accused person is found guilty of a crime, he or she
might be sent to one of ' Her Majesty's' prisons.
Oth er countries have 'citizens' . But in Britain people are legally
described as 'su bjects' - subjects of Her Majesty the Queen . More-
over, there is a prin ciple of English law that the monar ch can do
nothin g that is legally wro ng. In other wo rds, Queen Elizabeth is
above the law.
78 7 The monarchy

...The royal family

Queen Eliza beth th e Queen Mother

died at the age of 101 in 200 2, the year
o f the pre sent Que en's Golden Jubi lee.
Her tours of bombed areas o f London
during the Second World War with her
hu sband. King Georgc Vl. made her
popular w ith the British people. She
remained the most consistently
popular member of the royal famil y
until her death .
Queen Elizabeth II was born in
1926 and became Queen in 1952
o n the death of her father, George VI,
who had reigned since 1936 (when
his elder brother, Edward VIII, gave
up the throne) . She is one of the
Princess Margaret The Queen Prince Chorles
longest-reigning mona rch s in British
histor y.She is wid ely respected for The Queen Mother Prince Philip
the way in whi ch she performs her
du ties and is generall y popular.
Prince Ph il ip Mountbatten, the Princess Diana married Prin ce second son. He is divorced fro m his
Duke o f Edinburgh, married the Charles in 1981.The couple separated wife, Sarah Ferguson (w ho is known
present Que en in 19+7. In the 1960s in 199 2 and later divorced. Princess to the popular press as ' Fergie'}.
and 1970s, h is outspo ken opi nions Diana d ied as the result o f a car They have two daughters.
on cont roversial matters were some - accide nt in [997. She was a glamorous Prince Edwa rd , the Qu een's
times embarrassing to the royal family. and popular figure during her lifetime. youngest SO il , was born in 1964. He
Princess Margar et. the Quee n 's Princess Anne , the Queen's da ugh ter is involved in theatrical produ ction.
you nger sister, died in 2002 . (also known as the Princess Royal) , was He married Sophie Rhys-]ones in 1999.
Prince Ch arles , the Prince ofWales, horn in 1%,0. She separated from her He and his wife are the Duke and
was born in 1948. As the eld est son husband after they had a ile son and one Duch ess of Wessex.
of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, daughter. She marr ied again in 1992. PrinceWilliam (born 1982) and
he is heir to the throne. He is concerned She is widely respected for her charity Prince Henry (born 1984) are the
about the environment and about work , which she does in a spirit sons of Charl es and Diana.William is
living co nditio ns in Britain's cities. of realism . next in line to the throne after his
He sometimes makes speeches which Prince An drew , the Duke o fYork, father.
are critical of aspects o f modern life. was born in 1960 and is the Qu een 's

The reality
In pra ctice , of co ur se , the reality is very different. In fact , the Qu een
canno t choose anyon e she likes to be Prim e Mini ster. She ha s to
choose som eone w ho has the support o f the ma jority of MPs in the
House of Common s (the elected cha mber of the two Houses of
Parliament) . Thi s is because the law says that ' her' government can
only collect taxes w ith the agr eem ent of the Commons , so if she did
not choose such a person. the go vernment w ould stop functi oning.
In practice the person she chooses is the leader of the strongest party
in the House of Com mons. Similarly , it is really the Prime Minister
w ho decid es who the ot he r govern ment ministers are go ing to be
(although o fficially the Prime Minister Simply 'advises' the monarch
who to ch oose) .
 The role of the mona rch 79

It is the same story w ith Parliament . Again , the Prim e Minister will .. Honours
talk about 'requesting ' a d issolution of Parliam en t w hen he or she Twice a year, an Honours list is pub-
wa nt s to hold an elec tio n , but it would normally be im po ssib le for lished . The people whose names
the monarch to refuse th is ' req ue st '. Sim ilarly , while, in theory, th e appear on the list are then sum -
Qu een could refuse th e ro yal asse nt to a bill passed by Parliament - moned to Buckingham Palace wh ere
and so stop it becoming law (see chapter 9) - no monarch ha s the Qu een present s th em \.... ith a
toke n wh ich ent itles them to w rite
actually done so since the year 170 8. Indeed, the ro yal assent is so (and be forma lly addressed With)
auto ma tic th at the Queen doe sn 't even bo the r to give it in person . KG, or KCB, or (BE , or many other
Some body else signs the documents for her . possible combinations of lcu ers.
In realit y th e Queen ha s almost no power at all. When she o pens after their names. The leuers stand
Parliam ent each year th e speech she makes has been w ritten for her. for tides such as 'Knight of the Order
of the Garter', 'Knight Commander
She ma kes no secret of thi s fact. She ver y obviously read s o ut the
of the Order of the Bath', 'Corn -
script that has been prepared for her, word for word. If she stro ngly m and cr of the British Empire', and
d isagrees w ith o ne of th e policies of th e go vernment, she might ask so on . Life pee rages arc also
the government minister s to change the wording in the speech a aw arde d , wh ich ent itle the rccipi -
little befo rehand, but that is all. She can no t actually Sla p the govern- cnts to a seat in the House of Lords.
Traditiona lly, it was by giving
ment going ah ead w ith any of its po licies.
people titles such as these that the
monarch 'honoured' them in return
The role of the mon arch for their service s. These days , the
decision ahem who gets which
What, the n , is the monarch 's role ? Man y o pinio ns are offered by
honour is usually taken by the Prime
politi cal and legal expert s. Th ree roles are often m entio ned . First , Min ister (see chapter 8). And, as )ou
the monarch is th e pe rso nal em bo diment of the go vernment of th e can see, the names of the titles don 't
country. Thi s me ans that people can be as critical as the y like about seem to make m uch sense in mo dern
the real government, and can argue that it sho uld be thrown o ut, time s. But that do cs no t sto p peopl e
find ing it a real ' honour' to be given
w ithout being accus ed of being unpatriot ic. Becau se of the clear
a title b)' the monarch herself! A
separatio n between the sym bo l of government (the Q ueen) and th e high proportion of honours are
actual go vernment (the minister s, who are also MPs) , cha nging th e given [0 politicians and civil ser-
government does not threaten the stability of the country as a whole. vants, but they are also given [0 busi-
Other co untries witho ut a m onarch ha ve to us e so me th ing else as th e ness people, sports stars, rock
sym bol of the co unt ry. In th e USA, for example, one o f these is its musicians and other entertainers.

flag, and to dam age th e flag in any w ay is actu ally a crim inal offence.
Seco nd, it is argued that the monarch could act as a final chec k on
a government that wa s beco ming dictatorial. If the government ever
manag ed to pass a bill th ro ugh Parliament w hich was o bvio usly
terribly bad and very unpopular, the m onarch co uld refuse the ro yal
assent an d th e bill would not become law . Sim ilarly , it is possible that
if a Prime Min ister who had been defeated at a general ele ction (and
so no longer co m m anded a majority in th e House ofComm ons) were
to ask immed iatel y for another dissolution of Parliam ent (so that
another elec tion co uld take place), th e m o narch co uld refu se the
request and di sm iss the Prim e Minister.
Third, the m onarch has a very practical ro le 10 play. By being a
figurehead and rep re sent ing the country, Q ueen Elizab et h II can
perform the ceremonial duti es which head s of state often ha ve to
spend the ir tim e o n. Thi s wa y, the real go vernme n t has m or e time
to ge t o n wi th th e actual jo b of run n ing the country. The Beall" with their MBEs
80 7 The monarchy
The Queen, attracting foreign tourists
.... Th e e co no m ic arg ument
Every tourist brochure for Britain in
every country in the worl d gives
great prominence to the monarchy.
It is impossible to estimate exactly
how much the British royal family
and the events and buildings associ-
ated wit h the monarchy help the
tourist industry, or exactly how
muc h money they help to bring into
the country. But most people
w orking in tourism think it is an
awfu l lot!
.... Edward and Mrs S im pson
For the last two centuries the public
have w ant ed their monarch to have
high moral standards . In 1936
Edw ard VIII, the uncle of the
present Queen, w as forced to abdic-
ate (give up the throne) . This
happened because he wanted to
marry a woman wh o had divorced
two husbands. (On top of that, she
was not even a British aristocrat -
she w as an Am erican f) The gov ern-
ment and the major churches in the
cou ntry insisted that Edward cou ld
not marry her and remain king. He
chose to marry her. The couple then
went to live abroad. In spite of the
con stitutional crisis that he caused,
the Duke of Windsor (as Edward
later became ) and his wife were
popula r celebrities in Britain all their
lives, and the ktng 's abdication has
gone do wn in popula r histor y as an
ex ample of the power oflo ve.
The value of the monarchy
How ever, all these adva ntages are hypotheti cal. It cannot be proved
that only a m on arch can provide them. Other modern democracies
m anage perfectly well wi thout one. The Bri tish monarchy is probably
m ore important to the eco nomy of the country (I> The economic
argument) than it is to the system of government. Apart from th is, the
monarchy is very pop ular wi th the majority of the British people.
The monarchy gives British people a symbol of continuity, and a
harmless ou tlet for the expression of nation al pr ide. Even in very hard
times it has never seemed likely that Britain would turn to a dictator
to get it out of its trou bles. Th e grandeur of its monarchy may have
been one of the reasons for this.
Occasion s such as the state ope ning of Parliament , the Queen's
officia l bi rth day, royal weddings , and ceremonial events such as the
chang ing of the gu ard make up for the lack of colour and cere mony
in m ost people's daily lives. (There is no tradition oflocal parades as
there is in the USA, and very few traditional local festivals survive as
they do in ot her European countries.) In addition the glamorous
lives o f 'the royals' provide a source of entertainment that oft en takes
on the characteristics of a televi sion soap op era. Wh en , in 1992, it
became known that Prince Charles and his wife Princess Diana were
separating, even the more 'serious' new spapers discussed a lot more
than the possible political im plications. The Sunday Times pu blislied a
' five-p age royal sep ara tion special' .
The futur e of the monarchy
For the last 250 years, the British monarchy as an institution has
only rare ly been a burning po litica l issue. Only occasionally has
there bee n debate about the existence of the monarchy itself. Few
people in Britain could be described as either 'monarchists' or
'anti-m onarchists', in the sense in which these terms are often
used in o ther countries. Most people are eith er vaguely in favou r
or they just do n't care one way or the other. There is, however, a
great deal of de bate abou t what kind of m onar chy Britain sho uld
have. During the last two decades of the twentieth centur y, th ere
has been a general cooling of enthusiasm . The Qu een herself
remains popular. But the various marital prob lems in her famil y
have low ered the prestige of royalty in man y people's eyes . The
problem is that , since Queen Victor ia's reign , the public Iiave been
encouraged to look up to the roya l fam ily as a model of Cliristian
family life .
Th e cha nge in attitude can be seen by comparin g Qu een Elizabeth's
25th annive rsary as Queen wi th her 40th anniversary. In 1977, there
wer e neighbourhood street parties thro ugho ut the country , m ost o f
the m spo ntaneously and volu ntarily organized. But in 1992, noth ing
like thi s took place. On 20 November 199 2, a fire damaged one of
the Queen's favouri te homes to the value of 6 0 m illion . There were
 The future of the monarchy 81

expre ssion s o f public sym pathy for the Qu een. But when the .. O ne's bum ye ar
government announced that public money wa s go ing to pay for the The Sun is Britain's most popular
repa irs , the sym pathy quickly turned to anger. The Queen had daily newspaper (see chapter (8).
recently been reported to be the richest woman in the world , so This wa s its from page headline after
peop le didn 't see why she shouldn 't pa y for them herself, the Queen had spoken o f 1992 as an
It is , in fact, o n the sub ject o f Inon ey that' anti- roya list ' opinions onnus horribilis (Latin for 'a horrib le
year'). As \....ell as the separation of
are most often expressed. In the early nineties even some Conservat -
Charles and Diana, 19 9 2 had
ive MPs, traditionally stro ng supporters o f the monarchy, started included the fire at Windsor Castle
protesting at how much the royal fam ily wa s cost ing the country. and the news that Australia was
For the who le of her long reign Elizabeth II had been exem pt from intendi ng to break its ties with the
taxation. BUl, as a response LO the change in attitude, the Queen 'old country ' and become a republic.
The headline uses the similarity
decided that she would start paying taxe s on her private income. In
between 'an nes' and 'anus' to make
addition, Civil List paym ents to some members of the royal fam ily a pun of'bum ' (which, in colloquial
were stopped. (The Civil List is the mo ney which the Queen and British English, can mean bot h
some of he r relatives get from Parliam ent each year so that they can 'anus ' and 'horrible ') . It also mimics
carry out their public du u es.) the suppose d frequent use by the
Queen of the prono un 'one' to mean
For most people, the most notable event marking Queen
'ri me'. The headline thus mixes the
Elizabeth's 40th anniversary was a televi sion programme abou t a year
....ery forma l-sounding' one' with the
in her life which showed re vealing details of her private family life. ....ery colloquial 'bum '. It is imposs-
In the following year parts of Buckingham Palace were, for the first ible to imagine that such a
time , opened for public visits (to raise money to help pay for the disrespectful (and unsympathetic)
repairs to Windsor Castle) . These events are pe rhaps an indication of headlin e cou ld have appeared in the
J 91)0S or 19605.
the future roya l style - a little less grand, a little less distan t.

QUESTIO N S

I Wh y does the British Prime Min ister continue
La 'advi se' and 'request ' the Queen, when
everybod y knows that he or she is really telling
her what to do ?
2 The attitude of the British people towards their
royal fam ily has changed over the last quarter
of the tw en tieth cent ury. In w hat way has it
changed , and wha t demonstrates that there has
been a change' W hy do you think th is has
happened '
3 Wo uld you ad vise the British to get rid of their
monarchy ?
4 Do yo u have a monarch in your country, o r
someone who fulfils a similar role' If you do ,
how does their position compare wi th that of
the British monarch' If you don't, do you thi nk
yo ur coun try would benefit frorn having a
figur ehead w ho could pe rform the func tions of
a mon arch ?

SUGGESTI O N S

The Queen and I by Sue Townsend (Mandarin) in cludes humorous

characterizations of the main members of the royal fam ily.
Books about the monarchy abound. Among them are: The Prince of
Wales: A Biography by Jonathan Dimbleby (Little , Brown and
Com pany) , The Queen by Kenne th Harris (Orion) , Elizabeth R: The Role of
the Monarchy Today by Antony Jay (BBC Books) , Diana, Her True Story and
Diana, Her New Life, both by Andrew Morton (Michael O'Mara Books
Limited) .
82
... Ministers and departments
Mo st heads of government depart-
ments have the title 'Secretary o f
State' (as in, for exam ple , 'Secretary
of State for the Environ ment'). The
m in ister in charge o f Britain 's rela-
tions wi th the outs ide 'world is
known to everybod y as the 'Foreign
Secretary' . The one in charge of law
and order inside the country is the
'Home Secretary'. Their depart-
ments are called the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office and the
Ho m e Office respectively (the
words' exterior' and 'interior' are
not used) . The words 'secretary' and
'office' reflect the history of go vern -
ment in Britain. in which
governme nt de partments were at
one time pan of the domestic
arrangements of the m onarch.
Another imp ortant person is the
'Chancellor of the Exchequer', who
is the head of the Treasury (in ot her
words. a son of Minister of
Finance) .
8
The government
Who gove rns Britain?When the media talk about 'the governme nt'
they usually mean one of two thing s. The term 'the govermnent' can
be used to refer to all of the politi cian s w ho have been app ointed by
the monarch (on the advice ofthe Prim e Min ister ) to help ru n govern -
ment departme nt s (the re are several poli tician s in each departm ent )
or to take on variou s o ther special respon sibilities, such as m anaging
the activities of Parliam en t. There are normally about a hund red
mem bers of ' the go vernm ent ' in this sense. Although there are
variou s ranks, each wi th their own titles (c- Ministers and departmen ts) .
mem bers of the govern me nt are usually kno wn as 'miruster s'. All
m inisters com e from the ranks of Parliam ent , most of them from the
Ho use o f Comm on s. Un like in the U SA and in some other countries
in Europe, it is rare for a person from o utside Parliament to become
a mini ster. (And when this does happ en , the person conce rne d is
quickly found a seat in one of the two Houses.)
The o ther meaning of the term 'the governn1ent ' is more limited.
It refers only to the most powerfu l of these politicians, nam ely the
Prime Minister and the other m em bers of the cabinet. There are
usually about twenty people in the cabine t (though there are n o
rul es abo u t this) . Most of them are the heads of the government
departments .
Partly asa result of the electoral system (see chapter 10) , Britain ,
unlike much of w estern Europe, normally has ' single-party govern -
me nt '. In other words, all members of the gove rn me nt belong to the
sam e politi cal party. Tradit ionally, British poli tician s have regarded
coali tion government (with several part ies involved) as a bad idea.
Since the formation o f m odern poli tical parties in the nineteenth
century, Britain has had a total of onl y twen ty-on e years of coalition
gove rnments ( t9 15- 1922 and 1931-194 5) . Even when , for brief
periods in the 1970s, no Sing le part y had a major ity of seats in the
Hou se of Commo ns , no coalitio n w as form ed . There wa s a
'minority gov ernme nt' instead.
The habit of Sin gle-party government has he lped to establish the
tradition known as collec tive respo nsi bility. That is, every member
of the governmen t, h ow ever junior, shares the responsibili ty for
every po licy made by the governme nt. This is true eve n if, as is often
the case, he or she did not play any part in m aking it. o f cours e,
 The cabinet 83

A cabinet meeting in progress

ind ividua l governmen t members may hold different opinions, but

they are expec ted to keep thes e pr ivate. By convention, no member
of the govermn en t can criticize government policy in pu blic. Any
member who does so m ust resign .

The cabinet
.... Th e cabin et
Obviou sly, no gov enunent wants an im portant m ember of its party
The history of the cabinet is a good
to start criticizing it. Thi s would lead to divis ions in the party. There-
example of the tendency to secrecy
fore, the leading po liticians in the governing party usually become in British poli tics. It starte d in the
mem bers of the cabinet, where they are tied to governmen t policy eighteenth century as an informal
by the convention of collec tive responsibility. grouping of im portant ministers and
The cab ine t m eets once a we ek and takes decision s about new officials of the royal household. It
policies , the implementation of existin g policies and the runn ing of had no formal recognition. Officially
speak ing , the government was run
the variou s government departments. Because all gove rnmen t
by the Privy Council, a body of a
mem ber s m u st be seen to agree, exac tly who says what at these hundred or more people (including
meetings is a closely guarde d secret. Reports are ma de ofthe mee ting s those belon gin g to 'the cabinet'),
and circulat ed to gove rnment departments. They sum m arize the directly responsible to the monarch
topics discussed and the decisions taken , but they never refer to (but not to each other). Over the
years, the cabinet gradually took
individuals or what they said.
over effect ive power. .Ihe Privy
To help run the com plicated machinery of a modern gove rnment, C2.-11~cil is now a merely ceremonial
there is an organization called the cabine t office. It runs a busy organization with no power. Among
com m un ication network, keeping m inis ters in touch w ith each other others , it includes all the present
and draw in g up the agendas for cabine t meetings. It also does the m inisters and the most important
sam e things for the many cabinet commi ttees. These committee s are past ministers.
In the last hu ndr ed years, the
appointed by the cabin et to look into various ma tters in more detail
cabin et has itself becom e mo re and
than the ind ividual members of the cabinet have the time (or more 'official' and publicly recog -
knowledg e) for. Unlike members of ' the governmen t' itself. the nized. It has also grown in size, and
people on these committees are not necessarily po liticians. so is now often too rigid and formal
a body to take the real decisions. In
the last fifty years, there have been
The Prime Minister
uno fficial 'inner cabinets'
The po sition of a British Prime Minister (PM) is in direct contrast to (comprising the Prime Minister and
that of the monarch. Although the Queen appears to have a great a few other im portant ministers). It
is thought that it is here, and in
deal of power, in reality she has very little. The PM, on the other
cabinet committees, that much of
hand, appears no t to have much power but in reali ty has a very great the re al decision-making takes place.
84 8 The government
~ N o . 10 Down ing Street
Here is an example of the traditiona l
fiction that Prime Ministers are not
especially important people. Thei r
o fficial resid ence doe s not have a
specia l name. Nor, from the outside.
does it look special. It is not even a
detached hou se! Inside , though. it is
muc h larg er than it look s. The
cabinet meets he re and the cabine t
office wo rks here. The PM lives
'above the sho p' on the top floor.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer
lives next door, at No. I I, an d the
Government Chief Whi p (see
ch apter 10) at No . 12 , so that the
wh ole street is a lot more important
than it appears. Still. there is some-
thin g very domestic about this
arrangement . After the government
loses an election all three ministers
have to throw out their rubbish and
wait for the furniture vans to tu rn
up, just like anybody else moving
house.
The PM also has an o fficial
co unt ry residence to the west of
London, called 'Chequers.
...Th e ideal Prim e Minister
Here is another extract (see chap ter
6) from Yes, Prime Minister. the polit-
ical satire. It is a section of the private
diar y o f a sen ior civil servant. In it
he de scribe s his conversation with
another to p civil servan t, in which
they discussed who should become
the new Prime Minister. W hen he
says 'experts' in the last line he
mea ns. of co urse. the civil servants
themselves!
deal indeed. As we have seen (chapter 7) , the Qu een is, in practice,
obliged to give the job of Prim e Minister to the person who can
command a maj ority in the House of Commons. Thi s norm ally means
th e leader o f the part y with the largest number ofM Ps.
From one poin t o f view, the PM is no more than the fore most of
Her Majesty's po litical servants. The traditional phrase describes him
or her as primus inter por" (Latin for 'first among equals'). But in fact
the other ministers are not ne arly as powerful. The re are seve ral
reasons for this. First, the monarch's powers of patronage (the power
to appoint people to all kind s of jobs and to confer ho nours on people)
are, by conve ntion , actually the PM 's powers ofpatronage. The fiction
is that th e Queen appo ints peop le to government jobs 'on the advice
of the Prim e Ministe r '. But what actually happens is that the PM
simp ly decides. Everybody knows this. The me dia do not even make
the pretence that the PM has successfully persuaded the Queen to
make a par ticular appointment , they sim ply state that he or she has
made an ap po intment.
The strength of the PM 's po wer of patronage is apparent from the
mo dern ph enom enon known as th e ' cabinet reshuffle'. For the past
thirty years it has been the habit of the PM to change his or her cabinet
quit e frequ ently (at least once every two years). A few cabinet
members are dropped , and a few new mem bers are brou ght in , bu t
mo stly the existing members are shuffled around , like a pack of
card s, each gelling a new departm ent to look after.
The second reason for a m odern PM 's dominance over ot her m inis-
ters is the power of the PM's publi c image. The mass m edia has
tended to make politics a matter of personali ties. The details of pol-
icies are hard to understand . An individual, cons tan tly appearing on
the television and in the new spapers, is m uch easier to ident ify w ith.
Everybody in the country can recognize the Prime Minister, while
ma ny cannot put a nam e to the faces of the other mi n isters. As a result
the PM can , if the need arises, go 'over the heads' ofthe ot her m inisters
and appeal dir ectly to the public.
We take a fairly dim view of them both [the two candidates]. It is a
difficu lt choice, rather like askin g which lunatic should run the asylum.
We both agreed that they would present the same problems. They are
both interventionis ts and they would both have foolish notions about
running the country the mselves if they became Prime Min ister. ... It is
clearly advisable to look for a compromise candidate.
We agreed that such a candi date must have the following qualities:
he must be malleable, flexible ,likeable, have no firm opinions, no br igh t
ideas, not be inte llectually comm itted, and be withou t the streng th of
purpose to cha nge anyt hing. Above all, he must be someone whom we
know can be professionally guided , and w ho is w illing to leave the
bu siness of govern me nt in the hands of experts.
 The civil service 85"

Third, all m in iste rs excep t the PM are kept bus y loo king after their .. Prime Ministers sinc e 1940
gov ernment dep artments. The y don't ha ve time to think about and Winston Churchill (19+0-4-1))
discuss government po licy as a whole, But the PM does, and cabinet Clement Aulec (194-5-1) I)
committees usua lly rep on d irec tly to him or her, not to the cabinet Winston Churchill ([ 9 I) [-I) '))
as a whole. Moreover , th e cabinet office is directl y unde r the PM 's Anthony Eden (19H-,)7)
Harold Macmillan ( 19 ')7-6 3)
contro l an d works in the same building . As a result, th e PM knows
Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64-)
more ab out w hat is go ing o n tha n the other ministers do . Because Harold Wilson (1964--70)
there is not eno ugh tim e for th e cabinet to di scuss most matters, a Edward Heath ([ 97-74-)
choice has to be made abo ut w hat w ill be di scuss ed. And it is the PM Harold Wilson (1974--76)
w ho ma kes that choice. Maners that are not dis cussed can, in effect, lames Callaghan (1976-79)
be decid ed by the PM . The convention of co llective responsibility Margaret Thatcher (J 979-9 r )
John Major (J991-97)
then means that the rest of the go vernment have to go along with
Tony Blair ( 1997-)
whatever th e PM has de cided.
BJUf :::: Ccnservetive
Red :::: Lcbour
The civil service
Con sidering how co m plex modern sta tes are , there are no t really very
man y peo ple in a Briti sh ' govern m en t' (as defined above) . Unli ke
so me o ther countri es (the USA for example), no t even th e most
senio r administrative jobs change hands when a new government
.. The o rigins ofth e civil service
com es to po\v er. The day -to-day running o f the governm ent and the
im ple mentatio n of its policy co n tiriue in the ha nds of the sam e The British' cult of the talented
amateur ' (see chapte r I)) is not
peopl e that we re th er e with th e previous government - the top rank
normally expressed openly. But
of th e civil service . Governments co m e an d go, but the civil service when, in the middle of the nine -
remains. It is no accident that th e most senior civil servant in a gov ern - teenth century, the structure of
me nt department has the title of ' Perman ent Secretary' . the modern civil service was
Un like politicians, civil servants , eve n of the hig hest ran k, are established, it was a consciously
unkn own to th e larg er pu blic. Th ere are proba bly less than 10,000 stated principle, as described by the
contemporary historian Lord
peo ple in the country who, if yo u asked them, could give you the
Macauley:
names of the present secretary to the cab inet (who runs the cabinet
We believe that men w ho have
office) or th e present head of the home civil service; still fewer know
been engaged . up to twenty-one
the na me s of more than o ne of the present permanent secretaries. or twe nt y-tw o . in studies which
Fo r those w ho belong to it, the Bri tish civil servi ce is a career. Its have no immediate connect ion
most senio r po sitions are usually filled by people w ho have bee n w ith the business of any profes-
working in it fo r twent y years or m ore. These people get a high salary sion, and o f w hich the effect is
m~ rely to open, to invigorate, and
(higher than that of their ministers) , have absolu te job security
to enrich the mind, will generally
(unlike their ministers) and stand a good chance of be ing awarded
be found in the business of every
an official honour. By comparison, ministers, even those w ho have pro fession superior to men who
bee n in the sam e department for several years, are still new to the have , at eighteen or nineteen.
job. Mo reover, civil servants know the secrets of the previous gov - devoted themselves to the special
ernmen t which the present minister is un aware of. studies of their calling.
Fo r all the se reasons , it is often po ssible for to p civil servan ts to In other words, it is better to be a
exercise q uite a lo t of contro l o ver their m ini sters, and it is sometimes non -specialist than a specialis t, to
said that it is they, and no t their ministers, who really govern th e have a good brain rather than thor-
ough kno wledge. Reforms since
country. Th ere is undoubtedly so m e tr uth in th is opinion . Ind eed,
then have given greater emphasis Lo
an interesting case in early 1994 suggests tha t civil serv ants no w expect specialist know led ge, but the central
to have a degree of co nt ro l. At thi s tim e , the assoc iation w hich belief remains that administration is
rep resents the co unt ry 's lOp civil servants made an official complaint an an rather than an applied science.
86 8 The government
~ W h i te h all
This is the nam e of the street in
London which runs from Trafalgar
Square to the Houses of Parharnent.
The Foreign and Com monw ealth
Office and the Ministry o f Defence
are both located here. These are the
two oldest government depart -
ments. The term 'W hi tehall' is
sometimes used to refer to the gov-
ernment as a whole (although ot her
departments are in other streets
nearby). This is don e when the
writer or speaker wishes to emphas-
ize the administrative aspects of
government. The phrase , 'the
opinion in Whitehall .. .' refers not
only to the opinions o f government
ministers but also, and perhaps
more so, to the opinions o f senior
civil servants.
o, 100
,
that four government min isters 'verbally abu sed' the ir civil service
advisers and generally treated them 'with contempt ' . It w as the first
time tha t such a complaint had been made, It seemed that the unpre-
cedentedly long period of government by the same party (th e
Conse rvatives - see chap ter 10) ha d shifted the tradi tional balanc e
of power.
However, the British civil serv ice has a (largely) de serv ed repu ta-
tion for absolute political impartiality. Man y m ini sters have rema rked
on the struggle for power between them and their to p civil servants,
bu t very few have ever complained of any political bias. Top civil
servants know that their po\ver depends on their staying ou t ofpol u-
ics' and on their bein g abso lutely loyal to the ir pr esen t minister.
Modern criticism of the civil service does not que stion its loyalty
but its efficiency. Despit e reforms, the top rank of the civil service is
still largely made up of people from the same narrow section of
society - people who have been to public sclio ol (see chapter 14)
an d the n on to Oxford or Cambridge , where they studied su bjects
such as history or classical languages. The criticism is ther efor e that
the civil servi ce does not have enough expertise in matte rs such as
economics or techn ology. and that it lives too much in its ow n closed
world , cut off from the concerns of most peopl e in society. In the late
twentieth century, ministers tried to overcome these percei ved defi-
cienci es by appo inti ng experts from ou tside the civil ser vice to wo rk
on various projects and by having their own political advisers w orking
alongside (or, SOIl1e would say, in competition with) the ir civil
servan ts.
Cent ral and local government
Some countries, such as th e USA and Canada, are feder al. The y are
nu de up of a number of states , each ofwhich ha s its ow n government
wit h its own powers to make laws and coll ect taxes. In the se countries
the central gove rnments have powers on ly becau se the states have
given the m powers. In Britain it is the other wa y around. Local gov -
ernment authorities (generally know n as 'councils' ) only have
powers because the central governmen t has give n them pov.ers.
Indeed , they only exist because the central gover nmen t allows them
to exist. Several tim es in the last hu ndred years British governments
have reo rganized local government, abolis h ing some local councils
and brin gin g new ones into existence.
The system oflocal governme n t is very similar to the system of
national gove rnment. The re are elected representatives, called co un-
cillors (the eq uivalent ofMPs). They meet in a council cham ber in
the Town Hall or County Hall (the equ ivalen t of Parliament) , w here
they ma ke policy whicli is implement ed by local govern me n t officers
(the eq uivalen t of civil servan ts) .
 Central and local government 87

II- Counties, boroughs, parishes

Cou nt ies are the oldest divisions of
the cou ntry in England and Wales.
Most of them existed befo re the
Nor man co nquest (see cha pter 2).
The y are still used today for local
govern ment purposes, although a
few have been 'invented ' mo re
recently (e.g. Hum berside) and
o thers have no function in govern -
ment but are still used for other
? (Gre ater London only) liS km purposes. One of the se is Middlesex,
Key to Greater l ondo n Boroughs wh ich covers the western pan of
I (ilJ 01 London 9 Soulttw~.t Greater london (letters are still
1 (ilJol Wfl~lf' 10 lfwilh3nl addressed 'Middx.'] and which is
J e-tttl II Wnbolit
klillrtOll 12 W>ndI-m the name of a top -class cricket team .
5 lbn"l'1 B b nsilpa' tlltM.
6 IIxbor 14 ~ Man y count ies have 'shir e ' in their
1 Wilth>/II Fmsl IS RKt.ond"1lO" IUlnn
I fc-t<~e l6 liolt'lOIlllO" n-,.
name (e.g. Hertfordshir e .
Hampshire , Leicestershire) . 'Shires'
is wh at the counties were or iginally
British Isles: called .
Counties and Boroughs were originally to wns
London Borough s. that had grown large and impo rtant
as at June 1995 enough to be given their ow n gov-
FRANCE
ernment, free of control by the
Key to Northern Ireland cou nty . These days, the name is used
I BWAIT 14 m MAMAGH
Key to England and W ales 1 HEWTOWMABBEl I) ONAGH for local government purposes only
I WElT romHIRE IJ I 8EOfOROIH IRE J (,IRRI{KmGUI 16 (ooKSTOWN in londo n, but many towns still
2 GREATER II.l.N{HEITH 14 BUUINGHAMIHIRE 4 amEREAGH 17 MAGHEW!LT
J IOUTH roRKS H I ~E IS GLOUUlH~IM I ~E 5 HORTH DOWN 18 UPJ.BANE proudly describ e themselves as
4 DE RmHI U 16 HE RTFO~DIHIU 6 AMII 19 DERRY
5 NOTTlN GlWll HIRE 11 OIFO ~OlH 1RE
Royal Boroughs.
J DOWH 10 UII.l.VAOI
I SfmORDlH IRE II GUAm lOHOON (~. iRal) I H!WRf.&N O" OURHE 11 (OUPJ.IHE
I LEKESffRSHIRE I' 8ERlSHIU , BANBRl OGl 11 BALlTMOHET Parishes were o riginally villages
I WEn HIDIJ,NDI 10 lWll'SHll< 10 lMUU n MOTU cent red on a local church. They
t U/1UIOGE5tlIlE 11 W1LTSHIU II {,WGAYOH H BAUTIt! IlA
10 'ORJJIIJtPIOH5tlIRE 11 Gwm u UIIAGH 15 \.lRNE became a unit of local government
II WIJ.WlmI!llE lJ "10Gll"ORGAM u DU H(,ANNOJj 26 ANTIJII
in the nineteenth century. Today
11 HElEFOtll /JID WOKElHR l( SOUTH GLlIIORGlJl
they are the smallest unit o f local
government in England .
The name 'parish ' is still used in
the organization o f the main Chris-
Most British people have far more direct dealings with local gov-
tian churches in England (see
ernment than they do w ith national gov ernment. Local councils chapte r 13).
traditi on ally m anag e ne arly all public services. Taken together, the y
emp loy three tim es as many people as the nationa l gove rnmen t does.
In addition , there is no system in Britain whereby a national gove rn -
ment official has respon sib ilit y for a partic ular geog raphical area.
(There is no one like a ' prefect' or 'g overnor) In practice , therefore,
local councils ha ve traditionally been fairl y free from cons tant central
interferen ce in their day to day work.
Local counc ils are allowed to collect one kind of tax. Thi s is a tax
based on property. (All other kinds are collected by central
gove rn ment.) It used to be called ' rates' and was paid on ly by those
who owned pr oper ty. Its amount varied acco rdi ng to the size and
location of the property. In the early I 99 0S it w as re placed by the
'community cha rge' (known as the 'poll tax ') . Thi s charge w as the
88 8 The go vernme nt
.... The Greater London Council
The sto r}' o f the Greater London
Council (GLC) is an example of the
struggle for power betwe en central
and local government , In the early
19 80s Britain had a right -wing Con-
servative governme nt, At a time
wh en this gov ernment was unpopu-
lar. the left -Wing Labour party in
London won the local election and
gained con trol of the GLC The
Labour-controlled GLC then intro -
duced many measures which the
nation al government did not like
(for example. it reduced fares o n
Londo n's buses and increased local
taxes to pay for this) .
The gove rnment decided to
abolish the GLC Using its majority
in the House o f Com mons. it w as
able to do this. The powers of the
GLC were either given to the thir ty-
two horoug hs of Lon do n , or to
special co mmnces . It was no t until
the year 2000 that a Single govern-
mental authority for the whole of
Lon don came into existence again
and the city got its first ever directly-
elected mayor.
.... Public libraries
In co mpariso n w ith the people of
other w estern co untries. the British
public buy relatively few books .
Ho wever. this doe s no t necessarily
mean [hat they read less. There are
about 5" ,000 public libraries in
Britain (that's about one for every
12,000 peopl e) . On average. each
one ho uses around +5" .000 books. A
recent survey sho w ed that 70 % of
children betwe en the ages of four
and sixteen use their loc al library at
least twi ce a mo nth. and that 5" I % of
them use it once a we ek or more .
In addition . and unfortunately,
many British peop le seem to prefer
libraries to bookshops eve n wh en
they want to o w n a book. Nearly
nine million books are sto len from
the shelves of libraries every year.
same for everybody who lived in the area covered by a council. It was
very un popular and was qu ickly replaced by the 'council tax' , which
is based on the estimated value of a property and the number o f
peo ple living in it. Local councils are unable to raise enou gh mon ey
in this way for them to provide the services which central go vernment
has told them to pro vide. In addition, recent governments have
imposed upper limit s on the amount of council tax that councils can
charge and no w co llect the taxes on business properties them selves
(and then share the money out between local councils). As a result ,
well over half of a local council's income is now given to it by
central government .
The mod ern trend has been toward s greater and greater co mrol by
central govern m enlo This is not just a matter of controlling the way
local go vernment raises money. There are now more law s go verning
the way councils can conduct their affairs. On top o f this, schools
and hospitals can now ' opt out ' oflocal-government control (see
chapters 14 and 18) . Perhaps this trend is inevitable now that
nationa l part y politics domin ates local politics. Successful indep end -
ent candidates (candidates who do not belong to a political party) at
local elections are becoming rarer and rarer. Most peopl e no w vote
at local elections according to their national party preferences, if they
both er to vote at all, so that these elections become a kind of op inion
poll on the performance of the nation al governmen t.
Local go vernment services
Most of the numero us services that a mo dern government provides
are run at local level in Britain. These include public hygiene and
enviro nm ental health inspection , the collecting of ru bbish from
outside people's houses (the peop le who do thi s are euphem istically
known as 'd ustrnen ') , and the cleaning and tidying o f all publi c places
(which is done by 'street sweepers) (e- Theorganization of locol
gOl"emment) . They also include the provi sion of publi c swim m ing
pools, which charge admi ssion fees, and public parks, wh ich do not.
The latter are mostly just green grassy spaces, bu t they often cont ain
children's playgrounds and playing fields for spor ts such as football
and cricket whi ch can be reserved in advance on paym ent.
Public librari es are another well-known service (e- Public libraries) .
Anybod y can go into one of these to con sult the books, new spapers
and maga zines there free of charge. If you want to bor row books and
take them o ut of the librar y, you have to have a librar y card or ticket
(the se are available to people living in the area) . Sometimes CDs and
video cassettes are also available for hire . The pop ularity oflibraries
in Britain is indicated by the fact that. in a cou ntry wi thout identity
cards (see chapter 6), a person 's library card is the m ost com mon
means o f identification for someone wh o does not have a driving
licence.
 Questions and suggestions 89

... The organization of loca l government (1995)

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

Cities and large towns in T he rest of England and

England and Wa les Wal es and all of Scotl and

36 Metropolitan D istrict s 10 Regions (Scotland)

32 Londo n Bo r o ugh s 47 Counties (England and Wa les)

Responsible for: Respo nsible fo r:

collection of council tax co llection of co uncil tax
planning planning
roads and traffic roads and safety
housing disposal of rubbish
buildingregulations education
safety in public places social services
collection of rubbish libraries
disposal of rubbish police force
education fire brigade
social services
libraries
leisure and recreation
Respons ible for:
Inthese areas some services. such
hou sing
as transport, the police force and
local planning
the fire brigade. are run by special
collection of rubbish
authori ties, so me of whose
leisur e and rec reation
members are counci llors.
safety in public places

J.
Pa r ish e s (Eng land)
Communities (S cotland an d W a les)
These have no legal powe rs but are recog nized as neighbourhood or
village-level foru ms of discussion.

QUE STIO NS

Do you thin k the theor y of collective rcspon sib-
ility is a good one? Does it exist in your coun try?
2 What w ould be the equiv alent titles in yo ur
country for: Chancellor , Home Secretary,
Foreign Secretary?
3 A British Prim e Min ister ha s no status in law
w hich put s him or her above ot her politicians.
So w hy are modern British PMs so power ful?
4 How does the relationsh ip between central and
local go vernment in Britain compare w ith that
in your country?
5 Local gov ernm ent in Britain is respo nsible for
m ost of the things that affect people in everyday
life. So why do you think so few people bot her
to vote in local electio ns in Britain ?

SU G G ESTI ON S

Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990) has been the subject
of several biog raphical studies which offer insights into the work ings
of government. For example. Oneof U5 by Hugo Young (Pan Books) .
9

9
Parliament

The activiti es of Parliament in Britain are more or less the same as

tho se o f the Parliament in any western democracy . It make s new
laws, gives author ity fo r the government to raise and spend money.
kee ps a close eye on government activities and discusses tho se
activities.
The British Parliament works in a large building called the Palace
of We stminster (popularly kn o wn as ' the Houses of'Parliarnent').
This co ntains offices. comm ittee rooms , restaurants, bars , libraries
and even so me places o f residence. It also conta ins two large r ro oms.
One of these is where the Ho use of Lor ds meets , the o ther is w here
the Ho use of Commo ns meets. The British Parliam ent is divided into
tw o 'houses' , and its members belong to one or ot he r of the m ,
although o nly m embers of the Commons are no rmally known as
MP s (Members of Parliament). Th e Commons is by far the m ore
important of the tw o ho uses.

.. T he House of Commons
I Speaker's ch air
2 gov ernme nt benches
3 op position benches
4 galleries for visito rs
.S" press gallery
 The atmosphere of Parliament 9I

The atmos phere of Parliament ... The Sp ea ker

Look at the picture o f the inside of the meeting room of th e Ho use of Any body wh o happen ed to be
watching the live broadcast o f
Commons (e- The Houseof Commons) . Its design and layo u t d iffer from
Parliament on 27 April 1992 wa s
the interior ofthe parliament b u ild ings in most o ther countries. Th ese able to wi mess an extrao rdi nary
differences can tell us a lot about w ha t is dis tinc tive ab out the British spectacle. A fem ale MP was phy sic-
Parliament . ally dragged , apparent ly again st he r
First, notice the sealin g arr angements. There arc just tw o row s of will, out of her seat on the back
benches facing each ot her. O n the left of the pic ture are the gov er n- benches by fellow MP s and wa s
force d (Q sit ill the large chair in the
men t bench es, wh ere the M Ps o f th e go vernin g part y sit. On th e righ t
middle of the House of Commons.
are the oppo sition ben che s. There is no o pportunity in th is layout What the House of Commons was
for a reflection o f all th e various sh ades o f politi cal o pin io n (as ther e actua lly doi ng was appointing a new
is wit h a sem i-ci rcle). Acco rd ing to w here th ey sit. MPs are see n to be Speaker. The Speaker is th e per son
either 'for ' the government (su pport ing it) o r aga inst it. Thi s ph ysical who chairs and cont rols di scus sion
in the Hous e, decides wh ich MP is
division is emphasized by the table on the floo r of the Ho use between
going to spea k next and m akes sure
the two rows of benches. The Speaker 's cha ir, which is raised some that the rule s of procedure are fol-
wa y off the floo r, is also here. From thi s command ing posit ion , the lowed. (If they are not. the Spea ker
Speaker chairs (that is , controls) th e d eba tes (e- The Speoker). Th e has the po wer to demand a public
arrangemem of the be nches encourages confronta tion betw een go v- apology from an MP or even to ban
ernment and o pposition. It also rein forces psych ol ogically the rea lity an MP from the House for a number
of days). It is a ver y Impo rtan t posi-
of the British two-party sys tem (see cha p ter 6). Th ere ar e no 'cro ss-
tion . In fact, the Speaker is, officially.
benche s' for MPs w ho belo ng neith er to th e go verning party no r the the second m ost important 'com-
mai n o ppositio n part y. In practice. th ese MPs sit o n the oppo sitio n mo ne r' (non -ari stocrat) in the
bench es furthes t fro m th e Spe aker 's chair (at th e bottom ri ght o f kingdom after the Prime Minis ter.
the picture). Hundreds of years ago, it was the
Speaker 's job to com m un icate the
decisions of the Com mons to the
Plan of the Palace of Westminster (princi pal floor ) King (that is where the title
'Speake r' com es from) . As the king
;d.~.................~..............._ .....~............................._ ......IM::J :L wa s often ver y d ispleased w ith what
the Commons had decid ed . this was
not a pleasant task. As a result,
nobody wanted the job. They had to
be forced to take n . These days, the
po sition is a mu ch safer one, bur the
trad ition of dragging an unwilling
Speaker to the chair has remained .
The occasio n in 1992 wa s the first
time that a wo man had been
appoin ted Speaker, so tha t MPs had
to get used to addressing not 'Mr
u Speaker ' , as they had always don e in
the past, bu t 'Madam Speaker'
instead. Once a Speaker has been
app oi nte d , he or she agree s (Q give
1 Clock-tow er (Big Ben) up all pany polit ies and rem ains
2 ' No' Division lobby in the job for as long as he or she
3 'A ye' Division lobby
want s it.

Betty Boothroyd, the first woman

Speoker of the House ofCommons
92 9 Parliament

Second , the Commons has no 'front' , no ob viou s place from which

an MP can address everybody there. MPs simply stand up and speak
from wherever they happen to be sitting. Third, noti ce that there are
no desks for the MPs. The benches where the y sit are exactly and only
that- benche s, just as in a church. This makes it ph ysically easy for
them to drift in and out of the room, w hich is some thing that they
freq uentl y do during debates. Fourth, noti ce that the Hou se is very
sm all. In fact, there isn't enough room for all the MPs. There are
more than 6 50 of them , but there is seating for less than 40 0. A
candidate at an election is said to have w on 'a seat' in the Commons ,
but this 'seat' is imaginary. MPs do not have the ir 'o wn ' place to sit.
No names are marked on the benches. MPs just sit down w herever
(on 'their' side of the House) they can find room.
All these features result in a fairly informal atmos phere. Indi vidual
MPs , wit hout their o wn 'territory' (\\rhich a personal seat and desk
would give them), are enco uraged to co-operate . Moreo ver, the small
size o f the Hou se, toge ther with the lack of a podium or dais fro m
w hich to address it, means that MPs do not normally speak in the
way that they would at a large public rally. MPs normally speak in a
conversational tone, and because they have nowhere to place their
no tes w hile speakin g, they do not nor mally speak for very long
either! It is o nly on particularly important occ asion s , when all the
MPs are present , that passion ate oratory is sometime s used.
One mo re thing sho uld be noted abou t the design of the House of
Commons. It is deliberate . Historically, it was an accident: in medi -
eval times, the Commons me t in a church and churches of that time
ofte n had rows of benches facing each other. But after the House was
badly dama ged by bombing in 194 I, it was delib erately rebuil t to
the old pattern (with o ne or tw o modern comforts such as central
hea ting added). This was because of a belief in the tw o-way ' for and
against' tradition , and also because of a more general desire for
con tinu ity.
The ancient habits are preserved toda y in the man y customs and
deta iled rules of procedure which all new MPs find that th ey have to
learn. The most no ticeable of these is the rul e that forbids MPs to
address on e an other directly or use personal nam es. All remarks and
qu estion s mu st go ' thro ugh the Chair '. An MP who is speaking refers
to or asks a qu estion of ' the honourable Member for Win chester' or
'm y right honourable friend'. The MP for Winchester ma y be sitting
dir ectly opposite, but the MP never says 'you'. These ancient rul es
were originally formulated to take the 'heat ' out of debate and
de crease the possibilit y that violence might break out. Toda y, the y
lend a touch offormality which balances the informal aspects of the
Commons and further increa ses the feeling ofMPs that the y belong
to a special group of peop le.
 An MP's life 93

An MP's life IIlo Hansard

The comparative informality of th e Commons ma y part ly result from This is the nam e given to the dail y
verbatim repo rts o f everyt hing that
the British beliefin amateuri sm . Traditionally, MPs we re not sup-
has been said in the Commons. They
posed to be specialist politi cians. They were suppos ed to be ordinary are publishe d within fon y-eight
people giving some of their time to representin g the peop le. Ideally, hours of the day the}' cover.
they came fro m all wal ks o f life, bring ing their experience of the
everyday world into Parliam ent with th em .Tliis is wliy MPs were
not even paid unt il the early twentieth cen tury. Trad itionally, they
were supposed to be do ing a public servic e , no t ma king a career for
them selves. o f course, this tradition meant that on ly rich peop le
could affor d to be MPs so that , although th ey did indeed come fro m
a wid e variety of background s, these were alwa ys backgrounds of
power and wealtli. Even now , British MPs do no t get paid very much
in compa riso n w ith ma ny of the ir European counterparts. Mo reo ve r,
by European standards, they have incredibly poor facilities. Most MPs
have to share an office and a secretary with tw o o r more o ther MP s.
The ideal of the talented am ateur do es no t, of course , reflect
modern reality. Poli tics in Britain in the last for ty years has become
.. Th e parli am entary day in the
profession al. Most MPs are full-time po liticians, and do ano ther job,
Commons fro m Mo ndays to
if at all, only part-time . But the am ateur tradit ion is still reflec ted in Thursdays
the hour s of bu siness o f the Commons. They are' gentleman's liours' .
14.3 0
The House does no t sit in the m orn in g . Thi s is w he n , in the traditio nal Prayers
ideal, MPs would be doing their ordinary wor k or pursuin g other
14 3 5
interests outside Parliamen t. From Monday to Thursday, the House
Que stion tim e
does not start its bu siness un til 14.3 0 (on Friday it starts in the
morning , but then fin islies in the early aftern oon for the weeke nd ) . 15 . 3 0
Any m iscellaneo us busin ess, such as
It also gives itselfI ong liolidays: four wee ks at Christma s, tw o each at
a statement from a minister. after
Easter and W hit sun (Pen tecost), and abou t eleven weeks in the ,v-hich the main business of the day
sum mer (fro m the beginning o f August until the m iddle of October) . begins . On more than half of the
But this apparent ly easy life is mi sleadin g. In fact, the average days, this means a debate on a pro-
modern MP spends mor e tim e at work than an y other professional posa l for a new law. known as a
'bill'. Most o f thes e bill s are intro-
in the cou ntry. Fro m Monday to Thursday, the Commons never 'ri ses'
duced by the government but some
(i.e. finishes work for the day) before 2 2. 3 0 and sometimes it con- days in each year are reserved for
tinues sitting for several liours longer. Occasionally, it deb ates 'private m em be rs' bills '; that is,
thro ugli mo st o f th e uight. The Commons, in fact, spends a greater prop o sals fo r law s made by indi -
total amount of tim e sittin g each year than an y o ther Parliam ent vidu al MPs. NOl m any o f these
bec om e law , because the re is not
in Europ e.
en o ugh interest among other MPs
MPs' mornings are taken up with co mmittee work, rese arch , pre-
and no t enough lime for prop er
paring speeches and dealing with the problem s of constitu ent s (the di scussion of them .
people they represent) . Weekends are no t free for MPs either. They
22. 00
are expected to visi t thei r const ituenc ie s (the areas they rep resent)
Mot ion on the adjournment : the
and listen to the pro blems of anybody who wan ts to see th em . It is main business o f the day sto ps and
an extremely busy life that leaves little time for pur suing anot her MPs are allowed 1O bring up another
caree r. It do es not leave MPs much tim e fo r their fam ilie s e ithe r. matter for general di scussion.
Politicians have a hi gh er rate of divorce thau the (already high) 2 2 .3 0
national averag e . The Hou se rises (usually) .
94 9 Parl iament
.... Frontbenchers and
backb enchers
Although MPs do not have their own
personal seats in the Com mons, there
are two seating areas reserved for
particular MPs. These areas are the
front benches on either side of the
House. These benches arc whe re the
leading members of the governing
party (Le. ministers) and the leadin g
members of the main opposition
party sit. These people are thus
known as 'frontbcnchcrs'. MPs w ho
do not hold a government post or a
post in the shadow cabinet (sec
chapter 8) are known as 'back-
benchers'.
Parliament ary business
The basic proced ure fo r bu sin ess in the Commo ns is a deba te on a
part icular proposal, follow ed by a resolution w hic h eithe r accep ts
or rejects th is pr oposal. So m et im es th e resolutio n jus t expresses a
view poin t, bu t 1110St often it is a matter of framing a new law o r of
approving (o r no t approving ) government plans to raise taxes or
spend m oney in certain w ays. Oc casionally, there is no need to take
a vote, but there usua lly is , and at suc h times ther e is a 'divis ion'.
That is, MPs have to vote for or against a part icular proposal. They
do this by walking thro ugh one of two corridors at the side of the
Hou se - on e is for the 'Ayes' (those w ho agree wi th the proposal)
and the othe r is for the 'Noes' (those who disagree) .
But the reso luti o ns of th e Co m mons are only part of its act iviti es.
Th ere are also th e commitlees. Some comm ittees are appointed to
examine particular proposals for law s, but th ere are also perm anent
co m m ittees whose jo b is to in vestiga te the activiti es of government
in a particular field . Th ese committees comprise about fon y mem bers
an d are formed to refle ct th e relat ive stre ng ths of the parties in the
Commo ns as a whole. Th ey have th e pow er to call cert ain people,
such as civil servan ts , to com e and an sw er th ei r q uestions. They are
beco m ing a more and m ore im portant part of the bu sin ess of the
Commons,
The party system in Parliament
Most div isions take place along pa rty lines. MPs kn ow tha t they owe
th eir position to their pa rty, so they ne arl y alw ays vote the way that
their party tells them to. The people who make sure that MPs do this
are called the Whips . Each of the two ma jor parties has several MPs
who perform this ro le. It is the ir job to infor m all MPs in their part y
how th ey should vo te. By tradition , if the government loses a vote
in Parliament on a very import an t matter, it has to resign . Therefore ,
w hen there is a d ivision o n suc h a matter, MP s are expec ted to go to
the Ho use an d vo te eve n if they ha ve not bee n th ere during the de bate.
Th e W hips act as interme diaries betw een th e backb en cher s an d
the fron tbench (0) Frontbenchers and bcckbenchers) of a party. They keep
the party lead ership infor m ed about backbench opinion . They are
po werful people. Because they ' have the ear' of the party leaders,
they can have an effect on which backbench er s get pro moted to the
front ben ch and which do not. For rea son s suc h as this, 'rebellio ns'
among a group of a party's MPs (in w hich they vote agai nst their
party) are very rare.
Sometime s the major pa rties allow a 'free vote' , when MPs vote
accord ing to th eir ow n beliefs an d no t acco rding to party policy.
Some q uit e important decisions, such as the abolition of the death
penalty an d the decision to allo w television cameras in to the
Com m ons, have bee n ma de in this way.
 Th e part y system in Parliament 9S"

Tony Blair, Prime Minister from

'99 7, answering questions in the
House of Commons

II> Question tim e

II> How a bill becomes a law
Before a proposal for a new law starts
its progress through Parliament .
there will have been mu ch discus-
sion. If it is a government proposal.
Green and White Papers w ill
probabl y have been published.
explaining the ideas beh ind the pro -
posal. After this. law yers draft the
pro posal in to a bill,
Most bills begin life in the House
of Commons, where they go
through a number of stages.
This is the mo st w ell-attended, and
usually the noisiest. part o f the
parliamentary day For about an
hour the re is no sub ject for de bate.
Instead . MPs arc allowed to ask
questions of government ministers.
First reading In th is way they can. in theory at
This is a formal announcement only, least. force the government to make
with no debate certai n facts public and to make its
intentio ns clear. Opposition MPs in
particul ar ha ve an opportunity to
Second reading
make governm en t ministers look
The house debates the general prin-
incompetent or perhaps dishonest.
ciples of the bill and, in most case s,
The question s and answ ers,
takes a vote.
however, are not spo ntaneous.
.------+,--~
Questions to mini sters have to be
Committee stage 'tabled' (written down and placed
A committee of MPs examines on the table below the Speaker's
the details of the billand votes on chair) two days in advance, so that
amendments (changes) to parts ministers have time to prepare their
of it. answers. In this way the go vern -

--~"';+ '---
Report stage
The House con siders the amend-
ments .
+~-
Third reading
The amended bill is debated as a
whole.
+:-_ -
The bill is sent to the House of
lords, where it goes through the
same stages . (Ifthe Lo rds make new
amendments, these will be consid-
ered by the Commons.),
+~--
After both Houses have reached
agreement, the bill receives the
royal assent and becomes an Act
of Parliament which can be applied
as p'a rt of the law.
ment can usu ally avoid major
emba rrassment . The trick, though, is
to ask an unexpected 'supplemen-
tary' question. After the minister has
answe red the tabled quest ion, the
MP \.. .-ho or iginally tabled it is
allowed to ask a furthe r q uestion
relating to the minist er's an swer. In
this wa y, it is sometimes possible for
MPs to catch a minister unprepared.
Questio n tim e has been w idely
copied around the world . It is also
probably the aspec t of Parliamen t
most well -kn own among the
_ general publi c. The vast ma jority of
television ~ews exce rpts of Parlia-
ment are taken fro m this peri od o f
its day. Especially com mon is for the
news to sho w an exce rpt from the
half-hour o n Wednesdays when it is
the Prim e Minister's (Urn to answ er
qu estio ns.
96 9 Par liam en t
... Lords legal and sp iritual
As well as life peers, there arc two
other kinds of peer in the Hou se of
Lords who do not have seats there by
he reditary right , but because of
their positi on. First, the re are the
twenty-six bishops of the Church of
England. Second, there are the Lords
of Appeal (known as the 'Law
Lords') , the twenty or so m ost senior
judges in the land . By tradition , the
House of Lor ds is the final cou rt of
appe al in the coumry. In fact,
howe ver, w he n the Lords acts in th is
role, it is o nly the Law Lords who
vote on the m atter.
... Refo rmi ng the Hou se of Lords
In 1910 the Liberal government pro-
posed heavy taxes on the rich. The
House of Lords rejected th e pro -
po sal. This rejection went agains t a
lon g-standing tradition that the
Hou se o f Com mons had cont rol of
financi al matters.
The govern me nt th en asked the
king for an election and won it.
Again, it passed its tax proposals
throug h the Commons, and also a
bill limiting the power of th e Lords.
Again, the Lor ds rejec ted both bills ,
and again the government won
another election. It w as a constitu-
tional crisis.
Wha t w as to happen? Revolution?
No. Wha t happened was that the
kin g let it be known that if the Lords
rejected the same bills again, he
would appoint hundreds o f new
peers w ho would vote for the bills -
enough for the government to have
a m ajor ity in th e Lords. So , in 191 I,
rathe r than have the prestige of their
House destroy ed in this way, the
Lor ds agreed to bo th bills, including
the one that lim ited their own
powers. Fro m that time, a bill whi ch
had bee n agreed in the Commons
for three years in a row could
become law without the agreement
of the Lords. This period of tim e was
furt her reduced in 194 9.
The House of Lords
A unique feature of th e British parlia m entary syste m is its heredi tary
elem ent. Unlike MP s. members of the House ofL ords (know n as
'peers ') are not elected .They are members as of right. In the case of
som e of them, th is 'right' is the resu lt of their being the holder
of an inheri ted ar istocratic title .The House of Lor ds is ther efore a
relic of earlie r, undemocra tic , times. The fact that it still exists is
perhaps typi cally Br itish . It has be en allowed to surv ive but it h as had
to change , losin g most of its power and altering its composition in
the process.
Tlie Hou se ofLords (like the monarch y) ha s little , if any, real
power any more. All proposals m ust have the agreeme n t of the Lor ds
beforethey can becom e law. But th e pow er of the Lords to refu se a
proposal for a law w hic h has been agreed by the Commons is now
lim ited. After a period w hich can be as sha ft as six m on ths the pro-
po sal become s law anyway, whether or not the Lord s agree.
The compos itio n of the Lords ha s chang ed sinc e 1958 , w he n it
becam e po ssib le to award 'li fe pe erages' thro ugh the honour s system
(see cha pter 7). Entitlem ent to sit in the Lords does not pass to the
ch ildren of life pee rs . The life peerage system ha s established itself as
a mean s of findin g a place in pu blic life for dist ing uishe d retired
po litici ans who nuy no longer w ish to be as busy as MPs in the
Commons, bu t wh o still w ish to voice their opin io ns in a public
forum. At the tim e of w riting , four of the last five Prime Minister s,
as well as abo ut .300 past ministers and other respected poli ticians,
have accept ed the offer of a life peer age. Political parti es are, in fact ,
especially keen to send their older m embers who once belonged to
the leadership of the party to the Hou se ofL ords. It is a w ay of
rewarding them w ith prestig e whil e at the same time gett ing them
ou t of the wa y of the present party lead ers in the Commons, whe re
their status and rep utat ion mi gh t otherwise crea te troubl e for party
uni ty. Infor mally, this practic e has become kn own as being 'kicked
up stairs' . As a resu lt of the life peerage syste m there are more than
.300 people in the Hou se of Lord s w ho are not aristocrats and w ho
have exper tise in political life: In fact, as a result of recen t reforms,
these life peers n ow for m a majority at its sittin gs.
The modern Hou se of Lord s is a foru m for public discussion .
Becau se its mem bers do not depen d on party politics for their posi-
tion, it is some times able to bri ng im port ant m atters that the
Com mons ha s been ign oring into the ope n. More im portantly, it is
the place w here proposals for new law s are discussed in grea t detail -
m uch 1110re detail than the busy Commons has tim e for - and in this
wa y irreg ularit ies or in con sistencies in these proposals can be
re mov ed before they become law . More im portant still , it is argu ed ,
the Lords is a che ck on a governm ent th at , thr oug h its contro l of the
Com mons, could possibly become too di ctatorial. Few people in
politics are perfectly happy wi th the pre sent arrangem ent. Most
 Question s 97

.... The state o pe ning of Parliam ent

These pho tographs shovv two scenes
from the annual state opening of
Parliament,This is an example of a
traditional ceremony which
reminds MPs of their special status
and ofthcir 'togetherness'. In the
first photograph, 'Black Rod', a
servantof the Queen, is knocking
on the door of the House of
Commons and de manding that the
MPs let the Queen come in and tell
them what 'he r' government is
goi ng to do in the coming year. The
Commons always refuse her entry.
This is because. in the severueenth
century, Charles I once burst in to
the chamber and tried to arrest some
MPs. Ever since tac n. the monarch
has not been allowed to enter the
Commons. Instead, the MPs agree
to come through to the House of
Lords and listen to the monarch in
there. This is what they are doing in
the second photograph. By tradition
they always come through in pairs,
each pair comprising MPs from two
different parties.

people agree that havin g two Houses of Parliam ent is a good idea,
and that this seco nd hou se co uld have a more useful function ifit
were constituted in a different way (wi thout the hered itary element) .
However, at this tim e, no body can agree on w hat would be the best
way to reform the compos itio n o f the second ho use, and so, despite
recent reforms w hich have reduced the hereditary element, it remains
as a fascinating (but valuable) an achronism in a modern state.

QU ESTIO NS
I Where would an MP of the Scottish Nationalist
part y probably sit in the House of Commons'
2 In what way s do the seating arrangemen ts,
general facilities and pay for British MPs differ
from those of parliamentary representatives in
your country? Why are they different?
3 Many MPs in modern times are experts in
vario us fields of governme nt. Because of the
complexi ty of modern governme nt, this is
something which see ms to be necessary. But it
cou ld be said to have disadvantages , too. What
do yo u think these disadvantages are?
4 When the Commons decid e to vot e , they do not
vote immediately. Instead, a ' division bell' rin gs
throughout the Palace of Westminster, after
which MPs have ten minutes in w hich to vo te.
Why ?
5 Many of the members of the Hou se of Lords are
heredi tar y aritsocrars.Wh y do the British put
up wit h such an undemocratic eleme nt in their
parliamentary system?
 Look at the table below.You can see that the electo ral system used
in Britain do esn 't see m to add up. In the 20 0 1 ele ction , the
Labo ur party received onl y four out of every ten vot es, but it w on
more than six ou t of every ten seats in the Hou se of Commons. It
won two -and-a.)lalf tim es as many seats as the Conse rvative party,
even tho ugh it recei ved less than on e-and -a-h alf times as man y
votes.The Liberal Democrat party did very badly out of the system.
It got almost a fifth of the vote, but won only one in thirteen of th e
seats in the Comm ons.And yet it was mu ch luckier than it had been
in th e past.The arithmetical absurdity of the system become s clear
when w e co mpare the fortunes o f the Liberal Dem ocrats this time
wit h their fortunes in the 199 2 electi on. On that oc casion , it got the
same proportion of the total vote but fewer than half the number of
seats.What 's goi ng on ?As is often the case wi th British instituti on s,
the appa rent ly illogical figures are the result of histo ry.

The system
Unli ke in any other country in the world. the system of poli tical
represent ation that is use d in Britain evolved befo re the co m ing of
dem ocracy. It also evo lved before nation al issues became more
im portant to people than local ones. In theory, the House of Commons
is simply a gathering of people who each represent a parti cular place
in the kingdom . Origin ally, it was no t the co ncern of any body in
go vernment as to ho w each representative was chosen. That wa s a
matter for each town o r county to decide fo r itself. Not until the
nineteenth centur y w ere law s passed about ho w elections w ere to be
co nducted (E> Theevolution of theelectoral system).

.. British general e lection results 200 I

Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat All other par ties

Votes 10,740.648 (4 1%) 8.35"7,292 (32 %) 4.8,6, '37 (18 %) 2.45"4.45"3 (9 %)

MPs 4 '3 (63 %) 166 (25" %) " (8%) 28 (4%)
Vo tes per MP 26,006 5",345" 92 ,618 87. 6,9
 Formal arrangements 99

This system wa s in place before the de velopme nt of m odern po lit - iii- The e vo lut ion of th e e le cto ral
ical parties (see chapter 6) . These da ys, of co ur se , ne arly every bo d y system
votes for a cand idate because he or sh e belongs to a part icular part y.
But the tradition rema ins that an MP is first and fo remos t a repr esen t- 18 32

ative of a particular locality. The result of this tradi tion is tha t the The Great Reform Bill is passed.
Very small boroughs, where electors
electoral system is remarkably simple. It works like this. Th e co unt ry
can easily be persuaded who [0 VOle
is divided into a number of areas of ro ughly eq ual population (abo ut for, arc abolished.
9,000), known as constituencies. Any bo dy w ho wa nt s to be an MP Seats are given to large new towns
must declare himself or herselfas a candidate in o ne of these constitu - such as Birmingham and Manchester.
encies. On po lling day (th e day of the elect ion) , voters go to po lling which have until now been unrepresen -
stations and are each given a sing le piece of pap er (the ballo t paper) ted in Parliament.
The franchise (the right to VOle) is
with the names of th e cand idates fo r tha t constitue ncy (o nly) o n it.
made uniform throughout the country,
Each voter then puts a cross ne xt to the name of one cand idate. After although differences between rural and
the polls have closed , the ballot pap ers are co unted. The candidate urban areas rem ain. II depends on the
with the largest number of crosses next to his o r her na m e is the value of prop erty owned. About 5"% of
winner an d becomes th e MP for the co ns tit ue ncy. the adu lt population now has the right
to vote in elections.
And that's th e end of it. Ther e is no preferent ial vot ing (if a voter
chooses more th an o ne cand idate , tha t ballo t pap er is ' spoiled ' an d 186 7
is not counted) ; there is no counting of the proportion of votes for The franchise is extended [0 include
each party (all votes cast for losing cand idates are sim ply ignored ) ; mos t of the male workers in towns.
there is no extra allocation of seats in Parliament accor ding to party
strengths. At th e 2 0 0 I electio n, there were 659 cons titue nci es and 18 7 2

659 MPs wer e elec ted. It w as called a general election , and of The secret ballot is introduced. (Until
now, voting has been by a show of
course cont ro l of the government de pe nde d o n it , but in form al
han ds.)
term s it wa s just 659 separate elections go ing on at the sam e tim e.
Here are the res ults fro m two constit ue ncies in 200 I . 18 8 4

Taun ton Votes Rochdale Votes The franc hise is extended to include
male rural labourers .
Conserva tive Adria n Floo k 23 ,0 33 Elaina Cohen 5 ,274
Liberal Dem ocrat Jackie Ballard 22 , 798 Paul Rowen [3 ,75[ 19 18
Labo ur And rew Govier 8 , 254 Lor an Fitzsimo ns 19,4 6 Wo men over [he age of thirty are given
the right to vote .
If we add the vo tes rece ived for each party in these two co nst ituencies
together. we find that the Liberal Democrats go t more vo tes than 19 2 8
Wom en are given the franchise on the
Conservative or Labour. And ye t, th ese two part ies each won a seat
sam e basis as m en. All adu lts ove r
while the Liberal Democrats did no t. Thi s is becau se the y were not
tvvem y-one now have {he right to vote.
first in either co nstitue ncy. It is co mi ng first that ma tters. In fact, the
system is known as the 'first-pa st-the -post' system (an allu sion to 19 69
hor se-racing) . The m inimum voting agc is lowered to
eighteen, and candidates are now
Forma l arra ngeme nts allowed to enter a 'political description'
o f themselves next to their names on
In practice, it is the governmen t which dec ides w he n to hold an the ballot paper. Until now, the only
election. The law says th at an election has to take place at least inform ation about a candidate that has
every five years. However, th e int erv al between elect ions is usually been allowed on the ballot paper was
his or her address.
a bit shorter than this . A part y in power does not norm ally wa it
until the last possible moment. For exam ple, the Labo ur government
called the 2 0 0 1 elec tion after only four years. W he n a party
100 10 Election s
... Crazy candidat es
You don't have to belong to an
im portant party [Q be a candidate.
You don't e ven have [Q live in the
constit uency. All )'ou need is
';00. Look at this list o f cand id -
ates from the 1992 electio n for the
cons utucncv of Hun tin gdon .
Miss Deborah Birkhe ad Green
Lord Buc kcthead Gremloids
Cha rles Cockc ll Forward to Mars Pany
And rew Duff Liberal Democrat
Michael Flanaga n Conservcrive
Thctchente
John Major Conservcnve
Hu gh Sccklcman l abour
David Shepheard Natural Low Pan y
Lord David Sutch Official Monster
Raring Loony Perty
Paul Wiggi n Liberal
Seven of these ten cand idates di d
not gel the ir mo ne y back. BUI
the re arc alw ays som e people w ho
arc w illing 10 he candidat es even
w hen they know they hav e no
chance o f winnin g. Som etim es
they are peop le fighting for a
Single cause that th ey feel ver y
siro ng ly about . Som etimes the y
arc peo ple w ho just like 10 be
cand ida tes fo r a joke. In this case
they tend to be cand ida tes in co n -
sutucncies w her e they will get a lot
o f publicity. Hunti ngdon is where
th e Prime Minister at that tim e,
John Major , w as a candidate . so it
was a natu ral cho ice.
Th e m ost famo us o f these 'silly'
cand idates was ' Lord' David Sutch.
He was a candidate in the same con-
stitue ncy as the Prime Minister in
every elec tion fro m 1966 to 1997.
Th e in ten tion of th e 5"00 deposit
is 10 d isco urage joke candidates
suc h as ' Lord ' Sutch . but they' cer-
tainly add colour and amusement
to the occasio n.
has a very small ma jority in the House o f Commo ns, o r no majority
at all, the interval can be mu ch shorte r.
After the da te o f an electi on has been fixed . people w ho want to
be cand idates in a cons tituency have to deposit 1)00 wi th the
Return ing Officer (the person respon sible for the co nduct of the
election in each co nstitue ncy). They get this money back if they get
1)% o f the votes or more. The local associatio ns of the major part ies
w ill have already chosen the ir cand idate s (sec chapter 6) and w ill
pay the deposits for them. However , it is not necessary to belong to
a part y to be a cand idate. It is a curiou s feature of the system that ,
legally speaking, parties do not exist. That is to say, there is no w ritte n
law which tries to define them or regulate them . The law allows
cand idates. if they w ish . to include a short 'political descript ion ' of
the mselves on the ballot paper. In practice, of co urse , most of the se
de script ion s sim ply state ' Conservative ' , ' Labour' or ' Libera l Demo-
crat' . But they can actually say anything that a cand idate wa nts the m
to say (I> Crazy candidates).
To be eligible to vote. a person must be at least eighteen years old
an d be on the electoral register. Th is is co mpiled every year for each
constituency separately. Peopl e w ho have moved house and have not
had time to get their names on the electoral register of their new
co nstituency can arrange to vo te by po st. No body , how ever, is
obliged to vote.
The campaign
British electio ns are com paratively qui et affair s. There is no tradi tion
oflarge rallies or parad es as there is in the USA. However. because
of the inte nse cov erage by the med ia . it wo uld be very difficu lt to be
in Britain at the time o f a cam paign and not realize that an election
wa s about to take place.
The cam paign reflects the contrast between the formal arrange-
m en ts and the po litical reality. Form ally. a differ ent cam paign takes
place in each co nstituency. Local new spaper s give co verage to the
candidates ; the candi dates themselves hold meetings; part y supporters
stick up poster s in the ir window s; local party workers spend the ir
time canvassing (I> Canvassing). The am ount of money that candidates
are allow ed to spe nd on the ir cam paign s is strictly lim ited . They have
to subm it detail ed acco unts of their expenses for inspection . Any
attempt to influ ence vot er s im pro perly is outlaw ed .
But the reality is that all these activities and regulations do not
usuall y ma ke much difference. Nearly everybody votes for a cand id -
ate on the basis of the party which he or she re presents, not becau se
of his or her individual qualities or political opinio ns. Few people
attend candidates ' meeti ng s; most people do not read local newspa -
pers. In any case , the size of const ituencies mean s that candidates
cannot meet most vot ers, however energetically they go from door
to door.
 Polling day J0 I

It is at a nat ional level that the rea l campaign takes place. The Ii> Canvass ing
part ies spend millions of pounds advertising on hoardi ngs an d in This is the activity that occupies most
newspapers. By agreement, they do no t buy time on televisio n as of the time of local party workers
they do in the USA. Instead, they are each given a nu m her of str ictly during an election campaign. Can -
timed 'party electio n broadcasts '. Each party also ho lds a da ily vassers go from door to door, calling
televised new s co nference. All of this put s the emphasis on th e on as m any houses as possible and
asking people how they in tend to
national party per sonaliti es rather tha n on loca l candidates.Only vote . They rarely make any attempt
in the 'marginals' - co ns tituencies where only a small shift in vo ting to change people's minds, but if a
hehavio ur fro m last tim e wo uld change the result - m ight the voter is identified as 'undecided', the
qualities of an individual can didate, possi bly, affect the outcome. party candidate might later attempt
to pay a visit.
The m ain purpose of canvassi ng
Polling day
seems to be so tha t, on election day,
General elections always take place o n a Thursday. Th ey are not public trans port can be offered, if needed,
to those who claim to be supportcrs.
holidays. People have to w ork in the normal wa y, so pollin g statio ns
(This is theonly form of material
are open fro m seven in the morning till ten at night to give everybody help that part ies are allowed to offer
the opportunity to vot e. The only people who get a ho liday are voters.) It also allovv s party workers
scho olch ild ren whose schoo ls are being used as po llin g stations. to estimate how well they are doing
Each vo ter has to vo te at a part icular polling statio n. After being on election day. They stand outside
ticked off on the electoral register, the voter is given a ballo t paper. polling stations and record w hether
their supporters have voted . If it
Electio ns on the British mainland are always very fairly conducted .
loo ks as If these people are not going
Northe rn Ireland , how ever, is a ra ther di fferent story. There, the to bother to vote, party workers
political ten sions of so lll an y years have had a negative effec t on might call on them to remind them
democratic procedures. Matters have improved since the 19605 . but to do so. Canvassing is an awful lot
the traditional, alb eit joking, slogan in Ulster on polling da y is 'v o te of w or k for very little benefit. It is a
kind of electio n ritual.
early and vote often' - that is, try to vo te as m any tim es as you can
by impersonating other people.
After the polls clo se , the ma rked ballot papers are taken to a cent ral
place in th e constituency and counted. The Returning Officer then
makes a public announcement of the votes cast for each candidate
and declares the winner to be the MP for the constituency. This
declar atio n is on e of the few occas ions during the electio n process
when sho uting and cheering may be heard.

An election result being declared

10 2 10 Elections
II> Th e g re at tel evision election
sho w!
British people are genera lly not very
enthusiastic abou t poli tics. But that
does not SlO p them enjoyi ng a good .
political fight. Notice the images o f
spo n and of general s planning a mil-
itary campaig n in this extract from
the Radio Timesfrom just befo re the
1992 general election.
What a night it's goi ng to be! As in
all the best horsereces there is no
clear favourite. Not since 197 4
have the two main parties been so
closely matched. We may even
keep you up all night without
bei ng able to tell you wh o 's
wa ll.
On BBCI's 'Elect ion 92', I'll
have a whole array of electronic
wizardry - including our Battle-
grou nd -lO help explain and
Illu str ate what is shaping the new
Parliament .
Over 30 m illion people w ill
have voted by 10 p.m . on the
Thursday, but the decisi ve verdict
w ill be prono unced by the five
mill io n people who vote in the
marginal seats - and these are the
on es w e feature in o ur Battle-
ground.
Labo ur's aim is to co lou r the
seats o n the Bauleground red. The
Co nservatives' task is to keep them
blue .. .
So sit back in yo ur armcha ir and
e njoy the excitement .
Radio Times. April 19 9 2
Election night
The period after voting has become a television ex travaganza. Bot h
BBC and lTV start th eir programm es as soon as voti ng finishes. With
millions watching, they continue right through the night. Certain
features o f th ese 'election specials', such as the 'swingome rer' have
ente red pop ular folklore (e- TheSlVingometer).
The first exciteme n t of the night is the race to declare. It is a matter
o flocal pride for some constituencies to be the first to announce their
result. Doi ng so will guarantee that the cameras will be there to
w itness the eve nt. If the cou nt has go ne smoothly , this usually occurs
at just after 11.00 p.m. By midn ight, after only a handfu l of results
have been declared . experts (w ith the help of computers) will be
making predi ction s about the composition of the newly elected
Hou se of Common s. Pseph olog y (the study of voting hab its) has
become very sophisticated in Britain so that, although the ex perts
never get it exactly right . they can get pretty close.
By two in the morning at least half of the constituencies w ill have
declared their result s and. unless the election is a very close one (as.
for example, in 19 74 and 1992) , the expe rts on the television will
now be able to predi ct with confiden ce w hich party will have a
majority in the Ho use o f Commons . and therefore which party leader
is going to be the Prime Mini ster.
Som e con stituencies, however, are not able to declare th eir results
until well into Friday afternoon. This is either because they are very
rural (mostly in Scotland or Northern Ireland). and so it takes a lon g
time to bri ng all the ballot papers together . or because the race has
been so clo se that one or m ore 'recount s' have been necessary. The
phenomenon of recounts is a clear dem on stration of the ironies o f
the British system. In most constituencies it w ould no t make any
differ en ce to the result if several thousand ballot papers we re lost.
But in a few . the result depends on a handful o f votes. In these cases,
candidates are entitled to demand as man y reco unts as they want until
the result is beyond doubt. The record number of reco unts is seve n
(and th e record margin of victory is just one vo te r).
Recent result s and the future
Since the middl e of the twentieth century. the contest to form the
govern me nt has effectively been a straigh t figh t between the
Labour and Conservative parties. As a general rule. the north of
England and most of the inner areas of English cities return Labour
MPs to Westm inster. w hile the south of England and mo st areas
o utside the inner cities have a Conservative Mil. Which of these tw o
parties form s the governm ent depend s on which one does better in
the subur bs and large towns of England.
Scotland used to be good territory for the Conserva tives. This
changed . however. during the I980s and the vast majori ty of MPs
from there now represent Labour. Wales has always returned m ostly
 Rece nt results an d the fut ure [03

... The swingometer

This is a device used by television
presenters on election night. It
indicates the percentage change of
support from one party to another
party since the previous election -
the 'sw ing'. Individual constituen-
cies can be placed at certain points
along the swingometer to show
how much sw ing is necessary to
change the party affiliation of their
MPs. The sw ingomctcr w as first
made popular by Professor Raben
McKenzie on the BBC's coverage of
the 1964 election . Over the years, it
has become more colourful and
com plicated. Most people enjoy it
but say they are confused by it!

Swingometers from ' 970 and 199 2

Labour MPs. Since the I 970 s, the respective nationalist parties in

both countries (see chapter 6) have regularly won a few seats in
Parliament. .
Traditionally, the Liberal part y was also relatively stro ng in Scot-
land and Wales (and was sometimes called the party of the 'Celtic
fringe'). Its m od ern successor, the Liber al Dem ocrat part y (see
chapter 6), is no t so geographically restric ted and has managed to
win some seats all over Britain, wi th a co ncent ration in the sou th-
west of England .
Nort hern Ireland alway s has about the same proportio n of
Protestant Unionist MPs and Catho lic Nationalist MPs (since the
[970 S, abo ut two-th irds the former, the third the latter). The only
element o f uncertainty is how man y seats the more extremist (as
oppose d to the more moderate) parties w ill win on either side of
this invariant political divide (see chapter 12).
104 10 Elections

In the thirt een elections from 1945 to 1987 , the Con ser vatives
Whenever a sitting MP can no longer were generally more successful than Labour. (I> Party performance in
fulfil his or her du ties, there has to general elections since 1945).Although Labour achieved a majority on
be a speci al new electio n in the con- five occas ions, on only two of these was the majority comfortable.
stituency w hich he or she
On the other th ree occas ions it was so sma ll that it was in constant
represents. (There is no system of
ready substitures.) These are called danger of disappearing as a resul t of by-election defeats (I>By-
by-elections and can take place at ejections). In the sam e period, the Con ser vatives won a majo ri ty
any time .They do not affect w ho seven times, n early always co m fortabl y.
r uns the government, btu they are The n , in the 1992 elect io n , the Con ser vatives w on for th e
watched closely by the media and
fourt h tim e in a row - the first time this had been achieved for
the parties as indicators of the
more than 160 years. Moreover, they ach ieved it in the middle of
current level of popularity (or
unpopularity) of the gove rn me nt. an economic recession .Thi s made many people wonder whether
A by-election provides the Labour could ever wi n again. It looked as if th e sw in gom eter's
parties with an opportunity to find a pe ndulum had stuck on the right. Labour 's share of the total vote
seat in Parliament for one of their had generally decreased in the previous four decade s while sup-
important people. If a sitting MP
port for the third party ha d grown sinc e th e early 1970s. Many
dies, the opportunity presents itself;
if not, an MP of the same part y mu st sociolo gists be lieved this trend to be in evitable becau se Britain
be persuaded to resign . had develop ed a middle-class majority (as opposed to its former
The w ay an MP resig ns offers a working-class major ity) . Many po lit ical obser vers were worried
fascinati ng example of the im por - about this situat ion. It is considered to be basic to the Briti sh
tance attached to traditio n. It is system of democracy that power should chan ge hands oc casionally.
considered wrong for an MP sim ply
There was m u ch talk abo ut a pos sib le reorgani zation of
to resign; MPs represent their con-
stituents and have no righ t to
deprive th em of th is representation. Size of overa ll majori ty in the Ho use of Com mo ns
(wit h nam e of leader of winn ing party)
So the MP who wishes to resign
app lies for the post ofStewa rd of
the Chiltern Hu ndreds' .Thi s is a job
w ith no dut ies and no salary.Tech -
nica lly, howeve r, it is 'an office of 1945
pro fit unde r the Crow n' {i.e. a job 1950 Attlee (6) I
given by the monarch w ith rewar ds
195 1 Churchill (17)
attached to it) . Acco rding to anci ent
practice, a perso n cannot be both an 1955 Eden (60)
MP and ho ld a post of this natu re at 1959 Macmillan (100)
the same time beca use Parliam ent
m ust be independent of the
1964 W ilson (5) I
m onarch . (This is why high rank in g 1966 Wilson (96)
civil servants and army o fficer s are 1970 _ H eath(30)
not allowed to be MPs.) As a result ,
the holder of this ancient post is 1974 (Feb)Wi lson '" I
automatically disqua lified fro m the 1974 (Oct)Wilson (3) I
House of Commons and the by- 1979 Thatcher (48)
election can go ahead!
1983 Thatcher (144)

1987 Thatcher (89)

1992 Maj or(21)
1997
2001 Blair (167)

* Labour was the largest party but had fewer th an half th e sea ts.
 Recent results and the future [ 05

British politics, for example a ~llJnge to a European-style system o f

proportional representation (so that Labour co uld at least share in
a coalition government), or a formal unio n between Labour and
the Liberal Democrats (so tha t together they co uld defeat th e
Conservatives).
However, in 1997 the picture changed dramatically. Labo ur won
the largest majority in the Ho use of Com mons achieve d by any
party for 73 years and the Conservative share of the to tal vote was
their lowest in 165 years. What happene d? The answer seems to
be that voting habits in Britain , reflect in g the weakening of the
class system, are no longer tribal. There w as a time w hen the
Labour party was regarded as the politica l arm o f the trade unio ns,
representing the work ing class of the co untry. Most working-class
people voted Labour all their lives an d nearl y all m idd le-class people
voted Conservative all their lives . The wi nning party at an elec tion
was the one who managed to get the su pport of the sma ll number
of 'floating voters ', But Labou r has now go t rid of its trade-union
image. It is capable of w inn ing as ma ny midd le-class vo tes as the
Conservatives, so that the m iddle -class majo rity in the population,
as identified by sociologists (see above), does not automatically
mean a Conservative majority in the House of Com mons.

Q UES TIONS

IThe British electora l system is said to discrimin-
ate agains t sma ller parti es. But lo ok at the tab le
at the beginning o f this chapter again. How can
it be that the very small part ies had m uch better
luck at w inning parliam entary seats than the
(com par atively large) Liberal Dem ocrats?
2 In w ha t ways is po litical campaigning in yo ur
country different from that in Britain as
descr ibed in thi s cha pter'
3 Is there a similar level of pu blic int eres t in learn-
ing about election results in your coun try as
there is in Britain ? Does it seem to reflect the
general level of enthusiasm abo ut , and interest
in , polit ics w hich exist at o ther times - in Britain
and in your own country?
4 Britain has 'single- member constituencies'. This
means that on e MP alone represen ts o ne par-
ticular group of voters (eve rybody in his or her
cons tituency). Is this a good system? O r is it
better to have several MPs representing the same
area?What are the advantages and disadvantages
of the two systems?
5 Do you th ink tha t Brita in should adopt th e elect -
oral system use d in your co unt ry' O r perh aps
yo u think that your country should adopt the
system used in Britain ?Or are the tw o di fferen t
syste ms the right ones for the tw o different
cou ntries? Why?

SU GG ESTI ON S

If you can get British televisio n or radio , w atch or listen in o n the

night of the next British gener al electio n.
10 6
110- Th e orga niza t io n of the po lice
force
There is no national police force in
Britain. All police employees work
for one of the forty or so separatc
forces wh ich each have responsibil-
ity fo r a particular geographical area .
O rigina lly . these were set up lo cally.
Only later did ce ntral government
gain some control over the m. h
inspects them and has influence over
senior appointments w ithi n them .
In return , it provides about half o f
the m o ncy to run them. The ot he r
half co mes from lo cal governm ent.
The exception to this sys tem is the
Metropoli tan Poli ce Force. w hich
polices Greater London. The 'Met' is
under the direct control of central
government. It also performs ce rtain
nationa l poli ce functio ns such as the
registratio n of all crimes and crim -
inals in England and Wales and the
compilatio n o f the mi ssing perso ns
regis ter. Ne w Sco tland Yard is the
famou s bui ldin g which is the head-
qu arters of its Crimi nal
Investigat ion Depart ment (CID).
The law
The police and the public
There was a tim e when a supposedly typical British policeman cou ld
be found in every tourist brochure for Britain. His strange-looking
helmet and the fact that he did not carry a gun made him a unique
symbol for tourists. The image of the friend ly British 'bobby', w ith
his fatherly manner, was also well-kno wn wi thin the country and
was reinforced by popular television serials such as Dixon of Dock Green
(0) Images of the palice: past and present) . This positive ima ge wa s not a
complete m yth . The system of policin g was based on each police
officer having his own ' beat', a particular neighbourhood which it
was his dut y to patro l. He usually did th is on foot or sometim es by
bicycle. The local bobby was a familiar figure on the streets, a reassur -
ing pr esence that people felt they could trust absolutely.
In the 19 60s the situation began to change in two w ays. First, in
respon se to an increasingly motorized society, and therefore increas-
in gly motori zed crime, the police themselves started patrolling in
cars. As a resuh, indi vidual police officers became rem ote figures
and stopped being the familiar faces that they once we re. A sign o f
this change wa s the new television poli ce drama, Z Cars. This pro-
gram me sho wed police officers as peop le w ith real problem s and
failings who did not always behave in the conve n tiona lly polite and
reassuring manner. Some police w ere relieved to be presented as
ordinary human beings. But the comparatively nega tive image of the
police which thi s programme portrayed caused uproa r and several
senior police o fficials complained to the BBC about it' At the same
tim e, the police found themselves having to deal increasingly wi th
public demonstratio ns and w ith the activities of a generation w ho
had no experience of war and therefore no ob vious enemy -figure on
which to focu s their youthful feelin gs o f rebellion . These young
peopl e started to see the po lice as the symbol of everything they
disliked about society. Police officers were no longer kno wn as
' bo bbies' bu t became the 'fuzz' or the 'cops' or the ' pigs'.
Since the m iddle years of the twentieth century, the police in
Britain have lost much of their positive image. A child wh o is lost
is still advised to find a polic e o fficer, bu t the Sight of on e no
longer creates a general feeling of reassurance. In the 1980s there
 Crime and crim ina l procedure 17

we re a large num ber ofcases in which it wa s found that police officer s .. Th e Stefan Kizsko cas e
had lied and cheated in order to get pe ople convicted of crim es (c- The On 18 February 1992, a man who
Stefan Kizsko case). As a resu lt, trust in the honesty and incorr up tibility had spent the previous sixteen years
of the polic e ha s declined. of h is life in pr ison serving a sen -
Nevert heless, there is still a great dea l of public sym pathy for the tence for murder was released. It
had been proved that he did not in
police. It is fell that the y are doing an inc reasin gly di fficult job under
fact commit the crime.
difficult circums tances . The assumption that their role is to serve th e
In the early 19 90 S a large number
public rather than 1O be agents of the gove rnmen t persists. Police of people were let out of British
officers often still add ress mem bers of the public as ' sir' or ' madam ' . gao ls after spending several years
Senior officers think it is im portan t for the police 1O establish a rela- serving sentences for crimes they
tionshi p witlt lo cal people , and the phrase 'community policing ' is di d not commit . The most famous of
these were 'the Guildfor d Four' and
now fashionable. Some poli ce have even start ed to pa trol on foot
't he Birmi n gham Six', both groups
again. Gen erally spe akin g , the relationship between police and public of people convicted of terrorist
in Britain compares quite favourab ly w ith that in some other Euro pea n bombings. In every case, prev ious
count ries. British po lice still do not carry guns in the course of normal court judgements were changed
duty (althougli all police stations have a store of we apons) . when it became dear that the police
had not acted properly (for
example, they had falsified the evid -
Crime and criminal procedure ence of the ir notebooks or had not
There is a w idespread feeling among th e British public that crime is revealed important evidence).
Public confidence in the police
increasing. Figures on this ma tter are notoriously di fficult to evalu -
diminished. In {he case of the
ate, however. On e reason for this is that not all actual crime s are alleged bombers, there rema ined
necessarily reported. Official figures su ggest that the crim e of rape some public sympathy. The police
increased by more than 50% bet ween 1988 and 1992 . But these office rs involv ed may have been
figures nuy repr esent an in crease in the n um ber of victims w illing v\'rong but they were trying to catch
terrorists . The Kizsko case was dif-
to report rape ra the r than a real increase in cases of rap e.
feren t. He did not belong to an
illegal organizat ion . His only' crime'
.. Ima ge s of t he police : past a nd pres ent was th at he wa s in the \v rong place
at the wrong time. He also con -
formed to a stereotype, w hich made
h im an easy victim of prejudice. He
w as of below average int elligence
and he had a foreign name, so a jury
\.. . as likely to see him as a potenti al
mu rderer.

The traditional image: Dixon of The modern image: a scene from the
DockGreen speaking fatherly words po pular I 990S television series The
of wisdom to the television audience Bill.
in the 19 60s.
10 8 I I The law
... C au t io n!
... Is crim e increasing in Britain?
'You do not have to say any thing
unless you wish to do so, but wh at
}'ou say mar be given in evidence'.
These words are we ll-known to
almost everybody in Britain. They
have been heard in tho usands of
police dramas on television. For a
lon g time they formed wha t is tech -
nica lly known as the caut ion , which
m ust be read out to an arrested
person in o rder to m ake the arrest
legal. But, in t 99+, the British gov-
ern ment decided that the 'ri ght to
silence ' contained in the cauti on
made th ings too easy for crim inals.
This right meant that the refusa l of
an arrested person to answer police
questions could not be used as pan
of the evidence against him or her.
Now, however, it can.
To accord with the new law, the
words of the caution have had to be
changed. The new formu la is: 'You
do no t have to say anythin g. BlII if
you do not me ntion now som ething
whic h you later lise in yo ur de fence,
the coun may de cide that your
failure to m enti on it now
strengt hens the case against you. A
record will be made of anythi ng you
say and it m ay be given in eviden ce
if you are bro ught to trial'.
Ctvtl ltberues groups in Britain are
angry about this change. They say
that many arrested people find it too
difficult to understand and th at it is
not fair to encourage people to
defend themselves immediately
against charges about which they do
not yet know the details. They are
also afraid it cnco urages false
con fessions.
Offences involving firearms
recorded by the police in
British peopl e think that crime is England and Wales
rising in Britain, but it is impossible
to give a com ple tely reliable answer 12.000
to this question. Figures vary from
ycafto year . In 199 3 for instance,
the tota l number of reco rded crimes 10.000
in the London area actua lly we nt
down by aro und 10%. And the
8,000
murder rate is no high er, or even
low er , than it w as dur ing the second
half of the ni neteenth cent ury . 6,000
However, ther e is no doubt that in
the last quarter of th e twen tieth
centu ry there was a defin ite 4.000
increase in certain types of crime.
Crimes wit h firear ms (guns. rifles
ere) are an example, as the graph 2,000
shows.
~J
,.,.1
~l
Criminal damage
Robbery
Violence against t he pe rso n
Source: Criminal Statistics, Home Office
Nevert heless . it is generally accepted that in the last qu arter of the
twentieth cent ur y. the nu m ber of crim es went up (!> Is crime increasing
in Britain?). And th e rea r of crime seem s to have increased a lot. This
has go ne tog ether w ith a lack ofco nfid en ce in the abili ty of the po lice
to catch crim inals. In the early I 9 90S pri vate security firms w ere one
of the fastest-g rowing bu sine sses in the country. Another response
to the perceived situation has been the growth of Neighbo ur hood
Watch schem es. They attempt to edu cate people in crime pr evention
an d to encourage the people of a particular neighbourhood to loo k
out for any thing susp icious. In 1994 the gov ernment w as even con-
siderin g helping m em bers of these schemes to organize patrols.
There has also been some impatien ce wit h the rules of crim inal
pro cedure under w h ich the police and courts have to op era te. The
police are not, of course, above the law . W he n th ey arrest some body
on suspicion ofhavin g com m itted a crime, they ha ve to follow cert ain
procedures. For example. unle ss they obtain special perm ission , they
are not allow ed to de tain a person for more than twenty-four hour s
without forma lly chargi ng that person wit h having committed a
crim e. Even after the y have charged somebody . they need permi ssion
to remand tha t person in custody (i.e. to keep him or her in pri son)
unt il the case is heard in court. In 1994 pu blic conce rn about cr im-
inals 'getting awa y wi th it 'Ted the government to mak e on e ver y
contro versial cha nge in the law (0) Caution!) .
 The system of justice 1 9

.. How m any victims?

Victims of crim e
One wa )' of estim atin g the level of
crim e is to int erview pe ople and ask
them w hether the)' have bee n the
victim s of crime, On the left arc
All surveyed Car thefts som e of the resu lts o f a survey in
crimes [990 w hich interviewed 2 , 0 0 0
% 0 5 16 IS 20 H ]0 % 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 people in several countries. The

--
figure s show the perc enta ges of
USA
int erviewees wh o said they had bee n
Canada
victims .
Australia
Netherlands .. The sentence o f this cou r t is . ..

-
Spain
If it is somcone's first o ffence, and
West Germany
the crime is a sm all o ne , even a
England & Wales

---
guil ty per son is often uncondition -
France
all y di sch arged . He or she is set free
Scotland
w ith out pu nishm ent ,
Belgi um

-
The next e'ep up the ladder is a
Norway
co n di tio na l disch arge . This mea ns
Finland
that the gUilty person is set free but
Switzerland
if he o r she com m its another crime
Northern Ireland
w ithin a stated lim e. the first cr ime
Source:InrernationalHome Office CrimeSurvey will be taken into account , He or she
m ay also be put o n probation .
which means tha t regular meet in gs
wit h a social w or ker must take place.
The system of justice A very com mon form of punish-
ment for m inor offe nce s is a fin e .
The system of justice in England and Wales, in both civil and criminal whic h means that the guilt y per son
cases, is (as it is in No rth America) an advers arial system, In criminal has to pay a sum o f money,
cases there is no such thing as an exam ining magi strat e who tries lO Another possibilit y is that the
co nvi cted person is sente nced to a
discover the real truth abou t w hat happen ed . In formal terms it is
certain number of hour s of co m-
no t the business of an y court to find ou t ' the truth' . Its job is Simply munity service.
to decid e 'yes ' or 'no ' to a particular pr opositi on (in criminal cases, Wherever possible . mag istra tes
t1;at a certain per son is guilty of a certain crime) after it has heard and judges tr y no t to imprison
arguments and evidence from both sides (in crim inal cases these peop le. This costs the stale money.
sides are known as the defence and the pro secuti on ) . the cou ntry's prisons are already
ove rcro w ded and pri sons have a
There are basically tWO kinds of court . More than 90 % of all cases
rep urauon for being 'schools for
are dealt wi th in ma gistrat es' courts, Ever y tow n ha s one of the se, In cri me'. Even peo ple who are sent to
them, a panel of ma gistrates (u suall y three) passes judgement. In prison do not usually serve the
cases where they have decided som ebo dy is guilty o f a crime, they whole tim e to whi ch th ey were sen -
can also im pose a punishmen t. Thi s can be imprisonment for up to a tenced. The)' get 'remission' of their
sentence for 'good behavio ur ' .
year, or it can be a fine, alth ough if it is a per son's 'first offenc e' and
There is no death p en alty in
the crim e is not serious, they often impose no punishmen t at all Britain. except for treaso n . It wa s
(t> The sentence of this court is .. .) . abolished for all other offen ces in
Magistrate s' cou rts are another example of the im portance of 196 9, Although publi c opi ni on
amateurism in British public life, Magistrates, who are also know n poll s often sho w a maj ori ty ill favour
of its ret urn. a major ity ofM Ps has
as Justices of th e Peace (IPs). are n ot trained lawyers. They are just
alw ays been agai nst it. For mur -
ordinary people of good rep utation who have been appointed to the derers. there is an o bligato ry life
job by a local comm irtee. They do not get a salary or a fee for their sentence, However . 'life' does not
work (though they get paid expenses). Inevitably, they tend to come no rm ally m ean life.

1 10 II The law
... Some terms co nn ected with
the le gal system
acq uitted found not guilt}' by the
co urt
bail a sum of money guaranteed by
somebody on beh alf of ,1 pers on
who has been ch arge d wi th a
crime so that he or she can go free
until the time o f the trial. If he or
she doe s not appear in coun. the
per son ' standin g bail' has to pay
the money.
co n victed found guihy by the
co u r t
defendant the part}' who denies a
claim in court: the person
accused of a crime
on re man d in prison awa iting trial
pa rty one of the sides in a coun
case. Because o f the adversa rial
system , there mu st always be tw o
panics in an r case: one to make a
claim and one to de ny this claim .
plaintiff the part}' who makes a
claim in coun. III nearly all crim -
ina l cases, the plaintiff is the
police.
verdict the decisio n of the coun
A typical courtroom scene showing the
judge, the jury, and a witness being ques-
tioned by a barrister (cameras are not
cllowed in court)
)
from the wealthier sectio ns of society and, in times past. their preju-
dices wer e very o bvious. They were especially har sh , for instan ce ,
on people found guil ty of poaching (hunting ani m als on priva te
land) , even thoug h these pe ople sometimes had to poach in order
to put food on their fam ilies' tables. In modern tim es, however , somc
care is taken to make sure that JPs are recr uit ed from as br oad a section
of socie ty as po ssible.
Even serious cr iminal cases are first heard in a magistrate 's court.
However, in th ese cases, the JPs only need to decid e that there is a
prima facie case again st the accused (in other words, that it is possible
that he or she ma y be guilt )') . The)' then refer the case to a higher
court . In most cases this will be a crow n co urt , where a professio nal
law yer acts as the judge and the decision regarding gu ilt or in nocen ce
is taken by a jury. Juries co nsist of tw elve people selectcd at ran dom
from the list of vote rs. They do not gct paid for their services and are
obliged to perform this du ty. In ord er for a verd ict to be reached,
there m ust be agreemcnt am ong at least len of them . If this does not
happen , the judge has to decl are a mi str ial and the case must start all
over again w ith a differ ent jury. A convicted person may appeal to the
Court of Crim inal Appea l (ge ne rall)' know n just as the Appeal Co urt )
in London either to have the conviction qu ashed (i.c , the jury's
previou s verdict is overruled and they are pronoun ced ' not gu ilty')
or to ha ve the sentence (i.e. punishm ent ) reduced. The hig he st court
of all in Britain is the House ofL or ds (see chapter 9) .
The du ty of the jud ge during a trial is to act as the referee while
the prosecution and de fen ce pu t their cases and questio n w itnesses,
and to decide what evidence is admissible and w hat is not (what can
or can 't be taken into account b), the jury). It is also , o f cours e, the
judge's job to im pose a punishment (known as ' pronouncing
sentence ') on those found gu ilt), o f crimes.
 The legal profession I I I

The legal profession

There are t\VO distinct kinds oflawyer in Bri tain . One of these is a
solicitor. Ever ybody who needs a law yer has to go to one of these.
They handle most legal matters for their clien ts, in cluding the
draw ing up of documents (such as w ills, divorce pa pers an d
contr acts) . co mmunicatin g with ot her parties. and presenting thei r
clients' cases in magistra tes ' courts. How ever, only since 1994 have
solicitors been allowed to presen t cases in higher courts. If the trial is
to be heard in one of the se, the solicitor normally hires th e services
of the other kind ofl awyer - a barrister. Th e only func tio n of barristers
is to pre sent cases in co urt.
The training of the two kin ds oflawyer is very different. All soli-
citors have to pa ss the Law Socie ty exam . They stu dy for thi s exam
while ' articled ' to established firms of solicitors w he re they do much
of the everyday junior work un til they are qualified.
Barristers have to attend one of the four In n s of Court in Lo nd o n .
These ancient in stit uti ons are modelled somewha t on Oxbridge col -
leges (see chapter 14). For exa m ple, althou gh there are some lectures ,
A barrister in thegown and wig that
the only attendance req uirem en t is to eat dinner th ere on a certa in
must be wornin court
nu mber of evenin gs each term . After four years, the tra inee ba rris ters
then sit exams . If th ey pass, they are 'called to the bar ' and are
recog nized as barristers. How ever , they are still n o t allowed to present ... Minist ry of justice?
a case in a crown court. They can only do this after several more
Actually there is no such thing in
years of association wi th a senior barrister, after w hich the most able
Britain. The th ings that such a minis-
of them appl y to 'take silk' . Those whose applications are acce pted try takes care of in other countries
can put the lett ers QC (Queen's Counsel) after their nam es. are shared between a number o f
Neither kind oflawyer needs a uni versity qualification . The vast authorities, in parti cular th e Home
majority of ba rri sters and most soli citors do in fact go to university, Office, w hi ch administers prisons
and supervises the police, and the
bur they do no t necessarily stu dy law th ere . This arrangement is
office of the Lord Chanc ellor, which
typically British (see chapter 14). over sees the appointment of judges,
The d iffere n t styles of trainin g refle ct the di fferent worlds that th e magistrates and other legal o fficers.
two kiuds oflawyer live in , and also the di fferen t skills that they
develop. Solici tors have to deal w ith the reali ties of the everyday ... Th e law in Sc otlan d
world and its problems. Mo st of their work is do ne awa y fro m the Scotland has its own legal system ,
courts. They often become experts in the det ails of pa rt icular areas of separate from the rest o f the United
the law. Barrist ers, on the other hand , live a m ore rare fied exis tence. Kingdom . Although it also uses an
For on e th ing, they tend to co me from the u p per stra ta of society. adversarial system oflegal proced-
Furthermore , their protection from everyday realities is increased ure, the basis of its law is closer to
Roma n and Dutch law . The names
by certai n legal rules. For example, they are not supposed to talk to
of several officials in Scotland are
any of their clients, o r to their client's witnesses, except in the presence also different from those in England
of the solicitor w ho has h ired them. They are expe rts on general and Wales. A very noticeable feature
principles of the law ra the r th an on details, and they acquire th e is th at there are three , not just two,
special skill of eloquence in publi c spea king. W hen th ey present a possible verdicts . As we ll as 'g uilty'
and 'n ot guilty'. a jury ma y reach a
case in co urt, th ey, like judges, put on the archaic gown and wig
verdict of 'not pro ven', which
which, it is supposed, emphasize the im personal majesty of the law . means that the accused person
It is exclusively fro m th e ranks of barristers that judges are cannot be punished but is no t com -
appointed. Once they have been appointed, it is almost impossible pletely cleared of guilt either.
I I2 I I The law

for th em to be di smi ssed . The only w ay th at thi s can be done is by a

resol ution of both Hou ses of Parliament, and this is something that
has never happened. Moreo ver, their retiring age is later than in most
o ther occ upations. They also ge t very high salaries . These thing s are
co nsi dered necessary in order to ensure the ir independe nce from
interference , by the stare or any o ther party. How ever, the result of
their backgroun d and their absolute sec urity in their jobs is that,
altho ugh they are often people of great learning and intelligence .
some judges appear to have difficulty understanding th e problems
and circumstances of o rd inary people , and to be out of step wi th
general public opinion . The judgem ent s and o pinions that they give
in court so me times make the headlin es because they are so spectacu-
larly out of date. (Th e inability of some of them to co m prehend th e
mean ing of racial eq uality is o ne example. A sen ior Old Bailey judge
in the I 980s onc e referred to black people as 'nig-nogs' and to some
Asians invo lved in a case as 'murderou s Sikhs")

QUES TIONS

ITh e public perception of British police officers
has changed ove r the last thirty years. In what
w ays has it changed , and why do you th ink
this is?
2 It is one of the principles of the British legal
system that you are inn ocent until prov en
guilty. However, mi scarriages o f justice do
occur. How did the ones described in this
chapter co me about ?
3 What are the main differences between th e legal
system in you r co untry and that in Britain? Is
th ere an yth ing like the 'right to silence" Are
there any unpaid 'amateur ' legal office rs sim ilar
to Justices of the Peace ? Wha t kind of tra ining
do law yers undergo ? Com pared w ith th e
system in you r cou ntry, w hat do yo u see as the
strengths and wea knesses o f the British system?
4 British people believe that there is more crime
in Britain than there used to be. What reason s
co uld there be for thi s? Is it tru e ' Do yo u think
of Britain as a 'safe' or 'dangerou s' place? What
abou t you r own co untry - has crime increased
there, or do people think th at it has'
5 Many people in Britain argue that impri sonment
is an ineffecti ve and expensive form o f puni sh-
ment. Do yo u agree w ith this view? What
alternative form s o f puni shm ent in use in
Britain or in your country do yo u think are
bett er, if an y'

SUGGES TI ONS

There are man y co ntemporary British writer s who concentrat e on

the theme o f crim e and detection , among them Colin Dexter, whose
books (such as The Dead af jericho, Last Bus to Waodstock and The Wench is
Deod) feature Inspector Morse. (Many of th em have been adapted for
television. ) P D Jam es and Ruth Rendell are tw o o the r high ly
respected wri ters of crime fictio n.
 I I J

12
International relations

The relationship between any country and the rest of th e world can
reveal a great deal abou t tha t co untry.

The end of empire

The map below show s the British empire in 19 I 9 , at the tim e of its
greatest extent. By this time, ho w ever, it was alread y beco ming less
of an em pire and 1110re of a confede ration. At the same interna tional
conference at which Britain acquired new possession s (formerly
German) und er the Trea ty of Versailles , Australia , Canada, New
Zealand and South Africa w ere all represented separately from
Britain.
The real dismantling of the em pire to ok place in the tw ent y-five
years follow in g the Secon d Wo rld War and w ith the loss of empire
went a loss of pow er and stat us. These da ys, Britain 's armed for ces
can no longer act unilaterally, wi thout reference to the inter nat io nal
communi ty. Two events illu stra te thi s. Firs t, Suez. In 195 6, Egypt.
without prior agreement, took over the Suez canal from the in terna-
tional comp any owned by Britain an d France. British and French

<rio<

tv

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]000
(at the Equafor)
Tnm ." do Cu"" .
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The British Empire In 1919

Oxford University Press
[ 14 12 International relations
Theopening ceremonyof the Com-
monwealth Games in 1994. This
athletics contest is held every four
years.
..The Commo nwea lt h
The dismantling of the British
em pire took place comparatively
peacefully, so [hat good relations
between Britain and the newly inde-
pendent countries were established.
As a result. and w ith the encourage-
ment of Queen Elizabeth II, an
international organization called the
Commonwealth. composed of the
countries that used to be pan of the
empire, has continued to hold
annual meetings. Some countries in
the Commonwealth have even kept
the British mo narch as head of state .
There are no forma l eco nomic or
poli tical advantages invo lved in
belonging to the Com monwealth,
but it has helped to keep cultural
contacts alive, and does at least mea n
that every year the leaders of a sixth
of the world's po pulation sit down
and talk together. Until quite
recently it did have economic
importance, with special trading
agreements between members . But
since Britain became a full me mber
of the EEC. all but a few of these
agreements have gradually been dis -
continued.
military action to sto p thi s w as a dip lomatic disaster. The U SA did
not suppo rt them and their troop s we re forced to w ithdraw . Secon d,
Cyprus. W hen this country left the British empire, Britain bec ame
one of th e gu arantors of its independence from any ot her co un try.
However, w h en Turkey invaded the islan d in 1974, British mili tary
activity was restricted to airlifting the personnel of its m ilitary base
the re to safety.
After the Seco nd Wo rld War and throughou t the 19 50s, it was
un der stood that a conferenc e of the world's great powers involved
the USA, the Soviet Un ion and Britain. How ever , in 19 62, the Cuban
missile crisis, one of the grea tesl lh reats to globa l peace since the
w ar, wa s resolved w itho ut refere nce to Britain . By the J 970S it was
generally accep ted that a 'superpower' con ference in volved on ly the
USA an d the Soviet Un ion.
Despite Britain 's loss of power and status on the world stage, some
sm all remnant s of the em pire remai n . Whatever their racial origins,
the inhabitants of Gibr altar, St Helena, the Ascension Islands, the
Falklands/Malvina s and Belize have all wis hed to contin ue wi th the
im perial arra ng em ent (th ey are afra id of being swa llowed up by the ir
neares t neighbou rs). For British gove rnments, on the one hand thi s
is a source of pride , but on the other hand it causes embarrassment
and irri tation : pr ide, because it suggests how beneficial the Briti sh
im per ial adm inistration must have been ; embarrassment, because
th e possession of colon ial ter ritories do es not fit with the image of a
modern democrat ic state; and irritation becau se it costs the British
taxpa yer money.
The old im peri al spirit is not quite de ad. In 1982 the British govern-
men t spen t hundreds of millions of pounds to recapture th e
Falklands/Malvina s Islands from the inva ding Arge n tin ians. We
cannot know if it w ould have don e so if the inhabi tants had not been
in favour of remaining British and if Argentina had not had a military
dictatorsh ip at the tim e. But wha t we do know is that th e gove rn-
ment 's action rece ived enormous po pul ar support at hom e. Before
the 'Falklands War ', opini on polls showed that the gove rn ment was
extrem ely unpopular; afterwards , it suddenly beca me extre mely
popul ar and easily won the gener al electio n early in the following
year.
 The armed force s J I 5

The armed forces .. T he se nio r serv ice

The loyalty of the leaders of the British armed forces to the govern- This is a ph rase sometimes used to
describe the Ro yal Navy. It was the
ment has no t been in doub t since the Civil War (with the possib le
first of the three arme d forces to be
excep tion of a few years at the beg in ning of the tw entieth cent ury- est ablished . Tradi tionally. it tr aces
see chapter 2). In add ition, and with the exception ofNonhern its histor y ng ht back to King Alfred
Ireland, the arm y has only rarely been used to kee p or de r wi thin (see chapter 2).
Great Britain in the last 1 0 0 yea rs.
'National Service' (a perio d of co m pulso ry m ilitary service for all
men) was abolished in 19 5 7. It had never been very po pular. It w as
contrary to the tradi tional view tha t Britain shou ld no t ha ve a large
stand ing army in peacet ime. Mo reover, the end of empire, toget her
wit h the increasing mec hanizatio n of the militar y, me an t that it was
more important lO have sm all, professio nal forces staffed by spec ial-
ists. The most o bviously specialist area of th e modern militar y is
nuclear weapons. Since th e 19 50S , the Campaign fo r Nuclear Dis-
armament (CND) has argued, on both moral and eco no m ic grounds,
that Britain should cease to be a n uclear pow er. At certain peri ods
the CND has had a lot of popular support (e- Greenhorn Common). .. G re e n ha m Common
However, this support has no t been co ns iste nt. Britain still has a Greenham Common is the Royal Air
nuclear for ce , alth o ugh it is tiny co mpared to that of the U SA. Force base in Berksh ire wh ich
The end of the 'Cold War' between the west and the Soviet Union became the focu s for ant i-nuclear
at the end of I 9805 caused the British govermnen t to lo o k fo r th e cam paigners (m ainly women) in
the [980s. American Cru ise nuclear
'peace dividend' and to reduce further the size of the armed forces.
mi ssiles were based there from
This caused pro test from politicians and m ilitary pro fessionals who [9 83 to 1991.
were afraid that Britain would I1Ql be able to m eet its 'c o m mi tments '
in the wor ld. These co m m itm en ts, of co urse , arc now m ostly o n
behalf of the United Nations or the European Un ion . There is still a
feelin g in Britain tha t the co unt ry should be able to m ake significant
contr ibutions to interna tional pea cekeep in g effo rts. The reduc tio n
also caused bad feeling w ith in sect ions of the armed forces th em -
selves. Its three branches (the Army, th e Ro yal Navy and the Ro yal
Air Force) have dis tinct trad itions and hi stories th ai it wa s felt were
being threate ned. The army in particular w as unhappy when several
famous old regim ents, each wi th the ir o w n d istinc t trad itions, were
forced to merge wi th others. At one tim e, a nu mber of upper-middl e
class famili es m ain tain ed a tradi tio n dow n the generations of
belonging to a particul ar regiment. Few er and fewe r such fam ilie s
Protestors at Greenhorn Common
exist today, However , a career in th e arme d forces is still hi ghly
respectab le. In fact , Bri tain's armed force s arc one of the few instit u -
tions that its peo ple ad m it to being pro ud of.

Transatlantic relations
Since the Secon d Worl d Wa r, British governme nts ha ve o ften referred
to the 'special relatio nship ' w hic h ex ists be twee n Britain and the
USA. There have been occasional low points. such as Suez (see above)
and w hen the USA invaded the Caribbean island o f Grenada (a
member of the British Commonwealth). But ge ne rally speaking it
I I 6 12 International relations
... Is Br itain really part of Europe?
The government says it is, but look
at this report from The Sunday Times of
18 April 1993.
Br itain bans EC me dals
British members of the European
Community monitoring mission in
former Yugoslavia have been
banned from a formal presentation
ofmedals struck by the Ee to hon our
their bravery.
The British monitors have been
told that they may only receive the
medals privately an d keep them as
mementoes. They must never wear
them on their uniforms because of
government rules against the
acceptance of decorations from
'foreign powers '.
. Many are angered by the
decision (Q count the EC as a
foreign power.
has persisted. It survived the Falklands War, when the USA offere d
Britain im po rtant m aterial help , but little public su pport, an d
rega ined its stre ngth in ' 99 I during th e Gulf War against Iraq, w he n
Britain gave more active materia l support to the Americans than an y
o the r European country .
Public feeling about the relationship is ambiguous. On the one
hand , it is rea ssuring to be so diplomatically close to the m os t pow er -
ful na tion in th e world, and the shared lan guage gives peo ple so me
sense of brotherhood wi th Americans. On the other hand , there is
mild bitterness ab out the sheer pow er of the U SA. There is no dis trust,
but remarks are often made abou t Bri tain be ing nothi ng m ore tha n
the fifty-first sta te of the USA. Similarly, w hile some older people
remem ber with gratit ude the Americans who came to their aid in
two w orld w ars, othe rs resent the fact that it took them so lo ng to
get involved!
In any case, th e special rel ationsh ip has inevita bly declined in
sig nificance since Britain joined the European Community. In the
world trad e nego tiat ions of the early I 990S, there w as noth ing special
abo ut Britain 's position wi th regar d to the USA - it was just pan of
th e Euro pean tradin g bloc. The ope ning of the Channel tunnel in
19 94 ha s em phasized tha t Britain 's links are now ma inly wit h
Europ e. Touris t statis tics also point this way. In 1993, for the first
tim e , it was n ot American visitors who arrived in the grea test
numbers, it was the Fren ch, and th ere were ahnost as ma ny German
visito rs as Americans. Th e majority of visitors to Britain are now
fro m Europe.
The sovereignty of the union: Europe
W he n th e Euro pean Coal and Steel Communi ty was fo rmed in 19 5 I ,
Britain thought it w as an exce llen t ide a, but nothing to do with
Britain! Long years of an em pire based on sea power meant that the
trad itional attitude to Euro pe had been to encourage stab ility there ,
to dis courage any expansionist powers there , bu t ot he rwise to leave
it well alone .
As th e empire d isap peared , and the role of' the world's policeman'
was taken ove r by the U SA, the British govern ment decide d to ask for
membership of th e newly- formed European Com m unities. It took
m or e than ten years for this to be achieved (in 1973 ) . From the very
stan , the British atti tu de to m embership has been ambiguous . On the
one hand , it is seen as an econom ic necessi ty and a political adva n tage
(increasing Britain 's status as a re gional power). The referendum on
co nt inued m em bership in 19 75 (t he first in British history) pro-
duced a two-to-one m ajority in favour. On the other h and , acceptance
d oes not m ean ent h us iasm. Th e underlying attitude - that Britain is
somehow spe cial- has not rea lly cha nged and the re are fea rs that
Britain is gradually giving up its autonomy. Changes in European
 Euro pe 117

.. The British sausage ... Up yours, Delors

Below is an extract from the script of becomes the ne w Prime Min ister ! This was the front page hea dline of
the BBCsatirical comedy Yes, Prime Notice how, in the speech, sover- the Sun, Britain 's most popular
Minister. It is pan of a speech made by eignt y is no t connected w ith matters newspaper, on I November 1990. It
James Hacker MP, in which he of convent ional political pow er , but gives voice, in a vulgar manner, to
expresses anti -European sentiments. rather with matters of everyday life British dislike ofthe Brussels bureau -
It is fiction, of course, but it does and hab its. (For the references to cracy. Jacques Delors was president
capture part of the British attitude to pints, yards, tanners etc , see of the European Commission at the
Europe. In the story, Hacker 's chapter 5.) time . The expression 'up yours' is
speech makes him so popular that he the spoken equivalent of a rude,
two-fingered gesture. Notice how
the full effect of the phrase is only
I'm a good European. I believe in Europe. I believe in the European possible if the French name 'Delors'
ideal! Never again shall we repeat the bloodshed of two World Wars . is pronounced in an English way,
Europe is here to stay . rhym in g the second syllable of
But this does not mean that we have l O bow the knee to every directive 'Delors' with 'yours'. Even serious,
from every bu reaucratic Bonaparte in Brussels. We are a sovereign nat ion so-called 'quality' British news-
stilland proud of it. [applause] papers can sometimes get rather
We have made enough concessions to the European Commissar for hysterical about the power of
agriculture. We have swallowed the wi ne lake, we have swallowed the Brussels. When, in t 99 t, the British
butter mountai n, we have w atched our French 'fr iends' beating up government refused to agree the
social chapter in the Maastricht
British lorr y drivers carry ing good British lam b to the Frenc h public.
Treaty, The Sunday Times published an
We have bowed and scraped, tugged our fore locks and turned the other
article warning that the EU might
cheek. But I say enough is enough! [prolonged applause] still try to impose the chapter on
The Europeans have gone too far. They are now threateni ng the British Britain. The headline described this
sausage. They want to standardize it - by w hich they mean they'll force possib ility as 'Ambush'.
the British people to eat salami and bratw urst and ot her garlic-ridden
greasy foods that are totally alien to the British way ofl tfe. [cries of 'hear .... Th e Europ e an history book
hear', 'right on' and 'you tell 'em, Jim'].
Sir Francis Drake is a wel l-known
Do you wa nt to eat salam i for breakfast wit h your egg and bacon? I
English hist or ical character. In t 5'88
don't. And I won't! [massive applause]
he helped to defea t the Spanish
They've turned our pints into litres and our yards into metres, we Armada w hich was trying to invade
gave up the tanner and the thr eepenn y bit, the two bo b and the half- England. Or did he? Historians know
crown . But they can not and will not destroy the British sausage ! [applause th at the re was a terrible storm which
and cheers). Not w hile I' m here. [tumultuousapplause). broke up the Spanish fleet.
In the words of Mart in Luther: Her e I stand, I can do no other. [Hacker In 1992 an EC history 'textbook'
sits down. Shot oflarge crowd rising to its feet in appreciation] for secondary schools, written by a
committee of historians from every
member state, was published. The
do mestic policy, social policy or so vereign ty arrangements tend to first version of the book decided that
be seen in Britain as a threat (0) The British sausage) . Throughout the it was the weather which caused the
failure of the Spanish invasion, the
J 9805 and J 990S it has been Britain mor e than any other member of
second that it was Drake. The book
the Euro pean Union (as it is now called) which has slow ed dow n was published at the same time in
progress towards further Eu ro p ean unit y. Meanwh ile, th ere is a Dutch, French, German, Greek,
certain amount of popular dis tru st of the Brussels bureaucracy. Italian and Port uguese. But ,
This ambiguous attitude can partly be explained by the fact tha t strangely enough, no publisher for
either a British or a Spanish ed itio n
views abo ut Britain's p osi tion in Europe cut across political pa rty
could be found .
lines. There are people bo th for and against closer ties wi th Europe
in bo th th e main parties . As a result , ' Europe' h as n o t been promoted
as a su bject fo r d ebate to the electorate. Neither party wishes l O raise
the su b jec t at election time becau se to do so would expose di visions
within tha t party (a sure vote-loser) .
I I 8 12 Internat ion al relatio ns
.. Scotland
Thi s wa s the front page of the Sun 's
Scon ish editio n o n 23 January
1992, when it decided to suppo rt
the cam paign for Scott ish indepen d-
ence (see chapter 18). The design
show s the cross of St And rew, the
nat io nal flag of Scotland.
.. Ulster
Ulster is the name often used to
describe the pan of Ireland which is
in the UK. It is the name of one of
th e four ancient kingdoms of
Ireland. (The o thers arc Lehmer.
Munster and Connaught). In fact,
the British province doc s not
em brace all of Ulster 's nine coun-
ties; three of its co unties belong 10
the republic. The na me 'Northern
Ireland ' is not used b)' some nation -
alists; the y think it gives validity to
an enti ty which the y do not recog -
nize . One of th e alternative nam es
the y use is 'the six co unt ies '
The sovereignty of the un ion : Scotland and Wales
There is another reason for a distrust of greater European co hesion
among politicians at Westminster . It is fear ed that thi s ma y not JUSt
be a matter of giving extra power to Brussels. It ma y also be a matter
o f giving extra powers to the regions of Britain , especiall y its
different na tions.
Until recent ly most Scottis h people , alth ough they insi sted on
man y differen ces between themselves and the English, were happy
to be part of the UK . But there has alwa ys been some resen tment in
Scotland abo ut the way that it is treated by the cent ral gove rnmcm
in London. In the I 980s and early I 990S th is resentment increased
because of the contin uat ion in power of the Con servative pany. for
which only arou nd a quarter of the Scottish electorate had voted .
Opinion po lls consistentl y show ed that between half and three-
quarters of the Scottish population w ant ed eithe r ' home rule '
(int ernal self-gov ernment ) .within the UK or com plete ind ep enden ce.
The realization that, in the EU, home rul e. or even indep endence,
need not mean isolation has caused the Scottish attitude to Euro pe
to change. Originally, Scotland was just as cautio us as England . But
now the Scottish , as a group. have bec ome the most ent husiastic
Euro peans in the UK. Scotland now has its own par liament which
contro ls its internal affairs and even has the power to vary slightly
the levels of income tax imposed by the UK governme nt. It is not
clear whe ther com plete ind epend ence w ill eventua lly follow, but
th is is the poli cy of the Scottish Natio na l Part y (SNP) , wh ich is we ll
represen ted in the new par liament.
In Wales, the situat ion is differen t. The southern part o f thi s nation
is thoro ughly Anglici zed and the country as a whole has been fully
incorporated into the English governmental structu re for more than
400 years. Nationalism in Wales is felt mostly in the cent ral and
northern part of the country, where it tends to express itself not
politically, bu t culturally (see chapter 4 ) . Many people in Wales
would like to have greater co ntrol over Welsh affair s, but no t much
more than some people in some regi ons o f England would like the
same.Wales also now has its own assembly wi th responsibility for
many internal affairs.
The sovereign ty of the union : No rthe rn Ireland
In this section , the word 'Ulster' is used to stand for the British
province o f Northern Ireland (e- Ulster) . Poli tics her e is domina ted by
the historic animosit y between the two communities there (see
chapter 4). The Catholic viewpoint is known as 'nationalist ' o r
' republican ' (in suppor t of the idea of a single Irish nati on and its
republican gov ernment); the Prot estant view point is known as
' un ionist' or 'loyalist' (loyal to the uni on with Britain) .
 Nor ther n Ire land I 19

A little modern history is necessary to explain the pre sent situation. II- Extre mi st g roups
By the beg inn ing o f the twentieth century, w he n Ireland was still The most well-known republican
part of the Un ited Kingdom, the vast majority of people in Irelan d group is the IRA (Irish Republi can
wanted eithe r home rule or com plete inde pendence from Britain . Army). Seventy years ago this nam e
Liberal governments in Britain had accepted this and had att empted meant exactly what it says. The IRA
was composed of many thousands
at vario us times to ma ke it a reality. However, the one m illion
of peop le who fought for. and
Protestants in Ulster were vio len tly opposed to this idea. They did help ed 1O win. Irish independence.
no t want to belong to a country do minated by Catholics.They Memb ers of the mo de rn IRA are
formed less than a qu art er of the to tal population of the count ry, bu t also know n as ' the Prc visionals'.
in Ulster the y were in a 6)% majority. They are a grou p that split off from
After the First World War the British gove rnme nt partitioned the the 'offi cial' IRA in the I 960s. They
have used a nam e that on ce had great
country betwee n the (ma inly Catholic) south and the (m ainly
appeal to Irish patrio tic sen umerus .
Protestant) nort h , givi ng each part some control o f its intern al affairs. In fact, the IRA has liule supporl in
BUl this wa s no longer enough for the south . There , support for (he modem Irish Repub lic and no
complete indep endence had gro\vn as a resu lt of the Briti sh govern- con nection at all with its govern-
ment's savage repression of the 'Easter Rising' in 19 16. War fol- ment.
The most well -known loyalist
lowed. The event ual result wa s that the sout h became ind epend en t
groups are the UFF (Ulster Freedom
of Britain . Ulster , however, rem ained withi n the United Kingd om . Fighters) . the UVF (Ulster Volun-
with its own Parliament and Prim e Mini ster. The Pro testants had leer Force) and the UDA (Ulster
always had the economic pow er in the six counties (0- Ulster) . Internal Defence Association ).
self-govern ment allowed them to take all the political pow er as well.
Matters were arra nged so that positions of official power w er e always
filled by Prote stants.
In the late I 960s a Catholic civil rights movement began . There
was violent Prot estant reaction and frequent fighti ng brok e out. In
1969 British troops were sen t in to keep order. At first they were
welcomed, parti cularl y among the Catho lics. But troops, inev itab ly,
often act wi thout regard to dem ocratic rights. In the ten se atm o-
sphere , the welcome disappeared . Extrem ist organizations from
both communities bega n com m ittin g acts ofterro rism, such as shoot-
ings and bombing s. One of these groups, the Pro visional IRA
(0- Extremist groups), then starte d a bo mbing cam paign on the British
mainland. In response, the British government relu ctantly imposed A republican message (therepublicans
certain measu res not norma lly acceptable in a mod ern democracy, call Londonderry 'Derry')
such as imprisonment wi thout trial and the outlaw ing of organ iza-
tions such as th e IRA. The applicatio n of the se measures caused
resentmen t to grow . There w as a hardening of att itu des in both
communities and support for extremist po litical parties increased .
There have been many efforts to find a solut ion to ' the trou bles'
(as they are known in Ireland). In 1972 the British government
decided to ru le directly from Lond on . Over the nex t two decade s
most of the prev io us political abuses disappeared, and Catholics
now have almost the same political right s as Prot estan ts. In addition , UlITEI flEEOOM FWHT
the British and Irish governments have developed good relati on s and nlLl IESIST ANY EIRE
IlJOt rEMENTINQUR
new initi atives are presented [oin tly The tro ubles may soon be over. COUIII I
However, despite reforms. in equalities rema in . At the time of
writing, unemployment among Ulster's Catholics is the high est of A loyalist mural
[ 20 12 Internatio nal relations

any area in the UK, while that among its Protestants is one of the
lowest. Members of th e poli ce force, tlie Royal Ulster Constabu lary
(RUC) , are still almost entirely Pro testant. Mos t of all, the basic d ivi-
sio ns rema in. Th e Catholics id entify wi th the south. Most of them
wou ld like tlie Irish government in Dublin to have at leas t a share in
tlie gove rnment of Ulster. In ' 999 th e Republic removed the pa rt of
its co nstitutio n which include d a claim to the six counties. This has
calme d Protestant fears about bein g swa llowed up. In return for its
gesture, tlie Republic now has a rol e to play in a number of all-
Ireland bod ies which have been set up. Some Protestants still have
mi sgivin gs abo ut th is ini tiative. It slio ul d be noted liere tliat tlie
names 'loyalist' and 'uni onist' are somewhat mis leading. The U lster
Prot estants are distinct from any other sec tion o f British society.
W hile it is im portant to th em tha t they belo ng to the U nited
Kin gdom, it is just as im portant to them that they do not belong to
th e Republic of Irel and. Fro m their po int of view, and also from the
poin t of view of some Catholics , a pl ace fo r Ulster in a fede rated
Euro pe is a possib le solu tio n .
In Ulster there is no w a general disg ust at the activities of
extrem ists, and a strong desire for peace. At the time of wri ting,
nearly all terrorist activities have ceased and a No rthern Ireland
governm ent whic h includes representatives o f all poli tical views has
been set up.

Q UES TI ONS

J What ind icatio ns can yo u find in this chapter
that Brit ish people like to think of their co untry
as an im portant and ind ependent power in the
world?
2 Would you say tha t the British people feel closer
to the USA or tlie Eur opean Union ' What evid-
ence do you have for your view ?
3 The people ofScotlan d have ch an ged from being
'ant i-Europe' to being 'pro-E urope' in the last
twenty yea rs of the tw entieth cen tury. W hy'
4 In 1994, Prime Minister John Major anno unced
that he would like to ho ld a referen dum in
Ulster on that area's future co nstitutio nal posi-
tion . Some people said that the referendum
sho uld include the w hole ofIre land. W hich
people d o you think tliey were? Wliy did they
say this'
5 Do yo u think tha t the present bo undaries of the
UK should remain as tliey are or sho uld they
change' Do you th ink they will stay as th ey are?

S UGG ES T ION S

A Passage to Indio by E M For ster is set in India at the he ight of th e British

Empire and re flects co lonial attitudes. (There is also a film of the
book.) The Raj Quartet, by Paul Scott (originally four novels, but pub-
lished in a combined versio n under this title) is similarly set in India,
but in the last years of British rule in the I 940 s.
 12 1

13
Religion

The vast maj or ity of people in Britain do no t reg ularly atten d religious
services. Many do so only a few times in their lives. Most people 's
everyday language is no longer, as it wa s in previous cen turies,
enriche d by their kn owledge of the Bible and th e En glish Book of
Common Pray er. It is significant that the most fami liar an d well-loved
English translati on of th e Bible, known as the King James Bible , was
wr itten in the earl y seve nte en th century an d that no later tran slation
.... Religious participation in
has achi eved sim ilar status .
Britain
It therefor e seems that m ost people in Britain cannot strictly be
described as religious. How ever , th is does no t lucan th at they have Here are two graphs showing the
extent of active panicipation in
110 relig ious or spiritual beliefs or inclinations. Surveys h ave sug-
orga nized religion in 1990 and the
gested that nearly three-quarters of the population beli eve in God chang e in these numbers from five
and betw een a third and a half be lieve in co ncepts such as life after years before. Of course, what exactly
death, heaven and hell (and tha t h alf or more ofthe pop ula tion believe is me ant by 'act ive participation ' can
in astrol o gy, parapsychology, ghosts and clairvoyance) . In addition , vary. Nevertheless. the figures give a
reasonably accur ate picture. The
a maj or ity approve of the fact tha t religious in struction at state
category 'Independent Christian'
schools is com pulsory. Furthermore, almost nobo dy objects to the denotes the various charismatic
fact that the Queen is q ueen' by the grace of God' , or th e fact th at and Pentecostalist groups men-
she, like all pr evio us British monarchs, was crowned by a religious tioned in the text.

Numbers, 1990 Percentage change, 1985-90

millions

o 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 % - 10 o 10 20 30

Roman Catholic Independent Christian
Ang lican Sikh
Presbyterian Jehovah's W itnesses
Muslim Orthodox
Independent Christian - Muslim
Methodist _ Mormon _
Sikh - Hindu _
Orthodox - Jew _
Baptist - Baptist _
Mormon - Methodist _
Hindu - Presbyterian _
Jehovah's Witnesses Anglican _
Jew - Roman Catholic _

Source: UKChristian Handbook, J 992- 93

I 22 13 Religion

figure (the Archbishop of Canterbury) in a chur ch (We stminster

Abbey) and that the British nat ional anthem (God Save Our Queen)
invokes God's help in protecting her.
The general picture , as with so many aspe cts of British life , is of a
general tolerance and passive approval of the status quo. The majority
attit ude tow ard s o rgan ized religion is rather sim ilar to that towards
the monarchy. Just as there is no serious republican movement in the
country, so there is no wi despread ant i-clericalism. And just as there
is no royalist m ovem ent eithe r, so m ost people are not active parti-
cipants in organized religion , bu t th ey see m to be glad it is th ere!

Religion and politics

'Christian ' or anti-clerical political parties. Except perhaps for
... The ro ad t o to le rance
UIllil 1828 nonconformists were
not allowed to hold any kind of gov-
ern m ent post or publi c office or even
1O go to un i.... crsny. Exclude d from
pub lic life. m any de veloped interests
in trade and com me rce as an outlet
for their energies and we re the
lead ing commercial figur es in the
industrial revolution . For exam ple.
all the big British chocolate manu-
factur ing co mpa nies w ere started by
Quaker fami lies (not e also the w ell-
kno w n' Quaker ' brand of cereals).
Cath olics we re even worse off
havin g 1O wor ship in secret, or, later.
at least with discretion . The last
restriction on their freedom was
lifted in 1924 . when bells to
announce the celebration of Cath -
olic Mass w ere allowed to ring as
long as the y liked (previousl y. Mass
had to be ann ounced with a Single
chi m e of the bell o nly). Catholics
were given the rig ht to hold public
office in I 829, There is still a law
tod ay which forb ids Catholic priests
to sit in Parliam ent (though it is
doubtful that an)' wo uld w ant 1O!) .
Freedom of religio us belief and worship (and also the freed om to be
a non-believer) is taken for granted in m od ern Britain. With th e
notable exception of Northern Ireland (see chapter 4), a person 's
religio n has almost no political significance. Th er e are no important
Muslims, the re is no recognizable political pr essure group in th e
country which is based on a particular religious ideology. To describe
oneself as 'Catholic' or 'Church of Eng land , or 'Methodist' or an y
ot her recognized label is to indicate one's personal beliefs bu t not the
way one votes.
Th e religi ou s con flicts of th e pa st and their close rela tionship w ith
politics (see chapter 2) have left on ly a few traces in modern tim es,
an d the most impo rtant of th ese are institutiona l rathe r th an po litical:
th e fact th at the m o narch cannot, by law , be a Catholic; the fact that
th e tw en ty-six senior bishops in one particu lar church (the Church
of Engla nd) are members of the Ho use of Lord s (where they are
known as the 'Lords Spiritual'); the fact that the go vernment has th e
right of veto o n the choice of these bishops; th e fact that the ultimate
authority fo r thi s sam e church is the British Parliament. These facts
po int to a curious anomaly. Despite the atmosphere of tolerance and
the separatio n of religio n and poli tics, it is in Britain that we find the
last two cases in Europe of ,established ' churches, tha t is churches
which are, by law, the official religi o n of a co untry. These cases are
the Churc h of Scotland (see 'other Christian denom inations' below )
and the Churc h of En gland . Th e m onarch is th e offic ial head of both,
and the religio us leader of the latter, the Archbisho p of Canter bury,
is appointed by the gov ern m ent.
Ho wever , th e privilege d positio n of the Church of Eng land (also
kno wn as th e Anglican Churc h) is no t, in mode rn times, a political
issue. No body feels that they are discrimi nated aga ins t if they do not
belong to it. In any case , the Anglican Church, rather like the BBC
(see chapter 16) , ha s show n itself to be effectively independent of
government and there is general approval of thi s independence.
In fact, the re is a modern politics-and-religion debate , but now it is
the ot he r w ay around . That is, while it is accepted that politics sho uld
 Anglicanism 123

.... The Christian church es in

Britain
The organization of the Anglican
and Catholic churches is broa dly
sim ilar. At the highest level is an
archbishop. who pres ides ove r a
province. There are only two of
these in the Church of England. Can-
terbury and York. The senior
Catholic archbishopric is Westmtns-
ter and its archbishop is the only
cardinal from Britain . At the ne xt
level is the diocese. presided over by
a bishop . In the Anglican Church
A service in a Pentecostalist church the re are other high-ranking posi -
tions at the level of the diocese,
whose hol ders can have the title
dean. canon or archdeacon . Other
Christian churches do not have such
a hi erarchical organization, though
stay out of religion, it is a point of debate as to w hether relig ion the Methodists have a system of
sho uld stay out of politics. circu its.
The Anglican Church used to be half-jokin gly described as 'the At the local level. the terms verger.
Conservative par ty at prayer' . This reputation was partly the result w arden and sexton are variously
of history (see chapter 6) and partly the result of the fact tha t most of used for lay members of churches
(t.c. not trained clergy) who assist
its clergy and reg ular followers were from the higher ranks of society.
in various ways during services or
Howe ver, during the I 980s and early '990S it was common for the w ith the upkeep of the church. Note
Chur ch to publicly condemn the widening gap betw een rich and poor also that a priest w ho caters for the
in British society. Its leaders, including the Arch bishop of Canterbury spir itual needs of those in some sort
himself, repeatedly spoke ou t against this tre nd, im plying that the of mstituuon (for example. a univer-
sity or a hospital) is called a
Conservative government was largely to blame for it - desp ite com-
chaplain .
ment s from government ministers that politics should be left to the
politi cians. The Archb ishop also angered some Conserva tive Ang -
licans when , at the end of the Falklands/Malvinas War in ' 9 8 2, he
did no t give thanks to God for a British victory. Instead , he prayed for
the victim s of the war on both sides.
In 1994 the Catholic Churc h in Britain pub lish ed a report which
criticized the Conserva tive gove rnI11:ent. Since the gene ral outloo k of
Britain's other convent ional Christian den om inations has always been
anti-Conservative , it appears that all the country's major Christian
churches are now politically broadly left of cent re.

Anglican ism
Althoug h the Anglican Church apparently has much the largest fol -
lowing in England , and large minor ities of adheren ts in the other
nations ofBritain, appearances can be decepti ve. It ha s been estima ted
tha t less than 5% of those who, if asked, migh t describe them selves as
Anglicans regularly attend services. Many others are ch riste ned,
married and buried in Anglican ceremonies but otherwise hardly
ever go to church. Regu lar attendance for many Anglic ans is tradit ion- An Anglican service in progress
I 24 13 Religion
.. W om en prie sts
On Wednesday I I Nov ember 1992 ,
at five in the evening, Dr George
Carey, the Archbisho p of Came r-
bur)'. rose to anno unce a
momentous decision . B)' just rw o
votes more than the required IW O-
thirds majority, the General Synod
of the Anglican Church (its go v-
erning body) had vote d to allow (he
ord ination of wome n priests. The
debate in the Synod had lasted more
than six hours . and had been go ing
o n for years before that. both inside
and outside the churc h, all over the
cou mrv.
Abou t eighteen months after-
wards. the first wom en priests were
ordained. Those wh o support this
development believ e that it will help
to give the Church o f England a
greater releva nce to the modern
world and finally bring it up to date .
(U nlike the Catholi c Church. it has
always allowed its clergy to be
ma rricd.) Some w ho were opposed
10 the change have not accepted the
Synod's decision, and there are a few
local cases of att empts to set up a
rebel church. Some members of the
Anglican Church have decide d to 'go
over to Rome' - that is, to join the
Catholic Church, which does not
have women priests.
Women priests ''raiting to be ordained
ally as m uch a social as a reli gio us activity, and predominantly one for
the u pper an d midd le classes.
The do ctrine of the Church of England was set o u t in the sixteenth
century, in a d o cu m ent called the Thirty-Nine Articles. However,
the main motivation for the birth of Anglicanism wa s more patriotic
an d political than doctrinal (see chapter 2). As a result, it has always
been what is called a 'broad church ' , willing to accommodate a wide
varie ty of beliefs and practices. For example, the nature of its reli -
gious services varies quite w idely from church to church, depending
partly on the inclinations of the local priest and partly on local
tradition.
Three main strands of belief can be identified . One strand is evan -
gelical, o r 'low church '. This places great emphasis o n th e contents of
the Bible and is the most consciously opposed to Catholi cism. It
therefore adheres closely to tho se elements o f th e Thirt y- Nine
Articles that re ject Papal doctrines and is suspicious o f the hi erarchical
struct ure of the Church. It prefers plain services with a minimum of
ceremony. In co ntras t, the be lie fs of the 'Anglo -Catholic', or ' high
church '. strand are Virtually identical to those of Catholicism - except
that it d o es no t accep t the Pope as the ultimate authority. H igh church
services are more colourful and include organ mu sic and elabora te
priestly clot hin g. Both these strands are tradi tio nal in their outlook.
But there is also a liberal w ing , which is w illing to ques tio n some of
the traditio nal Christian beliefs , is mo re incl ined to view the Bible as
merely a histo rical d ocumen t, is mo re tol erant tow ards ho mosexual-
ity and was the first to suppo rt moves to ordain women priests
(C> Women priests) .
But to many, perhaps most, of its members, it is the 'Eng lishness'
o f the Anglican Church which is just as important as its religious
doctrine. This is what gives it meani ng and ho lds its various strands
to get her . Wit hout it, many Anglo-Catholics would be Catholic, m any
low churchers and libe rals would form their own sects or join exi sting
no nco nfo rmist groups (see below), and a very large number would
Simp ly cease to have anything to do w ith organized relig ion at all.
Per haps thi s is why an opinion poll in the t 9 80 s sho w ed that most
people, displaying apparen tly uncharacteristic intolerance, approve
of the law that does not permit a Catholic monarch.
At present, thi s na tional di stinctiveness is em p hasized by th e Ang -
lican Church's position as the o fficial religion. It ha s been argued
that the tie between Church and State should be broken; that is, that
the Church should be disestablished so that, after lo sing its extreme
members to other churches, it could spend less time on internal
disagreement and more on the moral and spiritual guidance of its
rem aining members. Tho se who are against this move fear that it
would cause the o bvious Englishness of the Church to di sappear an d
thus for the n um ber of its adhe rents to drop sharply.
 Catholicism 12 5

Catho licism ~ Episcop alianism

After the establishme n t of Protestantism in Brita in (see chapter 2) , The Anglican Church is the official
state religion in England only. There
Catholicism wa s for a tim e an illegal religion and then a barely
are, how ever , churches in other
tolerated religion . Not until 1850 wa s a British Catholic hie rarc hy re- countries (such as Scotland. Ireland.
established . Only in the twen tie th century did it become full y open the USA and Australia) which have
about its activiti es. Although Catholics can now be found in all the same origin an d are almost
ranks of society and in all occupations, th e comparatively recen t iden tical to it in their general beliefs
integ ration of Cath olicism m eans that they are still un der-represented and practices. Members of these
churches sometimes describe them -
at the top levels. For example, although Catholics comprise more selves as 'Ang lican' . However, the
than 10% of th e po pulatio n , the y comprise only around 5% ofMPs. term officiall y used in Scotland and
A large pr oportion of Catholics in modern Britain are those whose the USA is 'Episcopalian' (",vhich
family roots are in Italy , Ireland or elsewhere in Europe. The Irish means that they have bishops). and
con nec tion is evident in the large proportion of pr iests in England this is the term w hich is often used
to denote all of these churches,
who come from Ireland (they are sometimes said to be Ireland's
incl uding the Church of England , as
biggest export ') . a group .
Partly bec ause of its comparatively marginal status, the Catholic Every ten years the bishops of all
Church, in th e interests of self-preservation, has maintained a greater the Episcopalian churches in the
cohesiveness and uniformity than the Anglican Church . In modern world gather together in London for
th e Lam beth Conference, which is
times it is po ssible to det ect opposing beliefs wi th in it (there are
chai red by the Archbishop of Canter-
conservative and radl cal/ Tiberal wings), but there is, for exa mple, bur y.
more centralized control over practices ofworship. No t havin g ha d Despi te the name 'Canterbury',
a recognized, official role to play in society, the Catholic Church in the official residence of the head of
Britain takes do ctrine an d practice (for example, weekly attendance the Church of England is Lambeth
at mass) a bit more seri ously tha n it is taken in countries where Palace in London.
Catholicism is the majority religion - an d a lo t more serio usly than
the Anglican Church in gen era l does.
Thi s com parative dedicatio n can be seen in two aspects of Catholic
life. First, relig ious in structio n is taken more serio usly in Catholic
schools than it is in Anglican ones, and Catholic schools in Britain
usually have a head who is eit her a monk, a friar or a nun. Second,
there is the ma tter of attendance at church. Man y people w ho hardly
ever step in side a church still feel en titled to describe th emselves as
'Anglican ' . In co n trast, British people who were brought u p as
Catholi cs but who no longer attend m ass regularly or rece ive the
sacrame nts do not nor m ally describe them selves as 'Catholic' . They
qualify this label w ith 'brought up as' or ' lapsed ' . Despite being very
mu ch a minorit y religion in mos t places in the country, as many
British Catholics reg ularly go to ch urch as do Ang licans.
1 26 13 Relig io n

... Ke ep in g t he sabbath Other conventional Chr istian churc hes

In the last two cen tur ies. the influ -
ence of the Calvinist tradition has
been fell in law s relati ng to Sundays.
These laws have recent I}' been
relaxed, but shop opening hours,
gambling and professional sport on
Sundays arc still all restricted in small
wars. In some places in rural Wales.
where noncon fo rm ism is tradit ion -
ally stro n g, Sundays arc still 'dry';
that is, th e pubs stay closed ,
In many wa ys, Anglicanism represents a com pro mi se betw een
Protestantism and Catholi cism. Its stated doctrine , v...hich rejects the
author ity ofthe Pope and othe r import ant aspects of Catholic doct rine ,
is Prot estant . But its style , as show n by its hierarch ical str ucture and
its forms of worship , is rath er Catholic.
When Protestanti sm first took root in Britain. ther e we re many
people w ho rejected not only Catholic doctrine but also 'Rom ish '
style. These people di d not join the new ly-established Anglican
Chu rch . They regarded both the aut hority given to its clergy and its
cont inu ation of orthodox rit ual as obstacles to tru e worshi p. Instead ,
the y placed great im portance on findin g the trut h for oneselfi n the
words of the Bible and on living an austere life of hard work and self-
sacrifice . They di sap proved of the pursuit of pleasur e and therefore
frowned on pu blic enterta inments such as the theat re, on drinkin g.
on gambling and on any celeb ra tion of the sexual aspect of life.
Th is is the orig in of the Puritan/ Calvin ist trad ition in Britain (see
chapt er 2). The first churc h w ithin thi s tradi tion wa s the Presb yter ian
Chur ch . In Scotland , th is form o f Prot estanti sm wa s so stro ng that it
became the nati on's established church . The Church of Scotland has a
separate organ ization from the Anglican Church . It has no bishops.
Its head, or 'M oderator' , is elected by its general assembly. It is the
biggest relig ion in Scotland , where it is often known sim ply as ' the
kirk' (th e Sco ts w or d for 'chur ch'). There are also many Presbyte rians
in Eng land and a large number in No rthe rn Ireland .
In England. those Prot estan ts w ho did not accept the authority o f
the Anglican Chur ch were first known as ' dissenters' and later, as

... What is it call ed?

Anglican Catho lic Presbyteri an

and o ther
no nconform ist

Lo cal unit parish parish congregation

Place of worsh ip church church chapel
kirk !
meeting ho use!

C lergy vicar /r ec to r/par son ] priest ministe r

prie sts pasto r
cur ate"
Ne w member of clergy de aco n novice
Residence of cle rgy vicarage manse!
rectory

I Church of Scotland on ly
2 Mainl y Q uaker
s One of the se is used when referring to an ind ividual; 'priests' is used co llectively.
-l A junior me mber of (he cler gy
 Othe r relig io ns 127

tolerance grew, as 'nonconformists'. Thes e days , w hen refusal to Ecumenicalism

confo rm to the establ ished ch urc h is irr elevan t, they are simp ly called This term is used to describe the
'mem bers of the free churc hes'. A great many differen t free-c hurch trend in the last half of the twenuerh
groups have come into being over the centuries. In the details of century tow ards greater co -opera -
their organiz ation , styles of worship and doctr inal emphasis, the tion, and even unity, among the
various Christian churches in
various nonconformist gro ups differ considerably. How ever, they
Britain. Cynics say that this spirit is
all share , in varying deg rees , certain characteristics: they regard sim- the result of the fact that active parti-
plicity and individual prayer as more im portant than elaborate ritual cipation in any form o f Christianity
and public cerem ony ; the re is comparatively little di fference betw een has becom e the activity of a rather
their clergy (if they have any at all) an d the ir lay members; they praise small minority. HO\....ever, the
self-den ial, although to a lesser exten t than th e ori gin al Puritans . For churches themselves arc quite
sincere about it. With polit ical and
example, many are teetotal (their mem bers do no t dr ink alcohol).
social divisions far enough behind
After Presbyterians, the largest traditional nonconform ist group in them , they find that they do indeed
Britain is the Methodist Society. Methodis ts follow the teachings of have a lot in com mon.
John Wesley, an eighteenth century pr eacher w ho started hi s career The only actual union that
as an Anglican clergyman. He had little doctrinal disagreem ent with ecum enica lism has yet produced is
the unification of Presbyterians and
the established church. How ever, he and his followers conside red
Congregationalis ts, "\,vho, in 1972,
that it did not care enough abo ut the nee ds of or dina ry people and
became the United Reformed
thatits hierarchy was not serious enough abo ut the Christian message. Church. Anglicans and Methodists
The Salvation Army (see chapter I 8) grew out of the Wesleyan came very close (but not quite close
movement. enou gh) to a union in t 968 .
Two other nonconformist groups w ith a long histo ry are the The possibility of the Anglican
Church rejoining world Catholicism
Baptists and the Quakers. The form er are comparatively strict both in
seems to have receded since the
their interpretation of the Bible and in their dislike of w orldly pleas- introduction of women priests.
ures. The latter, also known as the Society of Friends, are a very sma ll
group whose notable characte ristics are their complete lack of clergy
and their pacifism . They refu se to fight in any war, thou gh they will
do ambu lance and hos p ital work.

Other religions, churches and religious movements

Since it is a mult icultural country w here the pressure to co nform is
comparatively weak, Britain is hom e to followers o f almost every
religion and sect imaginable. Some of these are offshoo ts, or local
combinations, of those already mentioned. For example, the only
Church of distinctly Welsh ori gin calls itself bo th 'Calvini stic
Methodist' and 'Presbyterian Ch urc h of Wales' .
The numbers of follow ers of all the tradi tion al Christian churches
have been slowly bu t steadily declining in the second half of the
twentieth cen tury. Other Christian sects and churches have been
growing. Because of their energetic en thusiasm and their desire to .. Church of Wales?
attract new followers, they are so me times characterize d by the term There is no Welsh equivalent of the
'evangelical'. Most of them are sim ilar to traditio nal no nconformist Church of England or the Church of
groups in that they avoid rigid ritual and place great emphasis on Scotland. That is to say. Wales has no
scripture. In the case o f some groups, their in terpretations of the officially establishe d Church. The
Anglican Church was disestablished
Bible are often literal: th e Mormons, Jehovah 's Wi tnesses and Seventh
in Wales , w here it has always had
Day Adventists (all of w hich ori ginated in the USA) are examples.
only a tiny follow ing. in 1914.
These groups, and others, also provide a strict code of behaviour for Wales is predominantly non -
their followers. conformist.
128 13 Religion
... As qui e t as a church mo use
Conventional church services in
Britain are typically very quie t,
except when hymns are being sung .
British people attending church
services abroad have often been
amazed , even shock ed, by the
noisiness and liveliness of the con -
gregation . They chatter among
themselves, they walk in and out .
In Britain, respect and reverence
have traditionally been expressed by
silence and stillness. Many people,
however, find the atmosphere at tra-
ditional services rather repressive
and unwclconung . This coul d help
to explain the trend towards evan-
gelical and charismatic Christian
churches.
The fastest-gro w in g type of evang elical Christia nit y, however,
places less emphasis on dogma, sin , or givin g peo ple a co de of
behavio ur. Instead, the emphasis is on the spiritual and m iraculou s;
on revelatio n. Gathering s often invol ve joyful singing. There is a
belief in spiritual healing of the sick . The oldest exis tin g ch urch of
thi s type in Britain is called Penteco stal, and this term is sometimes
used to denot e all such groups . Pentecostalism has had a small
w orking- class follow ing fo r man y years. Its recen t growth is among
the mi ddle class. Many group s began wi th meeting s in people's living
room s, w here formality is at a minimum . Ano ther term some times
used of the se groups is 'charismatic', reflecting bo th their enthusiasm
and their empha sis on the miraculo us, The grow th o f these group s
might indicate th at many British people feel a gap in their lives which
neither the material benefits of m odern life nor the co nve ntional
churches can fill.
So me people are turning even further afield, beyond the bounds
of the Christian traditio n. The term 'New Age ' is used to cover a very
w ide range of beliefs which can involve elemen ts of Christianity,
eastern religio ns and ancient pagan beliefs all m ixed in together. Inter-
ests and beliefs of this kind are not new in Britain. Theosop hy,
Druidism, Buddhi sm , Christian Scien tism (w hich believes in the
co ntrol of the bod y through the m ind) and m an y o ther beliefs ha ve
all had their fo llow ers in this co untry for a hundred years or m ore.
U nt il the 1960s such people cam e exclusively from a sm all set of th e
u p per m id dle class. Sinc e th en, ho w ever, New Age beliefs hav e fil-
tered dow nw ards to o ther section s o f the social scale. Despite their
great variety and lack o f exclusiveness , tw o features seem to be
co m m on to all New Age beliefs: first , an em phasis o n personal devel-
opment (o ften seen as spiritu al developm ent); second, respect for the
natural environment.
Th e re m aining re ligi ous groups w ith significant number s of fol-
lowers in Britain are all associated wit h racial minorities. The most
well-established of th ese are the Jew s. Anti-Sem itism exists in Britain ,
but for a lon g tim e it has been wea ker than it is in most o ther parts
of Euro pe. Th e security and confidence of Iudaism in Britain can be
seen both in the healthy proportion of lew s in Parliamen t and in th e
fact that wit hin it there is, qui te openly, the same struggle betw een
orthodox/conservative and liberal/radical view po ints as there is in
the Anglican and Catholic church es.
The numbers of followers of the Chr istian Orthodo x, Sikh , Hi nd u
and Mus lim re ligions are all growing, mainly becau se of high bi rth
rates among families belong ing to them . Th e last of these is by far th e
largest. Its co ntinue d growth is also for another reason . Relative
poverty, racial discrim ination and occasio nal co nflicts wi th the
au thorities have caus ed people brought up as Muslims to be politi-
cized - more so than any o ther religio us grou p in the co untry. As a
result, young Muslims are less likely to drift awa y fro m th eir religion
 Other religions 129

.. Samye Ling

In February 199 3 thirty-five monks emerged from a four-year

retreat. It was a very strict retreat. The monks never left their
slee ping quarters. They spent most of their time medi tating in
w ooden boxes. the same boxes in wh ich they slept. They
never once listened to the radio , w atched television or read a
newspaper,
If you know something about religion. you will not be
surprised to learn that these monks were Tibetan Buddhists
and that the name of the monastery in which the retreat took
place is Sanryc Ling. But what you may be surprised to learn
is that Samye ling is in Eskdalemuir. near Lockerbie, in Scot-
land, It was set lip in 196 8 when a group of Tibetan monks
arrived in the area. They soon collected a large number of
European followers and set them to work building Europe's
largest Buddhist temple. Since then, Samye Ling has continued
to attract new follo wers. So many Buddhists now live in the
area that in 1993 the local primary school had only one
Christian pupil.
A Buddhist monastery in Scotland

than the young of o ther faiths. O ne example of co n flict is th e Salm an

Rushd ie affair (see chapter 6). Ano the r is th e qu estion of Muslim
schoo ls. There have been bo th Catho lic and Jewi sh state schoo ls fo r
some time now . The country 's Muslim s are dem andin g the same
opportun ity.
Finally, it is necessary to m ention w hat are called 'cults'. The beli efs
of these grou ps vary so w ide ly that it is im possible to generalize abo ut
them. What they seem to have in co m mon is the style of their belief.
involving absolute co m m itm en t to and unquestioning o bedie nce o f
the leader around who m th ey are centred (it is ofte n o nly in thi s sens e
that they can be called religio ns) . Cults have a bad repu tatio n for using
mind-control tech niques. Their ex tremi st tendencies are often
offensive to mo st people and, w ith a few exceptions , each individual
cult is tiny. However. it has been estima ted that there are betw een
5 0 0 and 7 00 of th em in the co untry and that, taken toget her, they
have nearly half a million followers.

QUESTIO NS

I What reasons have bee n put forw ard for dises-
tablishing the Anglican Church ? W hat are th e
arguments in favour of keeping it in its
favoured position ?
2 In what ways . and to w hat extent. can different
churches and religions in Britain be associat ed
with particular geographical area s and particular
social classes?
3 How does the relation between religion and po l-
itics differ betwe en yo ur co un try and Britain ?
4 It co uld be argued that in both the nature oftheir
services and their general attitude. the charis-
matic churches are surprising ly un-British in
their approach to relig ion. In contrast. it could
be said that th e gen eral alt itude of the New Age
movem ent fits quite co mfortably into the tradi-
tio nal British approach. Do you ag ree'

... Public m ean s private !
Tenn inology to do wit h the school
system in Britain can be confusing,
Schools funded by the gove rnment,
either directly or via local education
authorities, are called 'state schools'
and education provided in this way
is known as 'state education ', This
distinguishes it from 'private
education ', which comprises
'independent schools', Some inde-
pendent schools (a varying number,
because the term is not exact) are
know n as 'pub lic schools',
The possibility of con fusion is
especially great because in the USA
scho ols organized by the gov ern-
ment are called 'public schools' and
the education provided by the gov -
ernment is called the 'public school
system'.
In Britain today, about 8%ofchil-
dren are educated outside the state
system.
14
Education
The basic features o f th e British educational system are the same as
they are anyw here else in Europe : full- time education is compulsory
up to the middle teenage years; the academi c year begins at the end
of summer; compulsor y education is free of charge , but parents may
spend money on educating their children privately if they want
to (0) Publicmeans pnvatel}. There are three recognized stages, with
children moving from the first stage (primary) to the second stage
(secondary) at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third (tertiary)
stage is 'further' education at university o r co llege . How ever, there is
qui te a lot which distingui shes edu cation in Britain from the way it
w o rks in other cou ntries.
Historical backgro und
The British government attached little imp ortance to educatio n until
the end of the nin eteenth cen tur y. It was on e of the last govern m ents
in Europe to organi ze education for everybod y, Britain w as leading
the world in indu stry and com merce, so, it wa s felt, educatio n mu st
so meho w be taking care of itself. Today, ho wever, education is o ne
of the most frequent subjects for pu blic de bate in the country. To
understand the background to thi s debat e, a little hi stor y is neede d.
Scho ols and o ther educational institutio ns (such as universities)
existed in Britain lo ng befo re the go vernm ent beg an to take an interest
in education . Wh en it finally did, it did not swee p these institutions
away, nor did it always take them over. In typically British fashion , it
sometim es incorporated them into the system and some times left
them outside it. Most im por tantly, the government left alone the
small group of school s which had been used in the nineteenth
century (and in some cases before then) to ed ucate the sons of the
up per and upper-m idd le classes. At these ' public' scho ols (0) The public
school system) , the em phasis was on 'character-building' and the devel-
opment of ' team spirit' rather than on academi c achie vement , This
involved th e development of di stinctive customs and attitudes, the
wearing of distinctive clothes and the use of specialized item s of
vocabulary. They were all 'boarding schools' (that is, the pupils lived
in them) , so they had a deep and lasting in fluence on their pupils.
Their aim w as to prepare yo ung men to take up positio ns in the
hig her ranks of the arm y, in business, the legal profession , the civil
service and poli tics,
 Historical background I 31

110- The public school system

Stereotypical public schools:
are for boys only from the age of
thirteen onwa rds, mos t of whom
attended a private ' prep '
(= preparatory) school befo reha nd ;
take fee-paying pupils (an d some
scholarship pupils who have won a
place in a compcuuvc entrance exam
and whose parems do not pa y):
are boarding schools (the boys live
there during term-rime) :
are divided into 'houses ', each
'house' being looked after by a
'houseruastcr ;
make some of the senior boys 'p re-
fects' , whi ch m eans that the y have
authority over the other boys and
have their own servants (called
'fags'}. who arc appointed from Public schoolboys from Eton
amongst the youngest boj-s:
country in which all of the above fea- there is less emphasis on team spon
place great emphasis on team sports;
tures apply. There have been a fairly and more on academic achievement:
enforce their rules wi th the use of
large number of girls' public schools life for the pupils is more physically
physical punishment;
for the last hundred years, and m ore comfortable than it used to be.
havea reputation for a rela tively great
rece ntly a few schools have started Among the m ost famous public
amount of homosex ual activity:
to adm it bot h boys and girls. Many schools arc Eton . Harrow, Rugby
are not at all luxurious or comfort-
schools admit day pup ils as we ll as and Wi nchester.
able.
boar der s, and som e are day-scho ols
However. this traditio nal im age no only; pr efects no longer have so
longer fits the facts. These days, there mu ch pow er or have bee n abo lished
is not a single public school in the altogether; fagging has d isappeared ;

When the pupils fro m these schools finished their education , th ey )II> Looking towards Germany
formed the ruli ng elite , retainin g the distin ctive habi ts and vocabu- The accepted w isdom in modern
lary which the y had learnt at school. They formed a closed group , to Britain is that the education systcms
a great exten t separate from the rest of society. Entry in to this grou p o f man yother countries arc better
was difficult for any body who had had a di fferen t ed uca tio n . W hen, th an th e British one . espe cially the
German system. Qu een Victor ia was
in the twe nt ieth centu ry, education and its possibilities for social
kno w n to have remarked on this in
advancement came w it hin everybody's reach , new scho ols tende d to the nin eteent h century. But that, of
copy the features of the public schools. (After all, they provide d the course, was in the days when Britain
only model o f a succ essful school that the co unt ry had .) ru led the world, so who cared ?
Many of the more di stin ctive characteri stics of British ed ucatio n These days. however, the British
outlined below can be ascribed , at least partly, to this historical take their inadequacies seriously. In
1991 The Economist reported that pil -
backgro und. Of more recent relevance is Britain 's gener al loss of
grimages to Germany fro m British
confidence in itself (see chapters 'Ie and 6). This change of mood has educationalists, education ministers
probably had a greater influence on education than on any other and business people had become so
aspect of public life (c- Looking towardsGermany). The modern educationa l co mm on that the British embassy in
system has been through a per io d of constan t change and it is di fficult Bonn em ployed a full- time official
(Q pred ict w hat further changes w ill occ ur in the next decade . At th e
to look after these visitors and pm
them in touch with the right educa-
same time , however, there are certain underlying characteristics that tional experts.
seem to re ma in fixed .
J 32 14Education

~ Schoo l days Organization

Look at these com parisons.
Age of compulsory full -t ime
school education (1989)
Age
16 -~---_----.--.
15 --I--a-_ ~I--__'-I
14 -I--I--a-lf-l~I--__'-I
I3 -1--1--1--1--1--1--1---1
I 2 -I--I--a-lf-ll-I--__.-I
II
10 -I--I---1---1---1-1-1H
9 -1---1---1--a-&-I-I1--I
8 -I---1--&-If-II-I--I--I
7 -I--I--I--I--I--I--&---I
6 ----&----L-------------- -I
5- - - - - - -
Average number of weeks in
school year (discounting short
'half-term' breaks)
30 35 40
Belgium
France
Ge rma ny
Italy
Nethe rlands
Spain _ degree at least, a sense of distinc tiveness. Many, for example, have
Swe den _
Britain
Source: Selected NationalEducation
Systems (Deportment of Education
and Science)
Education in Britain is com pulsory
for the mo st years and the school
year is the longest. The nu m ber of
ho urs in th e scho ol week is no less
than the average for Europe. But look
at t-Befcreand after school.
Despi te rece nt changes, it is a characteristic of the British system that
there is comparatively little central control or uniformity. For
example , education is managed not by one, but by three, sepa rate
gove rnmen t depar tm ents: the Department for Education and
Employment is responsible for England and Wales alone - Scotlan d
an d Northern Ireland have the ir own departmerus. In fact , with in
England and Wales education has tradi tionally been seen as separate
from ' training'. and the tw o areas ofresponsibility have only recen tly
bee n combine d in a sing le departmen t.
None of these central authorities exerc ises much contro l over the
details of w hat actually happens in the country's educational institu -
tions. All they do is to ensure the availability of education, dic tate and
im plement its overall organization and set overall learnin g objectives
(which they enforce through a system of in spectors) up to the end
-1 of compulsory ed ucatio n.
Central government does no t prescribe a det ailed progral11me of
learning or determine what books an d materials should be used. It
says, in broad terms, what schoolchildren should learn , but it on ly
offers occasional advice abo ut how they should learn it. Nor does it
dictate the exact hours of the school day, the exact dates of holidays
or the exact age at which a child m ust start in full -time education. It
do es n ot ma nage an institut ion 's finances either, it just decides how
m uch money to give it. It does not itself set or supervise the marking
of the exams w hich older teenagers do. In general, as many details as
poss ible are left up to the individua l institution or the Local Education
Authority (LEA, a branch oflocal government).
One of the reasons for this level of ' grass-roots' ind ependence is
tha t the system has bee n infl uenced by the public-school tradition
tha t a school is its own community. Most schools develop , to some
their own uniform s for pupils . Many, especially those outside the
state system , have associations of former pupils. It is consid ered desir-
able (even necessary) for every school to have its own school hall,
big enough to accom modate every pupil , for daily assemblies and
other occasion al ceremonies. Uni versities, although fin anced by the
government , h ave even more autonomy. Each one has complete
control over what to teach , how to teach it, who it accepts as students
and how to test these studen ts.
Style
Learning for its own sake, rather than for any particular practical
pur pose, ha s tradi tionally been given a comparatively high value in
Britain . In com parison with most other countries, a relatively strong
em phasis has been pu t on the quality ofperson that education pro duces
(as opposed to the qualities of abilities that it produces). The balance
 Recent development s I 33

has changed in th e last quarter of the twentieth centur y (for example, ... Before and after school
there is now a high degree of concern about levels of hteracy), but Look at these comparisons for
much of the public debat e about educational poli cy still focuses not attendance in education outside the
so much on how to help people devel op useful knowledge and skills compulsory years.
as on how education might help to bring about a better society - o n Fou r-year-olds atte nding
social justice rather th an o n efficiency. nursery school (1989)
This approach has had a far-reaching effect o n many aspec ts o f the
% 0 10 40 60 80 90 100
educational system . First of all, it h as in fluenced the general style o f
teaching, which has tended to give priority to deve lop ing under- Belgium
Denmark
standing rather than acquiring factual kn owledg e and learning to
France
apply this knowledge to specific tasks. Thi s is w hy Briti sh yo ung G ermany
people do not appear to have to work as hard as their counterparts in Italy
other European countries . Prim ar y schoolc hild ren do no t have as N etherl ands
much formal homework to do and university stu dent s have fewer Spain
hours of programmed atte ndance than stu dents on the continent do . Britain
(On the other hand , they receive greater personal guidance with
their work). A second effect has been an emphasis o n academic ability Students in full-tim e education
rather than practical ability (des pite English anti-intellecmalism - see and training in t he year aft er th e
e nd of compulsory schooling
chapter 5). This has result ed in high-quality ed ucatio n for the intelli- (1985 -86)
gent and academically inclined (at th e upper seco ndary and universit y
levels) with comparatively lill ie atten tion given (Q the educational % 0 20 40 60 80 100

needs of the rest. Be lgium

The traditional approac h , toge the r w ith the d islike of centralized Denmark
f rance
authority, also hel ps to expla in w hy the British school system go t a
Germany
national curriculum (a nat ional specification oflearnin g ob jectives) Italy
so much later than ot her Euro pean co un tries. If yo ur aim is so vague Netherlands
and universal , it is difficult to speci fy w hat its elements are. It is for Spain
the same reason that British schools and universities have tended 1O Britain
givesuch a high priority to spor t. The idea is tha t it he lps to develop _ gen eral edu cation _ t raining
the 'complete' person , Th e importance of school as a 'co m m unity'
Sources: Selected Notional Education
can increase this emphasis. Sporring success enhances the reputation Systems (Deportment o( Educotion
of an institution. Until th e last quarter of the twentieth century. and Science), Key Data and Europe
certain sports at som e uni versities (especially Oxford and Cambridge) in Figures
and medi cal school s were playe d to an international standard. Peopl e
It seems that the British are compar-
with poor academic records were sometimes accepted as students
ative ly unenthusiastic about
because of thei r sporting prowess (although, unli ke in the USA, thi s education when it is not something
practice was always unofficial). that the}' have to do.

Recent develop ment s

Some of the many changes tha t took place in British educ atio n in the
second half of the twentiet h century simply re flected th e wi der
social process of increased egali tarian ism. Th e elitist ins titut ions
which first set the patt ern no longer set the trend and are themselves
I

less elitist.
In other cases the changes have been th e result of government
policy, Before 196 5 m ost child ren in the country had to take an exam
at about the age of eleven , at the end of their primary schooling. If
134 14 Educati on
, ...
,,",,' ,,,.,,,,,,,,, ., ,,,,, ..
O ll r Child re n ts Ed u c a t i o n
I n. t ".t,,J I'~,,~'" I ~G.t..
The ' 994 Parent 's Chcrter, explaining
changes in (he education system
... Le arn ing for it s ow n sake
One effect o f the tradit ional British
em phasis on academic learning as
opposed to practical traini ng can be
seen in the wa y that people gain
qualifications for certain profes-
sions. In ma n}'cases this has not
trad ition ally been do ne within
un iversities, Instead, people go to
specialized institutions which are
sepa rate from any u niversity, You can
study architecture at university, but
most architects have learnt their Pr'>
fession at a separate School of
Architecture. You can study law at
university but this alone does no t
qualify you to be a lawyer (see
chapter I I) . You cannot get a
teacher's qualification by do ing an
ordina ry untversuy cou rse - most
teache rs get theirs at teacher training
colleges, Until recently. schools
were not usua lly involv ed in helping
peo ple to gel qua lifications for
skilled man ual jobs such as bricklay-
ing or carpemr}' or mac hine-
ope rat ing.
they passed this exam , they we nt to a grammar schoo l where the y
19~)4 we re taught academic subjects to prepa re them for university, the
professions , man agerial jobs or ot her hig hly -skilled job s; if they
failed, they went to a secondary mod ern school, where the lesso ns
had a more pr actical and technical bias. Man y people argued that it
was wrong for a per son 's future life to be decided at so young an age .
The children who went to 'secondary moderns' tended to be seen as
'failures '. Moreover, it was noticed that the children who passed this
exam (known as the' eleven plus') were almost all from middle-
class familie s. The system seemed to reinforce class distin ctions. It
wa s also unfair because the proportion of children who went to a
grammar school varied greatly from area to area (from 15% to 40%).
Duri ng the 1960s the se criticisms came to be accepted by a ma jority
of the public. Over the next decade the division int o grammar schools
and secondary modern schools was changed. The se days, most eleven -
year -o lds all go on to the same local school. These scho ols are know n
as com prehensive schools. (The decis ion to make thi s change wa s in
the hands ofLEA s, so it did no t happen at the same time all ov er the
coun try. In fact, there are still one or tw o places where the old system
is still in force.)
How ever, the comprehe nsive system has also had its critics. Many
peop le felt that there should be more choice available to parents and
disliked the uniformity of education given to teen agers. In addi tion ,
there is a wid espread feelin g that educational standards fell duri ng the
1980s and that the avera ge eleven-year old in Britain is significant ly
less literate and less nu mera te than his or her Euro pea n cou nterpart.
Start ing in the late [980s, tw o ma jor cha nges were introduced by
the gove rnme n t. The first of these w as the setti ng up of a national
cu rricul um. For the first time in British education there is now a set
oflea rn ing object ives for each year of compulsor y school and all
state schools are obliged to work tow ard s these objectives. The
national curricul um is being introduced gradually and will no t be
opera ting fully in all parts of Britain unt il the end of the I 990S. The
other major change is tha t schools can now decide to 'opt out' of the
control of the LEA and put themselves di rectly under the control o f
the appropriate government department. These' grant-maintained'
schools get their money directly from central government. Thi s does
not mean , however , tha t there is more central con tro l. Provid ed the y
fulfil basic requirements, grant-maintained schools do not have to
ask anybody else about how to spend their mon ey.
One final point about the persistence o f dec entralization : there are
really three , not one, national curricula. There is one for England and
Wales, another for Scotland and another for Northern Ireland. The
organization of subjects and the details of the learning objectives vary
slightly fro m one to the ot her. There is even a difference be twee n
England and Wales. Onl y in the latter is the Welsh language part of
the curriculu m.
 School life I 35

The in troductio n o f the natio nal curriculum is also intended to ... A nati on ofigno ram uses?
have an influence on the subject-matter of teaching. At the lower Does the earth go around the sun or
primary level, this means a greater emphasis on w hat are kno wn as does the sun go around the earth?
' th e three Rs' (Reading, wRiting and aRith m etic). At hi ghe r levels, This w as one of the questions a rep-
it me ans a greater em phasis on science and technol og y. A con - resentative sample of I 3,000 adults
was asked in a study conducted by
seque nce of the traditional British app roach to education had been
the European Commission in 1993 .
the habit of giving a relatively large am ount of atten tion to the arts Guess which state in the European
an d humanities (w hich develo p the well-rounde d human bein g) , Union came last in knowledge of
and relatively little to science an d technology (w hic h de velop the basic astronomical and evolutionary
ability to do spec ific job s) . The pr evailing belief at the time of writing facts! A third of those questioned in
is that Britain needs TI10re scie ntists and technicians (e- A nation of Britain got that sun-earth question
wrong, and half of them did not
ignoramuses?) .
know how long it takes for the earth
to go around the sun. Most spec-
School life tacularly, nearly half thought that
early human beings were alive at the
Th ere is no countryw id e system of nur sery (i.e. pre-prim ary) schools. same time as dinosaurs.
In some areas primary schools have nursery schools attached to them, These results reinforced the
but in o thers there is no provi sion o f this kind. Many children feeling in Britain that people's basic
do no t begin full- time att endance at sch oo l un til th ey are abou t scientific knowledge is unacceptably
IO\\'. But the results of the EC survey
five and start primary school. Almost all schools are either primary
were not all depressi ng for British
or secondary only, the latter being gener ally larg er.
scient ists and educationalists. In
Nearly all schools work a five-day w eek , wi th no half-day, and are biology, the British appeared com -
closed on Satur days. The day starts at or just befor e n in e 0 ' clock and paratively know ledgeable
finishe s between three and four , or a bit later for older chil dren . The (although still not top of the Euro-
lu nch break usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two- pean league). The survey also
showed that, contrary to what was
thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parent s pay for
supposed, scientists are very highly
thi s, except for the 15% who are rated poor enoug h for it to be free. respected.
Other childre n eithe r go ho me for lunch or take sandwich es.
Methods of teach ing vary , but the re is most com monly a balance
betw een form al lessons with the teacher at the fro nt of the classroom,
and activities in w hic h children w ork in small group s round a table
with th e teach er supervisin g. In pr imary scho ols, th e children are
m ostly taught by a class teache r w ho teaches all subjects. At the ages
o f seven and eleven, children have to take national tests in
En glish , m ath em atics and scien ce. In secon dary schools, pupils
h ave differen t teachers for di ffer ent subjects and are give n re gular
hom ew ork.

... Th e school year

Schools usually divide their year into three 'terms', starting
at the beg inn ing of September.

Autumn Ch ristmas Spring term Easter Summer Summer

te rm holiday holiday term ho liday
(about 2 (about 2 (about 6
weeks) weeks) weeks)

In addition, all schools have a 'half-term' ( = half-term ho liday) ,

lasting a few days or a w eek in the middle o f each term .
[36 t a Bducauon

The olde r chil dren get, the more likely they are to be separated
into groups according to their perceived abilities, sometimes for
partic ular subjects only, sometirues across all subjects. But some
schools teach all subjects to 'mixed ab ility' classes. The rights and
wrongs of this pract ice have generated heated debate for severa l
decades and there is great variety from school to school and area
to area.

Public exams
The organization of the exams which schoolchildren take from the
age of about fifteen onwards exemplifies both the lack of uniformity
in British education and also the traditional' hands-off" approach of
British governments. First, these exams are not set by the government,
but rather by independent examining boards. There are several of
these. Everywhere except Scotland (which has its own Single board),
each school or LEAdeci des which board 's exams its pupils take. Some
schools even ente r thei r pupils for the exams of more than one board.
Second, the boards publish a separate syllabus for each subject.
There is no unified school-leaving exam or school-leaving certificate.
Some board s offer a vast range of subjects. In prac tice, nearly all
pup ils do exams in English language, maths and a science subject,
and most also do an exam in technology and one in a foreign lan-
guage, usually French . Many students take exams in three or more
additional subjects.
Third, the exams have nothing to do wi th school years as such.
They are di vorced from the school system. There is nothing to stop
a sixty- five year-o ld doing a few of them for fun . In practice, of
course, the vast majority of people who do these exams are school
pupils, but formall y it is in dividu al people who enter for these exams ,
no t pupils in a particu lar year of school.
An example of the in dependence of the examining boards is the
dec ision of one of them (the Northern Examinations Board) in 199 2
to include certain popular television programmes on their English
literature syllabus. Thi s was against the spirit of the government 's
education policy at that time. The idea of 100,000 schoolchildren
settling down to watch the Australi an soap opera Neighbours as part of
their homework made government ministers verr angry, but there
was nothing they could do to stop it.

Education beyond sixtee n

At the age of sixteen people are free to leave school if they want to.
With Britain's new found enthusiasm for continuing education (and
beca use the re are not enoug h unskilled jobs to go round) , far fewer
sixtee n-year-olds go straigh t out and look for a job than used to.
Abou t a third of them still take this op tion, how ever. Most do not
find em ployme nt im mediately an d many take part in training
schemes w hich involve on-the-job training combined wit h part-time
college co urses.
 Education bey o nd sixtee n 137

... Exams and qualifications ... The growth of higher

GCSE = General Certificate o f
Secondary Education. The exam s
taken by most fifteen - (Q sixteen-
year -olds in England . Wales and
Nor thern Ireland . Marks are given
for each subject separately. The syl-
labuse s and methods of
exanunauon o f the various examin-
ing boards differ. However, the re is
a uniform system of marks . all being
graded from A to G. Grades A, Ba nd
C are regarded as good' grades.
SCE = Scottish Ceruficate of
Educatio n. The Scottish equivalen t
ofGCSE. These exams are set by the
Scottish Examinauons Board. Grad es
are awa rded in numbers ( I = the
best).
A Level s = Advanced Levels.
Higher-level acade mic exams set by
the same exami ning boards that set
GCSE exams. They arc taken mostly
by peop le around the age of eighteen
w ho w ish (Q go on (Q higher
educatio n.
SCE 'Higher s' = The Sco ttish
equ ivalent o f A-levels.
GNVQ = Gen eral Nation al
Vocation al Qualification . Courses
and exams in job-rel ated subjects.
The}' arc d ivided into five levels, the
low est level being equ ivalent to
GCSEs/ SCEs and the third level to
Avlevels.Z'H ighe rs. Most com-
monly GNVQ courses are stud ied at
Colleges of Further Education, but
more and more schools are also
offering them.
education
Degree : A qu alification from a un i-
versity. (Ot her qu alifications In 1960 there were less than twem y-
obtained after seco nda ry ed ucation five universities in the whole of
are usually called 'certificate' or Britain. By 1980 there were more
'diploma'). Students studying for a than for tj-. and by now there are
first degree are called undergradu- well over a hundred insmuuon s
ates. When they have bee n awarded which have university status.
a degree, they are know n as gradu -
ales. MOSl peo ple get honours Ni neteen to twenty-two year-
degrees, awarded in d ifferent
o lds in full -t ime education
classes. These are:
Class I (known as .a first ')
%
Class IU ('a 2 ,1' or 'an upper
35
second')
Class lUI ('a 2 ,2 ' or 'a lower
30
second')
25
Class III ('a thi rd ')
A stude nt wh o is be low one of these
20
gets a pass de gree [i.c. not an
honour s degree) . 15
10
Bach elor's Degr ee : The general
name for a first degree , most com -
5
monly a BA (= Bachelor of Arts) or
BSc (= Bachelor of Scienc e) .
Master's Degree: The general nam e
for a second (postgraduate) degre e,
EC average
most commonly an MA or MSc . At
Britain
Scouish universities, however, these
titles are used for first degree s.
Sources:Europe in figures, Government
Doctorate : The highest academic Statistical Service and KeyData
qualifica tion . This usually (but not
ever ywhere) carr ies the title PhD
( = Doctor of Philosoph y) . The tim e
taken to com plete a doc tora te varies,
but it is gen erally expected to
involve three years of more-or-less
full-time stu dy.

There has been a great increase in educational opportu nities for ... The sixth form
people at this age or older in the last quarter of the twenti eth century. The word 'form' was the usual word
About half of those w ho stay in full-time edu cation will have to leave to describe a class of pupil s in public
their school , eithe r because it doe s not have a sixth form (I> The sixth schools . It was taken over b)' some
form) or because it does no t teach the desired subjects, and go to a state schools. With the intr oduction
Sixth-form College, or College of Furth er Educat ion. An increasing o f the national curriculum it has
become common to refer to 'years'.
number do vocational training courses for particular jobs and careers. How ever, 'fo rm' has been untver-
Recent gover nments have been keen to increase the availability of sally retained in the phrase 'sixth
this type of course and its prestige (which used to be comparatively form ', w hich refer s to tho se pupils
low ) . who are studying beyond the age
of sixteen.
138 14 Education
Ii> The Op en University
This is one development in educa -
tion in which Britain can claim to
have led the world. It w as started in
J 969. It allows people who do not
have the opportunity to be ordinary
'students' to study for a degree. Its
courses are taught through televi-
sion, radio and specially writte n
coursebooks. Its students work with
tutors, to whom they send thei r
written work and with whom they
then discuss it, either at meet ings or
through correspondence . In the
summer, they have to attend sho rt
residentia l courses of about a week.
University College, Oxford
In England and Wales, for those who stay in ed ucation and stud y
conventional academic subjects, there is more specializatio n than
there is in most o the r co un tries . Typ ically, a pupil spends a whole
two years studying just three subjects, usually related ones, in pr e-
paration for taking A-level exams (o Exams and qualifications), though
th is is something else which might change in the near future.
The independence of Britai n 's educational institutio ns is most
no ticeable in universities. They make their own cho ices of who to
accept on their courses. There is no right of entry to univ ersity for
anybody. Univers ities normally select students on the basis of A-level
results and an interview . Those wit h better exam grades are more
likel y to be accepted. But in principle there is nothing to stop a
univer sity accepting a student who has no A-levels at all and con -
versely, a student w ith top grades in several A-levels is no t guaranteed
a place .
The availability of higher education has increased greatly in the
second half of the twentieth century (c- The growth of higher education).
Nevertheless, finding a universi ty place is not easy. Universities only
take th e bett er stu dents . Because of this , an d also becau se of the
relatively high deg ree of persona l supervision of students w hich the
low ratio of stude n ts to staff allows, nearly all uni versity stude nts
comple te their stud ies - an d in a very short time too! In Englan d ,
Wa les an d Northern Ireland, it is only for modern languages and
certain vocational studies that students take mor e than three years. In
Scotland , fo ur years is the norm for mos t subjects.
Another reason for the low drop -o ut rate is that 'full-time' really
means full-time. A large pro portio n of stude nts live 'on campus',
(or, in Oxford an d Cam bridge, 'in college') or in rooms nearby,
w hic h ten ds to m ean tha t the student is surrounded by a univers it y
atmosphere .
However, the expansio n o f hi gh er education is putting a strain o n
these characteristics. More students means more expense for the
state .The governme nt's response has been to abolish the stude nt
grant which, at on e time, covered most of a student's expenses during
the thirty -week teac hing year. On to p of tha t, most students have to
pay fees. As a resul t, many m or e students canno t afford to live away
from ho me. In 1975 it was estimated th at 80 % of all university stude nts
we re no n-local. Thi s pe rcentage is becomin g lower and lower. In
ad dition , m or e than a th ird of students now have part-ti me jobs,
w hic h m eans that they cannot spend so m uch time on their studies.
A further result o f increased num bers of students wit hou t a corre-
spo nd ing in crease in budgets is that the student/staffratio has been
getting hig he r. All of th ese development s threaten to reduce th e tradi -
tionally high quality of British university education.They also thr eaten
to reduce its availability to students from low -incom e families.

Types of university
There are no important officia l or
legal distinctions between the
various types of university in the
country. But it is possible to discern
a few broad categories.
. Oxbr id gc
This name denotes the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge , both
founded in the medieval period.
They are federat ions of semi -
independent colleges, each college
having its own staff, known as
'Fellows'. Most colleges have their
own dining hall, library and chapel
and co ntain enough accommodation
for at least half of their students. The
Fellows teach the college students,
either one -to -one or in very small
groups (known as 'tutorials" in
Oxford and 'supervisions' in
Cambridge). Oxbridge has the
lowest student/staff ratio in Britain.
Lectures and laboratory work are
organized at university level. As well
as the college libraries, there are the
two university libraries, both of
which are legally entitled to a free
copy of every book pu blished in
Britain. Before 1970 all Oxbridge
colleges were single -sex (mostly for
men). Now, the majority admit
both sexes.
The o ld Scottish universities
By 1600 Scotland boasted four uni -
versities. They were Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Aberdeen and
St Andre ws. The last of these
resembles Oxbridge in many \.. . ays.
while the other three are more like
civic universities (see belov.. . ) in that
most of the students live at home or
find the ir own rooms in town . At all
of them the pattern of study is closer
to the continental tradition than to
the English one - there is less special-
izauon than at Oxbridge.
Education beyond sixteen I 39
The early ninetcen th -ce nturv The newer civic universi ties
English universi ties
These were originally technical col -
Durham Univer sity was founded in leges set up by local authorities in
18 32. Its collegiate living arrange - the first half of the twentieth century.
ments are similar to Oxbridge , but The ir upgrading to university status
academic ma tters are organized at wok place in tv..... o waves. The first
un iversity level. The University of wave occurred in the mid 1960s,
London started in 1836 with just when ten of them (e.g. Aston in
two colleges. Many more have joined Birmingham, Salford near Man -
since, scattered Widely around the chester and Strathclyde in Glasgow)
city , so th at each college (most are were promoted in this way. Then, in
non-residenti al) is almos t a separate the early 1970s, another thirty
university. The central organizatio n became 'polytechnics', which
is responsible for little more than meant that as well as continuing with
exams and the awarding of degrees . their former courses, they were
allowed to teach degree courses (the
The o lder civic ('redbrick') degrees being awarded by a national
universities bo dy) . In the early 1990S most of
these (and also some other colleges)
During the nineteen th century
became universities. Their most
various institutes of higher educa-
notable feature is fiexibility with
tion, usually w ith a technical bias,
regard to studying arrangements,
sprang up in the new in dustrial
including 'sandwich' courses (i.e .
towns and cities such as
studies interrupted by periods of
Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds,
time outside education). They are
The ir buil dings w er e of local mat -
now all financed by central govern-
erial. often brick, in contrast to the
memo
stone of older universities (hence the
name, 'redbrick'). They catered only
for local peop le. At first, they pre -
pare d stu dents for Londo n
Un iversity deg rees, but later they
were given the right to awar d their
ow n degrees, and so became univer-
sities themselves . In the mid
twentieth century they started to
accept students from all over the
country.
The campus un ivers ities
These are purpose-b uilt insti tutions
located in the count ryside but close
to towns. Examples are East Anglia,
Lancaster, Sussex and Warw ick. They
have accommodat ion for most of
their students on site and from their
beginning, mos tly in the early
1960s, attracted students fro m all
over the coun try. (Many were kno w n
as centres of student protest in the
late 1960s and early 1970S.) They
tend to em ph asize relatively 'new'
acade mic disciplines suc h as social
sciences an d to m ake greater use
than other univer sities of teachin g
in small groups, often known as
.seminars '. Warwick University, a campus university
140 14 Education

QUES TIONS

I From your reading of thi s chapter, what can yo u
say abo ut the trends in the British educational
system? Is it moving towards greater o r lesser
uniformity? To w ards more o r less provision
before and after the years of com pulsory school-
ing ? Con cen trating m ore o n purely academ ic
subjects o r o n m ore practical ones?
2 Here are the ten subjects which, accordi ng to
the national curriculum for England, mus t be
taug ht in the first three years of secondary edu-
cation: English, Mathemat ics (Math s) , Science,
Tech nology, History, Geography, a modern
foreign language (Fre nch is the most
common) , Art, Music and Physical Education
(PE). Is there any thing her e tha t surprises you?
Do you think any other subjects should be
included? Are these the m ain subjects taugh t in
your country?
3 Would you say that people in your cou ntry are
more or less enthusiastic about university educa-
tion than they are in Britain ?
4 In what w ays has the pursuit of eq uali ty for all
affected the develop m ent of the educa tional
system in Britain ?Wo uld you say that there w as
equality o f opportuni ty in the present system ?
5 W hat would yo u say are the successes and fail-
ures of th e British educ ational system? Wh at
thi ng s, if any, does it appear to do w ell, and
wha t areas does it seem to ne glec t or do bad ly
in ?

SUG GES TIONS

Any British Counc il library has lo ts o f informati on abou t edu cational

institutio ns in Britain. For example , a look at a few university pro -
spec tuses would help you to get the flavour of British uni versities
(but rem ember, of co urse, that these prospectuses function as
adve r tisemen tsl). Alternatively , yo u could write to British un iversit-
ies (incl ud ing the Open Univer sity) for free information or pro -
spec tuses .
David Lodge's contemporary social comedies Small World and Nice Work
have a university background. Brideshead Revisi ted by Evelyn Waugh
paints a romantic view of life as lived by Oxford underg raduates in
the nine teen twenties and Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharp e is a come dy
ofcontem porary Ox bridge student life. Educating Rita is a play by Willy
Russell (whic h has also been made int o a film) about a w orkin g-
class w oman from Liverpool whose life is tran sformed by studyin g
with the Open University.
 15
The economy and
everyday life

The one thing th e English will never forgiv e the German s for is
wo rking too hard,
GEOR GE MIKES

This statement w as writt en by a Hungarian humourist who em igrated

to Britain in 19 38 . He w rote it in the 19 605. when the German
economy w as rapidly overtaking Britain '5. Living standards in Britain
have risen steadily since then , but not as fast, perhaps, as they have
in ot her EU co untries. Britain used to be o ne o f the w ealthiest
countries in Europe. These days it is often, by mo st standards of
measurement , poorer than the ED average . (In fact. in 199 2 it w as
even poor enough to qualify for special EU funding for poorer
member states, thoug h national pride prevented it from applying.)

Earn ing mon ey

The statem ent above is, of co urse , no t literally true. How ever, it do es
reflect a certain lack of enthusiasm for work in general. At the upp er
end o f the social scale this attitude to work exists because leisure has
always been the main outward sign of aristocracy. And because of
Britain's class system, it has had its effects through out society. If you
have to work, then the less it looks like work the better. Traditi onally
therefore , a major sign of being middle class (as opposed to wo rking
class) has been that you do non-manual work . The fact that skilled
manual (or 'blue-collar') workers have been paid more highl y than
the lower grade s of ,white-collar ' (i.e. non-manual) worker for
several decade s has only slightly changed this social per ception. This
'anti-work' outlook amo ng the wo rking class has led to a relative
lack of am bition or enthusiasm and a belief that high earnings are
more import ant than job satisfaction,
These atti tude s are slowly changing. For exam ple, at least half of
the wo rkforce now doe s no n-manual wo rk, and yet a majority
describe themselves as working class (see chapt er 4) . It wo uld there-
fore seem that the connection between being middle class and doing
non-manual w o rk is growing weaker. N evertheles s, the connection
between class distinction s and types o f w ork lives o n in a number o f
wa ys. One illustration o f this is the different w ay in which earnings
142 15 The economy and everyday life
~ Top pe ople
In Britain, particula r occupations are
no lon ger as closely associated with
particular classes as they used to be.
The fem inist mo vem ent, the expan -
sion of higher education and an
egalitarian atmosphere have
reduced the influence of old -estab -
lished , male-dom inated institutions
such as pu blic schools and Oxbridge
(see chapte r 1+). A popular claim is
that in modern Britain peopl e
achie ve the ir positions by exercising
thei r ab ilities rathe r than as a result
of their backgrounds. In the early
I 990S it w as true that even the Prime
Minister (John Major ) had been
educated at a state schoo l and had
left full-time education at the age of
sixteen.
However, there is a limit to these
changes. In 19 9 2 The Economist maga -
zine drew up a list o f the holders of
100 of the most important positions
in the co untry (in politics , the civil
service, the armed forces, academia,
the arts, busin ess and finance). The
backgrounds of these 'to p ' people
we re then com pared with those o f
people in sim ilar positions in [972.
Her e arc the results:
%who ... 1972 1992
went 10 public school 67 66
of which EtonCollege 14 8
attended higher education 78 89
of which Oxbridge 12 14
are women 2 4
In both years two- thirds of the top
peo ple had been to publi c schoo l (to
wh ich less than 5% of the population
goe s) and an aston ishing proportion
to just o ne of these. It w as more
im portant in 1992 to be highly edu -
cated than it w as in 1972 . But still
half o f all the to p jobs were held by
peop le from just two of the country's
un iversities. And women are almost
completely excluded (in bot h years'
lists, one of those women w as the
Queen'}.
... How they are paid
Manual (and lowe st No n-manual
grades of non -
manual)
Rate quoted per ho ur/week per year
Known as wages salary
Paid every week month
Method usually in cash by cheque or into
bank
are conventionally expressed and paid (e- HoI\' they are paid) . Another is
the fact that certain organizations of professional w orker s, such as
the National Union ofTeach ers (NUT), have never belonged to the
Trad es Union Congress (see below). The connection can also be seen
if we look at those people who ho ld the most important jobs in the
coun try (t- Top people).
Perhap s the tradi tional lack of en thusiasm for work is the reason
why the working day , in comparison with most European countries ,
starts rather late (usually at eig ht o'clock for manual workers and
around nin e for non -ma n ual worker s) . How ever, measured by the
n umber of hours w orked in a wee k, th e British reput ation fo r no t
w or king hard enoug h appears to be false (c- The industrious British) . The
normal lunch break is an hour or less, and most people (un less they
wo rk part-time) co n tin ue w orkin g until five o r later. Many people
often work several hours ove rt ime a wee k. In ad d itio n , a comparat -
ively large proportion of British peopl e stay in the workforce for a
compara tively large part of their lives. The no rmal reti ring age for
mos t peo ple is Sixty-five (sixty for some, including a greater propor-
tion of wome n).
Th ere are three main ways in which people look for work in
Britain: thro ugh newspapers (nat ional ones for the highest-quali-
fied , ot herwise local ones), thro ugh the local job centre (which is
run as a government service) and thro ugh privately-run em ploy-
ment agencies (which take a commission from employers). The
overall trend in employment over the last quarter o f the tvventieth
century has been basica lly the same as elsewhere in western Europe.
The level of un employment has gradually risen and most new job
opportunities are in the service sector (in communications, health
care and social care , for example) .
This situation has led to an interesting irony with regard to the two
sexes. The decl ine of heavy industry means fewer jobs in stereotyp-
ical ' m en 's work' , w hile the rise in service occu patio ns means an
increase in vacancies fo r stereotypical 'women's work' . In 19 70
arou nd 65 % of all those in work in Britain were m en . In 1993 men
made up only 5 I % of th e workforce. When the law against sex
d iscriminatio n in employme n t w as passed in 1975, it was in tended
 Work organizations J4 3

A verage length of working week (1989) Percent of p o p ula t io n in the labour force (1989)

- full-time employees - full-time self-e mployed Those either in work or looking fo r work
hours
Il M J6 J8 a Q M % ~ Y g 54 Y 58 % 10 IS 40 45 SO 55
Belgium Belgium _
Denmark Denmark : : : : : ;__
Germany Germany
Greece Greece _
Spain Spain _
France France
Ire land Ireland _
Italy Italy _
Luxembourg Luxembo urg
Netherlands Netherlands
Portugal Portugal
Britain Britain

Source: Europe in Figures

ma inly to protect wome n. However, in 1994 n early half of the .... The industrious British
complaint s rece ived by the Equal Opport unities Commission (which The British may not like work very
helps to enforce the law ) came fro m m en . In that year there were m uch . But they seem La spe nd a lot
two-and-a -ha lftimes as man y une m ploye d men as there were unem- of time doi ng it. Look at the Euro-
ployed women. Many m en now seek employment as n urses, child pean comparisons above. The
figur es show that in Britain , full-
carers , shop assistant s, secre taries and o ther kinds of office worker.
time employees work the longest
But they often find that , for no justi fiable reason , they are not hired. . hour s in Europe, self-employed
It seem s that these jobs are still considered to be more suitable for peo ple work longer than in most
women. One of the reasons for this ma y be the low rate s of pay in oth er Eur opean countries and more
these areas of work. Although it is illegal for w ome n to be paid less people bet ween the ages of twenty-
tha n men for the same job , in 1993 the aver age full -tim e male five and sixty, especially women,
stay in ' the job market' than they do
em ployee earne d abo u t 50 % m or e than the avera ge full -tim e fem ale
in most ot her European countries.
worker. Moreover, ho liday per iods in Britain
are comparatively shan and the
Work or ganiz ations cou ntry has a com paratively small
number of public ho lidays (see
The orga nizatio n w hich represe nts em ploye rs in priva te industry is chapte r 23) .
called the Confederation of British Ind ustry (CBI) . Mos t em ployers
belong to it and so the advice w hich it gives to trade unions and th e
gove rnment is quite influen tial. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is
a volunta ry associa tion of the count ry's trade unions. There are more
tha n a hundred of these , represen ting employees in all type s of
busine ss.
Most British unions are connected with particular occupations .
Many belong to the Labour party (see chapter 6) to which the ir
m embers pay a 'political levy ' . Th at is, a sm all part of their union
m em bership subscription is passed on to the party, alth ough they
have the right to 'contract out' of thi s arran gem ent if they w ant to .
How ever , the unions the mse lves are not usually formed alon g party
lines; that is, the re is usually only one unio n for each group of
144 15 The econo my and everyday life
... Labo ur rela tions: a glo ssa r y
Wh en there is a d ispute bet we en
em plo yees and ma nagem em , the
mat ter so m etim es goes to ar bitra-
tion ; that is, both sides agree to let
an ind ependent investigator settle
the d isput e for the m.
Refusing to work in the normal
way is gene rally referred to as
in d us tri al action (eve n w hen the
work has nothing to do with
industry) . This can take various
forms. One of these is a w ork -to -
rule , in which employee s follow the
regu latio ns concern ing the ir jobs
exact ly and re fuse to be flexible or
co -o pe rative in th e normal way.
Ano the r is a go slow.
Fin ally, th e empl oyees might go
o n str ike . Strikes can be official. if
all the procedures required 10 mak e
th em legal have taken place. or
un offi cial (when they are som e-
time s referred to as wildcat
strikes ) . W hen the re is a strike,
some strikers act as pi ckets. They
stand at the ent rance to the worksne
and try to dissuade any fellow -
workers who m ight no t want to
strike (w ho m the y call blacklegs)
fro m goi ng Into wo rk.
Striking miners in 1984
em ployees rather than a sepa rate one for each political party wi thin
that group .
Union s have local branches, some of which are called 'chapels' ,
reflecting a historical link with nonconformism (see chapter 13) . At
the work site , a union is represented by a sho p steward , who ne goti -
ates with the on -site management. His (very rarel y is it 'her')
struggles wit h the foreman, the managem ent -appointed over seer,
becam e part of twen tieth century folklore.
Un ion membersh ip has been declinin g since 19 79 (to- Thedecline of
the unions] . Im m edi ately before the n , the leader of the TUe (its Gen eral
Secretary) was one of the most pow erful people in the country and
was regularly consulted by the Prime Mini ster and other important
government figures. At that time the m embers of uni ons belonging
to the Tue made up more than half o f all employed people in the
country. But a large section of the public became disillu sioned with
the power of the uni ons and the government then passed laws to
restrict this pow er. Per haps the decline in union membership is in ev-
itab le in view of the histor y of British un ions as organizations for
full-ti me male ind ustrial workers . To the increasing nu mber s of
fem ale and part -time workers in the workforce, the traditional struc-
ture of British unionism has seemed less relevant. In an effort to halt
the dec line. the Tue declared in t 994 that it wa s loosening its contacts
with the Labour party and was going to forge closer contacts with
other parties.
One ot her work organization needs special m ention. Thi s is the
National Union of Farmers (NUF). It does not belong to the TU e,
being made up m ostly of agricult ural em ployers and independent
farm ers. Considerin g the sma ll number of people involved in agri -
cul tur e in Britain (the sma llest pro port ion in the whole of the EU ),
it has a remarkabl y large in fluence. Thi s is pe rha ps because of the
special fascination that ' the land ' holds for mos t British people (see
cha pter 5), making it relatively easy for the NUF to mak e its demands
heard, and a.lso because many of its m embers are w ealth y.
 The structu re of trade and industry 145"

The struc ture of trad e and industry ... Th e decline of t he unio ns

The 'modernization' of business and in d ustry happened later in In the 1980s the British government
passed severa l laws to restrict the
Britain than it did in mos t other European countries. It was not un til
power of the unions . One of these
the I 960s that large co rporatio ns started to dom inate and tha t a abolished the 'closed shop' (an
'management class', trained at business school, began to en1erge . arrang em ent which employers
Even after that tim e , many compan ies still preferred to rec ruit thei r made with unions to hire only
ma nagers from people who had 'worked their way up ' through the people who belonged to a union).
C0l11pany ranks and /or who w ere personally kno wn to the directors. Ano ther m ade stri kes illegal unless a
pos tal vote of all union members had
Onl y in the J 9805 did gradua te business qualificatio ns becom e the
been conducted. In 198+ there was
norm for newly-h ired managers. a long miners ' strike. The National
British industr y performed poorly duri ng th e decades following Union of Mine rs refused to follow
the Second World War (so me people blamed thi s on the above the new regulations. Its leader,
characteristic s). In contrast, British agriculture was very successful. Arthur Scargill . became a symbol
(depen ding on your point of View)
In this industry, large scale organization (i.e. bi g farms) had been
of either all the wor st lunacies of
more common in Britain th an in other European countries for qu ite unionism or the brav e fight of the
a long time. working classes against the rise of
As in all European countries, the economic system in Brita in is a Th archerism . Previous miners'
m ixture of private and pu blic enterprise. Exactly how m uch of the str ikes in the twentieth century had
country's econOlny is co n trolled by th e sta te has fluctuated a great bee n mostly successful. But this one
was not (the miners did not achieve
deal in the last fifty years an d has been the su bject of con tinual
their aim s); a sign of the decline in
po litical debate. From 1945 until 1980 the general trend w as for the unio n power. Here is another sign
state to have more and m o re control. Various industries became (the TUC is the Trades Un ion Con-
na tio nalized (in ot her words, owned by the government), especially gress , the nat iona l association of
those co nce rned with the pro duction an d distri bu tion of energy. So trade un ions) :
too did the var ious forms of transport and communicarion services
(as well, of course, as the pro visio n of educ atio n, social w elfare and T otal m embership of t he TUC
health care). By 1980, 'pure' capitalism probably fo rmed a sma ller
millions
pa rt of the eco nomy than in any o ther country in wes tern Euro pe.
12
Fro m 1980 the tren d started go ing in the o the r direction. A ma jor
pan of the philosophy of the Conservative gove rnment of the 1980s II
wa s to let 'market fo rces' rule (which me ant restricting the freedom 10
of busin ess as little as possible) an d to turn state-owned companies
9
in to companies owne d by ind ivid uals (w ho becam e shareholders).
Th is approach was a major pan of the thinking of Thatcherism 8
(Marga ret Thatcher was Prime Minister at that time) . Betw een J 980 7
and 1994 a large number of companies were pr ivatized (o r' de - 6
nationalized'). That is, they were sold off by the government. By
5
1988 there were more sha reholders in the country than there were
m em bers of un ions. In additi on , local govermnent au th ori ties were
encouraged to 'contract ou t' the ir responsibility for services to
commercial organizations.
The privatization of services which w estern people no w regard as
essential h as necessitated the cre atio n of various public 'watchdog'
o rga nizations with reg ulatory pow er s over the in dustries which they
monitor. For example , Offtel m onitors the activities of the pr ivatized
telephone in du str y, and O ffWat monito rs th e privatized w ater
companies,
146 15 The economy and everyday life
~ The wid en ing gap between rich
and poor
5.00 e
'r iches t 20%
4.50
4.00
n50
zs.oo
2.50 average
2.00
c1.50 l wealth. Similarly, people are gen erally not ashamed to be poor. Of
c1.00 po orest 20%
0.50
Source: Sociol Trends /994
The graph shows that for every
pound that the poorest 20% of the
population in Britain had in 197 8 ,
most people had tw o pounds and
the richest 2 0% of the population
had thr ee pou nds . In 1994 the gap
in wealth had gro wn . The richest
people were about 50% richer, and
m os t people w ere abo ut 2S % rich er.
The poorest people had, however,
become slightly poorer.
... Co llecti ng taxes
The govern ment organization
which is resp onsibl e for collecting
taxes in Britain is called the Inlan d
Revenue. For employees , paying
their income tax is not some thi ng
th ey have to worr y about. It is
ded ucted from their pay cheque or
pay packet before they receive it.
This system is kno wn as PAY E
( = pay as you earn) . The tax added
to the price of something you buy is
called VAT ( = value added tax) .
The d istribution of wealth
In the early I 970S Britain had one of the most equitable distributions
of w ealth in we stern Europe. By the early I 990S it had one of the
least equi table. The rich ha d got richer but the poor had not. Some
surveys suggested that, by this time, the gap between the rich est
10% of the population and the poorest 10% w as as great as it had
bee n in the late ni neteenth century and th at larg e numbers of house-
holds we re living below the 'poverty lin e', w hich meant that they
di d no t have enough money for basic things such as food and
hea ting.
Class and wealth do not run parallel in Britain (see chapter 4) , so
it is not a country where people are espec ially keen to flaunt their
course, they don't like be in g po or, but they do not feel obliged to
hide the fact. Thi s can som etim es lead to an accept ance of poverty
w hic h is surprising for an 'advanced ' coun try. When , in 1992 , news
ofits increasing extent came to w ider public attention, the govern-
ment ne ither pretended that greater povert y di d not exist , nor
promised to do anything radical about it. Instead, it issued, th rough
the Minis try of Agriculture, a sugges ted diet which it claimed even
the poorest could afford. There were , of course , publi c comments
about the pa tronizing nature of this action , but cr iticism in the press
concentrated 011 how unrealistic th e diet wa s, on how the figure s
didn' t add up (and on the m yster y of how a per son should pr epare
and eat the recommended half an egg a weeki).
One reason for the increasin g dispar ity of we alth in Britain in the
I 970S and I 980s is that rates ofincome tax ch anged. For a short
period in the 1960s th e basic rate w as 40%. By the early eighties it
was 30 % and it then went down to 25%. During the same period ,
the top rate of incom e tax fell from a hi gh of 98 % to 40%. of course ,
these figu res do not m ean tha t this is how m uch is deducted from a
person 's earnings. People in different situations are allowed to ear n
varying amounts before tax is deducted . People earning twi ce the
average wage have about 25% of their gro ss in come deducted . Some-
body earn ing less than half the averag e w age pays very little tax at
all. Nevertheless, ther e is, at the rim e of writing , a great disparity in
differe nt people 's 'tak e-home pay' . Duri ng the 1 980s, rates of pay for
the best -pa id job s increased faster th an those for badl y-paid jobs.
People in the best-paid job s now take home about ten times as much
as those in the lowest paid jobs. Many company directors, for
exam ple , take home seven times as much as the averag e w age.
Fina nce and investm ent
Wealth (and po vert y) are relat ive con cept s. Desp ite its relative eco -
nomic decline , Britain is still one of the we althie st p laces in the
world. Th e empire ha s gone , the great manufactu rin g ind ustries have
 Finan ce and in vestm en t 14 7

nea rly gone, but Lo ndo n is still o ne of the centres of the financial .... The o ld lady of Thread needle
world. The Financial Times-Stock Exch ange (FT- SE) Index of th e Street
100 largest British co m panies (known po pularly as the 'Footsie,") is Th is is the nicknam e of the Bank o f
one of the m ain ind icato rs of world sto ck market prices. England. the instuuuon which con -
The reason for this is no t hard to find. The same features that trols the supply of m on ey in Britain
and which is located . of course, in
contributed to the country's decline as a great industrial and political
the 's q uare mil e'. Not ice ho w the
pow er - the preference for contin uity and trad itio n rather than
name suggests both fam iliarity and
cha nge, the emphasis on perso nal con tact as opposed to demon- ,1ge - and also conservative habits.
strated ability when decid ing who gets the im portant jo bs - are Th e bank has been described as
exactly the quali ties that attract investo rs. When people wa nt to 'fascin ated by its ow n past'. It is also
inv est a lo t of money, w hat matters to them is an atmosp here of not able th at the people w ho w or k
there are reported to be proud of
stability and a feeling of personal trus t. These are the quali ties to be
the ni cknam e.
found in th e 's q uare mile' of the old City ofLondon (see ch apter 3),
which has one of the largest co ncentra tio ns of ins ur ance co m panies,
merchant banks , joint -stock ban ks an d stock brokers in the world. As
regards stability, many of the in stitutio ns in w hat is know n as ' the
City' can po int to a lo ng and uninterrupted histor y. Some of them
ha ve directors fro m the same fam ily w hich started the m pe rhaps over
200 years ago. Although there have been ada ptations to modern
cond itio ns , and the stereo type d bo wler-hatte d 'ci ty gen t' is a thin g
of the past, the sense of co ntinuity, epitom ized by the lllany old
buildings in th e sq uare m ile, is still strong. As regards trust , the city
has a re pu tation for habits of secrecy tha t m ight be tho ught of as
undesira ble in other aspec ts of pu blic life , but w hich in financial
dealin gs become an advan tage. In th is co ntext, 'secrecy' means
Adoorman at the Bank of England
'discretio n' .
Although more than ha lf of th e British po pu latio n has money
.... Th e high street banks
inves ted in the city ind irectly (beca use the insurance co m panies and
pe nsion funds to which they have ent ruste d their nl one y inves t it on The so -called ' big four' banks,
which each ha ve a branch in almost
the stock marke t), most people are unaw are of what goes on in the
cvery town in Brit ain are: the
world of 'h igh fina nce'. To most peo ple , m oney is just a ma tter of Nat ional Westminster Bank
the cash in their pockets an d their acco unt with one of the 'high (N atwest) : Barclays Bank; Lloyds
street' banks (c- The high street banks) . Not ever y adu lt has a bank acco u nt. Bank; Midland Bank. The Bank of
In 1970 only about 30% use d these banks. But wi th the increasin g Scotland also has a very Luge
num ber of branches. 50 does the
ha bit of payin g wages by che que an d the adve ut of cash d ispen sin g
Trustee Savings Bank (TSB).
ma chines, a m ajo rity no w do so. Many , how ever , still prefer to use
their Nat ional Saving s account at th e post office or one of the co un try's c~ NatWest
ma ny buildiug societies (see chapter 19).
An ind icatio n of the importance of bank accounts in peopl e 's lives
is th e stro ng dis like of the banks that has developed . Durin g th e 1990S BARCLAYS
the new spap er s carr ied ho rr or stories about their practices . In th e
years 19 88 to 199 3 banking profits ro se by ,0% while cha rges to
customers ros e by 70 %. It is often diffic ult for people to do anything :'~':
'....
5'l1-: eJLlO YdS
abo ut bank charges - if they try to discuss the m wi th their bank,
MI DLAND :~~~ Bank
they get charged for the pho ne calls and letters! So far, th e one clear Th e Li8l enlng Hank

''''""" H''''C'G<.",,,
improvement has been in bank opening times . These use d to be from
nine-t hi rt y to three-thirt y, Mondays to Fridays only. Now, many Thecompony logos of the 'big four' high
ba nks stay open later and also open o n Saturday mornin gs. street banks
148 15 The eco no my and everyday life

... Currency and cash

The currency o f Brit ain is the po und
ster ling, w hose symbol is 'E", always
written before the amount. Inform-
ally, a pound is sometim es called a
'quid', so 20 might be expressed as
'twenty quid'. There are 100 pe nce
(written 'p': pronounced ' pea ') in a
po und .
The on e-poun d coi n has four dif-
ferent designs : an English one, a
Scottish one, a North ern Irish on e
an d a Welsh one (o n wh ich the
inscri p tion on the side is in Welsh ;
on all the others it is in Latin).
In Scotland, banknctes with a
Scottish design are issue d . These
notes are perfectly legal in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland , but
banks and shops are no t obliged to
accep t them if th ey don' t want to
and no bo dy has the right to demand
change in Scott ish not es.
Befor e 1971 Britain used th e
'LSD ' system. There w ere twel ve
pennies in a shilling and twenty shil -
lings in a pound. Amounts w ere
written like this: 3 r as. 6d. (=
three pounds, tw elve shilli ngs and
sixpence). If you read any no vels set
in Britain before [97 r , yOll may
com e across the followi ng:
a farthing = a quarter of a penny
(not used after I 960)
a ha 'penny (halfpenny) = half of a
penny
a thre epenny bit = threepence
a tanner = an informal nam e for a
sixpenny coin
a bob = an informal name for a
shilling
a half crown = two -and-a-half
shillings (or two and sixpe nce)
People we re not en thusias tic
about the chan ge to wha t they called
'new mo ney'. For a long time after-
w ards , th e quest ion 'what's that in
old money?' was used to imply that
wha t somebody had just said was
too complicated to be dear. In fact,
money pro vides frequent oppor-
tunities for British conserv atism (see
chapte r Ij) to sho w itself. When the
one- pound coin was introduce d in
[9 83, it was very un popu lar. Peopl e
said they w ere sad to see the en d of
the po un d no te, w hich it rep laced ,
and that a me re coin didn't seem to
be worth as muc h . Ano ther exam ple
is the reaction to the European curo.
Since [991 this ha s had th e same
status in Britain as Scottish ban knot es
have in England . BtH the first signs
we re that m ost sho ps and banks
were refusing to accept the m .

... How much do you want? Spending money: sho pping

On tins and packets offood in British
shops, the w eight of an item is
written in the kilos and grams famil-
iar to people fro m continental
Europe. However, most British
peop le have little ide a of what these
terms m ean (see chapter Ij). There-
fore, m any of the ir packets and tins
also record thei r weig ht in pound s
(written as 'Ibs'} and ounces
(written as 'oz'). Moreover, nob ody
ever asks for a kilo of apple s or 200
grams of cheese. If those wer e (he
amounts you w anted . yo u would
have to ask for 't wo pounds or so' of
apples and 'half a pound or less' of
cheese and you would be about
right.
Shoe and clothing sizes are also
measured on different scales in
Britain. The people who work in
shops which sell these things usually
known about continental and Am er -
ican sizes too, but most British
people don't.
The British are not very adventurous shoppe rs. They like reliability
and buy bra nd -name goods w herever pos sible, preferably with the
pr ice clearly marked (they are not very keen on haggling over prices).
It is therefore not surprising that a very high proportion of the
country's shops are branches of chain stores.
Visitors from northern European countries are some times
surprised by the sha bbiness of sh op- w indow displays, even in pros-
perous areas. This is not nece ssarily a sign of economic depression.
It is just that the Brit ish do not demand art in their sho p w indow s. In
general, they have been rather slow to take on the id ea that shopping
m igh t actua lly be fun. On the positive side, visitors are also som etim es
stru ck by the variety of types of shop. Mo st shops are chain stores ,
bu t among those that are not , there is much individuali ty. Independ-
en t shopowners feel no need to follow conve ntio nal ideas about what
a particular shop does and doesn' t sell.
In the last quarter of the twen tieth century super markets began
mov ing out of town, whe re there was lots of free parking space. As
they did so, they became bigg er, turning in to 'hyperrnarkets'
stoc king a wider variety of item s. For example, most of them no w
sell alcoholic dr inks, which are conventionall y bought at shops called
'off-licences'. They also sell petrol and some item s traditionally
fou nd in chemists and newsagents.
However, th is tre nd h as no t go ne as far as it has in some other
European countries. For example, few superm arkets sell clothes,
 Sho p op ening hours 149

shoes, kitchen ute nsils or electrical goods. They still con cen trate ... T he co rner shop
mainly on everyday needs. An exception is the first w are ho use shop- A shop by itself in a residential area
ping club in Europe, opene d in 199 3 in Essex by the American is often referred 10 as 'the corner
com pany Costco. Here , ' me m bers' (w ho have paid a small fee) can shop'. These sometimes sell various
find almos t every thing that a shopper could ever wa nt to buy - at a kinds of foo d , but the y are not
always gen eral grocers . Usually thei r
reduced price. Shoppin g clubs of this kind have spread rap idly all over
m ain bu siness is in news papers,
the USA. At the tim e ofwriling, it is too early to say whe the r they magazi nes, sweets and tobacco
will do so in Brita in . The 1110Ve out of town, how ever , is already we ll pro ducts. It is from these that most
established, with luany of the coun try's chain stores follo wing the 'paper rounds' (see chapter 16) are
superm arkets into specia lly built shopping cent res, Blast of the m . organi zed. Only in corner shops do
covered. (Britain has some of the larges t cove red shop ping are as in shopkeepers know the ir customers
personall y. Only in them is the
Europe.) In 19 80 only 5% of sho p sales took place in these locat io ns.
in teraction across the counter oflen
In [994 this figure had jumped to 25'/0. soci al as w ell as transactional. Peop le
The area in tow n w here the local shops are conce nt ra ted is know n working in ot her sho ps are often
as the h igh stree t (the Ame rican equivalent is 'M ain Stree t' ) . British very helpful, but the conversation
high street s have suffered from the move towards out-o f-town shop- usuall y has some clear purpose.
In th e last few dec ades , ma ny
ping. In the wors t-affected towns, as lu any as a quarter of the sho ps
corner shop s have been taken over
in the high street are vacan t. Bu t high stree ts have often survived by by peopl e from sout hern Asia who
adapting. In larger towns, shops have tended to become eithe r m ore have delight ed the nei ghbour hood
specialized or to sell espec ially cheap goods (for people w ho are too by staying open very long ho urs .
poor to own a car and drive ou t of town). Man y have become charity
shops (selling second-hand item s and staffed by volunteers ) and
discount sto res. Man y of the cen tral stree ts are now reserved for
pedestrians , so that they are m or e pleasant to be in.
Even most small hi gh streets still m ana ge to have at least one
representative of the various kinds of conventional food shop (such
as butcher, grocer, fishmonger, greengrocer), which do we ll by
selling more expensive luxur y item s. (Although the middle classes
use the m, superma rke ts have never been reg arded as 'smart' or
fashionable places in w hich to shop .)
The sur vival of the h igh stree t has been help ed by the fact that
depart me nt stores have been com parat ively slow to m ove out of
tow n . Almos t every large town or su burb has at least one of the se.
They are usually not chain stores and each company runs a m aximum A 'comer shop'
of a few branches in the same reg ion.

Sho p op ening hours

The norma l time for shops to open isnine in the mornin g. Lar ge out -
of-town superm arke ts stay open all day until about eigh t 0' clock.
Most small shops stay open all day (some take a br eak for lun ch ,
usu ally between one and two) and the n close at half-past five or a
bit later. In some towns there is an 'ea rly closin g day' when the sho ps
sh ut at mi dday and do not open again . However, thi s is becomin g
rarer. In fact, over th e last twen ty-five years, shop openin g hours
have becom e m ore varied . Regu latio ns have been relaxed . It is
now much easie r than it used to be to find shop s open after six . In
some areas the local aut hori ties are encour agin g high stree t shops to
1 1)0 15 The eco no m y and everyday life

.. Some well -known names
The best kno wn superm arket chains
arc Sainsbury and Tcsco . altho u gh
there arc others. Asda is the best
known of many d iscount stores.
There is on ly one department
store with a large number of
bra nches. This is Marks & Spence r. It
is so well -known that it is often
refe rred to as 'Marks and Sparks' or
just 'M and S'. To the British, clothes
at M and S arc typ ical of th e middle
range: thcj- are ne ither cheap nor
expensive. fairly good qualit y and
rather co nservative. Unlike most
o the r departme nt stores, M and S
also has a ' food hall' , w here item s
arc mor e expe nsive than the y are in
super mar kets.
In a categ o ry all by Irselfis Woo l-
wort h 's, wh ich used to have a
branch in alm ost every high stree t in
the co unt ry. It sells mostly sweets,
mus ic. foys and ch ildren 's clo thes of
the chea per kind.
stay open very late on some even ing s as a wa y of putting new life
into their' dead' town cent res.
But the most significant change in recent years has been w ith
reg ard to Su nd ays. By the early I 990S man y sho p s, including cha in
stores , wer e ope ning on some Sundays . espe cially in the per iod
before Ch ristmas. In doing th is th ey were taking a ri sk w ith th e law .
Some time s the y were taken to court, so me times not. The rules we re
so o ld and co n fused that nobody reall y kn ew w ha t was and what
wasn't legal. It was agreed that so m e thi ng had to be d one . O n one
sid e were the 'K eep Sunday Special' lo bby, a group of people fro m
vario us Chri stian churches and trade uni on s. They argued that Sunday
shou ld be special, a da y o f re st , a da y for all th e famil y to be to gether.
Th e y also feared th at Sun day- op en in g w o uld m ean that sh o p worke rs
w ould be forced to w ork too many hours. On the othe r side were a
number of lob bies, especiall y people from w omen 's and con sum er
groups. They argued that working women need ed more than one
da y (Satur day) in which to rush around doing th e sho p p in g. In an y
case , the y argu ed , shop p in g was also so m eth in g th at th e wh ol e
fam ily could do to gether . In 1993 Parliament vo ted on the mailer.
By a sm all majori ty, the id ea of a comple te 'free-for-all ' was defea ted .
Sma ll sho ps ar e allow ed to op en on Sundays for as long as they like,
but large shops and supermarkets can on ly op en for a maxim um of
six hours.

Q UES TIONS

I W h at are the d ifferences (if an y) between the 4 In your country. do shops Slay open for more
present ro le of trade unio ns in Britain and their or fewe r hour s a w eek than they do in Britain?
ro le in yo ur country ? Do yo u th ink th e d e-regulation o f sh o p
2 How can banking be such an important pan of opening hours is a go od thin g ?
the British economy when some British people
don't even have bank accounts?
3 Here is an extract from a book written by a
Frenchman who ha s spent a long tim e livin g in
Eng land :
Continentalsare always disconcerted by the English
uuitude to work. They appea r neither to view it as a heary
burden imposed by fate. nor to embrace it as a sacred
obligation. Effort is a matter of personal choice, and
paymen t simply a quid pro quo.
(from LesAnglais by Phillipe Daudy)
Do you find the British attitude to work confus-
ing ? In your country, do people see work as a
' heavy burden ' or a 's acred o bligatio n ' (or
so m e th in g else) ?
 15 1

16
The media

Briti sh people w atch a lot of televis ion. They arc also reported to be ... The national pap ers and
the w o rld 's m ost dedi cated home-vide o users. But this does not Scotland
mean that they have give n up reading . They are the world's third There is an exce ptio n to the domi n-
bigge st newspaper buyers; only the Japan ese and the Swe des bu y ance o f the natio nal press
more. thro ughout Britain. This is in SCOl-
land . w here one paper, the Sunday
Post. sells well over a million copies.
The importance of the national pr ess Ano ther week ly. Scotland on Sunday.
also has a largc circulation. There are
News paper publication is dominated by the national pr ess, w hich is
three other no table 'Scotland only'
an indication of the co m parative weakness o f regi onal identity in pape rs. but two of these, the Clesgev
Britain (see chapter f). Nearly 80% o f all hou seh old s buy a co py of Herold and the Scotsman, are quali ty
o ne o f the ma in nation al papers every day. There are more than pape rs (see page I p) w ith sm all cir-
eighty local and region al da ily papers; bu t the tot al circu lation of all culatio ns and the o ther, the Daily
of them tog ether is much less than the combined circulation o f the Record, is actually the sister paper of
the (Lo ndon) Daily Mirror. The other
natio nal 'dailie s', The o nly non-n ational papers w ith significan t cir-
natio nal British papers are all so ld in
culatio ns are pub lished in the eve nings. when they do not compete Scotland. altho ugh sometimes in
w ith the nation al papers, which alw ays appear in the mo rnin gs. special Scottish editions.
Most lo cal paper s do not appear on Sundays. so on that day the
do minance of the nation al press is absolute . The 'Sunday papers' are
so -called because tha t is the only day on w hich the y app ear. Some o f
them are sisters of a da ily (pub lished by the same com pany) but
em ploy ing sepa rate ed ito rs and journalists.
The morni ng newspaper is a British household institution ; such
an imp ortant o ne that, until the law s we re relax ed in the early 19 9 5,
new sagent s w ere the only shops that we re allowed to open on
Sundays. Peop le co uld not be exp ected to do w ithout the ir new spa-
pers for even o ne day, especially a day when there w as m ore free
tim e to read them . The Sunday papers sell slightly more copies tha n
the national dailies and are thicker. Some o f them have six or mo re
sectio ns making up a total of w ell over 200 pages.
Ano the r ind icalion of the im pa rlance ofthe papers' is the morning
'paper roun d '. Mo st new sagents organize these , and more than half
of the country 's readers gel their morning paper de livered to their
door by a teenager w ho gets up at aro und half-past five every day in
ord er to earn a bit of ex tra pocket mo ney.
15 2 16 Th e m edi a
Different approaches,
different subjects
Here arc so m e det ails of th e fron t
pages of some na tionald ailies for
o ne date (21) March 1993). For each
paper. the first line is the m ain head-
line and the figures in brackets are
the height of the letters used for it.
The Sun
I'V E MES SED UP MY LIF E
(Hcm high)
Topic: an interview with the
Duchess of York
Total tex t on page: 1I) I) words
(one article)
The Dail y Mirror
S m FERGI E' S HIJA CK ED OUR
CHA R I T Y (3 . I) em)
Topic : the activ ities of the Duch ess
of York
Total text o n page: 240 + wo rd s
(two anicles)
The Dail y Exp re ss
MI NIST ER URGES SC H O O L
~ How many do t hey se ll?
CO N DO M S (3 em)
Topic: go vernment cam paign to
red uce teenage pr egnancies
Total text on page: 260 + words
(three articles]
The Times
So u th Afr ica had nucl ear bombs,
admits de Klerk ( t. 7 em )
Total text o n page: 1 ,9 0 + words
(five articles)
The Guardian
Serb sh elling halts U N a ir li ft
(1.7 em)
Topic: the wa r in th e form er Yugo -
slavia
Total text o n pag e: t .900 + words
(fo ur articl es)
The Daily Telegraph
Tory Maastricht rev olt is beat en
off {r. c cm)
Topic: discussion of the Maastrich t
Treat}' in Parliam ent
Total text on page: 2. 100 + words
(five arti cles)
The two types of national newspaper
Each o f the na tional paper s can be character ized as belong ing to one
of tw o distin ct categories. The 'quality papers' , or ' broadsheets',
cater for the bett er educated readers. The 'pop ular pap er s', or 'tab-
loid s', sell to a much larger readership. They co nta in far less print
than the broa dsheets and far more pictur es. They use lar ger headline s
and w rite in a sim pler style o f English . While the broads hee ts devote
m uch space to politics and other 'serious' new s, the tabloids co ncen -
trate on 'h uman int erest ' stories , which often mean s sex and scandal!
How ever, the broadshee ts do not completely ign ore sex and
scandal or any ot her aspect of public life. Both type s of pap er devo te
equal amounts of atten tion to sport . The differen ce betw een them is
in the treatm ent of the to pics they cover, and in which topics are
given the most prominen ce (e- Different approaches, dr fferent subjects).
The reason that the quality ne w spapers are called broadsheets and
the popular ones tabloids is because they are di fferent shapes. The
br oadsheets are twice as large as the tablo ids. It is a my stery why, in
Britain, reading intelligent papers should need highl y-de velop ed skills
of paper -fo lding! But it cert ainl y seems 10 be the rule. In 1989 a new
pape r was publish ed, the Sunday Correspondent , advertising itself as the
count ry's first 'quality tabl oid ' . It closed after one year.
Da ily pape rs Sunday Papers
millio ns mi llions
4 0
Sun Newsofthe World
---- ---
DailyMirror'" Sunday Mirror
DailyMail People
DailyExpress MailonSunday
Star Sunday Express
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Independent --- SundaySport
Sunday Times
lunday Telegraph ---
*
Times
FinancialTimes
Thi s is the com bined figure fo r the tabloids
Observer
Independent onSunday
-
Daily Mirror and the Daily Reco rd broadsheets
The graphs abo ve show the approxi - how ever, is an im provement o n past
m ate average dail y ci rcu latio n decades. In 191)0, for example. they
figures for natio nal nevvspapers in sold twenty times as m an y. Educa-
the carl}' 1990s. Yo u can see that the tio n see ms to be hav ing an e ffect o n
tabloid s sell abo ut six tim es as ma n}' peopl e 's read in g hab its.
cop ies as the broadshee ts. This .
 Th e pr ess: po litic s [ 5" 3

The cha racteristics of the nat ional press: politics

The wa y poli tics is presented in th e natio nal newspapers reflects the
fact that British po litical parties are essen tially parli amentary organ-
izations (see chapter 6) . Although d ifferen t papers have differing
political o utlooks, none of the large new spapers is an o rgan of a
political party. Many are o ften obviously in favour of the policies of
this or that party (and even more obviously against the policies of
anot her party). but none of them would ever use 'w e ' or ' us' to refer
to a certain party (e> Papers and politics).
W hat co unts for the newspaper publishers is bu siness. All of them
are in the bu siness first and foremost to make money. Their primary
concern is to sell as many copies as pos sible and to attract as much
adverti sin g as possible . The y normally put selling copies ahead of
political integri ty. The abrupt turnabout in the stance of the Scoui sh
edition o f th e Sun in earl y 1991 is a good example. It had previously,
along with the Con ser vative party which it norma lly supports , vigor-
ou sly opposed any idea of Scottish indepen dence or home rule; but
w hen it saw the opinion po lls in earl y 19 9 1 (an d bearing in mind its
comparatively low sales in Scotland), it decided to change its mind
com pletely (see chapter 12 ).
The British press is controlled by a rather sma ll n umber of
extre mely large m ultinational companies. Thi s fact helps to explain
two not able featu res. One of these is its freed om from int erfer ence
from governmcnl in fluence , which is virtually absolute. The prc ss is
so powerful in th is respect that it is sometimes referr ed to as ' the
four th estate' (the o ther thr ee being the Commons, the Lords and
the monarch). Th is free do m is en sured because there is a general
.... Pap ers and politics
No ne of th e bi g nat ion al new spapers
' belon gs' to a politica l part y.
How ever, each paper has an idea of
wh at kind of reade r it is appealing
to and a fairly predic table po litica l
outlook. Each can therefore be seen .
rath er sim plis tically, as occupying a
certain position on the right-left
spec trum .
As rOll can see, the right seems to
be heavily over-represented in the
national press. This is not becau se
such a large majorny of British
peo ple hold right-w ing views . It is
part ir because the press tends to be
ow ned by Conse rvauvc part)' sup-
porters. In an)' case. a large nu mber
of read ers are not ' crr Interested in
the political cove rage o f a paper.
They buy it for the sport. or the
human mrercst stories. o r for some
oth er reason .
154 16 The media

feeling in the country that 'freedom of speech ' is a basic cons titu-
tional right. A strik ing example of the im portan ce of freed om of
speech occurred du ring the Second World War. During thi s tim e ,
the country had a coalition go venunent of Con servative and Labo ur
politicians, so that there wa s really no opposition in Parlia m ent at
all. At on e time, the cabine t w anted to use a specia l wartime regulation
to temporaril y ban the Daily Mirror, w hic h had been consistently
cri tical of the government. The Labour parly , w hich until then ha d
been com pletely loyal to the government , immediately demanded a
debate on the matter, and th e other na tional papers, although they
disagreed with the opinions of the Mirror, all leapt to its defen ce and
opp osed the ban . The government wa s forc ed to back down and the
Mirror continued to appear throughout the war.

The cha racteristics of the na tio nal press: sex and scan dal
'stories' are not arti cles at all, they are just excuses to show picture s
~ S e x a nd scandal
Sex and scandal sell ne wspapers. In
September 1992, when there were
plenty of such stories around invo l-
ving famous peop le and royalty .
sales of tabloids went up by
122,000. But in October, w hen
stories of this kind had dried up, they
fell by more than 200 ,000. Even the
quality Observer got in on the acr. On
II Octo ber 199 2, its m agazine
section feature d nine pages of
photos of the pop~star Madonna
taken from Sex (her best -selling
book). That week . its sales were
74,000 greater than usual. The next
Sunday, without Madonna , they
were exactly 74 ,000 less than th ey
had been the week before.
The ot her feature of the nat ional press w hich is part ially the result of
the commercial in terests of its owners is its shallowness. Few othe r
European countries have a popular pre ss w hich is so 'low'. Some of
the tabloids have almost given up even the preten ce of dealing with
serious m atters. Apart from sport , their pag es are full of lu tle except
stories abou t the private lives of famous peopl e. Sometimes their
of almos t naked w omen . Du rin g the I 98 0s, page three of the Sun
became infamous in this respect and the wo me n w ho posed for its
photographs became known as 'page three gir ls' .
The desire to attract more read ers at all cos ts ha s m ean t that ,
these days, even th e broadsh eets in Britain can look rather 'popular'
when com pared to equivalent 'quality' pap ers in some othe r
countries. They are still serious new spapers containin g hig h -quahty
ar ticles whose presentation of factual infor mation is usually reliable.
But even they now give a lot of coverage to new s wi th a ' hu man
in terest' ang le when they have the opportun ity. (The treatm ent by
The Sunday Times of Prince Charles and Princess Diana is an example -
see chapter 7.)
Th is emphasis on revealing the deta ils of people 's private lives has
led to discussion abou t the poss ibl e need to restric t the freed om of the
press. This is because , in behaving th is wa y, the pr ess has found itself
in conflict w ith another British principl e which is as stro n gly felt as
that of freedom of speech - the rig ht to pr ivacy. Man y journ alists
now appear to spend the ir time trying to discover the most sens a-
tio nal secrets of w ell-known perso na lities, or even of ordinary people
who, by chance, find them selves connected with some ne w sw orthy
situation. There is a w idespread feeling that, in doin g so , they beh ave
too intrusively .
Com plaints regarding in vasions of pri vacy are dealt with by the
Press Complain ts Commission (PCC). This organ izatio n is made up
 The press: sex and scanda l l S"l)"

of new spaper ed itors an d journa lists. In o the r words, the pr ess is ... The rest ofth e p re ss
sup pose d to regul ate itself. It follows a Code of Practice which sets If you go into any well -stocked
limits on the extent to which new spapers should publish det ails of newsagcm 's in Britain . you will not
people's private lives. Many people are not happ y with this arrange- only find newspapers . You will also
ment and various governmen ts have tried to formulate law s on the see rows and rows of magazines
catering for almost every imaginable
matter. How ever , against the right to pri vacy the pr ess has success-
taste and specializing in almost
fully been able to oppose the conce pt of the publi c's ' right to know '. every imaginable past ime. Among
Of course , Britain is not the only country w he re the pre ss is con - these pu blications there arc a few
trolled by large companies with the same single aim of m aking weekli es dea ling w ith news and
profit s. So why is the British press m ore frivolou s? The answ er may cu rren t affairs. Part ly because the
lie in the func tion of the Briti sh press for its readers. British adults national press is so pr edic table (an d
often so trivial) , some of these
neve r read comics. These publication s, which consist entire ly of
peri odicals manage to achieve a cir -
picture sto ries, are read on ly by children. It would be embarrassin g culation of more tha n a hu nd red
for an adult to be seen reading one. Adults w ho w ant to read some- thousand .
thing very simple, w ith plenty of pictures to help the m , have almost The Economist is of the same type as
nowhere to go but the nat ional press. Most people do n 't usc news- Time, Newsweek, Der Spiegel and L'Express.
papers for 'serious' news. For this, they turn to another so urce- Its analyses. however, are generally
more thorough. It is fairly obviously
broadcasting. right-wing in its view s. but the
writing is of very high -quality and
that is why it has the reputation of
being one of the best weeklies in the
world.
The New Statesmen and Society is the
lcfi-wtng equivalent of The Economist
and is equa lly serious and well-
writt en .
Private Eye is a satirical magazine
which makes fu n of all panics and
po liticians. and also makes fun of the
mainstream press . It specializes in

BEHIND SERB political scandal and , as a result. is

forever defending itself in legal

LINES ::~'~snia actions. It is so omrageous that some

chains of newsagems sometimes
refuse 10 sell it. Although its humour
is often very 'schoolboyish'. it is also
well-written and it is said that no
politician can resist reading it.
The country's bestsell ing maga-
zine is the Radio Times, which, as w ell
as listi ng all the television and radio
programm es for the coming wee k ,
contains some fifty pages of articles.
(Note the typically British appeal (Q
continuity in the name 'Rad io
Times'. The magazi ne was first pub-
lished before television existed and
has never bothered to update its
mle.)

Examples ofsome well-known weekly magazines

156 16 The media

Th e BBC
Just as the British Parliament has the reputatio n for being 'the moth er
o f parliaments' , so the BBC might be said to be ' the mother o f
info rmatio n services'. Its reputatio n for impartiality and o bjectivity
in news reporting is , at least when co mpared to news broadcasting
in many o ther co untries. largely justified. Whenever it is accused o f
bias by one side of the politi cal spectrum, it can always po int o ut that
the o ther side has co mp lained of the sam e thin g at some o ther time .
so the com plaints are evenly balanced. In fact, the BBC has often
sho w n itself to be rather proud of the fact tha t it gets com plaints from
both sides of the po litical divide, because this testifies not only to its
impartiality but also to its independ ence.
Interestingly, though, thi s independen ce is as much the result of
habit and common agreem ent as it is the result of its legal status. It
is true that it depends neither o n advertising no r (directly) o n the
governme nt for its inc om e. It ge ts this from the licence fee which
everybody w ho uses a television set has to pay. Ho wever, the govern-
ment decid es how much this fee is going 10 be , appoints the BBe's
Broadcasting Hause, headquarters af the boa rd of go vernors and its direc tor gene ral, ha s the right 10 veto an y
BBC

... H igh ideals and ind ependence

The refere nce to o ne man in the

inscription o n the right. which is
fou nd in the entra nce to Broad -
cas ting House (headquarters of the T HI S TEMPL E TO THE ARTS AN D MUSES
BBC). is appropriate. British politi- IS DEDI CATED
cians were slow (0 appreciate the
TO ALM IG H TY GO D
social significance ofthe wireless'
BY TH E FIR ST GO VERNORS
(this is wha t the radio w as ge nerally
kno w n as unt il the 19 60 s) . More - IN TH E YEAR OF OUR LORD 19 3 1
o ver, bein g British, they did not like JOH N REITH BEING D IRECTOR -GE NERAL
the idea of having to debat e cu lture AND THEY PRAY THAT TH E GOOD SEED SO WN
in Parliam ent . They were o nly to o
MAY BRI NG FORTH GOOD H ARVEST S
happy 1O leave the ma tter [0 a sui t-
TH AT ALL THI N GS FO U L O R H O STIL E TO PEACE
able organization and its director
general. John (later Lord) Reith . MAY BE BANI SH ED H ENC E
Rei th was a ma n w ith a missio n. AND TH AT TH E PEOPLE INCLI NI NG TH EIR EAR
He saw in rad io an o pport unity for TO WH ATSOEVER THI NGS AR E LO VELY AN D HONEST
'education ' and initi atio n into 'hig h WHATSOEVER THI NGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT
culture' fo r the ma sses. He included
MAY TRE AD THE PATH OF VIRTU E
light entertainment in the prog ram
AN D OF WI SDO M
mingo but o nly as a way of capturing
an aud ience for the more 'import-
ant' programmes of classical music
and drama, and the discussions of
various topics by famou s academ ics
and authors w hom Reith had per-
suaded to take pan .
 Tele vision : organization I ~7

BBC programme before it has been transmitted and even has the .... BBC radio
right to take awa y the BBC's licence to broadcast. In theory. therefore . Radio 1 began broadcasting in
it would be easy for a government to influence what the BBC docs. 1967 . Devoted almost enti rely to
Nevertheless. partly by historical accident (I> High ideals and pop music, its birth was a Signal that
independence). the BBC began. right from the start . to establish its effec t- popular you th culture cou ld no
longer be ignored by the cou ntry's
ive independence and its reputation for im partiality. This first
established insunuions. In spite of
occurred through the medium of radio broadcast s to people in recent competition from independ-
Britain . The n . in 1932 the BBC Wo rld Service w as set up. w ith a ent commercial radio stations . it still
licence to bro adcast first to the em pire and then to o ther parts of the has over ten million listeners.
world . Dur in g the Second World War it became iden tified wi th the Radio 2 broadcasts mainly ligh t
pr inciples of dem ocracy and free speec h. In thi s way the BBC's fame music and chat shows .
became in ternation al. Today. the Worl d Service still broadcasts
Radi o 3 is devoted to classical music.
around the globe . in English and in seve ral o the r languages. In 1986
Radio 4- broadcasts a variety of pro-
the Prime Minister of Ind ia, Mrs Indh ira Ghandi, was assassinated.
gramme s. from plays and comedy
Wh en her son Rajiv first heard reports tha t she had been attacked . he shows to co nsumer advice pro-
immediately tuned to the BBC Wo rld Service to get details that he grammes and in-depth news
co uld rely Oil. The BBC also runs five national radio stations inside coverage. It has a small but dedicated
Britain and several local ones (I> BBC radio) . followi ng.

Radio 5 is largel y given over to

Television : organi zati on spo rts coverage and news.

In terms of the size o f its audience, telev ision has lon g since taken Two particular radio programm es
should be mentioned. Soap operas
over from radio as the mos t sign ificant fo rm of br oadcasting in
arc normally associated with televi-
Britain. Its inde pe ndence from gov ernm ent interference is largely a sion. but The Archers is actually the
matter of tacit agreem ent. There have been occ asio ns when the gov- longest-runn ing soap in the world .
er nmen t has success fully persuaded the BBC not to show some thing. It describes itself as 'an everyday
But there have also been man y occasions when the BBC has refused story of cou ntry folk '. Its audience ,
[Q bow to government pressure. Mo st rece nt cases have involved
which is mainly middle-c lass wit h a
large proportion of elde rly people ,
Northern Ireland . For a brief peri od starting in the late t 980s . the
cannot compare in size w ith the
govermnent broke with the convention of non-in terference and television soaps. but it has become
banned the transmi ssion of interview s with members of outlawed so famo us that everybody in Britain
organizations such as the IRA on televi sion . The BBC's response wa s knows abo ut it and tourist attrac-
to make a mocker y of this law by showing such interviews on the tions have been designed to
capitalize on its fame.
screen with an actor's voice (with just the right accent) dub bed over
Ano ther radio 'institut ion' is the
the moving mouth of the interview ee! live co mmentary of cricket Test
There is no adverti sin g on the BBC. But Independe nt Television Matches in the slimmer (see
(lTV). w hich started in ' 9 54 . gets its mon ey from the advertise- chapter 21) .
ment s it screens. It co nsis ts o f a number o f privately owned
com panies , each of wh ich is responsible for programnling in di ffer-
ent pan s of the coun try on the Single channel given to it. In practice,
these co mpanies canno t afford to make all their o wn progr amm es ,
and so they generally share those th ey mak e. As a result. it is common
for exac tly the same programme to be showing on the lT V channel
th roughou t the country.
When commercial television began, it was feared that advert isers
w ould have too mu ch co ntrol over programming and that the new
channe l would exhibit all the worst features of tabloid journalism .
The Labour party, in o ppo sitio n at the time of its introduction , wa s
158 16 The media

ab solutely against it. So were a num ber of Con ser valive and Liberal
po litician s. Over th e years , however , th ese fears have proved to be
unfounde d . Com me rcial television in Britain has not developed th e
habi t of showing pr ogrammes spo nso red by m anufac tu rers. There
has recently been so m e re laxation of th is policy, but adve rtise rs have
never had the infl uen ce over pro gram m in g that th ey have had in
the USA.
Mos t im po rtantly for th e structure of co m mercial televisio n , lTV
news pro gram me s are no t m ade by individ ual televisio n co m panies.
Independent Television News (ITN) is o w ne d jointly by all of the m .
For thi s and o ther reasons, it has alw ays been pro tected fro m com-

.... The four channe ls

These are the channels which all viewe rs in th e co unt ry rec eive.

Started 1982
Advertising No Yes No Yes

Early weekday mornings A rather re laxed style of news Open University A very informal
magazine punctuated with more programm es breakfa st sho w
formal news summaries

Mornings and early afternoons Popu lar discussio n programmes. Educational prog rammes, some
quizzes. soaps and a relaxed type of aimed at schoo ls and others with
magazine programm e, usually with a a more gene ral educational pur pose
male-female pair of presenters

Late afternoons Children's programmes, wh ich vary Gen eral doc umentary and feat ures
greatly in style and content

Evenings News (including regional news Documentar ies and programme s

programm es) and t he mo st po pular appea ling to mino rity inte rests;
soaps . dra mas. com edies , films and drama and 'alternative' comedy;
various programmes of light co mparat ively se riou s and 'in-depth'
en tertainment and general int erest news programmes

Open University
(late at night)

Weekends Much of weekend aftern oon s are devoted to spo rt. Saturday evenings include
the most popu lar live variety shows.

13,;;,1,14' Started in 1997.-lt is a commercial channel (it gets its money

fro m advertis ing) which is rece ived by about two-thirds of
British hou seholds. It s em phasis is o n ente rtai nme nt (for
example , it screens a film every night at peak viewing time).
Howeve r, it makes all other types of prog ramme too.
Of particular note is its unconvention al presentation of the
news , which is designed to appe al to yo unge r adults.

Th er e is also a Welsh language channel for viewers in Wa les.

 Television: ,>tyk I ~9

merc ial influence. There is no sign ificam difference between the style .... Glu ed to th e gogg le box
and content of the news on lT V and th ai on the BBC. As lo ng ago as 191) 1. it wav c:..urnatcd
The same fears abou t the quality of televi sion programmes that tha t rwcn tj- million viewer..
were expressed when lT V starred are now heard w ith regard to watched the BBC\ cmc'rage of the
satellite and cab le television . This time the fears may be more justified , corona tion of Queen Elizabeth II. By
197 .9+% of Bnush households
as the companies tha t run sate llite and cab le telev ision channels are
had a television set (know n collo-
in a sim ilar commercial an d legal positio n to those which own the
qu ially as a 'g oggle box '). mostly
big ne\vspape rs (and in some cases are actually the same com panies). rented rat her tha n bought. No w.
However, only abo ut a third of househ old s receive satellite and/or 99 % of homehold s ow n o r ren t a
cable , and so far these channe ls have not significantly reduced the telev ision and the most popular pro -
view ing figures for the main national channels. grammcs are wat ched by as many
people as claim to read thc Sun and
the Daily Mirror combined .
Television : style Television broadcasti ng in Britain
has expanded to fill C\"CT}' pan of
Although the advent ofITV did not affect television coverage of new s
every day of thc week. One of thc
and current affair s, it did cause a cha nge in the style and co ntent of four chan nel.. (l T V) neve r takes a
othe r programmes show n on television . The amount o f mon ey that break ( it broadcasts for twenty-fou r
a television company can charge an adverti ser depends on the ho urs) and the others broadcast
expected number of view er s at the time when the advertisement is to fro m aro un d six in the morning until
be show n . Therefore, there was pressure on lT V from the start to after m idnight. A survcy reported in
early [99 + that +0% of British
make its outpu t popular. In its early years lTV captur ed nearl y three-
people watc hed more than three
quarters of the BBC's au dience. The BBC then responded by makin g hours of telev ision cvery day: and
its own programmes equally accessible to a ma ss audience. Ever since [6 % \ v atchcd seve n hours or m or e !
then , the re ha s bee n little significant differen ce in what is sho wn o n Television news is wa tched ever y
the BBC and com mercial televisio n . Both BBC I and lTV (an d also day by mo re than half cfthc popu la-
tio n. As a result , its prc scntcrs are
the more recen t Channe l 5) show a w ide variety of pr ogrammes.
among the best-kn own names and
They are in co nstant competition w ith each othe r to attract the faces in the whole cou nt ry - one of
largest au dience (this is known as the ratings wa r). But they do not them once boasted that he was more
each try to show a more popular type of program me tha n the famous than ro yalty!
other. They try instead to do the same type of programme 'better' .
Of particular importance in the ra ting s war is the performance of
the channels' various soap operas. The two most popular and long-
running of these, which are shown at least twice a week, are not
glamorous American productions showing rich and powe rful
people (althoug h series such as Dallas and Dynasty are sometimes
shown). They are lT V's Coronation Street, w h ich is set in a working-class
area near Man chester, and BBC 1's EastEnders, w hich is set in a w or kin g-
class area ofLo ndon. They, an d other British -made soaps and popular
comedies, cer tainly do not pain t an idealized pictu re of Hfe. No r are
they ver y sensationa l or dra matic. The y dep ict (r elatively) or dinary
lives in relatively or dinary circum stances. So w hy are they popular ?
The answ er seems to be that their viewers can see themselves and
other people they know in the characte rs and , even more so, in the
thin gs that happen to these characters.
The British prefer thi s kind of pseudo-realism in their soaps. In the
early I 990S, the BBC spent a lot of money filming a new soap called
Eldorodo, set in a small Spanish village which was home to a lar ge
number of expatriate British people. Although the BBC used its most
I 60 16 The m edia

.... Th e ratin gs: a typical we ek

The ratings are dominated by the
soaps (Coronation Street, EastEnders,
Neighbours and Emmerdale) and so ap-
style dramas (Casualty, w h ich is set
in a hospital, and The Bill, which is
about the police) . Light-en tertain-
mcnt talk shows also feature prom-
inently (e.g . This Is Your Life,
Barrymore and Noel's House Party) and
quiz shows are sometimes very
popular (e .g . Countdown). It is unusual
that on ly one comedy programme
appears below (Red Dwarf). Cert ain
cinema films can also gel high
ratings (marked ** below) . Science
fiction remains a popular genre;
Quantum Leap and Red Dwarf are bo th
long -runn ing series. Sports pr o -
grammes appear in the top ten when
they feature a particular sporting
occasion . This happens freque nt ly.
Ther e is on e example in the list
below (TheBig Fight Live) .
The list inclu des just one repr es-
entative of 'high culture' : the dram -
atization of the nove l Middlemcrch. by
the nineteen th cent ur y author
Geor ge Eliot. There are tw o docu -
mcn tancs. a travel series (Great
Railway Journeys) and a scien ce series
(Horizon). Characters from 'Coronation Street'
The Annques Rccdshow comes fro m a
diffe ren t locat ion in the country
every wee k. In it , local people bring
along objects fro m their houses and
ask experts how much they are
worth .
Apart fro m the films, there is on ly
one Ame rican pro gra m me in the list
below (Quan tum leap).

The to p twenty telev ision pro grammes in t he first week of Feb rua ry 1994
million s of viewers
10 II 11 IJ 14 15 16 17 18 19

Coronati on Street"
East Ender s *
Cas ualty
This is Your Life
Th ree Men and a Litt le Lady**
The Bill *
Barr ymo re
The Big Fight Live
Noe l's Ho use Par t y
Emme rdale
Antiq ues Roadshow
Neighbo urs *
Th e Po pe Must Die **
Co untdown *
She Knows Too Much**
Mi ddle march
Quantu m Leap
Red Dwarf
Gr eat Railway Jo urn eys
Ho rizo n

lT V SSC I Channel4 SSC 2

* Average for th e week (pro grammes shown more t han once a wee k)
** Fil m
Source: BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Ltd)
 Questions andsuggestions I 6I

successful soap producers and directors , it was a com plete failure.

Viewers fou nd the complicated storylines and the Spanish accent s
too difficult to follow, and could not iden tify with the situations in
which the characters found themselves. It was all just too glamorous
for them. It was abandone d after on ly a year.
It became ob viou s in the early 1960s that the popularity of soap
operas and light entertainment shows mean t that there w as less room
for programmes which lived up to the original educational aims of
television. Since 1982 Britain has had two channels (BBC2 and
Channel 4) which act as the ma in promoters of learning and
'culture '. Both have been successful in presenting programmes on
serio us and w eighty topics w hich are nevertheless attractive to
quit e large audienc es. BBC2 is fam ous for its highly acclaimed
dramatizations of great works of literature and for certain docu-
mentary series that have becom e world-famous 'classics' (the art
history series Civilisation and the natural history series Life On Earth
are examples). Another thing that these channels do we ll, particu -
larly Channel 4 , is to show a w ide varie ty of program mes catering
to minority intersts - including, even, subtitled foreign soap operas!

Q UES TIONS

1 It is easy to tell by the size and shape of British
new spap ers what kindsof readers they are
aime d at. Wha t are the two ma in types called,
and who reads them ? What other di fferences
are the re between newspapers? Are there sim-
ilarly clear distinctions betw een types of
new spaper in yo ur country?
2 The dominant force in British Broadcasting is
the BBe. What enab led it to achieve its posi tion,
and how doe s it maintain this?Can you describe
some of the characteristics which give the BBC
its special pos ition in Britain and in the rest of
the world?
3 There is one aspect of newspaper publishing
which, in the 1980s and 1990s, received a lot
of public and parliamentary criticism. Peop le
felt that the invasion of pri vacy of pri vate indi-
viduals and public figure s (such as members of
the royal family) had reach ed un accepta ble
levels. Legislation wa s drafted , bu t there was no
new law passed to con trol the press's activities.
What problem s are there in Britain w ith getting
legislation like this approved ' What argum ents
can be put forward in favour ofkeeping the
status quo ? How is the press controlled in yo ur
country?
4 Wha t does the television ratings chart tell you
about British viewing habits' Does this tell you
anything about the British ' What are the most
popular television progranlmes in yo ur
coun try? What doe s this reveal, if anythin g,
about your nation?

S UG GES TI ONS

Have a look at a couple of examp les of each type of national news -

paper. Try to get hol d of examp les from the same day.
If you do n' t already do so , listen to th e BBC World Service if you can.
162
.. Th e romance of trav el: th e
steam e ng ine
Perhaps because the)' were the first
means of mass transportauon.
perhaps becausethey go through the
heart of the countryside, there is an
aura of romance attached to trains in
Britain . Many thousand s o f peo ple
aTCenthus iastic 'train spo tters' wh o
spend an astonishing amou nt of
time at statio ns and along the side s
o f railway lines tTying to 'spo t' as
many diffe rent engines as poss ible .
Steam trains. sym bolizing the coun -
try's lost indust rial power, have the
greatest roma nce of all. Many
ent h usiasts spe nd their free time
keepi ng the m in operatio n and
finance this by offering rides ( 0 to ur-
ists. In '993 more than 10 million
journe ys were taken on steam trains
in Europe . More than 80% o f those
journeys were taken in Britain.
The AA and the RAe
These are the in itials of the Auto-
mobile Assoc iatio n and the Royal
Automobile Club. A driver who
joins e ither o f them (by paying a
subscriptio n) can gct emergency
help when his or her car breaks
do w n. The fact that bot h organize-
tions arc very \vell- kno wn is an
in d icati on of the im po rtance o f the
car in modern Bri tish life .
17
Transport
The British are enthusiastic abo ut mobility. They regard the oppor-
tuni ty to travel far and frequently as a right. Some co m m ute rs spend
up to two or three hou rs each day gelling to work in Lo ndo n or some
o ther big city and back ho me to thei r subu rban or country ho mes in
the evening. Mo st people do not spend qui te so long each day travel-
ling , but it is taken for granted th at few pe opl e live near eno u gh to
their work or secondary school to ge t there o n foo l.
As elsewhere in Europe, transpor t in modern Britain is dominated
by the mo tor car and there are the att endant probl em s of traffic
congestion and po llution. These pro blem s are, in fact, more acute
than they are in many other countries bo th because Britain is densely
populated and also becau se a very high proportion of goods are
transported by road. There is an additional reaso n for co nges tio n in
Britain . W hile the British wa nt the freedom to move aro und easily,
they do not like living near big roads or railwa ys. Any proposed new
road or rail project lead s to ' hou sin g blight' . The value of houses
along or ne ar the proposed route goes dow n . Every such project is
attended by an ene rgetic cam paign to stop construction. Partl y for
this reason , Britain has , in proport ion to its popu lation, fewer kilo -
m etres of main road and railway than any o ther co untry in no rthern
Europe.
Transport po licy is a matter o f con tinual debate. During the 1980s
the gove rn me nt's attitude wa s tha t public transport should pay for
itself (and should not be given su bsidies) and ro ad building w as
given priority. However, the opposite poi nt of view , which argues
in favour of public transport , ha s become stronger durin g the 1 9 9 0 S,
partly as a result of pressure from enviro nment al groups. It is now
generally accepted th at transport po licy should attempt to more than
m erely accommodate the predicted do ubling in the num ber of cars
in the nex t thirty years, but sho uld co nsider w ider issues.
On the road
Nearl y th ree -quarters of househ olds in Britain have regular use of a
car and about a quarter have mor e than one car. The wi despread
enthusiasm for cars is, as elsewhere , par tly a result of peop le using
the m to pro ject an image of themselv es. Apart from the o bvio us status
in dic ators such as size and speed, the British system of vehicle regis-
 Public transpo rt in town s and cities I 63

tratio n introduce s another. Registration plates, known as 'number ... The declin e of th e lollip op lady
plates' . give a clear indication of the age of cars. Up to 1999 the re In 195" 3 most schoolchild ren walked
was a different letter of the alphabet for each year and in sum mer 1O school. For this reason, school
there were a lo t o f advertiseme nts for cars on televisio n and in the crossing patrols were Introduced . A
newspapers because the new registration 'year' beg an in Augus t. 'patrol' cons ists of an adul t wearin g
a bright wa terproof coa t and carry-
Another possible reason for the British being so attached to their
ing a red-an d-white stick with a
cars is the opportunity which they provide to indulge the national circular sign at the top w hich reads
passion fo r privacy. Bei ng in a car is like taking your 'castle' w ith yOll ST O P. CH ILDREN . Armed w ith
wherever you go (see chap ter 19) . Perh aps this is why the occasional this 'lollip op' , the adult walks out
attemp ts to persuade people to 'car poor (to share the usc of a car to into the middle of the road. stops
and from work) have met w ith little success. the traffic and allows children to
cross. 'Lollipop ladies ' (80% o f
The privacy factor may also be the reason why British drivers are
them are women) are a familia r pan
less 'com mun icative ' than the drive rs of ma ny other countries. They of the British landscape. But since
use their horns very little. are not in the habit of Signalling their the 1980s. they have become a
displeasure at the behaviour of o the r road users wit h their hands an d speci es in decline . So man}' children
are a little nlore tolerant of bo th oth er drivers and pedestrians. They are now driven to school by car that
local auth orities are less w illing to
are also a little more safety conscious. Britain has the best road safety
spend mone r on them. Howe ver.
record in Europe. The speed limit on motorways is a little lower than because there are more cars than
in most other countries (7 0 m ph = t 12 kph) and people go over this there used to be . those children who
limit to a so mew hat lesser extent. In additio n , there are freque nt and are not driven 1O school need them
costly government campai gns to encourage road safety. Before more than ever. The modern loll i-
Christmas 1992 . for instance. 2.3 million was spent on such a pop lady has survived by going
com mercial! In 1993 Volkswagen
campaign.
signed a deal to dress Londo n's
Another indi cation that the car is perceived as a private space is r,000 lollipop ladies in co ats wh ich
that Britain was o ne of the last co untries in w estern Euro pe to intro- bear the co mpany's logo . Many
duce the compulsory wearing of seat belts (in spi te of British concern o ther local authorities in the country
for safety) . This measure was . and still is. cons idered by many to be arranged similar deals.
a bit of an infrin gement of personal liberty.
The British are not very keen on mo peds or m otorcycles. They
ex ist, of cour se , but they are not private enough fo r British tastes.
Every year twent y times as many new cars as two-whee led motor
vehicles are registered. Millions of bicycles are used . especially by
you nge r peop le , but exce pt in certain university towns such as
Oxford and Camb ridge. they are not as common as they are in
othe r parts of north -western Europe. Britain has been rather slow
to organize spec ial cycle lanes. The comparative safety of the roads
means that parents are no t too worried abou t their children cycl ing
on the road along wi th cars and lorries.

Public transport in towns and cities

Public transport services in urban areas , as elsew here in Euro pe, suffer
from the fact that the re is so much private traffic on the roads that
they are not as cheap. as frequent or as fast as they otherwise could
be. They also stop running inconveni ent ly early at night. Efforts have
A lollipop lady at a zebra crossing
been made to speed up jou rney times by reserving certain lanes for
r buses, but so far there has been no wi despread attemp t to give
pr iori ty to public transport vehicles at traffic ligh ts.
[64 17 Transport

.. Th e road to hell An in teresting modern development is that trams, w hich disap-

The M21) is the rnotorway which peared fro m the country's towns duri ng the 19 50Sand 1960 s, are
circles Lo nd on. Its history exempli- no w ma king a comeback. Research ha s show n that peo ple seem to
fies the transport crisis in Britain. have more confidence in the relia bili ty of a service which runs on
When the first section was opened tracks, and are there for e readi er to use a tram tha n they would be to
in 1963 it was seen as the answer to
use an ord inary bu s.
the area's traffic problems. But by
the earl)"! 1990S the congestion on it Britain is on e of the few countries in Europe w here dou ble-d ecker
was so bad that traffic jams had buses (I.e. w ith two floors) are a com mon Sight. Alth oug h siu gle-
become an everyday occurrence. A deckers have also been in use since the I 960s , London still has more
rock song of the time called it 'the than 3,000 double-deckers in operation . In their original form they
road to hell' . In an effort to relieve w ere 'hop-o n, hop-off ' buses. That is, there we re no door s, just an
the congestion, the government
opening at the back to the ou tside . Th ere w as a conductor w ho walked
announced plans to \....iden some
parts of it to fourteen lanes - and aro und collecting fares w hile the bus wa s m oving . How ever, most
thus to import from America \....hat buses these days , incl uding doubl e-deckers, have separate doo rs for
would have been Europe's first gett ing on and off and no conductor (fares are paid to the dri ver).
'super highways". This plan pro - The fam ous Lon don Underground, known as ' the tu be ' , is feeling
voked Widespread opposition.
th e effects of its age (it wa s first opene d in 1863). It is now one of
th e dirtie st and least efficien t of all such systems in European citi es.
How ever, it is still heavily used because it provides exce llen t co nn ec-
tions with the ma in lin e train statio ns and wit h the suburbs
surrounding the city.
... W hat t he Briti sh motorist
hate s most Another sym bol ofLondon is the distinctive black taxi (in fact,
they are not all black these days, nor are they confi ned to Londo n).
Traffic wardens are not police
officers, but they have the force of
law behind them as they walk A traffic warden giving a parking ticket to
aro und leaving parking tickets on the a motorist
windscreens of cars that are illegally
parked. By convention, they are
widely feared and disliked by British
motorists . Every year there are
nearly a hundred serious attac ks on
them . In 1993 government advisers
decided that thei r im age should
change. They were officially
renamed 'parking atten dants'
(although everyone still calls the m
traffic wardens).
Traffic cones are orange and
white, about a me tre tall and ma de
of plastic. Their appearance Signals
that some part of the road ahead (the
pan marked out by the cones) is
being repaired and therefore ou t o f
usc, and that therefore there is pro b-
ably going to be a long delay.
Workers placin g them in position
have had eggs thrown at them and
lorry drivers have been accused by
police of holding competitions to
run them down . On any one day at
least 100,000 of them are in use on
the country's roads. Traffic cones on the Mr motorway
 Public t r~ nspo rt between towns and cities J 61)

According to the traditional stereotype , the owner-drivers of London iii'- Queueing

taxis, known as cabbies , are friendly Cockneys (see chapter 4) who An Engl ishman, even if he is alon e,
never SlOp talking. While it may not be true that they are all like this, for ms an orderly queue of one.
they all have to demonstrate, in a difficult examination, detailed GE ORGE MI KES

fam iliar ity with London's streets and bu ildings before they are given Waiting for buses allows the British
to indulge their supposed passion
their licence. (Th is fam iliarity is known sim ply as 'the knowledge '.)
for queueing. Whe ther this really
Normally, the se traditional taxis cannot be hired by phone. You signifies civilized patience is debat-
sim ply hav e to find one on the street. But there are also ma ny taxi able (sec chapter 5). But queueing is
companies w ho get most of the ir business over the phone. Their taxis certainly taken seriously. When
are known as 'minicabs'. They tend to have a reputation , no t alwa ys buses serving severa l different num-
justified , for unreliability as well as for cha rging un suspecting tourists bered routes stop at the same bus
stop, instructions on it sometimes
outrageous prices (in conunon w ith taxis all over the world) .
tell people to queue on one side for
Ho w ever, taxis and minicabs are expensive and mos t British people some of the buses and on the other
rarely use them, except , perhaps, when go ing home late at night after side for others. And yes, people do
public tran sp ort has stoppe d running, espec ially if they have been get offended if anybody tries to
drinking alco hol. 'jump the queue'.

Public tran sport between towns and cities

It is po ssibl e to travel on public transport be tween lar ge towns or
cities by road or rai l. Coach services are generally slower than train s
but are also m uch chea pe r. In som e parts of the coun try , particularl y
the south-east of En gland, there is a dense su burban rail network,
but the most comm ercially su ccessful trains are the Inter -City services
.... Th e domi nance o f London
that run betw een London and the thirty or so largest cities in the
country. The arrangement of the country's
The differenc e be tween certain trains is a fascinating reflection of transp ort network illustrates the
dominance of London. London is at
British insularity. Elsewhere in Europe, the fastest and smart est trains
the centre of the network, with a
are the internation al ones. But in Britain, they are the Inter -City trains. 'web' of roads and railways com ing
The int ernational tra ins from London to the Channel ports of from it. Britain's road -numbering
New haven , Dover and Ramsgate are often uncomfortable commuter system, (M for motorways, then
trains stopping at several different stations. A, Band C class roads) is based on
The number s of trains and train routes were slow ly but con- the direction out of London that
roads take.
tinuou sly reduced over the last forty years of the twentie th century.
It is notable that the names of the
In October 1993 the national train timetable scheduled 1 0 , 0 0 0 few er main Lond on railway stations are
trains than in the previous October. The changes led to many com- known to almost everybody in the
plaints. The people of Lincoln in eastern Englan d, for example, were country, whereas the names of sta-
worried about the ir tourist trade. This town, which previously had tions in other cit ies are only known
to those w ho use them regu larly or
fifteen trains arr iving on a Sunday from four differen t directions ,
live nearby. The names of the
found that it had only four, all arriving fro m the same direction . The Lond on stations are: Channg Cross,
Rambl ers' Associatio n (for people who like to go walk ing in the Euston. King's Cross, Liverpool
coun tryside) w ere also furious because the ten trains on a Sunday Street, Paddington, St Pancras, vtc-
from Derby to Matlock, near the highest m oun tains in England , had rona . Waterloo. Each runs trains
on ly in a certa in direction am of
all been cancelled . At the lime , however, the governmen t wanted
London . If your journey takes you
very much to priva tize the railways. Therefore, it had to ma ke them through Lond on , you have to use
look financially attractive to investors, and the way to do this was to the Underground to get from one of
cancel as many unprofitable services as poss ible. these stations to another.
I 66 17 Transport
...Le comprom ise
One small but remarkable success of
the chunncl (the Channel tunnel)
enterprise seems to be linguistic.
You might think that there would
have been some argument. Which
language would be used to talk
about the chunnel and th ings con-
nected w ith it? English or French?
No problem! A working com prom-
ise w as soon established, in wh ich
English nouns are combined wi th
French words of other grammatical
classes. For example, the com pany
that built the chunnel is called Trans-
mcnche Link (lc Mcnche is the French
name for the Channel). and the train
which carries vehicles through the
tunnel is officially called Le Shuttle.
This linguistic mix ing quickly
became popular in Britain . On 1 2
February 1994. hundred of vol un-
teers w alked the .')0 kilom etres
through the chunnel to raise mo ney
for charity. The Daily Mail, the British
newspaper that organized the even t.
publicized it as 'Le walk'. and th e
British me dia reponed on the pro-
gress of 'Les walkers'.
The story of th e ch unnel
On Friday 6 May '994, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and Preside nt
Mitterand of France travelled cerem on ially under the sea that separ-
ates their two countries and opene d the Channel tunnel (o ften known
as 'the chunnel') between Calais and Folkestone. For the first time
ever, people w ere able to trave l between Britain and the co ntinent
without taking the ir feet off solid ground.
The chunnel was by far the biggest building project in which
Britain w as involved in the twen tiet h century. The history of this
project, however, was not a happy one. Several workers were killed
du ring construction, the price of construction turned ou t to be more
than double the 4-5 billion first estimated and the start of regu lar
services "vas rep eatedly pos tponed, the last time even after tickets had
gone on sale. On top of all that , the public showed liule en thus iasm.
On the day that tickets went on sale, only 138 were sold in Britain
(and in France , only 12' ) . On the nex t da y, an informal telep hone
po ll found that only 5% of those calling said that they would use
the chunne!'
The re we re several reasons for this lack of enthusiasm . At first the
chunnel was open only to those with pr ivate transport . For them , the
sm all saving in travel tim e did not compensate for the comparative
discom fort of travelling on a train with no w indows an d no facilities
other than toilets on board, especially as the competing ferry compan -
ies had m ade their ships cleaner and more luxurious. In addition,
some people felt it wa s unna tural and fright enin g to travel unde r all
that w ater. There were also fears about terrorist attacks. Ho wever
unrealistic such fears were, they certainly in terested Hollywood .
Every major studio was soon planning a chunnel disaster movie!
The public attitude is becoming more po sitive, although very
slow ly. The direct train servi ces between Paris and London and
Brussels and London seem to offer a significant reduction of travel
tim e whe n COIn pared to travel over the sea, and this en terprise has
bee n m ore of a success. At the time of wri ting, however, the high -
speed rail link to take passe ngers betwee n the British end of the
chunnel and London has not bee n co mpleted.
Air and w ater
A very smal l minority, ofmostly business people, travel wit hin Britain
by air. Internat ional air travel, how ever, is very im portant economic-
ally to Britain . Heathrow, on the wes tern edge of London , is the
w orld 's bus iest airport. Every year, its four separate ter m inal s are
used by 1110re than 30 m illion passenge rs. In add ition, Gatwic k
Airport, to the south of London , is the fourth busiest passenger
airport in Euro pe. Th ere are tw o other fairly large airports close to
London (Stansted and Luton) wh ich dea l mainly with charter flights,
 Q u estions 16 7

and there is also the small City Airport, which caters ma in ly for ... Monster jumbos
busine ss travellers between London and no rth-western Euro pe . British Airways is one of the biggest
Th ere are plans for a fifth term ina l at Heathrow, bigger than the airlines in the world. Its ambitious
other four co m bine d . The aim is to do ubl e the capacity of Hea throw plans for the future include operat-
by th e year 20 1 5 . However, w hile some British people may be proud ing an enormous new kind of jumbo
aircraft. This will not travel any faster
at the prospect ofHeathrow ret aining its world number-one position.
than tc day's aircra ft, but will be big
others are no t so pleased . The pro blem is the noise (which British enough for passengers 1O mo ve
peopl e tend to regard as an in vasion of th eir privacy) . Local farm ers around ins ide in rather the same
and th e hundr eds of thousands of people who live under Heath ro w 's way as they do on a ship. There will
flight path are o bjecting to th e idea . The airport planners are arguing be no duty-free trolleys or meals
tha t the next generatio n of planes will be much qu ieter than present - com in g round; instead, passengers
will go to the bar, cafe or shop to get
day on es. Neve rtheless , th e plan is going to have to win a tou gh figh t
wh at they want. First class travellers
before it goe s ahead. will have sleeping cabins and a fully-
Modern Britain mak es surprisingly little use of its Iuauy in lan d eq uipped business area. But how
were bu sy thoroughfares. and the profession ofwater man', the river many airp ort s w ill be able to
equivalent of th e London cabbie, was well-known. In the last hundred accomodate the new monsters of
the sky?
year s transport by land has almost completely taken over. A few
barg es still go up and down th e Thames throu gh London , bu t are
used mostly by tourists. Several attempts have bee n ma de to set up
a regular service for co m m u ters , but no ne ha s been a success so far.
There is no obvious practical reaso n for this failu re. It just seems that
British people have lost th e habit of travelling thi s way.
Th e story of goods transport by water is th e same. In the nin eteenth
century , the networ k of canals used for this purpose was vital to th e
co un try 's economy and as extensive as the m odern rn ot o rw ay
ne tw ork. The vast ma jority of these canals are no longer used in this
way. Recently th e leisu re industry has foun d a use for the country's
waterways wi th the increasin g popularity of boating ho lidays.

QU ESTIO N S

I The car is the preferred means of transport for
most peop le in Britain . Th e same is pro babl y
tru e in yo ur co untry. Wha t effects h as th is had,
in Britain and in yo ur country?
2 Many people in Britain are beginnin g to rea lize
that o ther m ean s of transport, apart from the
car, sho uld be used. Wha t kinds of present ly
under -used means of transport are bei ng
re vived in Britain , and w he re do peopl e argue
that money should be spe n t by the govern ment
in stead of on build ing more new roads?
3 Although freedom of movement (u suall y by
car) is dear to the hearts of most British people,
th ere is someth ing even more dear to th eir hea rt s
w h ich makes the buildin g of new roads a slow
and difficult process. What is th is? Does the
objectio n to new roads, ra il link s and even
airport terminals sur prise yo u?
4 British individualism shows itselfin many w ays
in th e area of tran sport. Can you find examples
in this chapter?
168
... T he o r igins of th e welfare state
in Br it ai n
Before the twe ntieth cen tu ry.
wel fare was co nsidered 1O be [he
responsibility oflocal commun ities .
The 'care' pro vided wa s oflen ver}'
poo r. An especially hated institu tion
in the nine teen th century was (he
workhouse , where the old . (he sick.
the mentall y han dicapped and
orphans wer e sent. People we re
o ften treated very harshly in work-
hous es. or given as virtual slaves to
equa lly har sh em ployers.
During the first half of the twenti-
eth century .1 n um ber of welfare
ben efits wer e int roduced. These
were a sma ll old -age pension
SChCIlIC ( 1908). partia l sickness and
unemployme nt insurance ( 191 2)
and unem plo ym ent benefits cond i-
tional on regular cont ribut ions and
proo f o f need ( [9 3+) . The real
Imp etus for the w elfare stale cam e
in 19+2 from a go vernment com -
m ission . head ed by William
Bever idge. and irs report on 'soci al
insurance and allied services'. In
19+8 {he Natio nal Health Act tu rne d
the repor t's recommendations into
law and the Natio nal Heahh Service
was set up.
The mass rus h for free treatm ent
caused the government health bill to
swe ll enormously. In respo nse to
this. the first paymem w ithin the
N HS (a small fixed charge for
m edicin es) wa s introduced in 19 51 .
Ot her cha rges (such as that for denta l
trea tme nt in 1952 ) followed .
18
Welfare
Britain can claim to have been the first large count ry in the world to
have accepted that it is part of the job of government to help any
citizen in need and LO have set up what is gen erally known as a
'welfar e state '.
The benefits system
The mo st straightforward way in which peopl e are helped is by dire ct
payments of government money. Any adult wh o cannot find paid
work, or an y fam ily whose to tal in com e is not enough for its basic
needs, is en titled to financial help. This he lp comes in variou s wa ys
and is usually paid by the Department of Social Secur ity.
Anyone below the re tiremen t age of Sixty-five w ho has previously
worked for a certain m ini m um period of tim e can rece ive unemploy-
ment benefit (known colloquia lly as ' the dole'). This is organ ized by
the Department of Employment.
All retired people are entitled to the standard old-age pension,
prov ided tha t they have paid the ir national insurance con tributions
for mos t of their working lives. After a certain age, even people who
are still earning can receive their pension (tho ugh at a slightly reduc ed
rate). Pensions acco unt for the greatest proportion of the money
which the government spends on benefits.
The governm ent pension, however, is not very high . Many peopl e
therefore make arrangements during their w orking lives LO have some
add itional form of income after they retire . They ma y, for instance ,
contribute to a pension fund (also called a 'superannuation
scheme ') . These are usually organized by employers and both
employer and employee make regular cont ribut ions to them . A life
insurance poli cy can also be used as a form of saving. A lump sum is
paid out by the insurance company at around the age of retirement.
Som e people are entitled to neither pen sion nor unemployment
benefit (because they have not previously worked for long enough
or because they have been unemployed for a long tim e) . These people
can apply for income support (previously called suppleme ntary
benefi t) and if they have no significant savings, they will receive it.
Income support is also sometimes paid to tho se with paid work but
who need extra money. for in stance because they have a particularly
large family or because their earn ings are especially low.
 Social services and charities 169

A wide range of o ther benefits exist. For example, child benefit is ... The language ofbenefits
a sm all weekly pa yment for each ch ild , usually paid direct to With the gradually increasing level
mother s. Other examples are housi ng be nefit (distribute d by the local o f unemployment in the last quarter
authority, to help wi th rent pa yments) , sickness benefit, ma ternity of the rw en neth century, many
ben efit and death grants (to cover funeral expenses). aspects of unemployed life have
become w ell-know n in society at
Th e syste m , of co urs e, ha s its im perfectio ns. O n th e one ha nd ,
large. Receiving unemployment
there are pe o ple w ho are entitled to various benefits but who do not benefit is known as being 'on the
rec eive them . Th ey may no t understand the complicated system and dole ' and the money Itself is often
not kn ow w ha t th ey are entitled to, or they may be too proud to referred to as 'do le money'. In orde r
ap ply. Unlike pe nsio ns and unemployment be nefi t, claiming income to get this money . people have to

support invo lves subjecting one self to a 'means test', This is an offi- regularly present their UB40s (the
name of the governmeIll form on
cial investigation into a person's financia l circu mstances which SOUle
which their lack of employment is
pe ople feel is too much of an invasion of their privacy. On th e other recorded) at the local social security
hand, there are pe o ple who ha ve reali zed that they can h ave a higher office and 'sign on' (to prove that
inc ome (throug h claiming the dole an d o ther be ne fits) w hen no t they don't have work). They will
w orking th an the y can w hen they are employ ed . then get (either directly or through
the post) a cheque which they can
The w hole social security system is coming under increasing
cash at a post office. This cheque is
pressure beca use of the rising numbers of bo th unemployed people often referred to as a 'giro'.
and pen sio ners. It is believed that if ever ybody act ually claimed the
ben efits to w hich the y are entitled , th e system would reach breakin g
po int. It has long been a principle of the system that mos t benefits are
available to everybody w ho qualifies for th em. You do n 't h ave to be
po or in o rder to recei ve your pen sion or your dol e money or your
child ben efit. It is argued by so me people that this blanket dis tribu-
tio n of ben efits should be modified and that onl y those people who
really need them should get th em. How ever, this brin gs up th e
po ssibility of co nstant means tests for millions of households, w hich
is a very unpopular idea (and would in itself be very expensive to
administer) .

Social services and charities

As w ell as giving financial he lp, the government also takes a more
active role in looking after people's welfare. Services are run either
dir ectly or indirectly (through 'contracting out ' to private
com panies) by local gov ernment. Examples are the build in g and
runnin g of old pe ople's homes and the provision of 'home helps' for
people w ho are di sab led .
Professional social workers h ave the task of ide n nfymg and helping
members of the co m m un ity in need . These include the old , the men-
tally handicapped and children suffering from neglect or from
ma ltreatment. Social worke rs do a great deal of valuable work. But
their task is often a thankless one. For example, th ey are often blamed
for not acting to protect child ren from violent parents. But they are
also som etim es blamed for exactly the opposite - for takin g children
away from their famili es unnecessarily. There seems to be a conflic t
of value s in m odern Britain. On the one hand , the re is the traditional
170 18 Welfare

respect for privacy and the importance placed by successive govern -

Wanted: ment s on 'family values' ; on the o ther hand , there is the mod ern

Someone to expectatio n that public agencies will intervene in people's private

lives and their legal ability to do so.
operate this Before the welfare state was established and the concept of' social
services' came into being , the poor and nee dy in Britain turned to
life support the many charitable organizatio ns for help. These o rganizations were

machine. (and still are) staffed mos tly by unpaid volunteers. especially
wome n. and relied (and still do rely) on voluntary contributions
~
~
from the public. There are more than J 5 , 0 00 registered charities
_ ._
,~I ~ .......--. in the cou ntry today. Taken tog ether, they have an income of more
than I 5 billion . Most of them are chariti es only in the legal sense
(they are no n-profit-making and so do not pay incom e tax) and have
never had any relevance to the po or and needy. How ever, there are
c......... _ '._ .. ATlCl... _ ........ ~ IS ", TN _.coo< still tod ay a large number which offer help to large sections of th e
public in various w ays {c- Some well-known chari ties) .
A posteradrenising the Samaritans
Charities and the social services departments oflocal autho rities
(see below)
sometimes co -o perate. One example is the 'meals-on -wh eels'
II> Some well-known charities system . whereby food is cooked by local government staff and then
distributed by volunteers to the homes of people who cannot coo k
The Samaritans org anizatio n o ffers
free co unselling by pho ne, with for them selves. Ano ther example is the Citizens Advice Bureau
ano nym ity gua ranteed, to anybody (CAB). which has a network of offices throughou t the country
wh o is ill despair and thinking o f offer ing free infor mation and advice. The CAB is fund ed by local
cornm iuing suicide. authorities and the Department of Trade and Ind ustry. bnt the offices
The Salva tio n Army is org anized
are staffed by volun teers.
0 11 military lines and grew out o f

Christian mi ssionary work in the

slums o f Lon don in the nineteenth The national health service
century . IIo ffers help to the most
The NHS (the national health service is commonly referred to by this
des perate and need y. for example .
ove rnight acco mmo dation in abb reviatio n) is generall y regarded as the jewel in the crown o f the
hostels for the ho mel ess. welfare stale. Interestingly. it is very 'un-Bnush ' in the uniformity
Bam ado 's. also founded in the and comprehensivene ss of its organi zation . When it w as set up it did
n ineteen th century . used to provide not . as was done in so man y other areas of British publi c life. accom-
hom es for o rphaned children and
modate itself to what had already come into existence. Instead o f
still hel ps ch ildren in need.
MEN C:\ P is a charity fo r the
entering into a partnership with the hundreds o f existing ho spitals
mentally handicapped and cam- run by charities. it simply took most of them over. The system is
paigns o n the ir behalf. organized centrally and there is little interaction w ith the private
secto r. For instance . there is no working tog ether wi th health insur-
II> Getting m edicine on the N H S ance companies and so there is no choice for the pu blic regard ing
whic h health insurance scheme they join. Medical insurance is
When medicine is nee ded, the
doctor w rites out a prescriptio n
organized by the government and is compulsory.
which the patient then lakes 10 a However . in another respect the NHS is very typically British . This
chem ist's (that is, a pharmacy. but is in its avoidance of bureaucracy. The system . from the publi c's
this word is used only by medical point of view. is beautifully simple. There are no forms to fill in and
pro fession als). The re is a charge for
no payment s to be made which are later refunded . All that any body
each prescriptio n. wh ich is the same
regardless of the real cost of the
has to do to be assured the full benefit s of the system is to register
me dici ne, although man}' categories with a local N HS do ctor. Most doctor s in the country are General
o f people arc exempt. Practitioners (GPs) and they are at the heart of th e system. A visit to
 The nationa l health service I 7I

the GP is the first step towards ge tting any kind of tre atme nt. The ... Priva t e m e dic al care
GP the n arran ges for whatever tests, surgery, specialist consu ltation
o r medicine are considered necessary. On ly if it is an em erg ency or P e opl e w ith p r ivat e medical
if the pa tien t is away from home can treatm en t be obtained in some insura nc e
other wa y. % of pop ulation
As in most o ther Euro pean countries , the exceptions to free m ed ical
care are tee th and eyes. Even here , large n umbe rs of people (for 12
exam ple , ch ildren) do not have to pa y and pat ient s pay less than the 10
real cost of dental treatm en t bec ause it is subsidized. 8
The modern d ifficulties of the N HS are the same as those faced by
6
equivalent system s in ot he r cou ntries . Th e potential of me dical treat-
ment has increased so dramatically, an d the n umber of o ld people 4

needing medi cal care has grown so large, that costs have rocketed. 2
The NHS em ploys well over a m illion people, ma kin g it th e lar gest
o
single employer in the co untry . Med ical pr actilioners fre quent ly
have to decide which patients sho uld ge l the limited resources avail-
able and w hich wi ll have to w ait, possib ly to di e as a result.
In the last few deca des, th e Br itish governm en t h as implem ent ed There are a number of private
reform s in an attempt to ma ke the NHS m or e cos t-efficien t. m edical insurance schem es in the
One of th ese is that hospitals have to use external com pan ies for cou nt ry. The biggest is BUPA. As
you can see, such sche mes arc
d uties suc h as cookin g and cleaning if th e cost is lower this w ay.
becomi ng increasingly popular.
Another is that h ospitals can 'opt ou t' oflo cal au thority co ntro l and This is not because peo ple believe
beco m e self-go vern ing 'trusts' (i.e. re gistered ch ari ties). Similarly, that pri vate treat men t is any better
GPs who h ave 1110re tha n a certain n umber of patien ts on th eir books than NH S treatm ent from a purely
can choose to co ntrol their own bud gets. Together these tw o reforms med ical point of view. But it is
mea n that som e GPs now 'shop aro und' fo r the best-valu e treatm ent wid ely recognized as being more
conv eni ent. N HS patients w ho need
for their pa tien ts alTIOng various ho spitals.
a non-urgent operation often have
These changes h ave led to fears th at commercial co ns ideratio ns to wail m ore th an a year, and even
will take prece de nce over m ed ical ones and tha t the N HS system is those w ho need a relativel y urg ent
being broken down in favo ur of pri vate health care . And cert ainly, operation somet imes have to w ait
although pri de and con fide nce in th e N HS is still fairly strong, it is more than a month . Under private
schemes, people can cho ose to have
decreas ing. There has bee n a steady rise in the num be r of people
their op eration wh enever, and as
pay ing for private me dical in surance (c- Priva te medical care) in add ition soon as, the y want. It is th is which is
to the state insurance co n tribution w hich, by law , all em ploye d their m ain attrac tion. The len gth of
people m us t pay. 'waiting lists' for op erat ions within
In fact, though, Britain 's he alth system can alr ead y claim cos t- th e NH S is one of the most hot ly
efficiency. The country spends less money per pe rso n o n health care di scussed pu blic issues. P~ivate
pat ients som etim es use ' pay beds' in
than any o th er country in the weste rn world. One possib le reaso n for
NH S hos pit als, w hich are usua lly in
this is the way that GPs are pa id . Th e money w hich they get fro m a separa te roo m (N HS patient s are
the gove rnment does not dep end on th e nu m ber of consultations usually accom m odate d in wards
they perform . Instead, it dep ends on the nu mber of registered cont ainin g ten to twent y beds) .
pa tients they have - they ge t a 'c ap itatio n ' allow an ce for each one. There are also som e hos pit als and
clin ics wh ich are com ple tely
Therefo re , they have no incent ive to arra nge more consultatio ns
privat e. These arc sometimes called
than are necessary. It is in the ir interest th at the ir patients rem ain as 'nursing ho m es ' .
hea lthy as possible and come to see th em as little as possible , so that
they can have more pa tien ts on th eir book s. The ot her possible reason
is the British 'stiff upper lip ' . In general, people do not like to m ake a
big drama out of being ill. If the do ctor tells th em th at ther e is nothing
17 2 18Welfare
.... Nurses' uniforms
One of the mos t instantly recogni z-
able uniform s in Britain is that
conventionally worn by female
nurses.
For years it has been widely criti-
cized as out-of-date and sexist,
promoting the image of nurses as
brainless. sexy girls. The annual
conference of the Ro yal College of
Nursing alw ays passes a reso lution
calling for the introduction of
trousers. Skirts are said to result in
back pain (and thousan ds of lost
working days every year) as nurses
struggle to keep their dignity w hile
lifting heavy patients. The hat is also
criticized as impractical.
It is probable {hat change is at last
o n the w ay.
A nurse wearing the trad itional uniform
.... Th e em ergency services
From anywhere in Britain, a perso n
who needs emergency help can call
'999' free of charge. The operator
co nnects the caller to the fire service ,
the ambulance service, or the police .
to worry abou t, they are likely to accept this di agnosis. Partl y as a
result o f this, British GPs pr escribe Significantly less medi cine for
thei r patients than doc tors in other countries in Europ e do .
When it wa s set up , th e N HS wa s int ended to take the financial
hardshi p ou t of sickness - to offer people med ical insur ance ' from
the w omb to the tomb '. In thi s respe ct , despite the introduction o f
cha rges for some kin ds of treatment , it can still claim to be larg ely
successful.
The m edical profession
Doctors generally have the same ver y high status in Britain tha t the y
have throughout the world. Specialist doctors have greater pr estige
than ord inary GPs, with hospital cons ultants ranking highest. These
specialists are allowed to work pan-time for the N HS and spend the
rest o f the ir tim e earning big fees from private patients. Some have a
surge ry in Harley Street in Lond on , co nvent ionally the sign that a
doc tor is one of the best. However, the difference in status betw een
specialists and ordinary GPs is not as marked as it is in most o ther
co untries. At medical school, it is no t automa tically assum ed that a
brilliant student will become a specialist. GPs are not in any way
regarded as seco nd-class. The idea of the famil y doctor with pe rso nal
knowl edg e of th e circum stances of hi s or her patients w as established
in the days w hen only rich people could afford to pay for the services
of a doctor. But the NHS capitation system (see abov e) has encour -
aged this idea to spread to the po pulation as a w ho le.
Most GPs work in a .group practice '. That is, they work in the same
build ing as several other GPs. This allows them to share facilities
such as waiting rooms and reception ists. Each patient is reg istered
w ith just on e doctor in the practice , but this system means that,
when his or her do ctor is unavailable , the patient can be seen by on e
of the doctor's colle agues.
The status of nurses in Britain may be traced to their orig ins in the
nin eteenth cen tury. The Victorian refo rme r Florence Nightingale
became a natio nal heroi ne for her organization of nursing and ho s-
pital facilities during the Crimean War in the 18 50S. Because of her,
nurses have an almost saintly im age in the minds of the British pub lic,
being widely admir ed for their caring w ork. How ever, this image
suggests that they are do ing their work out of the goodness o f their
hearts rat her than to earn a living wa ge. As a result , the nursing
profession has always be en rathe r bad ly paid and there is a very high
turnover o f nursing staff. Most nurses , the vast majority of whom are
still w omen , give up their jobs after only a few years. The style of the
British nur sing profession can also be traced back to its orig ins. Born
at a tim e o f war, it is distinctively m ilitary in its un ifo rm s, its clear-
cut separation of ranks , its insistence on rigid procedural rules and
its tenden cy to place a high value on gro up loyalty.
 Question s [ 73

... Alternative medicin e

One reason w hy the British arc, per

perso n, prescribed the fewest drugs
in Euro pe is po ssibly the common
feeling that many orthodox medi -
cines are dang erous and should on ly
be taken when absolutely necessary.
An increasing number of people
regard them as actually bad for you .
The se peo ple, and o thers, are
turning instead to some o f the form s
o f treatment which generally go
un de r the name of' alternative
me dicine '. A great variety of these
are available (reflecting , perhaps,
British ind ividuali sm ) . However,
the medical 'establishment ' (as rep-
resen ted , fo r example, by the British
Medical Associat ion) has been slow
to consider the po ssible advantages
of such treatm en ts and the majority
of the pop ulatio n still tends to regard
them w ith suspicion. Homeopathic
me di cine, for example, is not as
w idely available in chemis ts as it is
in some ot her countries in north-
w estern Europ e. One of the few
alternative treatments (Q have ori -
ginat ed in Britain are the Bach
flowe r reme dies.
A shop selling 'oltemotive medicine'

QU EST IO N S

In Britain , the only people who can choose 4 What , according to thi s chapter, are the main
whether or not to pay natio nal insurance co ntri- pro blems of the welfare state in modern Britain '
butions are the self-employed. More and more Are similar pro blems encountered in your
of them are choosin g not to do so. W hy do yo u co untry? W hat solutions ha ve been sugges ted
think thi s is? or tried in Britain ? Do yo u think the y are the
2 Wo uld you say that the balance in Britain right ones?
be tween w elfar e provi ded by the state and 5 How do es the ge n eral status and public iInage
welfare offered by charities is di fferent fro m tha t o f nu rses in Britain compare with that of nurse s
in your country? In Britain, do es the balance in your country?
app ear to be a stab le one, or is it shi fting in
favour of one or the o ther? Is the same true in
your co un try?
3 From your readin g of this chap ter do yo u think
that the British welfare state is successful in
giving help to everybod y w ho need s it ? How
many an d w hat kinds of people do you th ink
' slip through th e ne t' of car e'
[7 4

19
Housing

Almost everybody in Britain dream s of living in a detached house;

that is, a house which is a sep arate building. The saying, 'An English-
man 's home is his castle' is we ll- known. It illustrates the des ire for
privacy and the importance attache d to ownership which seem to be
at th e heart of the British aui tu de to ho usin g .

Houses, not flats

A large, detached ho use not o nly ens ures privacy. It is also a status
sym bol. At the extreme end of the scale there is the aristocrat ic
'statel y home' se t in acres of garden. Of co urse , such a hou se is an
unrea listic dream for most pe opl e. But even a sm all detached house ,
sur ro unded by gard en, gives the req uired sugges tion of rur al life
w hich is dear to the hearts of ma n y British people. Most peopl e
would be happy to live in a cottage, and if th is is a thatch ed cottage ,
reminiscent ofa pre -in dustrial age , so m uch the better.
Most people try to avoid living in blocks of flats (w hat the Ame r-
ican s call ' apartm ent blocks'). Flats, they feel, pro vide the least
am oun t o f privacy. With a few exceptions , mo stly in certain lo cation s
in cen tral London , flats are the cheapest kind o f home. The people
w ho live in them are tho se who cannot afford to live anywhere else.
The dislike ofl iving in flats is very stro ng. In the I 950S millions of
poore r pe opl e lived in old, col d , uncomfortable ninetee nth century
ho uses , o ften wi th o nly an outside toilet and no bathroom . During
the next twe nty years many of them were given smart new 'h igh
rise' blocks of flats to live in w hic h , w ith central heating and bath-
roo ms. were much more comfortable and were surrounded by grassy
open spaces. But people hated the ir new homes. They said they felt
cut off from the world all those floors up. They missed the neigh-
bour lin ess. They couldn' t keep a wa tchful eye on their children
playin g down there in those lovely green spaces. The new high- rise
blocks quickly deter ior ated . The lifts bro ke dow n . The lights in the
co rrido rs didn't w ork. Windows got broken and were not repaired.
Ther e w as graffiti all ove r the walls.

A thatched cottage: an ideali zed country retreat

 Hou ses, not flats 17 1)

In theory (and except for the difficult y w ith su pervising children) ,

there is no objective reaso n w hy thes e high -r ise blocks (also known
as 't ow er blocks') could not have bee n a success. In othe r countries
millions of people live reasonably happily in flats. But in Britain the y
were a failur e because they do not suit British attit ude s. The failur e
has been gene rally recognized for several years now. No more high-
rises arc being built. At the present time , only 4% of the population
live in one . Only 20% of the country's ho useholds live in flats of
an y kind .

...Th e m ost d esirabl e home :

a d etac hed house
The photo is from a builder's adve rt-
isemenr. No tice:
the 'traditional' building materials of
brick (the walls) and slate (the roof);
the irregular, 'non-classical' , shape,
w ith all those little corners, making
the house feel 'cosy' (sec m ain text) ;
the suggestion of a large front garden
wi th a tree and bus hes, evoking no t
only th e countryside but also giving
greate r pr ivacy:
that {he garage (on the lefi] is hidden
discretely aw ay, so that it is not too
ob vio us and doesn't spo il the rural
feeli ng;
that the fro nt door is not even in {he
picture (the privacy criterion at
work again ).

A detached house
176 19 Hou sin g
... Second best: a se m i-d e t ache d
Unless they are located in the
remotest parts of the country.
detached houses are too expensive
for most people. So this is wha t a
very large proportion of peo ple live
in: one building with tw o sepa rate
househo lds. Each house is the m irror
of the other. inside and out. These
houses can be fo un d , street after
... An exception: th e town ho use
These houses, wh ich can be found
in the inner areas of m ost cities, are
an exce ption to the gen eral pan ern .
There is great variety regarding borh
de sign and lise. They often have
three or m ore floors, perhaps includ-
ing a basem ent or sem i- basem ent.
Although they are usu ally terraced ,
those th at are we ll-preserved and in
a 'good ' area may be thought highl y
desirable. Many have been bro ken
up into flats or rooms for rent. Most
of the comparatively small num ber
... Less desirable: a terraced
house
This kind of house usually has no
way through 1O the back except
stree t. in the sub urbs of cities and
through the house itself. Each house
the outsk irts of towns all over
in the row is joined 1O the next one .
Britain. Notice the separa te fro m
(Houses at the end of the row are a
garden for each house. At the sides ,
bit more desirable - they arc the
there is access to the back, w here
most like a semi-detached). They
the re w ill also be tw o gardens. The
usually have two floors, with two
most common buildin g mate rial is
bedrooms upstai rs. Some have
brick. The typical semi-detached has
gardens back and front , others only
tw o floors and three bedrooms.
at the back and o the rs no garden at
all. Befor e the 1960s, Brita in had
milli on s of terraced hou ses, most
with no inside toilet or bath room .
<
Man y o f these were then kno cked
do wn . but in so me areas those th at
have survive d have become quite
desirable - after repa irs and build ing
work have been carried out.
... The least desirab le: a flat
-'
of peop le w ho rent from private
ow ners live in flats of this kind .
Some times , th ese arc 'self-con-
tained ' flats (they have washi ng and
cooking facilities and it is not neces-
fmJ.
sary to wa lk through anybody else's
Hat to get 1O your own): so metimes , Not havi ng a separate en trance to the
they are ' bedsits' (i.e. bed-Sitting outside wo rld does nor suit British
rooms ; residents have one room to tastes. Although it is densely popu -
themselves and share w ashing and lated, Britain has the second lowest
coo king facilities wit h other proportion of Hat-dw ellers in the EU
residents) . (the lowest of all is in Ireland ).
 Private propert y and public property 177

Private property and public propert y .. The stately home

There is o ne exception to the rule
The image of a home as a castle im plies a clear demarcation between
that 'homes' are more important
private property and th e public doma in , This is very clear in the case than ' ho mes'. This is among the aris-
of a detached house. Flats, on the other hand , in volve uncertainti es. tocra cy. Man}'of these families own
You share the cor ridor outside you r front door. bu t w ho with? The fine old co untry houses, often w ith
other residen ts on the same floor, or all the residents in the building? a great deal ofla nd attached, in
What abo ut the foyer downstairs' Is this only for the use of the which the y have lived for h undreds
of years . They have a ver}' great
peop le who live in the block, or for the publi c in general? These
emotional inve stment in their
unccrtaitu ies perhaps explain why the 'communal' living expected houses - and arc prepared to try ver y
of Hat-dweller s has been un successful in most of Britain. hard to stay in them. This can be very
Law and custom seem to support a clear separation between wha t difficult in modern tim es, partl y
is pu blic and w hat is private. For exam ple, peop le have no gen eral because of death duti es (ver y high
taxes whi ch the inh eritor o f a large
right to reserve the ro ad directly outside their hou se for th eir own
property has to pay) .
cars. The castle puts lim its on the domain o f its owne r as well as So , in orde r to Slayin their houses,
keeping out others. It also limits responsibility. It is com paratively many aristocrats live lives wh ich arc
rare, for example, for people to attempt to keep the bit of pavement less ph ysically comfortable than
outsi de their house clean and tidy. Tha t is not their job. It is outside tho se o f m ost people (they may not ,
their domain. for exam ple, have cent ral heati ng).
Many have also turned their houses
To emphasize thi s clear di vision . people prefer to live in hou ses a
and land into tourist attrac tions.
little bit set back from the roa d. Thi s way, they can have a front These are popular not only wit h
garde n or yard as a kind of buffer zone be tw een them and the world. fore ign tourists. British visito rs are
These areas are no t normally very big. But they allow residents to also happy to be able to walk aro und
have low fence s, wall s or hedg es around them . Usually. these barriers in rural surroundings as they inspect
a pan of their cou ntry's h istor y.
do not phy sically pr event even a tw o-year old ch ild from en tering,
but they have psychological forc e. They ann ounce to the world
exactly where th e private property begins. Even in the dep ths of the
countryside, where ther e ma y be no road immedia tely outside, the
same phe no menon can be seen.

The importance of 'ho me'

Despite the reve rence they tend to feel for 'home, British people
have little deep-r oot ed attachmen t to their house as an object. or to
the land on which it stands. It is the abstract idea o f 'home' which is
important, not the build ing. Thi s will be sold whe n the time and price
is right and its occupiers w ill move into so me other house which
they w ill then turn into 'home ' - a home which they will love jus t
as mu ch as the y did the previous one.
But the houses th em selves are just inve stments. An illustra tio n of
this lack of attachment to m ere houses (as opposed to homes) is tha t
two-thirds of all inherited houses are immediately sold by the pe opl e
who inh erit them. even if these people have lived there themselves at
some time in their lives. Anot her is the fact that it is extremely rare
for peo ple to commission the buildi ng of their own houses, (Mos t
hou ses are commissioned eithe r b y local government authorities-
for poorer people to live in - or, more frequently, by private compan -
ies known as 'propert y developers ' who sell them on the open
market .)
178 19 Housing
11Io' Similar, but not th e same
A typical suburban district. You
might think that living in one of
these streets 'w o uld be much the
same as living in the one nex t [Q it.
But an attem pt at individuality is
found here too. In Britain. the re are
an e normo us number o f words
wh ich are used in place o f the w ord
'street' (suc h as avenue. close. crescent.
dove. lane and park) . It is quite
common to find three streets next to
each o ther named . for example ,
'Pow nall Close', 'Pownall Gardens '
and' Pownall Crescent'. The idea
here is that one street is different
from a neighbo uring street not just
because it has a different name - it is
a different kind of place !
This altitu de is so dom inant that it leads to a stran ge approach
tow ard s house pri ces. Whenever these fall, it is gen erally regarded
as a 'bad thin g '. You mi ght think that it would be a good th ing,
because people can then find somewhere to live more cheaply. After
all, it is rising prices that are usually regarded as bad. But w ith houses
it is the o ther way around . Falling prices mean that m ost peopl e
canno t afford to sell their ho use. They have bor ro w ed a lo t o f money
to buy it (som etim es more than its present value). They are stuck!
To most British peopl e , such immobility is a terriblemisfortune.
Individuality and conform ity
Flats are not unp op ular just because they do not give enough privacy.
It is also because they do not allow enough sco pe for the expression
of in dividu ality. Peopl e like to choose the colour of their own front
do or and w indow frames, and also to cho ose wha t they are go ing to
do w ith a little bit of outsi de territory, however small that may be.
The opportunity which it affords for individual self-expressio n is
ano ther advantage of the front garden . In anyone street, some are
paved, so me are full offlowerbeds with paths in between, others are
just patches o f grass, othe rs are a mixture of these . Some are demarc-
ated by w alls, ot hers by fen ces, others by privet hedges and some
have no barrier at all. The possibili ties for variety are almost endless!
How ever, no t everything about ho using in Britain displays indi -
viduality. Because most ho uses are built by organization s, no t
individuals, they are not usually built one at a tim e. Instead , w hole
streets, even neighbourh ood s (often called 'es tates'), are bu ilt at the
sam e time . For reaso ns of economy. all the houses on an estate are
usuall y built to the sam e design. Viewed from the air, adjacent streets
in British tow ns often seem to be full of houses that are identical
[r> Similar, butnot the some) . Indeed, they are so similar that when a
build ing co mpany adve rtises a new estate , it ofte n invi tes people to
its ' show home' . Thi s is just one of the houses, but by loo king arou nd
it, people can get a fairl y accurate impression of any house on the
estate.
Bu t if, later, yo u wa lked dow n the same stree ts that yo u saw from
the air, every Single house would seem differen t. The residents w ill
have made sure o f that! In an attem pt to achieve extra in d ividuality.
some people even giv e their house a name (although others regard
this as pre tent ious} , In subu rbs and towns. there is a co nstant battle
go ing on between the individualistic desires of the hou seholde r and
the necessity for some ele men t o f regimentation in a densely po pu-
lated are a. Thi s contest is illustra ted by the fact tha t anybody w ho
wan ts to build an extensio n to their hou se , or even a garden shed,
m ust (if it is over a certain size) first ge t 'planning permissio n' from
the loca l authorities.
 Th e im port an ce o f cosiness 179

Interiors: the importance of cosiness ... Rooms: use s and nam e s

Britis h houses have a rep utation for being th e col dest in Eu rope. It is difficult to generalize about how
British peop le usc the various rooms
Moreover, to many people from other countries, Bri tish people seem
in thei r houses. They may like the
to be rid iculously keen on 'fresh air', This repu tatio n is exaggerated. idea of tradition , but they arc too
It is partly the result of the fact that h ouses in Brit ain are, on average, indivi dualistic to follow the same
older than they are in other countries an d are not so well insulated. tradit ional hab its. The only safe gen -
In fact , abo u t th ree-q uarters now have central heating. However, there eraliz ation is that, in a house with
t\VO floors , the rooms upstairs are
is a gra in o f truth in it. W indows, fo r example, are designed so that
the one s used as bedrooms. The
they can be conveniently opened to a great variety of degrees - instead to ilet (o ften separate) and bath-
of. as in many other cou ntries, either being completely shu t or fully room are also usua lly upstairs . The
open. Th is way, air can be let into the house in w inter wi thou t freez ing living room(s) and kitchen arc
its in habi tan ts. downstairs. The lauer is usually
Jus t as the British idea of hor ne is a m ent al concept as much as a sma ll, but those w ho can afford th e
space often like to have a 'farm house
phy sica l reality, so is their idea of domestic comfor t. The important
kitchen ' , big en ough for the fam ily
thi ng is to feel cosy - that is, to create an atmosphere which seems to eat in.
wa rm even if it isn't rea lly warm . Th is desire usually has prior ity Class divisions are sometimes
over aesthetic co ncerns, whic h is w hy the British also have a reputa- invo lved in the nam es used for
tion for bad taste. Most people would rather buy several item s of rooms . W ith living rooms, for
exampl e, the terms 'silting room '
cheap, mass-produced furniture, with chairs and sofas covered in
and ' draw in g room' are regarded as
synt hetic m ateri al, than one more beautifu l and ITIOre physically upp er -mi ddl e class, while 'lounge'
comfortable item , The same is true with regard to ornaments - if you is re garde d as lower class. 'From
want to be co sy, you have to fill the room u p . room ' and 'b ack room' arc also
To m an y, trad itio n is part of cos iness, and this can be suggested by sometimes looke d dov.vn on .
being surrounded b y old iteITISo f fur niture. And if yo u cannot have
furni ture which is old, you can always have other thi ngs that suggest
age. The open fire is an example. In Britain , it is regarded by m an y as
very desirable to have a 'real fire ' (as it is often calle d). It is the perfect
traditional symbol o f warm th bec ause it is w hat most people used in
the pas t to keep warm. So strong is the att ract ion of a 'real fire' that
many ho uses h ave an im itatio n o pe n fire, co mplete wi th plast ic coal
which glows red when it is sw itc he d on. Bad taste ? So what!
Most o lder houses , even very sm all ones, have no t one bu t two
general living rooms (which estate agen ts call 'reception rooms ') .
This arrangement maint ains p rivacy (w hich is linke d to cosiness). It
allows the front ro o m to be kept for comparatively formal visits ,
while fam ily mem bers and clo se frien ds can spe nd their time, safely
hidden from public view, in the bac k room. Mos t m odern smaller
houses are built with just o ne livi ng room (and in some older houses
the tw o recept ion ro OIUS have been converted into one ) . However,
privacy m ust be preserved so these houses no rm ally have a ' hall' on to
which the front door opens. It is rare for it to open straight onto the
living roo m . Some houses also have a tin y 'porch', w ith its own door,
throug h w hich people pass befo re get ting to the hall- an extra line of
defe nce : The same concern can be seen where th ere is bo th a front
door and a back door. Even if bo th can be reached fro m the street ,
the back door is for fam ily an d close friends only.
180 19 Hou sing

Owning and renting

Ii> Owning and
r enting: modern
d ev elopments
T h e g rowt h in h ome o w ners hip
million s
20
15
10
5
o pri vate lan dlords, some of who m ex ploited the m bad ly. In th e 19505
O wner-occup ied
Rented fro m local authority
Rent ed fro m housing association s,
private ly, or w ith a job o r business
Source: Department ofthe Environment
Thi s graph shows how home-
ow ner ship has increased in the
seco nd half of the twentiet h century.
Britain now has a percentage of
owner-o ccupied households whic h
is well above the European average .
Mos t British people do no t 'belong' to a particular place (see cha pter
4) , nor are they usually brought up in a lon g-es tablished fam ily
house to w hich they can alw ays retu rn . Perhaps th is is w hy they are
not usually co nten t to rent their acco nunodation. W here ver th ey
are , th ey like to put down roots.
The desire to own the place where you live is almos t un iversal in
Britain. How ever , house prices are high. Thi s d ilem m a is overcome
by th e mortgage system , which is probably a more established aspec t
of everyday life th an it is anywhere else in the world. About 70 % of
all the houses in the country are occupied by their owners and almost
all of these we re bo ught wi th a m ortgage. At an y o ne time , half of
these are owned by people w ho have borrowed 80 % (or eve n m o re)
of their price and are now payin g thi s m on ey back month by m o nth.
The no rm al arrangem ent is for the bo rro w er to pay back the m on ey
over a pe riod of tw ent y to tw enty-five years. The financial institu-
tions known as ' bu ilding societies' we re originally se t up to pro vide
m ortgages. In the I 980s, however, regulations were relaxed, so that
banks now offer mortgages as well.
People are happy to take ou t mortgages because house prices
normally increase a bit faster than the general cost ofliving . There-
fo re , m ost people can m ake a profit when they sell the ir ho use . So
stron g is this expectation that phrases such as 'fi rst-tim e bu yer ' and
'second-time buyer ' are we ll-know n. The fo rm er can on ly affor d o ne
of the che aper ho uses available. But arou nd ten years later, when
som e of the ir m ort gage has been paid off, they can become the latter.
They sell their houses at a pro fit and move into a more expensive ho use.
Althoug h nearly everybody wants to own their house, it was
o nly at the end of the twentieth century that a majority of people
be gan to do so. Before that tim e, most working-class people lived in
ren ted acco m m odation. At o ne tim e, most of them rented from
and 1 9 6 0 5, however, m illio ns of homes were bu ilt by local gover n-
m ent aut ho rities. By 19 77 , two-thirds of all tenant s lived in these
'c o uncil houses' (o r, in so me cases , flats) . Counci l re nts are subsid-
ized, so they are low. Each local co unc il keeps a wa iting list of
house ho lds w ho wan t to move into a council property. The order of
preference is worked out by a complicated set of priorities. Once they
are given a co unc il house, tenants have security; that is, they do not
have to move out even if they become rich .
Fro m 195 0 to 198o the proportion of ,owne r-occupiers ' gra d ually
in creased . Th e am bition to own wa s made easier by policies of'tax
relief'. So m e of the int erest w hich people paid o n their mortga ge
co uld be su btracted from the inc ome tax they had to pay and people
selling their houses did not have to pay 'capital gain s tax ' o n any
pro fit. W ith bo th owner-occupiers and council tenants increasing in
numbers, the percentage of people who rented from private landlords
 Owning and rent ing 181

Who owns? Who rents?

100% ~/"O
I "/"II "/"0 11oo-/"011oo-/"11 "/"II .. /"0"'"
80% T 1---
Owner-occupied, owne d outright

60% r-
Owner-occupied , owned w it h mo rt gage
c-
-
40%

20%

o
1= _
..111 Iii
r- r-
II-I _ _I_1_..
I;;;
r- r- ~
Rented from local auth ority

Rented privately

Source: General Household Survey ( f 989 -90)

becam e one of the lowe st in the world - and cont inues to be so . .... Owning an d rent ing: cla ss
Then during th e I 980s, the num ber of ow ner-occupiers increased In the m iddle years of the twentieth
more sh arply. A major part of the philosophy ofThatcherism (under century, whether you owned or
Prim e Mini ster Mar gare t Thatcher) was the idea of the 'property- rented a house was a m arker of class.
If you owned your house, you were
owning democracy' . Cou ncil tenants were allowed to buy the ir
middle class; if you lived in a council
council ho uses and w ere given financial incent ives to do so. Th e de- house , you were working class.
regu lat ion of m ortgage-lending (see above) also encouraged house- How ever, the graph above shows
buyin g. So did an increase in the financial he lp given to owne rs w ho that this is no longer true . A clear
wan ted to make improvem ents to their property. At the same tirne , ma jority of skilled manual w orkers
local councils w er e severely limited in the number of properties are ow ner -occupiers, as are 40% of
even unsk illed manual workers.
which they could bu ild an d w ere also encour aged to sell their prop-
Notice the small proportion of
erties to private 'housing associa tions' . As a result , the number of people (of any category) who own
council tenants actua lly decreased. their house 'out right' (t.c. they have
By the mid I 990s, the trends of the pr evious decade seemed to finished paying off the mortgage) or
have ha lted . Fewer council-house tenan ts we re buyin g their houses ren t pr ivately . Only among those
and tax relief on mortgages w as bein g phased out. The po licy of with hi gher-status jobs are there
more pri vate tenants than council
sellin g off council houses had been discredi ted by the 'homes-for -
tenants.
votes' scandal. In the early I 990S it became clear tha t a few local
councils ru n by the Conservative party had decided to keep the ir
pro perties em p ty, instead of ren ting them to famili es w ho need ed
them , un til they found buyers for them. The idea was that the bu yers
would probably vote Conserv ative - while peo ple who could only
afford to re nt w ould probably not.
I 82 19 Ho using
... Findin g som ewhere to live
If you want to buy a house , it is very
rare to deal directly with the person
selling . Instead, you go to an estate
agent. These compan ies exist solely to
act as 'go -bcrwcens' for peop le buying
and selling houses. They hel p with the
various procedures - and take a fat com -
mission! If you are interested in one of
th e houses 'on their hoo ks', they will
arrange a 'Viewing'. You can also spot
houses for sale by the 'For sale ' signs
wh ich are put up on w ood en posts
outside the houses concerned.
If you want to rent somewhere fro m
a private landlord (not ,1 council) , the
usual place to look is in the local new s-
paper. Estate agents do not often deal
with places for rent, although ther e are
spcciallcnings agencies .
Another possible way of finding
somewhere to live is to 'squat'. Squat-
ters arc peo ple who occu py em pt y
houses without paying rem . If you do
not cause any dam age when m oving in
to an empty house , you have no t
broken the law. If the owner wants to
get you OUl, he or she has to get an
order from the court to have you
evicte d.
Alternatively, you cou ld becom e a
'New Age Traveller' and live in a bus,
coach or van, moving from place to
place.
'cardboard Ci ty' became well -kn own in the I 980s to describe areas
New Age Travellers
Homelessness
In 1993 it was estim ated that there were half a million homeless
people in Brita in - that's one of the highes t pr oportions of the popu-
lation in all the count ries of Europ e. The supply of coun cil housing
is lim ited . and has decreased since the I 980s because of the sale of
council houses and the lack of money available for bu ilding new
ones . In addi tion , man y council houses and flats we re badly bu ilt
and are now un inhabi table. Laws passe d in the I 9 70s to increase the
secu rity of tenants ren ting fro m private landlor ds made it less profit-
able for people to let out their houses, so the supply of private
accommodation for rent has also gone down . The re are large
nu mbers of people who can' t affor d to rent somewhere to live pri -
vately, who are no t eligible for council accom moda tion (and w ho
would pro bably be at the end of a lon g wa iting list if they were) and
who certa inly can't afford to bu y a house or flat. Finally, as elsewhere
in wes tern Europe , the average size of households has become
sma ller, so that , although the population is increasing onl y very
slowly, mor e places to live are still n eed ed .
In the early 1990Smany people w ho pre viously though t that they
we re secure in their own homes suddenly faced the prospect of
homelessness. They had taken out large mortgages to buy the ir homes
at a tim e whe n the cou ntry was go ing throug h an economic boom
and hou se pr ices were rising (and look ed as if they would continue
to rise) . Many of these people lost the ir jobs in the recession and so
could no longer afford the m onthly mortgage payments. To make
mat ters w orse , the value ofh ou ses, un usually, fell sharply at thi s time .
They had to sell their ho mes, ofte n for less than the y bought them,
and so we re in debt as we ll as homeless.
Most ho meless fam ilies are pro vided w ith temporary accommoda-
tio n in boarding houses (small pri vately run gues t houses or 'bed
and breakfasts') by the ir local council. It is the duty oflocal aut horities
to hou se ho meless families. Some families, and man y Sin gle people,
find even more tem porary shelter in hostels for the hom eless which
are run by char itable orga nizations. Tho usands of Single people
Sim ply live on the streets, w here they 'sleep rough'. The phrase
of big cities, particularly Lon don , where lar ge nu m bers of homeless
peop le cam ped ou t, protected from the w eather on ly by car dboard
boxes.
Solving the problem of homelessness is not a political priority for
the British gove rnment, partly because the level of public awa reness
of the situa tion is low (in spite of the effo rts of charities such as
Shelter, who give advice to the homeless and who cam paign on their
behalf). In m any cases, the ho meless are those with pe rsonal pro b-
lem s which mak e it difficult for them to settle down. In som e cases,
they are people w ho simply don 't want to 'settle down' and w ho
wouldn 't class them selves as homeless. There are, for example,
 Question s and suggest io ns [ 83

several tho usand 'travellers' in the country, bot h traditio nal gypsies
w ho have led a nomadic life for genera tions, and more recent co n-
verts to tltis lifestyle (often known as 'New Age Travellers' - see
chapt er 13 for an explanation of 'New Age) . Their homes are the
vehicl es in whi ch they move from place to place, and they are often
persecuted by unsympat hetic authorities. For these peopl e, the
pro blem is not that they are ' ho meless' but in the official attitude
towards their way o f life.

QUESTIONS

I British people livin g in fiats in other pans o f
Europe have some tim es been absolutely horri-
fied w hen they realize that they are supposed to
have the same colour flowers on their balconies
as all the other fiats in the block. Why are they
so horrified ?
2 How do you explain the popularity o f the differ-
ent types of dwelling in Britain? Are the same
type s popular in yo ur country?
3 Even in a sm all town in Britain. several offices
and sho ps will be occup ied by compan ies called
' estate agems', w ho se only role is to help people
buy and sell their houses. In the same tow n,
how ever, there may be no housebuilding co m -
pan ies at all to w hich people could go. W hy do
yo u think this is? Is the same true in yo ur
country ?
4 In modern Britain there is no Widespread feeling
of resentm ent again st aristocrats who live in
large, beauti ful country ho uses. Why not?
5 In I 933 George Orwell wrote a book called DO\\l1
and Out in Paris and London, recounting his ex pe ri-
ences mi xing with homeless peo ple in these tw o
cities. In the bo ok, he compares the laissez-faire
attitude tow ards homeless peopl e in Paris w ith
the rigid attitude in London :
In Paris, if you hadno money and could not find a public
bench, you would sit on the pavement. Heaven knows
what sift ing on the pavement would lead to in London -
prison probably.
It has been o bserved that the contrast is now the
other way aro und. It is now in Paris, not Londo n,
that hom eless people, if they want to avoid heing
taken away by the poli ce, nee d to make sure that
they don't bring attentio n to them selves. Can
you th ink why this change has occurred ? How
does the presen t British attitude to horn elessness
compare w ith that in you r country ?

S UG GES T IONS

Sheher, the organization dedicated to bri nging the plight of the

home less to the attention of the British governm ent and to gi ving
help and advice to homeless people (or people with housing
probl em s) . will send o ut an information pack on request. Because it
is a charity, Shelter would like a self-addressed envelope and the cost
of postage to be included with requests. The address o f Shelter is 88
Old Street, London EC IV 9HU .
 20

On the Continent people have good food; in England people have

good table manners.
GEORGEMIKES

Britain and good food are tw o thin gs which are not common ly associ -
ated . Visitors to Britain have widely varying opinions about all so rts
of aspec ts o f the cou ntry. but most o f them seem to agree that the
food is terrible. Why' One reason could sim ply be that British tastes
are different from everybo dy else '5. Ho w e ver, the mos t common
co m plaint is not so mu ch that British food has a strange. unpleasant
taste , bu t rather that it has very littletaste at all. The vegeta bles , for
exam ple , are overcooked . It ifill too blaud.
Anoth er e xplanatio n may be that most visito rs to Bri tain do not get
the opportu nity to sam ple home cooking . The y either eat the food
cooked in an institutio n, such as a university canteen , o r they 'cal
OUl ' a lot , usually in rather chea p restaurants and cafes. These places
are definitely not wh ere to find good British food . Typi cal British
coo king , w hich involves a lot of roastin g . does no t suit the larger
scale production o r the quick preparation w hich is requ ired in such
places. For one thing , food sho uld , according to British people , be
eaten ho t, w h ich is difficult to arrange w hen feeding large num bers
of peop le. In addition , the Briti sh have not go t int o the habi t o f
prep aring sauces with grilled fo od in o rder to make it tastier.

Attitudes to food
The ex planatio ns above can only serve as a partial ex cu se fo r the
unfortunate repu tatio n of British cu isine . Even in fast food restaur-
an ts and eve ryday cafes, the qualit y seem s to be lower than it is in
equ ivalent places in ot her countries . It seems tha t British people Sim ply
don 't care enoug h to bother.
The country has nei ther a Widespread 'restaurant cu lture' nor a
'cafe SOCiety'. In the middle of the day, peop le just want to eat up
quickly and are not int erested m uch in qua lity (the lun ch break is an
hour at most) . Young people and famili es wi th children w ho eat at
fast food places are Sim ilarly not interested in quali ty. Little effo rt is
mad e to make the hamburgers tasty because nobo dy ex pec ts them
to be. The coffee is horrible not becau se British people pr efer it that
 Attitu des to fo od 18 5

way but because th ey don' t go to a cafe for a delicious, slow cup of II'- What Brit ish peo ple eat
coffee - they go there because they ne ed the caffeine . A 'fry-up ' is a phrase used informally
Even at horn e , food and drink is given relatively little attention . for several items fried to gether. The
The coffee is often just as bad as it is in the cafes. British su per markets most common items are eggs,
sell far m ore instant coffee than what the few pe op le who drink it bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mush-
rooms, and even bread. It is not
often call 'real' coffee. Instant coffee is less trou ble. Meals tend to be
always accom panied by 'chips' (the
eaten qu ickly and the table cleared. Parties and celebra tions are not normal British wor d for fren ch fried
normally centred around food. For exam ple , if a British person potatoe s) . The British eat rather a lot
expresses a liking for bar becues , thi s does no t necessarily m ean that of fried foo d.
he or she likes barbecue d food - it is understood to mean that he or Although it is sometimes poetic-
she en joys the typical barbecue atmosphere. ally referred to as 'the staff of life'.
bread is not an accompaniment to
When th e British do pay atte ntion to food, it is most freq uen tly
every m eal. It is not even normally
not to appreciate it but to no tice what they do n 't like about it. Food on the table at either lunch or the
hi ts the h ead lines only in the context of its dangers: for example in evening mea l. It is mos t commonly
199 3, when it was discove red tha t 100 tonnes of six-year-old beef eaten , wi th butler and almost any -
had be en allowed to go on sale; or whe n a government m inis ter th ing else , for a snack, either as a
sandwich or as toas t (a British house-
announced that the country's eggs were infected wi th salmone lla. In
hold regards toasting facilities as a
the early 1990S, everybody in the country knew abo ut 'mad cow basic necessity). On the other hand,
disease' (a disease affecting the brain s of infected cattle) . There are the British usc a lot of flour for
quite a large num ber of vege tarians in Britain and an even larger m aking pastry dishes, both savoury
number who are aware of the implicatio ns for their he alth of what .-."ln d swee t, nor m ally called 'pies ',
they eat. 'Health foo d shops' are as abundant in the country's high and forma king cakes.
Eggs arc a basic part of mos t
streets as de licate ssens.
peo ple's diet. They arc either fried ,
British people have been mos tly urban, havi ng little contact wit h soft -boiled and eaten out of an 'egg
'the land', for longer than the people of other cou ntries. Perhaps this cup ' , hard-boiled (so th at they can
is why the range of plants and an im als w hich they w ill eat is rat her be eaten w ith the fingers or put into
narrow . Ther e are ple nty of ent h usiastic British carnivo res who fee l sand wic hes) or poached (steamed).
Cold me ats are not ver y popular.
qui te sick at the tho ug h t of eating horsemeat. To most people, the
To ma ny British people, preserved
idea of going out to pick w ild plant s for the table is exot ic. It is m eats are typically 'Co ntinental' .
perhaps significant that w hen the Brit ish w ant to refer to the people It is common in most households
of anot her coun try insultingly, they often allude to their eating ha bit s. for a family meal to finish w ith a
Because of the strange thin gs they do w ith cabbage, for exam ple , the prepared sw eet dish . This is called
Germans are 'krauts". Because of the ir outrageo us taste for frog 's eithe r 'p ud ding', 'sweet' or
'dessert' (class distinctions are
legs, the Frenc h are 'frogs'.
involved here) . Ther e is a great
However, the p ictur e is not ent irely negative. W hile the British are variety of w ell-kno wn dishes for this
conservative about ingredien ts, they are no lon ger conse rvative about purpose, man y of which arc served
the way they are serve d. In the I 960s, it wa s reported that the first hot (ofte n a pie of some sort) .
British package tourists in Spain not only insisted on eating The British are the w or ld 's biggest
consume rs of suga r - more than five
(traditionally British) fish and chips all the time but also on having
kilograms per per son per year . It is
them , as was traditional, w rapped up in spe cially imported British pres ent in almost every tinned food
newspaper! By now, however, the British are extre mely open to the item and they also lo ve 'sweets'
cuisine of ot her coun tries. The country's supermarket shelves are full (wh ich means both all kinds of
of the spices and sauces needed for coo king dishes from all over the cho colate and also what the Amer -
world (the increasingly m ult icultural nature of the popu lation has icans call 'candy') .

helped in this respec t). In add ition , ther e is increasin g interest in the
pure en joyment of eat ing and dr inking.
186 20 Food and drink
III- When p eopl e e at w hat: meals
Again . generalizatio ns arc dan ger-
o us. Below is described what
everybody knows about - but this
is not necessari ly wh at everybody
does!
Breakfast is usually a packe ted
'cereal' (e.g. cornflakes) and/or
toast and marmalade. It iS H ' t usually
a 'traditional' British breakfast (see
chapter 5) .
'Elc vcn scs' is. co nven tionally . a
cup of tea or coffee and some bis-
cuits at around eleve n o 'clock. In
fact. people drink tea or coffee
whenever the)' feel like it. This is
usually quite often.
Lunch is typica lly at one o'clock
(any sho ps w hich close for lu nch
d ose from one to two) . But it is often
a bit ear lier for schoolc h ild ren and
those who start w or k at eight
o'clock.
For the urban working class (and
a wider section of the population in
Scotland and Ireland) tea is the
eveni ng me al. eate n as soon as
people get home from wo rk (at
aro und six o 'clock). For o ther
classes, it means a cup of tea and a
snack at around four 0 'clock.
'Supper' is the usua l word for the
evening meal among most peo ple
who do no t call it 'tea'.
'Dinner' is also some times used
for th e evening m eal. It suggests
somethin g rath er grander and eaten
com parativ ely late (at aro und eigh t
o'clock). It is associated w ith relative
for mali ty (many people talk about
'Christm as di nner', even if they have
it in the middle of the day). It is also
sometimes used to re fer to the
midday mea l in schoo ls.
Eating out
Althoug h it is far less unusu al than it used to be , going to a restaurant
is still a comparatively rare event for most British people. Regular
restaur ant -going is con fine d mostly to the rich est section of society.
Partly for this reason, the re is an elem ent of snobbery associated wi th
it. Merely be ing in an expensive restaurant some times seems to he
more im port ant to people tha n the food eaten in it. For example , in
199 2 a sur vey by experts fou nd that most of th e caviar in to p Londo n
restaura nts wa s not what it claimed to be (the m ost prized beluga
variety) and wa s often stale or goi ng bad . The expe rts commen ted
that restaurant s used the m ystique of caviar to hide the low quality
of w hat they served bec ause ' the majority of people ... don 't really
know w hat they'r e eating.'
Another expression of snobbery in the more expensive restaurants
is in the menus. In a country where few public notices appear in any
language othe r than English, thes e are a unique phe nome non - all
the dishes have non -English names, most com monly French
(r eflecting the high regard for French cu isine). It also m akes the food
sound more exo tic and ther efore more exciting. Many custo me rs of
these restau rant s have little idea of what actuall y goes in to the dish
the y have chos en . But when , in 199 I , the go vernment sugges ted that
m enu s should give details of ingre dients in dishes, all the cou nt ry 's
chefs and restau rateurs wer e outraged. They ar gued thi s would take
the fun out of eating out. The assump tio n behind this argumcnt is
that go ing to a restaurant is a time to be adventurou s. This ' adv enture '
co nce pt is undoubtedl y w ide spread . It helps to explain w hy so few
restaur ant s in Britain are actually British . Becau se they do it so rarely,
w hen people go om for a meal in the evenin g, they want to be served
something the y don 't usuall y eat. Every tow n in the co un try ha s at
least one Ind ian restaurant and probabl y a Chinese one too. Larger
towns and cities have restaurant s represent ing cuis ine from all over
the w orld.
Eating places w hich serve British food are used only for more
everyday purposes. Apart from pubs, there are two types, both of
which are comparatively cheap. One is used dur ing the day, most
typically by manual w orkers, and is therefore sometime s described as
a 'w orkman 's cafe' (pronou nced ' caff ") . But it is also used by an ybod y
else w ho w an ts a fillin g meal, likes the in formal atmosphere and is
no t over-w orried about cleanliness. It offers mostly fried food of the
' En glish breakfast' type (see chapter 5) and for this reason it is also
sometimes jokin gly called a 'greasy spoon '. Man y of the m are 't ran s-
port cafes' at the sides of main ro ads . In 199 I Prime Mini ster John
Major deliberately and publicly ate at one of the se in order to prove
that he wa s 'a man o f the people ' . The other type is the fish -and-ch ip
shop, used in the evenin g for ' take- aw ay' meals. Again , the fish is
(deep) fried.
 Alcohol 187

... What peop le drink

As well as large amounts of hot
drinks such as tea, coffee and cocoa,
British people - especially children -
drink squash (a sweetened frui t con-
centrate that has to be diluted with
water ) and brand -name 'soft' (non -
alcoh olic) dri nks. They also expect
to be able to dri nk water straig ht
fro m th e tap.
Before the 19 6 0 5, wine w as dru nk
on ly by th e hi gh er social classes and
wa s associated in most peo ple 's
m inds w ith expensive restaura nts.
Since that time, it has increased
Inside a 'greasy spoon' cafe eno rmously in popularity.
Beer is still the most popular alco -
holic drink. The mo st popular pub
Fast foo d o utlets are now m ore common in Britain than th ey are beer is 'bitter ' , which is draught
in most o ther co untries. Cynics mig ht claim thi s is becau se th e British (Lc. from the barrel). has no gas in
have no sense of taste. Ho wever, their pop ular ity is probabl y beuer it and is conventionally. as are all
ex plaine d soc io log ically. O th er types of eating place in Brit ain ten d British beers, drunk at room temper-
ature. A sweeter, darker version of
to ha ve class associatio ns. As a result , lar ge sectio ns of society feel
bitte r is 'mild' . The se beers have a
unable to relax in them. But a fast food restauran t does no t have such co m parat ively low alcoholic
stro ng associatio ns o f this kind . Althoug h th ere is so me times local co ntent. Th is is o ne reason wh y
m iddle-class prot est w hen a new on e ap pears in th eir area, peo ple people arc ab le to drink so much o f
from alm ost any class backgr ound can feel co m fo rtable in them . them ! In most pubs, several kind s of
bot tled beer, usually kno wn as
.ales' , are also available.
Alcoh ol Beer w hich has gas in it and is
The at titude to alco hol in Britain is am bivalen t. O n the o ne han d , it closer to cont ine ntal varie ties is
known as 'lager' . During the 19805
is accep ted and welcomed as an integ ral pan of British culture . The
strong lager became popular among
local pub plays an important role in alm ost every neighbo urhood- some young people. Because these
and pubs, it should be not ed, are pred ominant ly for the drinking of people were used to drinking
bee r and spirits. Th e nearest pub is common ly referred to as 'the wea ker traditional beer . they some-
local' and pe op le w ho go there often are kn own as 'reg ulars'. The times drank too much of it and
became aggressive and even violent .
action in both the country's m ost pop ular television soaps (see
They therefore became known as
chapter 18) revol ves aro und a pub. Even a certain level of d runkenn ess 'lager louts'.
is acceptab le. Provided thi s does not lead to violence, there is no In so me pubs, cider is available on
shame attac hed to it. draught , and in so me pan s of
On the othe r hand , th e pu ritan tradition has led to the wi despr ead Britain, mos t typically in the English
view th at drin king is so m ethin g po tentially da ngerous w hic h sho u ld we st co un try. it is this, and not beef,
which is the m ost common pub
therefo re be restr icted, in terms of both who can do it and where it
drink.
can be don e. Most people, in cluding re gul ar drink er s, co nsider thai Shandy is half beer and half fizzy
it w o uld be w ro ng to give a child even half a glass of beer. When , in lem onade. It has the reputation of
' 9 9 3, research was published show in g that nearl y 70% o f fifteen- being very good for quenching the
year-old child ren in th e co untry dran k so me alco hol in an average thirst.
week, it w as gener ally ag reed that thi s wa s a serio us ' social problem '.
People cannot be served in pubs until the age of eighteen and they
are no t eve n allowed inside one (unless it has a special child ren 's
certificate) unt il th ey are fourtee n . For m an y people , drink ing is
188 20 Food and drink
Returning from a tripacross the Channel
with cheap beer
III- The m eanings of 'bar' in British
Englis h
I The area in a ho tel or other public
place where alcoholic drinks can be
dru nk.
2 The diffe rent rooms in a pub .
Altho ug h pu bs have alw ays bee n
used by all socia l classes, ther e used
to be an inform al class division . The
'public bar' was used by the working
class. This is where a dan boa rd and
other pub games could be found.
The 's aloon ba r' , on the other hand ,
w as used by th e middle classes. Her e
the re was a car pet on the floor and
the dr inks were a little mor e expens-
ivc. Some pubs also had a 'private
bar ' . which was even more exclus-
ive. Of course. nobody had (0
dem onstrate class m em bership
before entering this or that bar. Thes e
days. most pu bs do not bo ther wit h
the distinction. In some. the walls
between the bars have been knocked
down and in others the beer costs
the same in any of the bars.
3 The cou nter in a pub where you go
t o get your d rink s.
confined to pubs. W ine or beer is not as much a part of home life as
it is in some other Europea n countries. Mos t cafes are no t allowed to
serve even bee r.
For most of the twentieth century. pubs operated under strict laws
which limited their opening hours. These have recentl y been relaxed .
Moreover, many more type s ofshop now sell alcohol than pr evious ly.
However, this lesseni ng of the negative att itude to alco hol has been
balanced by inc reasing concerns about its im pact on healt h and safety.
There are gove rnment-spon sored guidelines which state the
maximum amount of alcohol it is ad visable for people to drink in a
week without endangering their health. Altho ugh million s of people
pay little atte nt ion to these , the general feeling that alcoho l can be
bad for you has increased . Moreover. the laws agains t drin king and
driving have been strengthened and are fairl y strictly observed .
Nevertheless , alcohol, espec ially bee r, is an im po rta nt pa rt o f the
lives of many people. No tice , for exam ple , the mass rush across the
Channel after customs duties we re changed in 199 2. Beer was much
cheaper in France and people were allowed to bring back alm ost as
much as they liked . II wa s calculated that in that first year the single
European ma rket cos t the British governmelll about 2 50 milli o n in
lost taxes on alcoh ol.
Pubs
The Briti sh pub (short for 'public house ') is uniq ue . This is not just
because it is different in character from bar s or cafes in other co un-
tries. It is also becau se it is different from any ot her pu blic place in
Britain itself. Without pubs, Britain w ould be a less soci able count ry.
The pub is the only in door place w he re the average per son can com-
fortably meet ot her s, even strangers , an d get into prolonged
conversation w ith them . In cafes and fast food restaurants. people are
expected to dr ink the ir coffee an d get ou t. The atmosphere in other
eating places is oft en rath er formal. But pubs, like fast foo d restaur -
an ts, are classless. A pub w ith fort y custo me rs in it is nearl y always
much noi sier than a cafe or restau rant with the sam e number o f
people in it.
As wit h so many o ther aspec ts of Bri tish life, pub s have become a
bit less distinc tive in the last few decade s.They used to serve alm ost
nothing but beer and spir its. These days, you can get wine, coffee
and some hot food at most of them as well .Thi s has helped to w iden
the ir appeal. At one tim e, it was un usual for women to go to pubs.
These days, only a few pubs exist where it is su rpr ising for a woman
to wa lk in .
Neverthe less, pubs ha ve retained their speci al character. On e of
their notable aspects is that there is no w aiter service. If you w ant
someth ing, you have to go and ask for it at the bar. Thi s ma y not
seem very we lcomtng and a strange way of making people feel com-
forta ble and relaxed . But to British people it is prec isely this. To be
 Pubs r 89

~ The pub

This phot ograph of a pub shows

several typical features. First, notice
that it looks old. Most pubs are like
this. It is part of their appeal to tradi -
tion. Even a newly built pub is often
designed to look , inside and out, as
if it were sever al hundred years old.
Second, notice the windows . They
are small because, unlike the large
plate -glass w indows of cafes. they
help to make the pub feel homely.
But noti ce also that it is difficult to
sec inside the pub from the outside.
The Victor ians thought that it was
some ho w not proper for people to
be seen drinking . That is why very
few pubs have tables outside.
Instead . many have a garden at the
inside Q pub
back. Because children are only
allowe d inside a pub if the pub has
serve d at a table is di scomforting for m any people. It makes them feel a chi ldren's certifica te, a garden can
they have to be o n th eir best behaviour. But because in pu bs you ha ve be an imp ortant feature for some
to go and fel ch your drinks yo urself, it is l1 lOTe in formal. You can get customers.
up and w alk aroun d w he ne ver y O ll wan t - it is like being in your
ow n ho use . Thi s 'home from home' atmosphere is enhanced by the ... How to shut th e pub
relationship between custo m ers an d th ose who work in pu bs. Unlik e Although pubs can now stay open
in an y other eating or drinking place in Britain , the staff are expected longer than they were allowed to
to know the reg ul ar cus to m ers personally, to know w hat their u sual previously. the}' still have to close at
the ir adve rtised closing tim e. There-
drin k is and to chat w ith them when they are not serving someone.
fore, th e traditions of 'closing time '
It is also helped by the availab ihty of pub games (mos t typ ically darts) have rema ined in place . Several
and, freq ue ntly , a television. phrases are connected with this
Another not able aspect of pu bs is th eir ap pea l to the ide a of trad i- process which arc well-know n to
tion. For exam ple, each has its own name, procla imed on a sign everybody in the country.
A few minutes before the official
ha ng ing outside, always w ith old-fashioned associatio ns. Many are
closin g tim e, the landlord or
called by the name of an aristocrat (for exa m ple, 'The Duke of barman shouts 'last orders, please' ,
Cambridge ') or afte r a monarch; others take their nam es from some wh ich means that anybody who
tra d itional oc cupation (such as 'The Bricklayer's Arms') : they often wants to buy another drink should
have rural associations (for exa m ple, 'The Sheep Shearers' o r 'The do so at on ce.
Bul],). It w o uld certa inly be surprising to see a pub called 'The When closin g time arrives, the
barman shouts 'Time, ladies and
Computer Programmers ' or 'The Ford Escort' . For th e same reason ,
gentlemen, please' , and . as with his
the person who runs a pu b is refe rre d to as the 'la ndlord' (he is first shou t. possibly accompanies
nearl y always a ma n) - even though he is, in reality, the exact oppos- this with the ri ngin g of a bell.
ite. He is a tenant. Nearly all pu bs are owne d by a brewery. Th e How ever, customers do not have
'landlord' is sim ply employed by the brewery as its manager. But the to leave immediately. They still have
'dr ink ing -up time'. This is a concept
word is used because it evokes earlier times w he n all pu bs were
which is recognized in law and is
pr ivate ly owned ' inns ' w he re travellers could find a bed fo r the nigh t. assumed to last about ten minutes.
The few pubs that really are privately owne d proudly advertise them-
selve s as 'free house s'. The practica l significance of this for the
custom er is that a much wider varie ty of beers can us ually be fo und
inside.
190 20 Food and drink

... N o stalgia
A 'ploughma n 's lunch' (consisting
of crus ty brea d. butter . cheese and
pickle) is a well-known pub snack.
Like other traditiona l food in pubs
(such as 'she pherd 's pie') , Irs name
evokes trad itional ru ral life. Pubs
never usc symbols of modernity. But
modern agriculture is, of co urse,
not at all trad iu onal. This is the po int
o f the cartoon. A cattle inseminator
is a person wh o makes co ws preg -
nant by injecting [hem with sperm!
Notice his wh ile laborato ry co at
(very non-traditional and no n-
rural).

"A pint please, anda cattle inseminctor's lunch . , .'

Q UES TIO NS

I In w hat kind of place( s) are you m ost likely to
find goo d British coo king'
2 Why are Indian restaurants popular in Britain ?
Think of as many reason s as you can w hy British
people prefer to eat foo d from other co untries
when they go out to eat.
3 Wha t are the di fferences (if any) between laws
relating to the co nsu mp tion of alcohol in Britain
an d those in your country' What possible
reason s are there for these differences?
4 The text mentio ns the rush acro ss the channel to
buy cheap alcohol in 199 2. W hat effect do you
think this started to have o n tradition al British
drinking habit s (w ith respect to bot h what
peo ple drink and where the y drink) ' W hy were
some peop le (even some of the peop le rushing
acro ss the Chan nell) worried about this trend?
5 In wha t ways are British pubs d ifferent from
typical cafes and bars in yo ur country?

S U G GES T ION S

Delia Smith is probably the most popular and well -known cookery
writ er and broadcaster in Britain . Her Complete Cookery Course for
exam ple. published by BBC Books. gives a good idea o f the kind of
food British people coo k (or would like to coo k) at home.
The re are lots of hotel. restauran t an d pub guides wh ich are publishe d
annually and which descri be the kind of food an d other facilities
available at British eating and dr inking places. For exam ple. TheGood
Food Guide published by W hich Books and the Good Pub Guide pu blished
by Verm.i lion .
21
Sport and competition

Think of your favourite spo rt. Whatever it is, there is a good chance ... Gentlemen and players
that it was firs t played in Britain, and an eve n better chance th at its The m iddle-class or igins of m uch
modern rul es were first codified in Britain. The pu blic schools (see British spon means that it began as
chapter 14) of the Victor ian era believed that organized co mpetitive an am ateur pastime - a leisure-time
games had many psych ological benefit s. The se games appealed to, activity which nobod y wa s paid for
taking pan in . Even in football.
and developed, the British sense of ' fair play' . This concept went far
which has been played on a profes-
beyond abiding by the w ritten rule s ofa gam e. It also meant ob ser ving sional basis since I 885 . one of the
its unw ritten rul es, w hich go verned beha viour before, during and first team s to win the FA (Football
after the game. You had to be a 'good loser' . To be a cheat w as Association) Cup was a team of
shameful, bu t to lose was just 'pan of the game' . Team games were ama teur players (the Corinthian s) .
In ma ny other spo ns there has been
best, because they developed 'team spirit'.
resistance to professiona lism.
Modern spon in Britain is very d iffer ent. 'W inning isn 't every- People thoug ht it would spo il the
thing ' and ' it's only a game ' are still well-known sayings w hich spor ting spir it. Not unt il 1968 were
reflect the amateur approach of the pa st. But to m odern professio nals, tennis profe ssiona ls allo we d to
sport is clearly not just a game. These days, top players in any spo rt com pet e at Wimbledon . In cricket
talk abou t having a 'professional atti tud e' and doing their ' job' we ll, there was. until 19 6 2, a rigid dis-
tincti on betw een' gent leme n'
even i f , offic ially. their spo rt is still an amateur o ne. Neverthe less. th e
(am ateurs) and 'player s'
public-school enthusiasm for sport an d the importance place d on (professionals) . even when the two
Simply taking part has had a lasting influence on the nature and rol e pla yed toge ther in the same learn .
of spo rt in Britain today. These days. all 'fir st class' cricket er s
are professionals.
A national passion
Sport probably plays a more im portant par t in people 's lives in Britain
than it does in most o ther countries. For a very large number, and
thi s is especially true for men, it is the ir ma in form of enter tainment .
Millions take pan in so m e kind of sport at least o nce a week. Many
m illio ns more are regular spectato rs and fo llow o ne or more sports.
There are h our s of televised sport each w eek. Every new spaper,
national or local, qu ality or popular, devotes several page s entirely
to sport.
The British are only rarely the best in the world at particular sports
in modern times. However, they are one of the best in the world in a
much larger number of diffe ren t sports tha n an y other country
(British individualism at work again). This chapter looks at the most
publi cized spor ts with the larg est following s. But it should be not ed
that hundreds of o the r spo rts are pla yed in Britain, each with its o w n
sm all but enthusiasti c following. SOllie of these may not be seen as a
[92 21 Spu n and co m petitio n
A gardener with his prize-winning
onion
... Trophies: re al a n d imaginary
Qu ilt' often, spo rting co ntests in
Brita in have a prize attached to them
w hich gives them a special signific -
ance.
Th e Calc u tta Cu p
The annual rugby union matc h
betw een England and Scotland is
o nly rarely the deci sive one in the
Five Natio ns Cham pionship (t> The
sportingcalendar). But it is important
because it is played for the Calcutta
Cup , an ornate silver trophy mad e in
Ind ia in the 18 7 0 S.
Th e Ashes
W hen England and Australia pia )' a
series o f cricke t matches, the y are
said to be competin g for the Ashes.
In 18 8 2 , after a heavy defeat by Aus-
tralia, the 'ashes' of English cricket
(actual ly a bu rnt piece o f crtckenng
equipment) w ere placed inside an
urn as a symbol of the 'death' of
English cricket. In fact, the urn never
leaves Lord's cricke t ground.
Th e Triple Crown
In rugby union , if on e of the four
nat ions of the British Isles beats all
the other three nat ions in the same
year. they arc reco rde d as having
won the Triple Cro w n, even though
a physica l object called 'the Triple
Crow n' doc s nOIexist!
spor t at all by many peop le. For most people wi th large gardens, for
exam ple, croquet is just an agreeable social pastime for a sunny after -
noo n. But to a few, it is a dea dly serious competition . The same is
true o f othe r games such as indoor bow ling , darts or snooker. Even
board games, the kind you buy in a toy shop, have their national
champion s. Think of any pastime. however triv ial, which involves
some element of competition and, somew here in Britain. ther e is
probably a 'national association' for it which organizes contests.
The British are so fond of competition that they even introduce it
into gardening . Many people indulge in an informal rivalry with
their neighbours as to who can grow the bett er flowers or vegetables.
But the rivalry is sometimes formalized. Through the co untry. there
are competitions in w hich gardeners ent er their cabbages , leeks,
onions, carrots or whateve r in the hope that they will be judg ed ' the
best' . There is a sim ilar situation with animals. There are hundreds
of dog and cat shows throughout the country at which owners hope
that their pet w ill win a prize.
The social im por tance of sport
The importance of parti cipatio n in span has legal reco gnition in
Brit ain . Every local aut hority has a duty to provide and ma intain
playin g fields and other facilities, which are usua lly very cheap to use
and sometimes even free. Spectator sport is also a ma tter of official
publi c concer n, For exam ple , there is a law whic h preven ts the televi-
sio n rigllls to the most famous annual sporting occasions , suc h as the
Cup Final and the Derby (c- The sporting calendar), being so ld exclusively
to satellite channels, w hich most people cannot rece ive. In these
cases it seems to be the event, rather than the sport itself. whic h is
important. Every year the Boat Race and the Grand National are
wa tched on television by millions of people who have no great inter-
est in rowing or horse-racing. Over time, some events have
developed a mystique which gives them a higher status than the
standard at wh ich they are played deserve s. In mod ern tim es, for
exam ple, the standard of rugby at the annual Varsity Match has been
rather low - and yet it is always shown live on televi sion .
Sometimes the traditions which accompan y an event can seem as
important as the actual sporting contest. Wimbledon, for ins tance .
is not just a tennis tournament. It means summer fashion s, straw ber-
rie s and cream , garden parties and long, warm English sum mer
evenings. Th is reputation created a problem for the event 's organizers
in 1993, when it was felt that security for players had to be tight ened.
Because Wimbledon is essentially a middle-class event , British
tenn is fans would never allow themselves to be treated like football
fans. W imbledon wi th secu rity fence s, policemen on horses and
othe r measur es to keep fans ofTthe court? It JUSt wouldn 't be
Wim bledon!
The lo ng history of such even ts has meant tha t man y of them , and
 Cricket 19 3

their venues, have become world-famous. Therefore, it is not only ... Famous sporting venues in
the British w ho tune in to w atch. The Grand National , for exam ple, Britain
attracts a televi sion audience of 30 0 million. This w orldwide en thu- Football
siasm has little to do wi th the stan dard of Briti sh spo rt. The cup finals Wembley (London)
of other countries often have better qu ality and more entertaining HampdenPark (Glasgow)
foo tball on view - but more Europeans wa tch the English Cup Final Rugby union
tha n any other. The standard of British tennis is poor, and Wim ble- Iwfckenhcrn (London)
don is only one of the world's major to urnaments. But if you ask any Millennium Stadium (Wales)
Murrayfield (Edinburgh)
top tennis player, you find that Wim bledon is the one they really
Lansdowne Rood (Dublin)
wan t to wi n . Every foo tbailer in the world dr eam s of playi ng at
Wem bley, every crickete r in the world of playing at Lord 's. W im ble- Horse-racing
Flat: Ascot, Epsom, Newmarket
don, Wembley and Lord's (D- Famous sporting venues) are the 'spirit ual
Nat ion al hum: Amrree. Cheltenham
homes' of their respective sports. Sport is a Briti sh export !
Cr ic ket
Lord's (London)
Cricket
The Ol'al (London)
Jud gin g by the numbers of people who play it and wa tch it (D- Spectator Old Trafford (Manchester)
HeadingJey (Leeds)
attendance at major sports), cricket is defini tely not the n atio nal spo rt of
Trent Bridge (Nottingham)
Britain. In Scotland , Wales an d Northern Ireland, interest in it is Edgbaston (Birmingham)
lar gely confined to the m iddle classes. On ly in Eng land and a sma ll
Golf
part of Wales is it played at top level. And even in Eng land, w here its
St Andrew's (Scotland)
en thusiasts come from all classes, the ma jority of the population do
Motor ra cing
not understand its rule s. Moreover, it is rare for the En glish n ation al
Silverstone (Northampton)
team to be the best in the world .
Brands Hatch (Rochester)
When people refer to cricket as the English na tional game , they are
not th inking so much of its level of popularity or of the stan dard of

... Sporting language

The cen tral pla ce of spon in Britain
is in d icated by the very larg e
n umber of spo rtin g expressions an d
m eta phors which ha ve entered the
everyday language. Here arc some of
the m.
From cricket
on a sticky wicket : in a difficult situation
on an easy wicket : in a fort unate situ-
ation
stumped : at a loss for an ans wer to a
questi on or solution to a problem
hit something for six: di smiss so m e-
thing emphaticall y
play with a straight bat: do som e th ing in
an honest and straightforward
way
if's not cricket: it is not the proper or
fair way of doing something
(cr icket is su p posed to be the
perfect example of th e concept of
'fair play' )
havea good innings: have a large or
adequate amount of tim e in a
certain post ; hav e a long life
offone's 0\\11 bat: without help from
anyone else
From boxing
saved by thebell: saved fro m a bad or
da ngerous situatio n by a sudden
event
on the ropes : in a weak pos ition ; close
to defeat or failure
floo red: defeated or confuse d in an
argument or d iscuss ion
throwin the towel: ad mit defeat
From horse-racing and riding
first past thepost: the wi nner
have thebit between the teeth : det ermined
to be given free rein: to be allowed to do
exact ly what one wants, w itho ut
restrictions
in the saddle: in control (in modern
tim es, th e ex pression 'in the
driv ing seat ' is often used instead)
From other sp o r ts or sp ort in
general
team player : somebo dy who is good at
co- o perating w ith ot her people
in groups
runwith {he pack: have no ind ivid ual
principles but just blindl y follow
the majority
win hands down: w in easily
go to the dogs: start to lead an aimless
and self-destructive life
in thefinal straight/on {he last lap: in the
last stage of some process
a safepair of hands: a relia ble pe rson
19 4 21 Spo rt and competition

... Note s on cric ket

Eleven players in each team.

Test matches between national teams
can last up to five days of six ho urs
each. Top club teams play matches
lasling between two and four days.
There are also one-day matches
lasting abo ut seven hour s.
Played at top level in Australia,
England, India, New Zealand , Pakis-
tan, Sou th Africa, Sri Lanka, the West
Indies (those places in the Caribbean
wh ich o nce belonged to the British
empire ). Can be co nside red the
'national sport' in the Indian
subcontinent and the wcsr Indies.

A cricket rnctch in progress

English players but more oft he very English associations that it carries
w ith it. Cricket is much more than just a spo rt; it sym bo lizes a wa y of
life - a slow and peaceful rural way of life. Cricket is associated wit h
lon g sunny summer afternoo ns , the sme ll o f new-mown grass and
the sou nd of leather (the ball) connecting w ith willow (the wood
from which cricket bats are made). Cricket is special becaus e it com -
bines competition with the British dream of rural life. Cricket is what
the village green is for! As if to emphasize the rural connection, 'first
class' cricket team s in England , unlike team s in other spor ts, do not
bear the names o f towns but of cou nt ies (Essex and Yorkshir e, for
example) .
Cricket is, therefor e, the national English gam e in a symbolic sense.
However, to some peopl e cricket is more than just a sym bol. The
compa ratively low attendance at top class matche s doe s not give a
true pictur e of the level of interest in the country. One game o f
cricket takes a terribly long time (eo Notes on cricket), which a lot of
people Simply don 't have to spare. In fact there are millions o f peop le
in the country w ho don 't just enjoy cricket but are passion ate about
it! These people spend up to thirty days each summer tuned to the
live radio commentary ofTest ' ( = int erna tional) Matches. When
they get the chance, they watch a bit of the live television coverage.
Some people even do both at the same tim e (they turn the sou nd
down on the television and listen to the radio) . To these peop le, the
commentators become w ell -loved figures. When. in '9 94. one
famou s commentator died, the Prime Minister lamented that
'summers will never be the same again '. And if cricket fans are too
busy to listen to the radio commentary, they can alw ays phone a
special num ber to be given the latest sco re!
 Football 19 5

Football ~ Sp ectat or atte ndance at m ajor

spo rts
The full official name of ,soccer' (as it is called in the USA and
sometimes in Britain) is 'association football' . This distingui shes it
mill ions
from other kin ds such as rug by foo tball (almost alw ays called simply
34
'rugby'), Gaelic foo tba ll, Austr alian football and American foot ball.
33
However, most people in Britain call it simply 'football'. Th is is 32
indica tive of its dominant rol e . Everywhere in the country except 31
south Wales, it is easily the I11QSt popular spect ator sport, the most- 30
played sport in the country's state schools and one o f the most 29
popular participatory sports for adults . In terms of num ber s, foot ball, 28
27
not cricket, is the natio nal sport, just as it is everywhere else in Europe.
26
British fo o tball has traditionally drawn its m ain following fro m 25
the working class. In general, th e in tellige n tsia ignored it. But in 24
the last two decades o f the twen tie th cent ury, it started to attract 23
w ide r interest. The appearance of fanzines is an ind icatio n of this. 22 Prof essio nal
Fanzines are magazines written in an info rmal but o ften highly intelli- foot ball

gent and w itty style, pu blishe d by the fans of some of the clubs. One
or tw o bo ok s of literary m erit have been w ritten w h ich focus no t
only on players, teams and tactics but also on the w ider so cial aspec ts
of the game. Light -hearted foot ball programmes have appeare d on
television w hich similarly give attention to 'off-the-field' ma tters. 9
The re has also been much academ ic in ter est. At the 19 90 Wo rld Cup
there was a jo ke among English fans that it w as impossible to find a 8
ho tel room because they had all bee n taken by sociologists'
7
Many team sports in Britain , but especially foo tball, tend to be
men-only, 'tribal' affairs. In the USA, the whole fami ly goes to watch 6
the baseball. Similarly, the whole family goes along to cheer the Irish
nation al football team. But in Britain, only a handful of ch ildren or 5
Greyhound racing
women go to football matches . Perhaps this is why active suppo rt for
4 Horse-racing
lo cal teams has had a tende ncy to beco m e violent. During the '970S
and I 980s football hooliganism was a m ajo r pro blem in England. In
3
the I 990s, however, it seemed to be on th e decli ne . English fans Motor sports
visit ing Europe are n ow no worse in their behaviour than the fans of 2 Rugby union
ma ny other co untries. Rugby league
Attendances at British club matc hes have been falling fo r seve ral t=~:=:- First class cricket
decades (to> Spectatorattendance at majorsports). Many stadiums are very
old. uncomfortable and so me times dan gerous. Accidents at profes-
sional foo tb all m atches led to th e decision to turn the gro unds of first
division and prem iership clubs into 'all-seater' stadiums . Fans can no
longer stand, jump, shout and sway o n the che ap 't err aces' behind
Source: Key Data
the goals (there have been emotional farewells at ma ny grounds to
this traditional 'w ay of llfe '). It is assum ed that being seated ma kes
fans mo re we ll-behaved. It rema ins to be seen w het her this develop -
me nt w ill turn football matches into even ts for the w hole fam ily.
19 6 21 Spo rt and competi tion

.... N o te s o n rugby
Similar to Ame rican foot ball in the
ball it uses (egg-shaped) and its aim
(to carry thc ball ov er the o pposing
team's line) . But very differ ent in
details - most no tably. you cannot
interfere with a player w ho docs not
have the ball. Also different in (hat.
like all British spons. there are no
'lime-outs' and playe rs do no t w ear
bodyarmour.
Fifteen players per team in rugby
union and thirteen in rugby league .
Playing time is eighty min utes.
Rugby union is played at top level in
the British Isles. France , Australia.
South Africa and New Zealand. Also
to a high level in Nor th America.
Argcnuna. Romania and so me Pacific
islands. Can be co nsidered the
' national spo rt" of Wales. New
Zealand. Fiji. Western Samoa and
Tonga, and of Sout h African wh ites .
The team s most frequently regarded
.1S the best are from the sout hern A rugby match in progress
he mi sphe re.
Rugb y league is played at top level in Rugby
Britain. Australia and New Zealand.
There are tw o version s of this fast and agg ressive ball game: rug by
uni on and rugby league . They are so sim ilar that somebody who is
goo d at one of them can quickly learn to become good at the othe r.
The real differen ce betw een th em is a mau er of socia l history. Rugby
union is the o lder ofthe tw o . In the nin eteenth cen tury it was en thusi -
astically taken up by most of Britain 's pu blic schools. Rugby league
split off from rugby un ion at the end of the century. Although it has
now spread to many of the same places in th e world where rugby
union is played (c- Nates an rugby), its tradi tional home is among the
working class of the north of England, where it wa s a way for miners
and factory workers to make a little bit of extra money from their
sporting talents . Unlike rugby union, it has alwa ys been a profes-
sional spo rt.
Because of these social o rigins , rugby league in Britain is seen as a
working class sport, while rugby union is mainly for the middle
classes. Except in south Wales. There, rugby union is a spa n for all
classes, and more popular than football. In Wales, the phrase ' interna-
tional day' means only one thing - that the national rugby team are
playing. In the '970S and 1980s some of the best Welsh players were
pers uaded to 'change codes'. They were 'bought' by one of the big
rugby league clubs, where they could make a lot of money. Whenever
this happened it was seen as a national disaster among the Welsh.
Rugby uni on has had some success in recent years in selling itself
to a wi der audience. As a result, just as football has become less
 An imals in sport 197

exclusively w orking class in character, ru gby union has become less .... Foxhuntin g
exclusi vely middle class. In 1995 it finally abandoned amateuri sm . In Foxhunting works like this. A group
fact, the amateur status of top rugby un ion players had already of peop le on horses, dressed in
become m eaningless. They didn 't get pai d a salary or fee for playing, eighteenth century riding clothes.
but the y received lar ge ' exp ense s' as w ell as various publicity con- ride around with a pack of dogs.
When the dogs pick up the scent of
tracts and paid spe aking engagements.
a fox, somebody blows a horn and
then dogs, horses and riders all chase
Animals in sport the fox . Often the fox gets away. but
if not , the dogs get to it before the
Traditi on ally, the favourite sport s of the British upper class are
hunters and tear it to pieces . As you
hun tin g , shooting and fishing . The most widespread form of might guess in a country of animal-
hunting is foxhunting - indeed, tha t is wha t the word ' hun ting' lovers, where most people have
usuall y m ean s in Britain (e- Foxhunting) . Thi s is a popular pastime lillie experience of the harsher rea lit-
among some m embers of the higher social classes and a few people ies of nature, foxhunting is strongly
opposed by some peo ple. The
fro m lower so cial classes, who often see the ir participation as a mark
League Against Cruel Sports wants it
of newly won status. made illegal and the campaign has
Killing bir ds with guns is known as 'shooting ' in Britain. It is a been steadily intensifying. There are
minori ty pa stime confine d lar gely to the hig her social classes; there sometimes violent encounters
are more than three times as man y licensed guns for this purpose in between foxhu ntcrs and protestors
France as ther e are in Britain. The birds which people try to shoot (whom the hunters call 'saboteurs ').

(such as gro use) ma y only be shot during cert ain specified tim es of
the year. The upper classes often organize' shooting parties' during
the 'season' .
The on ly kind of hunting which is associa ted w ith the working
class is hare-coursing, in w hich greyhound dogs chase hares.
However, because the vast majority of people in Britain are urban
dwellers, this too is a minority activity.
The one kind of ' hun tin g' which is popular among all soc ial classes
is fishing . In fact , this is the most popular participa tory sport of all
in Britain. Between four and five m illion people go fishing regularly.
When fish ing is done competitively, it is called 'anglin g' .
Apart from being hunted, ano the r way in w h ich animal s are used
in sport is when they race. Horse-racing is a long-established and Hunters and saboteurs clashing during
popular sport in Britain , both 'flat racing' and 'national hunt' racing a foxhunt
(where there are jumps for the horses), sometimes known as 'steeple-
chase'. The former became known as 't h e sport of kings' in the
seven teen th century, an d modern Bri tish royalty has close connec-
tions w ith sport involvin g horses. Some members of the roya l family
own racehorses and attend cer tain annual race m eetings (Ascot, for
example): SOlli e ar e also active part icip an ts in the spo rts of polo and
show-jum ping (both ofwhich involve riding a horse) .
The chief attrac tio n of horse-raci ng for most people is the oppor-
tuni ty it provides for gambling (see below). Greyhound racin g,
althoug h declining, is still popular for the same reason. In this sport,
the dog s chase a mechanical hare round a racetrack . It is easier to
organize than horse-racing and 'the dogs' has the rep utation of bein g
the 'poor man 's racing ' .
J 98 2 1 Sport and co mpet itio n
II- Rounders
This sport is rat her sim ilar to Ame r-
ican base ball. but it certainly does
not have the same im age. It has a
long history in England as some -
th ing that people (young and old.
ma le and fema le) can play to gethe r
at village fetes. It is often seen as not
being a proper 'sport',
However. despite this image, it
has recently become the seco nd
most popular sport for state schools
in Britain. More traditional spo rts
such as cricket and rugby are being
abandoned in favour of rounders .
which is much easier to o rganize.
Ro unders requi res less special
equipment, less money and bo ys
and girls can play it to gether. It also
takes up less tim e. It is especially
aurac uvc for state schools with little
mo ney and time to spare. More tha n
a qua rte r of all state-sc hool spa n s
fields arc 1I 0 W used for rou nders.
Only foo tball. wh ich is played on
nearl y half of all state-school fields .
is m ore pop ular.
II-- A nation of gambl ers
In 1993a total o f12 .7 billion w as
wagered by the British - that's 289
for ever y ad ult in the co untry. 9 .5
billio n was w on . The govern me nt
took just over I billion in taxes. The
rest was kept by the bookmakers.
Abo ut half of all the mo ney bet in
1993 was o n horses o r greyh ou nds.
74% of all adults gambled at least
once d uri ng the year.
At least o nce e \'er)' two w eeks:
39% d id the football pool s;
20% played on gam ing and fruit
machines:
18% played bingo;
14% put mone)' o n the hors es.
In Britain in 1993 ,therewasone
belting shop for e\'ery 3.000 adults.
There were also:
I 20 casinos;
120. 000 frui t ma chin es;
I .000 bingo clu bs;
1,000 lo ncn cs:
S"9 rac etrac ks:
37 gre yho und stad iums ,
Other spo rts
Alm ost every spo rt which exists is played in Britain . As we ll as the
sports alread y ment ioned, hockey (mostly on a field but also on ice)
is quite popular, and both basketball (for men ) and net ball (fo r
wome n) are grow ing in popularity. So too is the ancient gam e of
ro unde rs (too Rounders) .
The British have a preference for team gam es. Ind ividual sports
such as athletics, cycling , gymnastics and swimm ing have comparat-
ively small followi ngs. Large number s of peo ple become intereste d
in the m only when British com petito rs do we ll in internatio nal
events . The more popular individual sports are those in wh ich social-
izin g is an important aspec t (such as tennis, go lf. sailing and
snoo ker) . It is not able in thi s context that , apart from intern ation al
com pet itions. the only athl eti cs event which generales a lo t of ent hu-
siasm is the annual London Marathon . Mos t of the ten s of thousands
o f participants in this race are 'fun runners' w ho are merely tryin g
to complete it, some times in outrageous cos tume s, and so collect
m one y for charity.
There seem to be two ma in exceptions to this tenden cy to pr efer
team gam es. On e is boxin g, w here some of the attraction lies in the
opportnn ity for gambling. But while boxin g is declining in popular-
ity, the other exception, motor sports, is becom ing more popu lar.
Gam blin g
Even if they are not taking part or watching, British people like to be
inv olved in sport. They can do this by placing bet s on future resul ts.
Gam bling is widespread thro ughout all social classes. It is so basic to
spo rt tha t the word ' sportsman' used to be a synony m for ' gambler' .
When , in ' 99 3, the starting procedure for the Grand National did
not work properly, so that the race could not take place, it wa s w idely
regarded as a national disaster. The 7 0 million w h ich had been
gambled on the result (that's more than a pound for each man , woman
and child in the country!) all had to be given back.
Every year, billi on s of pounds are bet on horse races. So well -
known is thi s activity that everybody in the country, even those w ith
no interest in horse-racing . w ould understand the meaning of a ques-
tio n such as 'w ho won the 2. 3 0 at Chester ?' (W hich horse won the
race that w as scheduled to take place at half past tw o today at the
Chester racecourse ? The qu estioner pr obably wan ts to know because
he or she has gam bled some money on the resuh.) The cent ral ro le
o f horse-ra cing in gambling is also show n by one of the names used
to denote com pan ies and individuals w hose busine ss it is to take bets.
Althoug h these are generall y known as 'bookmakers', they some-
tim es call themselves ' turf accountants' Cturf' is a word for ground
w he re grass grows) .
 Gambling 199

.... The sporting calendar

This chart shows the seaso ns fo r Britain's most popu lar spectator spo rts and so me
of the most important spo rting events which take place every year. There are ot her.
less regular, events which can be very important and oth er annual events in particular
sports which are mo re important for followers of those sports. However, these are
the ones that are well-know n to the general public.

m Jan uary

Five Nat ions Championship in

rugby union: played on five Saturd ays betwe en
February England, France, Ireland, Scotland and W ales

March

The Boat Race: a rowing con test between crews The Grand Natio nal; ste eplechase for horses
from O xford and Cambridge Universities at Aintree rac ecourse near li ve rpo ol
April

May The Cup Final: other sports and other nat ions of Britain have their own cup finals.
but the English Football Association (FA) final at Wembley is the Cup Final

June The Derby: horse racing on the flat (no jumps) at Epsom racecourse
'Royal' Ascot: ho rse racing, at which wo men's fashion is given as much attention by
the media as the racing
Wi mbledon
te nnis fortnight
I
July

Au gu st The Charity Shield football match at Wembley

between last season's Cu p Final and League winne rs

Se ptember

O ctober

N o ve m be r

The Vars ity Match: rugby betw een O xford and

Ca mbridge Universities at Twickenham
December

flat season for ho rse racing natio nal hunt seaso n for hor se racing (over jumps)
rugby season professional foot ball seaso n cric ket seaso n
200 21 Sport and competition

Apart from the horses and the do gs, the most popular form of
gam bling connec ted wi th spo rts is the foo tball pools. Every week,
more tha n ten mill ion people stake a small sum on the results of
Satur day 's professiona l ma tches. Another popular type of gambling,
sterotypically for middle-ag ed w orkin g class women , is bingo.
Nonconform ist religiou s gro ups (see cha pte r t 3) tradi tio nally
frown upon gambling and their disappro val has had some influence.
Perhaps this is why Britain did no t have a national lottery until t 994.
But if people want to gamble, th en they w ill. For instance, before the
national lottery starte d , the British gam bled 250 ,000 on which
co m pany would be give n the licence to ru n it' The country's big
bookmakers are w illing to offe r odds on almost anything at all if
asked. Who will be the next Labour party leader' Will it rain during
the Wimbledon tennis tou rnament ? Will it snow on Christmas Day?
All of these offer opportunities for 'a flutter' .

QUESTIONS

, The manager ofLiverpool Foot ball Club during
the I 970s once said: 'Football is no t a matter of
life and death to m e - it's more im portant than
that!' Do you think his comment is typical of
the British attitude to sport (the traditiona l one,
the modern one , bo th or neither)?
2 Cricket '5 great draw back is that it canno t be
played during or im mediately after rain beca use
the grass is too wet. In the early I 990S it was
suggested that first-class cricket should be
playe d on plastic surfaces so that play cou ld
begin again as soon as the rain had stopped.
English cricket enthusiasts were horrified by th is
suggestion. One member of the MCC
(Marylebone Cricket Club, the club which partly
con trols the sport in England) comm en ted,
' The man must have been dru nk when he
thought of it'. How do you explain this
extreme reaction?
3 In t 993 Roddy Doyle, a w inner of the lite rary
Booker Prize (see chapter 22) made regular
appearances on a television football pro-
gramme. In terms of the history of football in
Britain, how was this significant? Are the soci-
olog ical assoc iatio ns of foo tball in your country
differen t from those in Britain?
4 For about th ree months each year, the British
spend millions of pounds betting on the results
of Austra lian football- a sport which the vast
majority have no interest in (and no under-
standing of) ! Why do you think they do this'
What does it tell us about British attitudes to
sport and gambling? Are the chief forms of
gambling in Britain the same as those in your
co untry?

SU G G ESTI ONS

Copies offootball club fanzines can be bought from Sports Pages,

Caxton Walk, 94-96 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H OjG.
The re is a general foot ball fanzine called When Saturday Carnes wh ich is
availa ble from the same address or from 4th Floor, 2 Pear Tree Court,
London EC I R ODS. This in cludes details of most o f the in divi dual
club fanzines available.
 20 1

22
The arts

The art s in so ciety

Inter est in the arts in Britain used to be largely confined to a sm all ... What are "t he arts'?
elite. Compared w ith fifty years ago , far more people to day read Theartsis an 'umbrella' term for liter -
books, visit art galleri es, go to the theatre and atten d concerts. ature, music, painting, sculpture,
Ne vertheless, the fact remain s that most British people prefer their crafts, theatre, opera, ballet, film etc.
spo rt , th eir television and videos (D- Videos) , and their o ther free -t im e It usually implies seriousness, so
that part icular exam ples of these
activiti es to anything' cultural'.
activities w hich are regarded as
The art s in Britain are me t wi th a mix tu re of public apath y and 'light' may be referred [Q simply as
private enthus iasm. Publicly, the arts are accepted an d tolerated but 'e nte rtainment'Tnstead.
not act ively encouraged . As a proportio n of its to tal expenditure, Art, or fi nearts,is often used to refer
government finan cial su p port for the art s is one of the lo west of any to those arts which use space, but
not time, for their appreciation
western co un try. During the I 980 s it was the lowest of all. One of
(such as painting and sculpture).
th e principl es ofThatcherism was th at the arts sho uld be driven by Th is, for exam ple, is what is covered
'm arket forc es'. The government reduced the money it gave to the by the subject 'art' in schools.
Arts Council, the organ izatio n which allocates funds to projects in The word artistcan sometimes
th e art s. It was poli ticall y acceptable to do this becau se of the wide- refer to a person w orking in the fine
spre ad view that' culture ' is of interest to a sma ll sect ion of the rich arts, and sometimes to a person
wo rking in any field of the arts. In
only. Therefore, the go vernment 's action was seen as democratic - it
this chapter , it is used in this latter
wa s refu sing to su bsid ize the tastes of the wealthy. The co un ter - sense.
argument , that suc h an attitude is undemocratic beca use it makes
'culture' too expe ns ive for the o rd inary pe rson , is not one that carries
much weight in Britain. In scho ols, su bjects suc h as art and music,
th ough always available, tend to be pushed to the side lines. In the
nat ional curriculum (see chapter 1+), they are the o nly two' co re '
su bjects which pupils at the age of fourteen are allowed to dro p
com pletely.
In addi tion , th e art s are not normally given a very h igh level of
publicity. Television program m es on ' cultural' su bjects are u sually
shown late at night. Each sum m er, many h igh -q uality arts festiva ls
... What is "cult ure'?
take pla ce around the country (D- Annual orts festivals) , bu t the vast
majority of people do not even kn ow of the ir exis te nce. Lon don has The w or d culture has two meanings.
some of the fine st collections of pai nting an d sculpture in the w orld, In this book, it is used in its anthro-
pological sense to mean 'way of life'.
but tourist brochures give little space to this aspect of the ci ty. Excep t
But m any peo ple also use it as a
for the most fam ous, arti sts themselves have compa ratively little synonym for' the arts' . When it is
pu blic recog nit ion. Som e British art ists have in ternatio nal reputa- used th is \vay in this chapter, it has
tio ns, and yet most people in Britain don't even know their names, inverted commas around it.
20 2 22 The arts

... Vid e o s
Every year . more than 1 billion
worth of vide os arc sold o r rented
in Britain . Mo re than 60 % of all
ho useh olds in the coum ry own a
video cassette reco rder. Ever}' year.
these households hi re an average of
about twe nty-five videos eac h and
buy an average o f about five videos
each . Here is a graph sho w ing the
type s of video that people wa tched
in 199 3.

Vid e os for sal e and r ent

% of current market

Sal e

An amateur theatrical production

It is very rare, fo r example, for an y British artist to usc hi s o r her fame

in the arts as a spri ngboard 0 1110 th e po litical stage. If you were to ask
th e avcr age person to name so m e fam ous painters. co m posers . o pera
singers and ball et dan cer s, you w o uld proba bly be given ver y few
British names - o r even none at all.
It is almost as if th e British are keen lO present themselves as a
I Children's/ Disney 31 nation of ph ilistin es. And ye t, hundred s of th ousands of people are
2 Films 30
3 TV/others 22
enthusiast ically invo lved in o ne or other of the art s, but (in typically
4 Music 9 Bri tish fashion) w ith a more-or-Iess amateur o r pan-lime status . For
5 Fitness/spo rt 8 exam ple. every (Own in th e co unt ry has at least o ne 'amateu r d ra-
matics' society , which reg ularl y give s per formances an d cha rge s no
Rental marc than enoug h 1O co ver its cos ts. All ove r the co unt ry, th o usands
of pe ople learn handicrafts (such as pottery) in their free time , and
some times sell th eir work in local cra ft shops, Similarly , th ere are
th ousand s of m usician s of eve ry kind, performing aroun d th e
country fo r very little m oney an d m aking their own recordings in
ver y diffi cult cir cumstan ces. Som e amateur Briti sh choirs . such as
the Bach Choir ofLondon and King 's Co llege Chap el Cho ir in Cam-
bridge, are well-known th rougho ut the w orld.
I Dramaslthrillers 37
2 Action/adventure 29 Th e characteristics of Briti sh art s and lett er s
3 Come dy 23
If there is o ne characteristic of British work in the art s tha i seems to
4 Children/family 4
5 Science fiction 4 stand O Ul, it is its lack of ident ificatio n w ith wider in tellectual trends.
6 Horror 3 It is no t usually id eologically co m m itted . no r associated w ith part icu -
lar political movements. Playwrights an d director s. for in stan ce. can
be left -Wing in thei r poli tical o utlook , but the pla ys which they
produ ce rarely co nvey a straightforward poli tical m essage . The sam e
is largel y true of British no velists and poets. Their wri ting is typically
naturalistic and is not co nnected w ith particu lar in tellectual move-
men ts. They tend to be ind ivid ualistic, explo ring emotio ns rather
 Theatre and cinem a 203

than ideas, the per son al rather than the politi cal. Whatever the critics ... Annual a r ts festivals
say. it is quit e com mo n for British playw rights and novelists to claim There are maoy festivals thr ough out
that they just record ' w hat they see ' and th at th ey do not consciou sly Britain during the year. but the se are
intend any soc ial or sym bo lic me ssage . Sim ilarly, British work in the perhaps the most w ell-known.
arts also tends to be indi vidualistic within its own field . That is. arti sts Aldeburgh
do not usually co nsider the mselves to belo ng to this or that 'mo ve- June. East Anglia. Classical music .
m ent ' . In an y field o f the arts, even those in which British artists have Relatively informal atmo sphere.
stro ng international reput atio ns, it is difficuh to identify a ' Brius h Edin burgh In ternational Festival
scho ol' . Augus t. All the pe rformi ng ans.
Th e style of th e arts also tends to be con vent ional. Th e avant-garde including avant -gardc . More than
exists, of co urse, but, w ith the possibl e excep tion of paintin g and ten different performances every
dar around the city. World famou s.
sculpture. it is no t thro ug h such work th at British arti sts become
famous. In the I 98 0s , Peter Brook wa s a highl y successful th eatre The Proms
directo r. But when he occasionally directed avant -garde prod uctio ns. July- Septem be r. London. Classical
music . ' Pro ms' is shan for 'prom -
he staged them in Paris!
enades', so-called because mo st of
In these features of the work of Briti sh artists (lonely individualism the seats arc taken out o f the Alben
expressing uself w uhin co nven tio nal formats). it is perhaps possible Hall, whe re the co ncerts take place,
to find an ex planat ion for the apparent co n trad iction bet w een, o n the and the audience stands or walk s
one han d , the low level of public support for the arts and , o n the o the r around instead .
hand , the high level o f en thusiasm o n the part o f in divid uals. There Glyndebourne
appea rs to be a ge ne ral assumptio n in Britain that art istic creation is All summer. In the grounds ofa large
a per sonal affair, no t a social one , and that therefore th e flow ertng of co untry house in Sussex. Opera.

artistic talent can not be engineered . Either it happen s, or it doesn't. Roya l Nat iona l Eist eddfod
It is no t so m ething fo r which society shou ld feci responsible. July. Wales. Music, poetry and dance
from many diffe rent cou ntries .
Mostly in the form of competitions,
Theatre and cin em a with special categories for Welsh
The theatre has alwa ys been very strong in Britain. Its cent re is, of performing arts.

co urse , London, w he re success ful plays can so metimes run w ith ou t Glastonbury and Reading
a brea k fo r many years (e- They ran and ran!) . But every larg e town in th e Probably the two most w ell-
co untry has its th eatr es. Even sm all to wn s often have 'repertory' established rock mu sic festivals. The
Bradford and Cambridge festivals
theatres, w he re differe nt pla ys are performed for short period s by th e
emphasize folk mu sic.
sam e group of profe ssional actors (a rep ert ory co m pany) .
It see ms that th e co nve ntio nal for ma t o f the th eatrical play gives
the undemonstrative British people a safe opportunity to look behind
the ma sk of accepted social behaviour. Th e co unt r y's most successful
and respected playw rights are usu ally th ose w ho explore the dar ker
side of the personality and of personal relationships (albeit often
th ro ugh comed y) .
British theatre has such a fine acting tradi tio n that Hollyw ood is ... They r a n and ran!
forever raiding its talent fo r people to star in films. British televisio n In the second half of the twentieth
does the sam e thing. Mo reo ver, Bro adw ay, w hen look in g for its next cent ury. the two longest -running
blockbuster musical, pays clo se att entio n to London production s. In theatrical production s have been The
Mousetrap (fro m a novel by Agatha
sho rt, British th eatre is much adm ired . As a con seq uence , it is so me-
Christie ) and the comedy No St.'\:
thin g that British actors are proud of. Man y of th e most we ll-known Please, we're British. Both played con -
television actor s, thoug h th ey might mak e m ost of their money in tinu ously for more tha n fifteen
this latt er m ed iu m , co nt inue to see them selves as first an d forem ost }ears.
theat re actors.
20 4 22 The arts

.. British films In con trast, the cinem a in Britain is o ften regarded as not quite part
Here are so me o f the most successful
o f 'the arts' at all - it is simply entertainment. Partly for this reason,
and/or respected British films of the Britain is unique among the large European co untries in giving almost
1980s and 1990S: no financial help to its film industry. Therefore, although cinema-
Chariots o f Fire ( 198 t ) going is a regu lar habit for a m uch larger n um ber of people than is
Gregory's Girl (1 98 t ) theatre -going , British film directors ofte n have to go to Hollywood
Gandhi ('982) because the reso urces they need are not available in Britain. As a
A Letter to Brezhnev (t 985) result , comparatively few films o f qualit y are mad e in the country.
My Beautiful La underette (198 S-)
This is no t because expertise in film making do es no t exist. It do es.
A Ro o m wit h a View ( 1985)
A Fish Called Wanda ( 1988)
Ame rican production s o ften use studios and technical facilities in
Shirley Valentin e (1989) Britain. Moreo ver, some of the films w hich Britain do es manag e to
Henry V ( '989) make become hig hly respected around the world (e- British films). But
Howa rd's End (1992) even these films o ften make a financial loss.
The Crying Game ( 1992)
Much Ado About N othing ( t 993)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Music
The Full Monty (1997) Classical m usic in Britain is a minority interest. Few classical mu si-
No uing Hill ( 1999)
cians, wh ether British or foreign, become w ell known to the ge neral
public. Wh en they do , it is usually because of circumstances which
have no thin g to do wi th their m usic. For example, the Italian tenor
Pavarotti became famous in the co untry w hen an aria sung by him
wa s used by the BBC to introduce its ' 990 football World Cup
coverage. Despite this low profile, thousand s o f British people are
ded icated mu sicians and many pu blic libraries have a we ll-stocked
m usic sec tio n. Several British orches tras, soloi sts , singers , cho irs,
o pera co mpanies and ballet companies, and also certain annual
mu sical events, have international reputation s.
In the I 96 0s , British artists had a great influ ence on the develop -
m ent of m usic in the mod ern, or 'pop ' idio m . The Beatles and other
British grou ps w ere respon sible for seve ral innovatio ns which were
then ado pted by popular m usicians in the U SA and the rest of the
world. These included the writing of words and music by the per -
.. Some well-known arts venues
formers them selves, and more active audience participation . The
The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
words of their son gs also helped to liberate th e po p idiom from its
in Stratfo rd is the home o f the Ro yal
Shakespeare Co mpany (RSC) . All
the othe r venues ment ioned here are
in Lo ndo n.
Theatres include the Old Vic (the
hom e of the Natio nal Theatre
Company) . the Mermaid, the Royal
Court and the Barbican (w here the
RSC also performs) .
For opera and ballet. there is the
Roya l Opera Hous e at Covent
Garden and the Coliseum, where the
Sadler's Wells Company perform s.
The South Bank area has several
concert halls (notably the Ro yal
Festival Hall) and the Natio nal
Theatre . The last night of the proms (c- Annual arts festivals)
 Literat ur e 2 05

former limitation to the topics of love and teenage affection. Othe r .. The arts an d t el evi sio n
British arti sts in groups such as Pink Floyd and Crea m played a major There are now only a quarter of the
part in making the musical structure of pop music sim ilarly more number of cine ma seats in Britain as
sophisticated. there w ere in [961). This decline is
Since the 1960 s, popular m usic in Britain has been an enormous gene rally assumed to be the result of
th e pop ularity of television. In fact,
and profi tabl e industry. The Beatles were awarded the ho nour (see
televisio n has taken an increasingly
chap ter 7) of MBE (Me m ber of the British Empire) for their services important supporting role in the
to Briti sh exports . Within Britain the to tal sales of the var iou s kinds arts. The maki ng of some high-
of m usica l recording are more than 200 million every year - and the qua lity British films has only been
vast m ajority of them are of popular music. Many worldwide trends poss ible because o f the financial
have come out of Britain and British 'pop' artis ts have bee n active in help of Channel 4. The BBC regu -
larly com miss ions new works of
att empting to cross the boundaries betw een popular m usic, folk
music for the proms . Television
music and classical music. dr ama and comedy help to keep
hundreds of actors in work.
Literatu re Moreover, television can actua lly
hel p to pro m ot e oth er art forms.
Altho ug h the British are com paratively uninteres ted in for mal edu ca- When a boo k is dr amatized on tele-
lion, and although the y w atch a lot of televi sio n, they are nonetheles s vision, its sales often roc ker. The
en thu siastic readers . m ost spectacular example of this
Many peopl e in the literar y world say tha t British literat ure lost occurred in the late I 960s . The Forsyre
Saga, a series o f novels by John Gals-
its w ay at the end of the twentieth century. The last British aut hor
wo rthy . had bee n out of pr int for
to win th e Nobe l Prize for literat ure was Willia m Golding, in 1983. several decades . When an adaptation
Many others disagr ee w ith this opinion . But wha t is not in dou bt is was sho wn on the BBC, half a
that a lot of the exciting new lite rature w ritte n in English an d pub- mill ion copies of the books w ere
lished in Britain in recent years has been written by people from sold!
ou tside Britain. The Booker Prize is the most importan t prize in Britain
for a work of ficti on. Starting wit h Salman Rushd ie in 198 1, ni n e of
its next fourteen winners were writers from former British colonies
such as Cana da, India, Ireland and Nig eria.
Although 111any of the be st 'serious' British writers man age to be
popular as w ell as profound, the vast majority of the books that are
.. Mountains of bo ok s!
read in Britain could not be classified as 'serious' literature. Britain is
the home of wha t migh t be called 'middlebrow' literatur e. (Tha t is, For the really schol arly reader, the
mi d-wa y between serious, or 'highbrow' litera tu re and po pular, or British Library (a department of the
British Museum) has more than 10
'pulp' fiction.) For example, the dist inctly British genr e of detectiv e milli on volumes, occu pying 320
fiction (the work of writers like Agatha Chr istie and Ruth Rendell) is kilom etres of shelf space. At present,
regarded as entertainment rather than litera tu re - but it is entertain- the library is ob liged to house a copy
m ent for int ellig ent readers. There are many British aut hors, mostly of every boo k publishe d in the
fem ale (for exam ple , Norah Lofts and Rum mer God den) , who write count ry. This obligation, ho w ever,
will pro bably disap pear in the
novels which are som etim es classified as 'roma nces' but w hich are
fu ture. It is just too difficult to
actually deeper and m ore serious than that term often im plies. They or gan ize. By [9 93, its collection was
are neither popular ' blockbusters' nor the sort of books w hich are expand ing at the rate of (1)0 centi-
revi ewe d in the serious literary press. And yet they continue to be m etre s of boo ks pe r hour. It
read, year after year after year, by hundre ds of thousands of people. possesses more than 6,000 different
editions o f Shakespeare 's plays and
In 1993 more than half of the hundred m ost-borrow ed books
m ore than 100 different editions of
from Britain's public libraries were ro mantic novels. Many were of m ost nove ls by Charles Dickens . The
the middlebrow type. The rest were n10re simplistic stories abou t result of all this is that it can take up
romance (she is young and pretty, he is tall, dark and h andsom e to two days to find a particular book!
206 22 The ar ts
... A child could do that!
British people often complain about
modern abstract painting by saying,
'It doesn't look very specia l to m e. A
ch ild of four could do tha t' . Well, in
1993 a child of four diddo it.
One of the paintings offered to the
Manchester Acade my of Fine Arts
for its annual exhibition was a work
called Rhythm of theTrees. The Acad-
emy's experts liked it and included it
in the exhibition. Only later did they
discover tha t its crea tor, Carly
Johnson, was four years o ld (the
title was her gra ndfather's idea).
The news of this discovery w as
greatly en joye d by the whole of
Britain. Everybody loves it \v-hcn
experts are made to look like fools,
especial ly when they are experts
about something that most people
don't understand. It did not occur to
many people to think that perhaps a
child genius had been discovered.
Somebody else must have liked
Carlv's painting too - it sold for
291)
Modernan at the Tate
w ith a very firm jaw; whatever happen s during the story, they end
up in each other's arm s - forever) . The British publi sher which sells
more books than any other is Mills & Boon , w hose books are exclus-
ively of this type.
It is more tha n 200 years since poetry Slopped being the normal
mode of literary self-exp ression. And yet, poetry at the end of the
twentieth century is surprisingly, and increasingly, popular in Britain.
Books of poe try sell in comparatively large numbers. Their sales are
not nearl y as large as sales of novels, but they are large enou gh for a
few small publishers to survive entirely on publishing poet ry. Many
poet s are asked to do readin gs of their wo rk on radio and at arts
festivals. Man y of the se poets are not acade mics and their w riting is
accessible to non -spe cialists. Perha ps the 'pop' idi om and the easy
availability of sound record ing have mad e more people comfortable
with spoke n verse then they we re fifty years ago.
The fine art s
Painting and scu lptu re are no t as Widely popular as music is in Britain .
There is a general feeling that you have to be a specialist to app reciate
them, especially if they are contem pora ry. Small private art galleries,
where peop le might loo k at paintings w ith a view to buying them ,
are rare. Nevert heless, London is aIle of the ma in centres o f the
int ern ational collector 's world. The tw o major auct ion houses of
Sotheby's and Christie's are wo rld-famous.
Until the I 980s, the country's majo r mu seum s and galleries
charged not hing for admi ssion . Most of them now do so, although
sometimes payment is volunt ary. This has caused a lot of comp laint
that a gre at tradition of free educatio n has been lost.
 Questions and suggestions 207

... Mus eum s and ar t galleri es

The m ajor museums in Lond on are adjoining National Portrait Galler y,

the British Museum (the n ational
collect ion of ant iq ui ties) , the Vic-
tor ia and Alben Museum, w hich
houses the \....or ld's largest d isplay of
the decorative arts, the Natural
History Museum and the Science
Museum. There are numerous other
small , specialist museums in London
and throughout the rest of the
cou n try , usually with an emphasis
on history and British 'heritage'
There has been a move to ma ke
m useums come alive with appro -
priate sounds and even smells .
Art galleries in London which
house perm anent collect ions
include the National Gallery, the
and the Tate Britain, which is th e
nation's gallery of British an fro m
I/jOO to the present day These
galleries also hold special temporary
exhibitions.The Hayw ard Galler y
and th e Royal Acade my pu t on a
ser ies of shows, so me of wh ich
are extrem ely popular.The Royal
Academ y is famous for its annual
Summer Exh ibitio n. Out side
London ther e is th e Burrell
Collection near Glasgow and the
Tate Galleri es in Liver pool and
St Ives. Most major towns and
citie s have th eir own mus eums and
art galleri es.

QUESTIONS

How does the British govermnent justify its
polic y oflow spe nding on the arts ' Does the
gover nment in your country subsidize the arts
and encourage artistic endeavor in schools and
elsew he re?
2 Wha t evide nce can you find in th is chapter to
support the view tha t the arts are ofinterest to
a sm all minority of British people on ly? W ha t
evid en ce can yo u find to support the opposite
view - that in terest in the arts is widespread?
How is it tha t there can be an element of truth
in bo th of these opinions?
3 Which area s of the arts seem to be part icularly
appreciat ed and value d in Britain and which
seem to be ign ored or under -valued ? In w ha t
ways does the appreciation of the differ ent
aspects of the art s vary in yo ur count ry?
4 The British are ver y conscio us of the di stinction
betw een high art or 'culture' and ligh t 'enter-
tainment', In what area of the arts have the y
succee ded in establishing a w idely accepted and
approved compromise w hich appeals to a broad
range of people from different soci al back-
grounds and with varyin g levels of education?

SUGGESTIONS

Most of the major museums publish guides to their collections,

po inting out their m ost highly-prized exhibits, which are often
illustra ted in the guides.
Any biography of any of the major British theatrical figure s of this
centur y, such as Sir Laurence Olivier (there is one published by
Fontana, written by Donald Spoto) would reveal a lot about the
history of the theatre in Britain and abo ut Bri tish theatre in general.
108

23
Holidays and special
.
occasions

Britain is a country governed by routine. It has few er public holidays

than any other country in Europe and fewer than North America.
(Northern Ireland has two extra ones, however) . Even New Year 's
Day was not an official pu blic holiday in England and Wales until
quite recently (but so many people gave themselves a ho liday anyway
that it was thought it mig ht as well become officiall) . There are
almost no sem i-official holidays either. Most official holidays occur
either just befor e or just after a weekend , so that the pract ice of
making a 'bridge' is almost unknown. More over, there are no tradi-
tional extra local holidays in particular places. Although the origin o f
the word 'holiday' is ' holy day', not all public holida ys (u sually
known as ' bank holi days') are connected with religi ous celebrations.
The British also seem to do comparatively badly wit h regard to
annual holidays. These are no t as lon g as they are in man y other
countries. Altho ugh the average employee gets four weeks ' paid
holiday a year, in no town or city in the co untry wou ld a visitor ever
get the impression that the place had 'shut down' for the summ er
bre ak. (In fact, about 40% of the population do no t go awa y an y-
where for their holidays.)

Traditi onal seaside holid ays

The British upper class started the fashio n for seaside holida ys in the
late eighteenth century. The middle classes soo n followed them and
when they were given the oppor tun ity (around the beginning of the
twentie th ce ntury), so did the working classes. It soon became
no rmal for families to spend a week or two every year at one of the
seaside resort tow n s which sprang up to cater for this new mass
market. The most well -known of these are close to the larger towns
and cities (e- Holiday resorts in England) .
These seaside towns quickly developed certain characteristics that
are now regarde d as typical of the 'traditional' Engli sh holiday resort.
They have some hote ls w here richer people stay, but mo st famili es
stay at boarding houses. These are sma ll family bu sinesses, offeri ng
either ' bed and breakfast' or , more rar ely, ' full board' (meaning that
all meals are provided) . Some street s in seaside resorts are full of
nothing bu t boarding houses. The food in these , and in local restaur -
ants, is cheap and conventional with an emphasis o n fish and chip s.
 Trad itional seaside h olida ys 209

Stereotypically, daytim e entert ainmen t in sunny w eather cent res ... Rock
aro und the beach , w he re the ch ildren mak e sandcas tles, buy ice- Ther e is one kind of sweet associated
cream s and sometimes go for donkey rid es. Older adults often do no t with holiday re sorts. Thi s is 'rock',
bother to go sw imming. They are h appy just to sit in their deck a hard th ick stick of sugar. Each resort
chairs and occasionally go for a paddle w ith their skirts or trouser- has the letters of its name appearin g
thr ou ghout the stick , so that one
legs hi tched up . The water is always cold and, despite efforts to clean
hears of 'Brig hton Rock' , 'Blackpool
it up, sometimes very dirty. But for adults w ho swi m, some resorts Rock' and so on.
hav e wooden huts on or n ear th e beac h, know n as 'beach cabins',
'beach hu ts' or 'bathing huts' , in w hich people can chan ge into their
swi mming cos tum es. Swimming and sunbathin g w ithou t an y cloth -
ing is rare . All reso rts have various ot he r kinds of attrac tio n, including
more-or-less permanent funfairs.
For the evenings , and when it is raining, th ere are am u sem en t
arcades, bingo halls, dance halls, discos, the atres, bowling alleys and
so on, many of these situa ted on the pier. This uniqu e British archi tec-
tural structure is a platform extending ou t int o the sea. The large
resorts ha ve decorations which light up at nigh t. The 'Blackpoo l
illum inations' , for example, are famous.
Anot her tradi tion al holiday destina tion , w hich was very popul ar
in Britain in the I 950S and I 960s, is the holiday cam p , where
visitors stay in chale ts in self-containe d villages w ith all food and A shopselling rock
entertainment organized for the m. Budin's and Pont in 's, the compan-
ies which own most of these, are we ll-known n am es in Britain . The
enforce d good-humour, strict m eal-tim es and events such as
'knobbly knees' competitions and beauty con tests that were charac-
teristic of these camps have n ow given way to a more relaxe d
atmosphere.

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2I0 23 Holida ys and spec ial occasions
Ii> Seaside po stc ards
Humorous postcards like the one
belo w can still be bought at seaside
resorts. The joke always has an
clement of sexual innuendo in n.
The traditional seaside holida y in the
first half of the twentie th century
represented a relaxing of v icton an
rcstncuons on oven reference to
sex. These days . of co urse. no such
resmcuons ex ist, so these pos tcards
arc mainly enjoyed in a spirit of
nostalgia for the past.
A tradi tional seasidepostcord by
Donald McGill
'murde r wee kend', and find yourself livin g out the plot of detective
Mod ern holida ys
Both of the traditional types of holiday have become less popular in
the last q uarter of the tw entieth century. The increase in car owner-
ship has encouraged many peo ple to take caravan ho lidays. But the
greatest cause of the decline of the tradit ional holi day is foreign
tourism. Before the 1960s , only the rich took ho lidays abroad . By
1971, the British were taking 7 million foreign holidays and by
1987, 20 million . These days, millions of British people take their
cars across the channel every year and nearl y half of all the nights
spent on holidays away from home are spent abroad.
Most foreign holidays are package holidays, in which tran sport
and accommodation are boo ked and paid for through a travel agent.
These holidays are often booked a long time in advance. In the middle
of w inter the televisio n companies run programmes which give
informatio n about the packages being offered . People need cheering
up at this time of the year! In many British homes it has become
trad itional to get the holiday brochures out and start talking about
w here to go in the summer on Boxing Day (e-Cclendc r ofspecial occasions).
Spain is by far the most pop ular package-holiday destination.
Half of all the holi days taken within Britain are now for thr ee days
or less. Every ban k-holiday wee kend there are long traffic jams along
the rout es to the most popular ho liday areas. The traditio nal seaside
resort s have survive d by adjusting them selves to this trend . (Only the
rich have seco nd hou ses or cottage s in the countr yside t o which they
can escape at w eekends.) But there are also many o ther types o f
holid ay. Hikin g in the co un try and sleeping at you th hos tels has long
been popular (see chapter 5) and so, among an ent husiastic minority,
has po t-holing (the explor ation of undergro und caves). There are
also a wide range of ,activity' holidays availab le, giving full expres -
sion to British individualism. Yo u can , for examp le . take pan in a
story.
An increas ing number of people now go on 'working' holidays,
during which they might help to repair an ancient stone wall or take
part in an archaeological dig. This is an echo of another trad itional
type of ,holiday' - frui t picking. It used to be the habit of poor people
from the east end ofLondon, for example, to go to Kent at the end of
the summer to help with the hop harvest (hops are used for making
beer).
 Christm as an d New Year 2I [

Christmas and New Year

Christmas is the one occasion in modern Britain when a large number
of cu stoms are en th usiastically observed by most ordinary people
wi thin the family. The slow decrease in participa tion in organized
religion (see chapter 13), and the fact tha t Christmas in modern
tim es is as much a secular feast as a religious one, has h ad liule effect
on the se traditions. Even people who consider themselves to be an ti-
religious quite happily w ish each ot her a 'H appy Christmas' or a
'Merry Christmas' . Th ey do not (as in some other co un tries) self-
conscio usly wi sh each other a 'Happy New Year' instead .
Indeed , the 'c ommercialization' of Christmas has itself become
part of tradition . Eve ry No vem ber in Oxford Street (one of the ma in
sho ppin g stre ets in the cen tre of London) , a famous pe rsonality cere-
m oniously switches on the 'Christmas lights' (decorations) thus
,officially ' ma rking the start of th e period of fran tic Christmas shop-
ping . And it certainly is frantic . Betw een that tim e and the middle of
Januar y, most sho ps do nearly half of the ir to tal business for the year
(most ha ve 's ales ' in early Jan uary w hen prices are red uced ) . Mo st
people buy presen ts for the other members of their household and
also for other relati ves, especially children . Some people also bu y
presents for the ir close friends . And to a wider circle of friends and
relati ves, and som etim es also to working associates and neighbours,
th ey send Christmas car ds (c- Christmas cards). Some people even send
such greetings to people whom they ha ve not seen fo r ma ny years,
often using the ex cu se of th is tradition to in clude a lett er passing on
th e year's news.
~ Chr istm as cards
Many peop le send cards at Christmas
tim e depicting some aspect of the
binh of Christ. Most people,
ho wever . do not. Christmas is an
opportunity for the British to
in du lge their dreams about a van-
ished ru ral past. You can see this on
m any typical Christmas cards. They
often sho w scenes fro m either the
ni netee nth or eighteenth cent uries
and ma y be set in the countryside,
ver y frequent ly covered with snow.
(In fact , snow at Christmas is rare in
m ost pan s of Britain) .

Christmas cards
1 11 23 Holi days and special occasions
... Th e Chr istmas party
In tho usands of companies through-
out Britain , the last \ v orking
afternoon before Christmas is the
time of the annu al office par ty. at
which a lot of alcohol is often con-
sumed. Sexual feelings, hidden
throughout the year, come into the
open. This is a problem for company
bosses. By law. an employer is
responsible fo r sexual harassment at
work and may have to pay as m uch
as I 0,000 in compensation. The
peak time for complaints of sexual
harassment is in January - just after
the annual office party. Many
employers now insure themselves
against claims for compensation at
this time.
... Christmas dinn er
The traditional meal consists of
stuffed roast turkey with roast pota-
roes and some other vegetab le (often
Brussel sprouts). Other foods asso-
ciated with Christmas are Christmas
pudding. an extremely heavy sweet
dish made of dried fruits (it is tradi-
tional to po ur brandy over it and
then set it aligh t) and Christmas
cake. an equ ally heavy fruit cake,
with hard white ici ng on top.
Peo ple also bu y Christmas trees (a tradition im po rte d from
Germ any in the nineteent h cent ury). Alm ost every ho usehold has a
tree deco rated in a different way (in many cases, w ith coloured
lights) . Most peopl e also put up o ther decor atio ns around the ho use.
Exactly what th ese are varies a great deal , bu t certain sym bols of
Chr istma s, suc h as bit s of th e holly and m istle toe plants, are very
co mmon, and the Christmas cards which the household has received
are usually displayed. A ' crib' , which is a model depicting th e birth
of Christ , also some tim es fo rms part of th e Christmas decoratio ns. In
Decem ber, as Christm as gets close r, caro ls (usually, but no t alw ays,
wi th a religiou s theme) are sung in churches and schoo ls , o ften at
special concerts, and also , though less often than in the past, by
group s of people who go fro m house to ho use collectin g money for
charitable causes.
The ro le of Father Christma s (or Santa Claus) and th e customs
associated w ith the giving of gifts vary fro m fam ily to fam ily. Most
househ olds wit h ch ild ren tell them that Father Chri stmas co mes
down the chim ney o n the night of Christmas Eve (eve n though most
houses no longer have a working ch im ney!) . Many child ren lay o ut
a Chr istma s stoc king at the foo t of their beds, which they expect to
see filled w he n they w ake up o n Chri stm as m o rni ng. Mos t fam ilies
put wrapped presents aroun d or on the Christmas tree and these are
o pened at some time o n Christm as Day.
O th er activities on Chr istm as Day m ay include th e eating of
Christmas dinn er (e- Christmas dinner) and listening to the Q ueen 's
Christmas message. This ten-min ute television broadcast is normall y
the o nly time in th e year when th e m onarch spea ks directly to 'her '
people o n televisio n . (When , in t 99 3, a na tional newspaper pub-
lished th e text of her speec h a few da ys beforehand, it w as a
national scandal.)
Th e general feeling is tha t Christma s is a time for fam ilies. Man y
of th e gatherin gs in houses o n Chri stmas Day and Box in g Day co nsist
of ex ten ded families (m ore th an just par ents and child ren). For ma ny
fam ilies, Chri stm as is the only time that th ey are all tog eth er (so it is
often a tim e o f conflict rather th an harmo ny, in fact).
Parti es on New Year 's Eve , o n th e other hand , are usually fo r
friends. Mo st people atte nd a gatherin g at this tim e and ' see in ' the
n ew year w ith a group ofo the r people , oft en dri nkin g a large amount
of alco hol as the y do so. In Lon don , ma ny go to the traditional
cele bration in Trafalgar Square (whe re there is an eno rm o us
Christmas tree w hich is an annual gift from th e people of Norway).
In Scotland , wher e th e Calvini sts di sapproved of parties and cele b-
rations con nected w ith religio us occasions (such as Christmas), New
Year. called Hogmanay, is given particular imp ortance - so m uch
importance tha t, in Sco tland o nly, 2 January (as w ell as New Year 's
Day) is also a public holiday (so tha t peopl e have tw o da ys to reco ver
from their New Year's Eve partie s in stead of just one! ). Som e British
New Year customs, such as the sin gin g of th e song Auld Lang Syne,
 O ther nota ble annual occasions 2I 3

... Panto
The Christmas and New Yearholiday
seasons bring with them a popular
theatrical tradition. This is
pan tomine (often shortened to
'pan to') . staged in hundreds of
theatres and specifically designed to
appeal to children . It usually
involves the acting out of a well -
known folk tale with plenty of
o pportunity for audience
participatio n.
There are certain established con -
ventions of panto . For example, the
A scene from thepantomime 'Jack and theBeanstalk' cast includes a 'principal boy' (the
young hero), who is always played
by a w oman . and a 'dame' (an olde r
orig inate d in Sco tland. An other, less com m on, o ne is the custom o f female character), who is always
'first fo o tin g '. in w hich the first person to visit a house in the new played by a man.
ye ar is supposed to arrive with token s of certain important item s for The continuing popu larity of
surv ival (such as a lump of coa l for the fire). p eu to is assisted by the fan that these
As a well- know n Christma s carol rem inds people , there are twelve leading roles are today frequently
taken by well -known personalities
days of Christmas. In fact, m ost people go back to work and school
from the worlds of television or
soon after New Year. No bod y pa ys much atten tion to the feast of th e sport .
epiphany on 6 January (the twelfth da y of Christmas) , except that
this is traditio nally the day on w hich Christmas decorations are taken
down. Some people say it is bad luck to keep th em up after thi s da te.

Other notable annual occasions

Easter is far less important than Christmas to m o st people in Britain.
Although it in volves a four-da y 'weekend', th ere are very few
cus to ms and habit s asso ciated ge nerally w ith it, o ther than the con-
sump tion of mountains of chocolate Easter eggs by children. Some
people preser ve th e tradition of eat ing hot cros s buns on Good Friday
(to> Calendar ofspecial occasions). Quite a lot of people go away on holiday
at this time.
None of the o the r days of the yea r to which traditional cu stoms
are attached is a holiday, and not everybody takes part in the se
custo ms . In fact, many people in Britain live through occasions su ch
as Shrove Tuesday, April Foo ls' Day or Ha llowe'en (to> Calendar ofspecial
occasions) without even know ing that th ey have h appened .
There is one other day which, although m an y people do n o t mark
in any special way, is very difficult to ignore. Thi s is 5 November,
the day w hich celebrates a famous event in British history - th e
gunpowder plot. It is called Guy Faw kes' Day - or, more commonl y,
Bonfire Night. At th e beg inning of the seventeenth century, a group
of Catholics planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament w hi le King
Jam es I wa s in there. Before they could achieve th is, one of them ,
Guy Faw kes , was caught in the cellars under Parliament with the
gunpowder. He and h is fellow-conspirators were all killed.
2 I4 23 Holida ys and special occasio ns

... St Valentine 's Day and Gretna

Green
Despite the unroma nt ic reputation
of the British , on this day every year
about 7 milli on wo rth of flowers
arc delivered (o rde rs fro m men out -
num ber those from women by fort y
to one}. an extra 4 0 million choc-
elates arc sold and greetings-card
manufacturers collect 2 $ milli on .
Every St Valentine 's Day. thou -
sands of people travel to a tiny
village on Scotland's bor der wit h
En gland. Many of the m go to get
married , and m any more couples go
thro ugh moc k wedding cere mon-
ies. The village is Gretna Green. Its
romantic reputation began in 17 S" 4 .
In England in tha t year, marriage for A Guy Fawkes' night bonfire
peo ple unde r the age of tw ent y-one
w ith o ut permission from p,uents
was banned. In Scotland , however, At the time, the failure of the gunpowder plot was celebrated as a
th is pe rm ission was no t requ ired. victory for British Protestantism over rebel Catholicism . However , it
and Gretna Green was the first stop has now lost its religi ou s and patriotic connot ations . In most pans o f
across the border. The laws that Britain , Catholic children celebrate it just as enthusiastically as Protest-
brought fame to Gretn a Green no
ant children - or, for that matter. children brought up in any other
lon ger ap ply. But its rep utatio n is
secure. In thi s sma ll place, at least religiou s faith. (As wi th Christmas, mos t of the cus toms associated
one cou ple gets ma rried , on average, wit h this day are mainly for the benefit of ch ildre n.) Some children
every day o f the year. Weddi ngs fo r make a 'g uy' out of old clothes stuffed with new spaper several weeks
St Valentine's Day have to be booked beforehand, They then place this somewhere on th e stree t and ask
three months in advance.
passers-by for 'a penny for the guy'. What they are actually asking
for is money to buy fireworks with.
III- Shrove Tuesday
On Guy Fawkes ' Nigh t itself there arc ' bonfire parties' thro ugh out
Th is day is also known as Pancake the co untry , at w hic h the ' gu y' is burn t. Some people cook foo d in
Day. In past cent uries, Lent was a
the embers of the bonfire, especially chestnuts or potatoes. So many
time of fasting. Both meat and eggs
were fo rbidden throughout the six
fireworks are set off that, by the end of the evening , the air in all
wee ks. The trad ition wa s to eat up all British cities smells strongly of sul phur. Every year, accidents with
yo ur mea t on the Monday befo re firewo rks injur e or even kill several people. In an effo rt to ma ke
Lent, and all your eggs on the thin gs safer, some local au thorities arrange public firework displays.
Tuesday - in pancakes. Now , the Finally, one ot her day should be men tioned . This is a diffe rent day
fasting has gone and only the eatin g
for everybody - their birthday. Once again, it is most important for
remains.
Two events are assoc iated with children , all of whom receive presents on thi s day from their parents.
Shrove Tuesday. One o f them is the and o ften fro m other relatives as well. Adults mayor may no t receive
pancake tossin g conte st (ho w many pr esent s, depending on the cus toms of their famil y and the ir circle
pancake s can yOll throw into the air of friends. Many w ill simply be w ishe d ' Happy birthday' (not, by
and catch wit hi n a certain time").
the way. ' Congra tulations' . unless it is a special birthday. such as a
The other is the panc ake race. Con-
testants have to run wh ile twenty-first) . Some children and adults have a party, but not all.
continuously tossing a pa ncake. Moreover, nobody, including adults, is automatically expected to
Anyone who drop s his or her exte nd hospitality to othe r people on this day, and it is not expected
pancake is disqualified. that peopl e sho uld bring alon g cakes or anyt hi ng to share with the ir
colleagues at work , although some people do.

... Calendar of special occasions
New Year's Day" ( I January)
2 January is also a public holiday in
Scotland.
St Valentine's Day ( 14 Febru ary)
Shrove Tuesday (Pony-seven days
before Easter)
St Patrick's Day (17 March)
This is a public holiday in Northern
Ireland.
Mother's Day (The fourth Sunday
in Lent)
so mill io n wor th of flow ers are
bo u gh t fo r this day. Cards are also
sent .
April Fools' Day (I April)
It is trad itional for people to play
tric ks or practical jokes on each
other on this day. Children are the
most enthusiastic about this
custom , but even the BBC and
serious newspapers sometimes have
'joke' (t.e. no t genuine) features on
thi s day.
Good Frida y*
The slrange nam e in Engli sh for the
day commemorating Chri st 's cruci-
fixion .
Easter Monday* (The day after
Easter Sunday)
May Day * (The first Monda)' in May)
In Brit ain this day is associated more
wit h ancient folklor e than with the
workers. In som e village s th e
custo m of dancing round the
maypole is acted out.
Spring Bank Holiday* (The last
Mon day in May)
There used to be a holiday on 'Whit
Mon day ' celebrating th e Christian
feast of Pentecost. Because this is
seven weeks after Easter, the date
varied. Th is fixed holi day has
replaced it.
* Public holiday
Other notable annual occasions 2I S"
Father's Day (The third Sunday in Christmas Eve (2+ December)
Ju ne)
Christmas Day* (25 December)
This is probably just a com m ercial
inve nt io n - and not a very successful Boxing Day * (26 December)
on e either. Millions of Briti sh fathe rs Explanations for the origin of'this
don' t even kno w they have a name vary. One is that it was the day
special day. on which landowners and house-
holders would present (heir tenants
Queen's Official Birthday (The
and servants with gifts (in boxes) ,
seco nd or third Saturday in June)
another is that it was the dar on
It is 'official' because it is not her rea l
which the collecting boxes in
one. Certain public ceremonies are
churches were opened and the con-
pe rform ed on this day.
(ems distributed to the poor.
Orangemen's Day (12 July)
New Year's Eve (3 I December)
This is a public holiday in No rt hern
Ireland only. In th is way, the holida y
associated with the Catholic pan o f
the community (Sr Patrick's Day) is
bala nced by one associa ted w ith the
other part, the Protestan ts (see
chapter 4).
Su m mer Bank Holiday* (The last
Monda)' in August)
Hallowe'en (3 1 October)
Th is is the day before All Saints' Day
in the Christian calendar , and is
associated with the su pern atur al.
Some people hold Hallowe'en
parties, w hic h are fancy- dress
parties (people d ress up as w itches,
ghosts etc.). However, this day is
observed much mo re energetically
in the USA than it is in Britain .
Guy Fawkes' Day (5 November)
Remembrance Sunday (Second
Sunday in November)
Thi s day commemorates the de ad of
both World War s and of more
recent co n flicts. On and before this
day, money is collected in the stree t
on behalf of charities for ex-service-
men and women. The people w ho
donate m on ey are give n paper
poppies to pin to their clot hes . No
poli tician \vou ld be seen on this day
wi th ou t a poppy!
2 I6 23 Holidays and special occ asions

QUES T IONS

I Wh y, do you think , have the two trad itional
types o f holida y (at seaside boarding ho uses and
at holiday camps) in Britain become less popular
in the last qu arter of the twentieth century? Is
the mod ern patt ern of British holidaymaki ng the
same as it is for people in yo ur country?
2 What aspects of Christmas in Britain , and the
customs associated w ith it, are different from
those in your co untry?
3 In Britain , you are genera lly con sidered to be
unfortunate if your birthday is in the last half o f
December. Wh y?What special days do you have
in your country for individua ls to celebrate
which British people don 't celebrate?
4 There is a science-fiction story in which beings
from outer space fly over Britain o ne night and
conclude that planet Earth is full o f barbaric ,
cruel people . Which night was it' How did they
form this impression ?

SUGGES TIONS

A Christmas Carol , by Charles Dickens (w hich featur es the famous char-

acter of the m iserly Scrooge) , paints a picture o f the Victorian idea
of Christmas , which is influent ial to this day.
 2 17
Index
A (Advanced) level 137 . 138 Aulee. Clement 8 t;, 104 Book er Prize . the 20 5
AA (Auto mobile Association ) 162 Augustine. St 17 bookmakers 19 8
acadermc life I P-3. I H. 136-40 Auld Lan g Syne 2 I 2 boo ks 88.205-6
accents of English 47-1)0 Australia 2 t;. 26.81 . 19 2 Boo throyd. Beuy 9 1
actors and acting 102.20 3 Aus trali an foo tb all 200 bo ro u ghs 87.89
ad vert ising o n televis ion 157- 8 Auto m o bile Associa tio n I 62 Boudicca (Boa drcea). Queen 16
Africa 25-6 bowler hats 56.1 47
age. laws abo ut : Bach Choir 202 boxin g 193 , 19 8
age of majority 29 Bach flower rem ed ies I 7 3 Boxing Day 2 I t;
pu bs 18 ] backbcnchc rs 94 Boyne, th e Battle of 2 3
retiring [4- 2, r6 8 bagp ipes I I Bradford 14 ,3 8 . 2 3
voting 29 ballet 20 4 Brands Hatch 1 9 3
agricu lture z c. 14 4 . 14S" bank holida ys 20 8, 2 [ 0 ,215 brea kfast 56-7 , 186
Atn trcc 19 3 Bank of Englan d . the 12, 147 Bristo l H . J7
Albion 10 banks 14 7 Britannia 10 , 16
alcohol 126 . 117.1 8 ] - 8 Bapti sts I 27 British Airwa ys 167
Aldeb urgh festival. the 203 bar 188 British Isles. the 8.9
Alfred . King 17-18, II S" Barbardo 's 170 British Libr ar y, the 20t;
Alliance Part)' 7 3: bar rtsrers I I I British Med ical Association I 7 3
allot ments 6 I Battle of: British Museum. the 205 . 27
alternative medicine 173: the Boyne 23 British Na tional Part}' 73
amateurism' Clontarf 18 Briton s I I
in the arts 202 Cu lloden 24 broadcasting: see ra d io . television
in the legal profession 19 - I 0 Hastin gs 18 broadsheets I 52
in politics 85.93 Trafalgar 2 t; Bron te. Emil}' 38
in public life generally 64 BBC I 158 . 159 Brook . Peter 23
in sport 191,197 BBC 2 158 , 16 1 Buckingh am Palace t;6. 79, 81
ambulance service 1]2 BBC. th e I t;6-7 Buddhism 128 , 129
American colonies 24.25.26 Set alsote levision bu d get . the 24
Anc ient Brilo ns [1 BBCEngli sh 50 bu ild in g societies 180
Andrew, St 10,18 BBC Worl d Service [ t;7 BUPA 171
Angl es 12 , 16 beach , the 209 bureaucracy 170
Anglicanism 2 1- 2,122-4 ,12 6 Becno, the 59 Burn s, Robert 43
angling 197 Beetles . th e 204. 205 buses 56, 164, 16 5
Anglo 12 Becket. Tho m as 19 business 143- 50
Anglo -Catholic 1 1 4- bed and b reakfasts 182 ,208 Butlins 209
Anglo-Saxons 16- 18 bed stts 176 by-elections [0 4
anim als. love of 6 2 beer 18 7 , 18 8
an imal s in sport 197-8 Belfast 34 ,40, s 3 CAB (Citizens Advice Bur eau ) 170
an nu al events I 99 . 2 I t; ben efi ts syste m 168-9 cabi net, the 82-5
ant hem. natio nal 122 bett ing 19 8- 200 cafes 184, 186-7, 188
ami-i nte llectualism t;7-8 Bever idg e , W illiam 168 Calcu tta Cup. the 192
anti -semitism 128 bicycles 16 3 Caledoni a I I
apart me nts 174-7 Bill, Tht 10 7 calendar of special day s 2 I 5
AprdFoolsDav 21t; Btll o f gr gh u . The 23 Callagh an. Jam es 85
Archbishop of Canterbury 19. 12 2,12 3. 12t; bills . parliamentar y 9 t; Calvinis m 21. 126 , 2 I 2
archbishops 12 3 bingo 198.2 00 Cam bria I I
archers. Tht It;? birds B . 6 2 Canada 26
aristocracy 22 .9 6. 177 Birmingham 14 . 37 Canterbu ry I 7
see also class, names Birmingham Six. th e 107 CQllurbury Tales, Th( 19
ar med for ces I I t; birthdays 2 14 Cam b rid ge 34 , 138 . 139 . 16 3. 203
Army. the I 15 bishop s 122 , 12 3.1 25 cand idates for Parli am ent 10 0
art 201 : 206 biller 18 7 can vassing 101
art galleries 20 6- 7 Black Country, th e 37 capital punishm ent 29.94, 10 9
Arthur, King 17 Black Death, the 20 cardboard city I 8 2
arts. the 201 -7 Black Rod 97 Cardiff 14,40
Arts Council 20 I Bleckpool 209 Cardi ff Arms Park 193
arts festiva ls 20 r , 203 Blai r, Tony 73 Carey, Dr George I 24
Ascot 19 3. 19 7, 199 Blind Dolt 65 Caribbean , the 27, 4 t;, 58
Asda I t;O Blyto n, Enid 59 carol sing er s 2 I 2
Ashd own , Paddy 7 3 BMA (Bri tish Medi cal Associa tion) 17 3 Carry On film s 66
Ashes. the 19 2 BNP (Briti sh Nati onal Part y) 73 car s 35 , 16 2-3
associ atio n foo tbal l 19 t; boa rd ga mes 19 2 casinos 198
athle tics 198 bo ardinghouses 182 , 208 Cath o lici sm :
atntudes 56-66 BoatRace , th e 19 2, 19 9 in British hi story 21-2,122,2 13- 14
see else alcohol. clot h ing . ed ucat ion . food, boatin g ho lida ys 167 tod ay 123. 125
fore igners. hos pit ali ty. housing. law. m on- bobbies 25. 106 Stt alsoNorthern Ire land
arch y, police, religion . sex. shops, sport, bonfire ni gh t 2 13- 14 cats 6 2. 192
transport . w ork Bon nie Prin ce Charlie 24 Cavaliers 22. 23
2 18 Index

CBE (Commander ofthc British Empire) 79 cloth cap 26 customs: sa habits. tradition
CBI (Con fede ration of British Industry) 1..\-3 clothing 62-3, 148 cycling 163.198
Celtic foo tba ll team 39 CND (Camp aign for Nuclear Cyprus I 14
Celtic fringe, the 10 3 Disarmament) [II)
Celts 11,11)-[7 coac h services I 61) daffodil 10
censorship 76 coa l 38,4 Dahl, Roald t;9
ceremonies 79-80 coast line 33 Doli I I
chain stores 148-9, 11)0 Cockney 36.47, +8 Doily Express. the 1 I) 2. I I) 3
Chancellor of the Excheq ue r 82.84 co ffee 185 . t 88 DoilyMail,t he IP. 1t;3, 166
Channel a 11)8, 161 coins 10,2 1, 148 Daily Mirror, the 11)1. [t;~, 1H
Chann el Islands. the 9 co lleges 137,1 39 Daily Record, the I I) I , 1P
Channel ports 161) co lonies o f Great Britain 1 I 3-1 4, 20!) Daily Tde9rap ~ , the 1 t;2 , I I) 3
Channel tunn el. the 29 , 60-1, 116. 166 co mics (1)5 Danes, the, in history 17-[ 8
characteristics of British peopl e I I co m mon , the 21) dans 189, 19 2
see uho atti tud es, lde tuity commonlaw 19 David. Si 10
Charing Cross 16 1) Commons. the House of: death duti es 177
char ism atic Chr ist ian ity 128 design and layo ut of 90 -3,94 death pcneh y 29,9+ ,109
ch anty: histor y of 20,22,24 decimali zatio n 19
char itable o rganisations 64, 170, 18 2 MPs 72. 9 3. 9 9 defence , national I I I)
charity sho ps 149 an d th e party system 74 ,9 +.98-9 degrees 137
and social life 64 Commonwea lth. the I 14. 1 t l) democ racy 69-72
Charles I 22, 97 co m mun ications: sa m ed ia, Iran spor t Democratic Unionists 73
Char les. Prince 78.80.81 com mu ters 37, 16 2 dental trcauncnr 171
Chaucer, Geoffrey 19 co m pcuuon. fove of 102. 19 1-2 department sto res 149. [ co
Cheltenham 193 comprehensive schools t H Derby. the 199
chemists 170 Confederation of British Industry 143 detective fiction 111, 20t;
Chequers 84 Cong regationalists 127 Diana, Princess 78, 80, 81
chips 181) cons ervatism 1)9 Dickensc Charles 28. 31).10t;, 216
Christian Sctenusm 128 about the countryside 61 d iplo m as: set qualifications
Christianity. origin ofin Britain 17-18 abo ut food 1 [7. [8S- Dissentcrv 23.126
Chris tie. Agath a 203.201) abo ut mone)' 148 divo rce 46
Chr istie's 206 sa ol'iO habits, muhicuhurelism Dixon o f Dock Gree n 106, 10 7
Chris tmas 2 [ 1-1 3 Conserva tive Party 73 docto rs 170-2
cards 1)9.211 electio n result s 98, 102, I0 4-t; dogs 62,191,197
caro ls 2 I 2 go\'ernment ofthe [980s 88, 14 t;, 18 [ dole. the 168
din ner 186, 2 I 2 origin of 29 Dom esday Book, the 18
pudding 212 and religion 123 double-ba rrelled names 4-7
sloe kings 2 I 2 constitution, the 7 t-2 . 71)-6 double-d ecker buses 59-60 , [ 64
trees 2 12 co nstituencies 99 - 100,102 Doug las-Ho me , Alec 8t;
ch un nel. rho 166 Con sumers' Association, the 6+ Dover 10 , H. 161)
Church of England 20.22, 122 co nventi on : set conservatism, customs , habits Downing Street 68, 84-
Church of scotl and 23. 126 coo king 184,1 8 S- Doy le. Roddy 200
Church ill. Winston 69.81),104 corner sho p, the 149 Dragon of Cadwallader 10
c m (Cr tmmel Invcsu gauon Coronenon Sum [1)9, 160 Drake , Sir Francis 2 I, [ 17
Department) [06 cos iness 179 d rinkin g habits 18 7- 9
cide r 18 7 Costco 1+9 dr inks 187
cinema 203-4.201) Cornwall 17.47 d riving habits 1)9,163
cny.tbe 36. 147 councils. local 86-9 Druids I Ii . 128
Citizens Advice Bureau 170 co unc il housing 180 - 2 Duke of Edinburgh, the 78
civil liberties 28,70-2 .76, 108 Cou ncil Tax, the 88 Duke of W indsor, the 80
Civil List, the 81 co unc illors in local go \'ernmelll 86 Duke of Yo rk. the 78
Civil Service. the 84-6 co unues 8 7.89 . 194
Civil War , the 22 co unt ry seats 2S- , 177 East Anglia 37
class, social: co un tryside. love of the 28. 31) , 60 -1 East End , the 36.48
and th e arts 20 I sa also cricket. housing EllSlEndm I 1)9. 16o
basic characteristics of 48-1)0 co uns of law 77, [09 - 11 Easter 21 3
and drinking habi ts 18 7 Co vent Garden 204 Easter Rising. the 27, I 19
and eaung habus 18 t;, 186, 187 craft s 20 2 eating out 184, 18 6- 7, 188
and education 130 -1, 134, 138 cricket 191.191,193-4,199 Economist, The I ~ I)
and housing 179, 180 - 1 crime 107-9 economy, the 14 1-1)0
and language t 8- 19, 48 -50 Crimean War, the 172 ecumcnica lism 127
and money 48 , [46 Cromwell, Oliver 22 Eden . Anth on y 8t;. 104-
and names 4 7 cro q ue t 192 Edinburgh 12, H. 39
in No rthe rn Ireland 1)2-3 Cro wn . the 77 Edinburgh Festival 203
o rigins of 18- 19 cro w n co urts I 10, 1 I I educ ation 130 - 40
and pubs 188 cro w n dependencies 9 and the arts 10 I
and religio n 123-4. 128 cuis ine 184 , (81) attitudes towards 130 - 4
and spo rt 191- 3, 19 5- 7 Cullode n, the Battle of 24 exams 136- 7
and wor k 14[-2 cults 129 fur ther educeuon 136-8
classical m usic 203 .204 culture 20 I gove mmcm de partments 132. 134
clim ate 31-3 Cup Final. the 19 3.199 higher education 137-<;
Clont arf, the Battle o f 18 currenq 148 history of 26,28, 130-1

national cu rricu lum I 33- r;, 140
primary education 130, IE
public and pr ivate 130
recen t developments in r 33-r;
and relig ion 12r;, 129
secondary education 130, I 33-4,
sex education 6r;-6
and social class 130-1, 134, [38
andsport 133,191 . 198
teaching m ethod s 13 r;-6, 139
train ing 134, I E, 136-7
universities [37-9
Edward VIII and Mrs Sim pson 78, 80
Eire 8
,1(( alsoIreland
Eisteddfods [9,203
Eldorado I r;9, 16 1
elections 98 - 10 r;
arrangements for 79,99- IOt
candidates for Parliam ent in 100
and electoral syste m 98-9, lOr;
recent resu lts of 98,99, 102-r;
voting habi ts in 69,88,99-103
Elizabeth I 2 I
Elizabeth II:
Christmas broadcast 2 I 2
and the Commonwealt h t 14
coronation of [2, I r;9
official birthday 21 r;
in modern Britain 77-8.80-1
5 also monarch}'
Emerald Isle, the I [
emerge ncy services 17 2
empire, the 26-8 , t 13-q
employ me nt 141-4
Eng land:
natio nal identity 4 r;
national spo rting team s 8
north and south 38 , 47
or igin of the name 12
as part o f Britain [0, 12
po pu lation of I 3
symbols of 10- 1 I
English language:
accents 47-r;0
Cockney rhrming slang 48
development of 18.19.22.30
and social class 19, 48-50
and sport I 93
standard English 48-50, r;5
English versus British r;7-8
entertainme nt: 5 arts, leisure, sport
envi ron ment, the 35
cptsco paltamsm I 2 r;
Epsom 193
Eq ual Opport uniti es Commission [43
estates 178
estate agents [8 2
eth nic lo yalties 13, 4 2- r;
ethnic minorities 13, 4 r;, r;8
Erin I r
Eto n 13 1
Europe, attit ude towards r;4. r;9, 116-17
Ellston 16r;
evangelical Christianit y 124 . 127- 8
exams 136-7
Excheque r, the 82
FA(Football Association) Cup Final 193 . 199
fags 13 1
fair play 191
Falklands War, the !>4, 114. 123
Ind ex 2 19
Falls Road , the r;3 General Strike, the 28. 29
family, the 46,59 gentlemen and players 19 I
Family Planni ng Association 64 Geor ge.S r 10
fanzines 19 r; George V 77
fast food res taurants 184, [87 George VI 78
136 Father Christmas 2 I 2 geograph ical tdemuy 47
Fathers' Day 2 I r; geography 3 1-+ I
femi nism: 5 women Oeordtcs 47
festivals of the arts 20 3 Germanic invasions. the 16- I 8
Fens, the 3 I . 37 grros 169
Fidei Ddmwr 2 I Glasgo w 34 , 39
films 6 6, 204 Glasgow Herald . the I r; r
finance 60 , [4 6-7 Glaston bury 203
Financial Times, The 147 Glyndcbouruc 20 3
fine ans. the 206 GNVQ (General Nation al Vocational
fire service , the 172 Qualification ) 137
first footing 2 I 3 God Save the Q ueen 4'i , 122
fish and chips 18 r;, [86,20 8 Goldi ng, William 20r;
fishing 38, 197 gol f 193, 198
Fivc Nauons Cham pio nsh tp 19 2, 19 9 Good Friday 213, 21r;
flag days 64 Gorbals, the 39, i 3
flags, national 10 ,13 , 120 go\"ern ment 8 2~0
flat racin g 197, 19 9 5 also cabinet , civil service. const itution,
flats 174-7 law, local gm"ernment, monarch}', Parlia-
food: ment, Prime Minister
aui rudes to war ds I 84-r; GPs (Gene ral Practitio ners) 170-2
cooking of 184, 18r; grammar schools 134
and d rink 184--<]0 Grand National, the 192, 198, [99
m eals and mealt imes I 86 ' greasy spoon' 186
in pu bs 188, T 90 Great Britain 8
in restaur ant s and cafes 184, 186-7 Gre at Fire of London, the 23
shopping for [8 r; Green Part y 73
football: Grecn ham Com mo n I I r;
FA Cup,t he 191,193 ,1 99 greeting people 63 , 2 I I
fans 19 r; Gretna Green 2 Ii
and th e four nations [2- I 3, t 4 Greyhound racing 197
pro fession alism in 19 1 Cnrnsbv 34,3 8
season [9 9 Guardian . the 11)2 , I r;3
stadiums 193, 19'i Guildford Four, the 17
football pool s 198 , 20 0 Gulf War , the 1 16
Foo tsie, the 1of7 gu npo wder plot , the 21. 2 I 3-1 4
Fore ign and Com mo n wealth Office, the 82 , Guy PawkesDey 2 13- 14
86
Foreign Secre tary. the B2 habits:
foreig ners F;4, T 8r; in church 128
Fores try Com mission 61 in d ifferent social groups 4r;,47-8
form ality 62-3 in everyd ay life r;6-7
four natio ns, the 10-I I, 4 r; when eating and drinking 184-<}0
fou rth estate, the I r;3 w hen me eting people 63.6r;
foxhu m ing 19 7 Hadrian's Wall 16
free ch urc hes, the [ 27 haggis 4 3
free ho uses 189 Hallow e 'en 21 r;
free time: stt leisur e Hampden Park 193
freedo m of speech 76 hand icrafts 202
frog s IBr; hands hakes 6 3
Frontbcncher s 9,94 Hansard 9 3
rr -SE Inde x I 47 Hardie , Kter 26
Funday Times, the 59 Hardy, Thomas 1'i, 4 I
funerals 46, 169 hare coursing 197
Harley Street I 72
Gaelic 11,26 Harold, King 18
Gaels 16 harp, the I I
galleri es (an) 207 Harrow 13 1
gam bling 198-200 Hastings, the Battle of 18
gam es: 5 spo rt and co mpetition health food I 8 r;
gardening 61, 19 2 health service, the 168, 170-2
gard en s 177 , 178 Heath , Edward 8r;, 10 i
Gatwick 166 Heathr ow 166 , 167
GB (Great Britain) 9 hed gerows 33
GCSE (Gene ral Certificate of'Sccondarj- He nry II 19
Education) 137 Henry VII 20
gen der : 5 wo me n He nry VIII 20, 2 I
220 Index

Hi be rn ia I I Isle o f Man. the 9 in Scotla nd 1 I I

h igh church I 24 ITN (Indepe nde nt Televisio n News) 158 and sport 192
h igh rise flats I ]i-~ IlV (I ndependent Televisi on) I ~7- 6 0 Law Lords . the 96
h igh stree t. the 149 Law Societ y exa m s I I I
Hinduism H . 128 James l/jamcs VI 22. 2 I 3 lb (p o und ) 148
history I ~- 3 0 Jam es II 23 LEA (Local Educatio n Authority) 132
hobbies: 5 leisu re Jeh o vah 's Witnesses 127 Leeds H . 38
hogmanav 212 job vacancies 142 leek 10
holid ay resorts 209 Jock I I legal profession. th e I I r - I 2
holidays r 4 3 ,21~ John Bull r r legal system , the 107- 12
5 also to uri sm JPs (Jus tices o f the Peace) 19 - I leisure :
holid ays an d special occasions 208-16 Jud aism 128 . 129 and animals 62
Home Counties, the H judges I I I - I 2 and the countryside 61
home h elps 169 Juli u s Caesar 16 eati ng out 186-7
Home Offi ce, the 8 2, I I r juries I 10 entertaining guests 63
ho m e ru le I I 8 justice : set law ho lidays 208-10
Ho m e Secretary . the 82 Just ices o f the Peac17 10 9-10 pubs 188-90
homelessness 18 2- 3 re ading 15 I. 205
homes- for- vot es 181 KCB (Knight Comm ander o f the O rd er o f th e and social ident ity 52
h on ours 79. 96 Bath) 79 television 159 ,25
h oo liganism 1 9~ Kent 31,37 vid eos 20 2
horses in sport 193,197 .1 9 8. 199 KG (Knight o f the O rder of the Gar ter ) 79 see else arts. competition . sport
hospitality 63,188-9 kilt 1 1.43 Libe ral Democrat Part)' 73.98. 103-5
hospitals 170, 171 King James Bible . the 121 Liberal Party 29,73.103
H ou se o f Co m mons, the : stt Commons King 's Coll ege Chapel Choi r 202 lib ra ries 88, 205
H ou se of Lords, th e : see Lords King 's Cross 16 5 Lieutenant Gov ernors 9
H ou ses of Parliament. th e H , 72, 90 -2 . 2 I 3 Kipli ng , Rudyard 28 lit erature 20 2-3 .20'i-6
housing 1]i- 83 kirk 126 Liverpool H. 38. 4-7
concept ofhome' 177-8 kissin g 6 3 Liverpool Street 165
confonnity and individuality 178 Kizsko . Stefan 107 Llewellyn 20
flats 174-6 knov.. . led ge. th e 165 local. the 187
homelessnes s 18 2-3 krauts I 8 ~ local co uncils 8 6- 9
house prices 162. 174 . 178 local government:
interiors of h ou ses 179 Labo ur Part y 7 3 and educatio n I 32
pay ing fo r ho using 180 - 1 elect oral resul ts 98. I 02-~ and ho using 177 , 180-2
ty pes of ho using I 75-6 origin of 29 organ ization an d stat us of 86-9
hunting 19 7 and trade un ions 143, I 44 welfare servi ces 169
labour relatio ns 144 local Io yalu es 4 7
Icen t tri be 16 lager 187 Lofts, Norah 20~
identity 42-H Lake District, the 3 I , 39 lollipop ladies 163
see also loy alties Lake Poets, th e 39 London H .36
identity car ds 70 . 7 ~-6 Lambeth Palace I 2 ~ buses ~ 6 , 164-
immigration H Lancaster I 6. 20 b usiness life 147
income su pport 168 - 9 land, ow n ershi p of 2 ~ Coc kneys 48. 16'i
in come tax 146 5 also h ou sing and domination of national transport
IJKltpmdmt . the Land o f Hope and Glo ry 4 3 system 165
Ind ia 26 landscape B go vernme m and poli tics 88
individualism: 54 . ~7, 59-60 language: in history 16, 2 5
in th e art s 202-3 accents of English 47 -~ 0 Marat h on . the 198
in housing 178 Cel tic languages I 1 16 mu lticult u ralism in 'i8

in sport and leisu re 191 . 2 I Cockney rh yming slan g 48 poll u tion in 3'i
industrial action 1 44 Gaelic languages I I . 26 taxis 56 ,164-5
industrial revolution. the 25 , 37, 38 hist o ry of English 18, r 9 Underground . the 164, 16 5
industry 37-40, IH learn in g lan guages ~ 5 Lord Ch ancell or , th e 1 r 1
informality 6 2- 3. 72 . 9 2 Scot s 2 2 Lord Snooty 59
In land Reve nue . th e 146 and soc ial class 19. 4 8- ~ 0 Lord Sutc h 100
In ns o f Co urt I I 1 and spo rt 193 Lords, the Ho use of:
int ernational relations I 13-20 standard English 4 8 -~0. H hist or y o f 20 . 29, 96
inv estment 146-7 Wels h 44, I H modern rol e o f 96 - 7
IRA (Irish Republican Arm y) I 19. 157 Lansd owne Road I 93 rol e in lawmaking 9S'. 96
Ireland : law 106- 12 Lords of Appe al 96
government o f 8. 119 -20 an d animals 6 2 Lord's 193
hi story o f 18-19 , 21-3 . 2~-8 . 119 attitudes toward s 6 9-70 low church 124
as part of the Bnush Isles 8 and crim inal procedure 107-8 loyalists in Northern Ireland I r8- 20
re ligion in 21 . 23, 12~ and elections 99 . 102,104 lo yalti es 10-13. 42-55
sport in 8 .12-1 3. n . 195 legal syste m, the 10 9-12 LSD system 148
5 also No rthern Ireland legi slation (ne w) 9~
Ir ish : Lord Chancellor, th e 1 I I
characteristic s I I ~8 and the monar chy 77 M25 164
lan guage 16,26 and Parliament 70 -1.9~ . 1 12 MaCauley. Lord 8 'i
sense of identity 10 - 12,42 and the police 106- 8 m ace, the 90
Islam : 5 Mu slim s and religion I 2 2 Macki nt o sh . Cha rles Rennie 39
 Index 22 1

MacMillan . Haro ld 8) , 104 names, personal I 1, 47 Oxfam 64

mad co w disea se 185 national anthem 122 Oxford 34, 138 , 139
magazines I 5 5 national curriculum 13 3-5, 140 Oxford English 50
m agistrate's courts [09-1 0 . I I I National Front, the 73 oz(ounce) 148
Magna Carta 19 National Health Service, the 28,168,17-2
Major, Jo hn: national hu nt racing 197 packag e holidays 2 I
actions of 75 . 186 national insurance contributions 168, 173 Paddi ngton 16 5
backgrou nd o f 14 2 nationallotte ry, the 200 Paddy I I
in elections [0 0 , 104 national loyalties 12- 13, 42-S page three gir ls I 54
as Prim e Mini ster 69, 8 5 national service 70, I 15 painting 206
Malvina s War, the 123 National Trust, the 12, 61 painng system 7 2
Manche ster 34 ,38 ,47 Nationalists in Northern Irelan d 13, I 18-20 Palace of Westminster, the 72 , 9
ma nufacturing 3 7- 40, 14 5 nationalist po litical part ies 7 3, 103, I 18 pancake day 2 I 4

m argin al const itu en cies I I nationalization 14 5 pantof mime) 2 [ 3
Marks an d Spen cers 150 na ture, love of 60 -1 paper rou nd s 15 1
May Day 2 15 Navy, the [ I ) par ishes 87, 89,12 6
MCC (Marylebo ne Cricket Club) 200 neighbourhood watch 108 par ks 61,88
McKenz ie, Robert 10 3 Nelson, Admi ral 25 Parliament 90 - 7
meals -on-w heels 170 New Age [28 atmosphere and style of 7 2, 9 [- 2
means test 169 New Age Travellers 15, 183 history of 19 -20, 22~4, 74
measurement, scales o f 33 , 60 New Scotlan d Yard 106 and law -making 70 - 1,9 5
media , the 15[-6 1 New Statesman and Society, the 151) and the monarch y 72 , 77-9
m edic al care 170-3 New Year 208,2 [2 - 13,2 I) po wers of 71- 2, 90
me dica l insurance 170 , 17 1 Newcastle 34,3 8, 47 procedure in 93 -4
m edicines 170, 173 Newmarket 193 state opening of 80, 9 7
me d ieval period, the [ 8-1 9 News of the World. the I 52 seealso Commons, Lords
Meibion Glyndwr 4 3 newsagents 15 I pa rliamentarians 22
Members o f Parlia ment 72 , 90~4, 98-9 newspapers: see press parliamentary democrac y 7 I
m en and women 51 , [42-3 NHS (Nat ion al Healt h Service) 168, 170 -2 parties, political:
MENCAP 170 nickn am es I I annual party con ferenc es of 7 5
Methodism I 2 7 Nightingale, Florence 172 basic details of 73
m etric system o f measurement 60 no ise 167 and elections 98- 105
Metropolitan Poli ce, the 106 nonconformists 122, 126-7, 200 and Eu rope [ I 7
MI6 70 Norfolk Broads, the 31,37 in govern ment 8 2 ~4
Middle English I 9 , 22 Norman Conquest, the 18 in law 100
Midla nd s, the 37-8 north of England , the 25,38-9 , 102 money of 73
Mikes,George 66,14 [ ,165,184 Northern Ire land : party leaders o f 75, [01
mild 187 elections in 101,103 in Parliament 72
Mills and Boon 206 geography of 40 and party political broadcasts 7 2
minicabs 165 in h istory 2 3, 1 19 and the party system 24,74- 5
ministers 8 2, 126 lan guage of 50 and the press I 5 3
monar chy 7 7-8 1 as part of Britain 8- 9 , 118-20 and trade unions 15 3-4
attitudes towards 75 .80 -1 politics in 7 3 , I 18~2 0 Patrick, St 10, 17
co nstitu tional role of 71 .77-9 po pulation of I 3 patriotism 54
Edward VIII, abdication of 80 senses of identity in 52- 3, I 19 -20 patronage 24,84
and honours list 79 Notting Hill Carnival. the 58 PAYE (pay as you earn ) 164
relatio ns with Parliam ent 72 , 77-79 Nottingham 34 , 38 Peel, Robert 25
and religion 121-2 novelists 202 -3 peerage, the 96
royal famil y. the 78 NUF (National Union of Farmers) 14 4 Pennines, the 31,38
Windsor name 77 nurses and nursing 172 pensions 27 , 168
m oney: n ur sing homes 171 Pentecostalists I 28
co ins and currency 148 NUT (National Un ion of Teachers) J 42 peoples of Britain, the 10 - [ 3, 4 2- S
distribution o f wealth 14 6 periodicals [ 5 5
earn ing money 141-3 pets 62
finan ce and investment 146-7 Observer, the 152, 1)4 pharmacies 170
spending m oney 14 8- 9 o ff-licences J 4 8 Piers, the 16
taxes 146 Official Secrets Act, the 70 pints 1 17
Mormons 127 old age 46, 168 , 169 plague 20 , 23
mortgage 18o Old Bailey, the I 12 Plaid Cymru 7 3
motor sports 19 3, 198 Old Traffo rd 193 plays, long -running 20 3
mot or transport 162-5 Old Vic, the 204 play'....righ ts 20 2-3
motorways 163, 164 Open University, the 138 poets and poetry 202 -3, 20 6
MothersDay 2 15 opera 23,204 police, the 106-8, [ 72
mo untains 3 1. 38-40 Opposition , the 74,94 pelneness 63
MPs (Members of Parliament) 72,90 -4,98- opting out 88, 134, 171 political life 6 7-7 6
9 Orangemen 23 ,215 political parti es: see parties
multi culturalism 58 Orthodox, Chris tian 128 political satire 67 -9
Murrayfi eld 43,193 Or well, George [ 8 3 politicians, beh aviour o f 67, 72
muse um s 207 ounces 148 see also MPs
music 20 2, 203 , 204~S Oval, the 193 politics 67-10 5
musicians 202 owoer-cccvp'ers [80 -1 politics and personal identity 5 2
Muslims 76 . 122 , 128-9 Oxbridge 139 polling day 99, [0 1
22 2 Ind ex

polling station 99, 101 Qu akers 122 . 127 royal fami ly. the 78. 197
poll tax 87 qu alifications. ed ucat ional I 37 ro yal weddings 29
po llution 28. H, 162 QC (Qu een 's Co unsel ) I I I RP (Received Pron un ciatio n) i8-so. 55
polo 19 7 Queen. the : .I CC Elizabeth II . monarchy RSC (Royal Shakes pear e Co m pany) 204
pol ytech nic s 1 39 Quen undLThe 4 9 , 55 RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevent ion of
Pon nn s 209 Q ueen Elizabeth th e Queen Moth er 7 8 Cruelt y to Animals) 62
pools, the (football) 200 Questio n ti me 95 RUC (Ro yal Ulster Cons tab ulary) 12o
pop music 204-~ q ueu in g 57. 16 5 Rugby (school) 131
popular newspapers 1)2 , 154-5 ru gby (sport) B. 192 , 193. 196-7 . 199
population I 3. H RAC (Rop,1 Automobile Club) 162 Rushdie, Salman 76, 205
posh 49,5 rac ial minorities 13, H-6. 58
post office 147 racism i 5 Sainsbury's 150
postcards 2 I 0 rad io 156 . 157, 19i saints, p.atron 10
po t-ho lin g 2 ra RadioTirnes, \he 54-5, 155 Salvation Army. the 127, 170
Potteries , the 38 rail trans po rt J 65 -6 Samaritans, th e 170
pounds 14 8 rain 32 Samyc Ling 129
po ver ty 146 Ramblers' Association, the 6 1, 16 5 sandwich courses I 39
prefects r 3 I Rangers foo tball team 39 Santa Claus 2 I 2
prehistory I 5 rat es 87 Save the Child ren Fund 64
prep schools I 3 I ratin gs w ar, the 159. 160 Saxe-Coburg Gotha 77
Presbyte rian Church 23, 126. 127 reading ha bits 59,88. 20i-5 Saxons 17.18
prescription charges I 70 Reading music festi val, the 203 scandals 65,67, 154-5
press, the: Received Pron u nciatio n i8-50.55 Scandinavia 17- [8
circulation figures 152 Rece ssion al 28 Scarborough 33,29
ma gazines and per iodicals 155 recr eation : .Itt leis ure Scargill . Arthur 145
nationa l and local r 5 I referend um on EU 7 I . I 16 SCE (Scott ish Cert ificate o f Ed ucatio n) 137
an d politics I n-4 Reformati o n , the 2 I sch ools:
Press Co m plaint s Com m issio n r 54 Reith . Lo rd John [5 6 board ing 13 1. 13 2
and privacy I 54 religi on I 2 J-9 comprehensive J H
sex and scanda l in 154 - 5 an d alco ho l 126 , 127 and everyday life 131)-6
two types of newsp.1per 1)2 at heism 26 grammar 134
priests 124, 126 attitudes towards 121 - 3, 20 8 . 2 11 , granr-matmatned t H
Prime Minister. the: 213-li independent 130
choice of 7 J -2,77-8, 84 and ed ucation 125. 129 national curriculum I 33-S, 14-0
origin of role 24 and gam bling 126 n urser)' I H . I H
po we rs of 7 1-2,8 3-5 in law s 122 org an ization of 132
Prim e Min isters 5 1.69, 8 5 and the monarch y 20- 3. 122 preparatory (pr ep) 13 [
Prin ce: no n -Ch ristian 127 - 9 primary 13 5
Albert 27 and perso nal iden tity 52 p ublic 130- 1,142 . 191
Andre w 78 and po lities 22 . 122 - 3 and religion [2S.129
Charles 78,80, 8 I Reme m bran ce Sun day 21 S secondary I H, 136
Edward 78 Repu blic o f lrcland : 5 Ireland state 130
Philip 78 republican s in Northern Irelan d I 18 subjects o f study in 135, 136 , I iO
Prince of Wales, the 19. 78 restaurants 18 i . 186-7 science and technology I H
Princess: retail ing 14 8-50 Scotland:
Ann e 78 ret irem ent I i 2 education in r 37, I 39
Diana 7 8,80,8 [ Revolu tio n . the Glori ous 23 geogra p hy o f 39
Marg are t 78 rich and poo r 146 hist ory of 16 . 19 . 24 -5
privacy : Richard I [9 law in I [ I
and housin g H , 174-9 Rich ard III 20 m o ne y in [ 48
and no ise 167 rig hts: and Ne w Year 2 I 2-3
an d th e p ress 154-5 in the constitutio n 72 newsp.1pers in 151
in politics 72 individ ual and state 70 as part of Britain 10 . I 18
and sex 65-6 and the po lice 70. 10 8 politics in 73,102-3.118
and transport 163 religiou s 26 . 76. 12 2 population of I 3
and wel fare benefits 169 women's 5 1, 124- religion in 21-3, [26
Prircte Eyt 15 5 Ring -a-ri ng -a-roses 2 3 spontn 8 . 19 2 . 193
p rivatization I 4 5 roa d m an ners 64 . 163-i sym bo ls of 10 - 1 I
Privy Council. the 83 road nu mbering 16 1) Scot s 22 , 4 2
probation 10 9 roa d safety 163 . 18 8 Scott, Sir Walter 43
Proms. th e 20 3 ro ads 16 2 Scotti sh :
pro pe rty 174-8, 18 0 - 2 Ro bi n Hood I 9 characteristics I I, 21, 58
p roperty develo pe rs I 77 rock 209 lan gu age 16 . 22 . i 2, 50
prostitution 66 rock music 20 3.20i-5 sensc o f tdemuy 10-12.42-5
Protestantism: Rom ans, the 16 Scottish National Part)' 73, I I 8
in British htsrory 20-2, 214 Romant ic Poe ts . the 28 .39 sculpture 206
tod ay 124. J 26-7 rooms in houses [79 seaside ho lidays 208-9
:itt alsoNo rthern Ireland rose 10 sec retaries o f stal e 82
pu bs 52.187.18 8-90 rounders 198 secreC}'in p ubli c life 72
public servic es 87-8 goundheads. the 22, 23 secr e t se rvice. the 70
punk 20C; rowing 19 2.19 9 secrets. o fficial 70
puritanis m 22 . 126. 187 Ro yal Air Fo rce , the I 15 security firms 108
 Ind ex 223

self- he lp 64 spect ator attendance 195 television sets. ownership of 156, 11)9
sem i-detached houses 176 stad iu ms and venues 193. 19~ tem perature 32. H. 60
senior ser vice, the I I .~ on television (1)8 , 19 1. 19 2 tennis [91 . 19 2-3. 19 8 , 199
settlement. pauc rns o f 2 s. 3 3 -3~, 38 we ll-k nown even ts 19 2- 3. 199 te rrace d ho uses t 76
Sevent h Dar Ad ven tists 127 Spycalcher 70 Tesco IS"O
sex: sq uare m ile, the 36 .1 .11 test ma tche s I 9i
alt itudes towards 6~-6, :I. I 0 squ ash 187 Tha mes. the 3 I, 167
and po litics 6 I) sq u att in g I 8 2 Tha tcher. Margaret 69.81). 104
and the pres\ I H-~ St And rew's I 9 3 Th atchcnsm (41)", 18 [ . 20 I
and rchgtcn 126,127 St Pancra s I 61) theatre. the 202-4
sexual ha rrassmcm 2 I :I. St Paul' s Cath ed ral 2 3 the atres 204
stt elsewomen 51 Valentine 's Dol}" 214 Thi rty- Ni ne Articles . the 124
shadow cabi net, the 74,94 stan dard ofllvt ng 141 th istle 10
Sha kespeare 2 I , 38, 201) Star, the I p. In Threadneedlc Street I 47
Shakespe are Memoria l Theatre. the 204 state ly ho mes I 74. I 77 Times, The 12, J cz , 11)3
shaking hand s 63 steam en gi nes 162 Tor ies. the 24, 29, 73
shamrock 10 steel. p roductio n o f 38 tou ris m:
shandy 187 stereo types of nationalities I I . 2 I from Britain I 8 ~, 2 I 0
Shau kill Road, the I) 3 Stewa rd of th e Chlhem Hun dred s 104 inside Britain 167 .177.208-10
Sheffield H. 38 stiff up per lip I 7 I to Britain 80. I 16
She lte r 18 2- 3 Stonehenge [~ to wer blocks I 7 I)
sh ipbuilding 38. 40 Stratfo rd- upon-Avon H . 38. 204 Tow er of London, the 20
shi res 87 st reet names 178 Town Ha ll. the 86
shoot ing 197 str ikes [44 . 141) town houses 176
sho p stewards 144 Stuart dynasty. the 22 .2 3,2 4 Tow nse nd. Sue 49. H
sho ps and shop ping: stude nts I 37 . 138 trade unio ns 143-1)
aunudcs toward s 148 su bur bs , the 36 , 176 . 178 Trades Un io n Co ngress 26.29. 143-1)
forfood 181) Suez 113- 14 , I II) trad itio n:
open ing hours 149-1)0 suffragette s 29 in life gene rall y ~6-7. 1)9
ty pe\ of shop 14 8- 9 Sun,t he I p, l n in public life 64
we ll-known ch ain sto res r co Sunday Correspondrnt.the 11)" 2 in pubs 189 - 90
sho w homes I 78 Sunday papers. the I ~ I and seaside h olid ays 208-9
sho w ju m pin g 197 Sunday Poet, the 1 I) 1 on special occasio ns 2 I 1- 14
Shrove Tuesda y 2 I 4 Sunday Times, The I I) 2. I I) 3 Trafalgar, the Battle o f 21)
Shutt le, Lc 166 Su nda ys 63. 126 , ( 1)0 Trafal gar Square 21),8 6, 21 2
sickness benefit 169 su pera n nua tion sche mes 168 traffic:
sign ing 011 169 supermarkets 148- 9 . 11) 0, IS li cones 164
Sikhism I 28 surnames 11,4 7 co n ges tion 162 , 164
Silverstone 193 Sutch, Lord 10 0 w ard en s [6 4
Sinn Fein n sw in go mcter.jhe 10 2-3 train spoilers 162
six counties. the I 18 swots 1) 8 trainingforjobs I J4 , 13li , 136- 7
sixth form. the [37 Synod, the Gene ral 124 trains 61,6 2,1 6 1)- 6
slang. rh}'ming 48 trams 164
sno bs and sno bbery 1)0, 186 tab loids 1 P transport I 62-7
SNP (Scoursh Nati onal Part }') 7 3 Taffy I I b y air 166-7
soapope ra\ (so aps ) 11) 9-6 1, 18 7 Tam o 'Sharne r 43 altitudes towards 162. 163
socc er (91) tanner 148 mrernanonal (61)"-7
soc ial cla ss: 'Itt cla ss taxes : poli cy 162
Social Dem ocratic and Labour Part)' 73 on alcohol I 88 byrail 61.164-6
soc ial tdcnur y 4 1- 1)/) collection of 87 -8 , 146 b}"road 162-1)"
soc ial life , im portance of p and the co nstitu tio n 78 bywater 16 7
soc ial secur ity 168-70 o n goods for sale 14 6 travel: stt tour ism . transpo rt
soci al ser vicess' workers 169 - 70 and housing 180 tra velle rs 182-3
Society o f Friends 127 on in heritan ce 17 7 Treasury. th e 14.82
so licito rs I I I loca l council tax 8 7-8 Tren t Bridg e 193
Sotheby's 206 o n per sonal income 14 6 Triple Crown. the 192
South Bank . the 20 4 taxi s 1) 6 . 164-1)" trou bles, the I 19
sou th o f Eng lan d. the 2~, 3]-8, t 02- 3 tea 1)7,186 trus ts 17 I
Spanish Armada. the 2 I , I 17 teachers and tea ch ing 133. 131)-6 tu be, the 16 4
Speaker. the 90- 1 team games 191 , 19 8 TUC (Trades Union Congress) 26, 143-1)
special cccastons and d ays 4 6. 2 t l- 15 television I I)7-6 I Tud or dynasty, the 20
sport: ad verti sing (1)7-8 tu rf acco unra nrs 198
attitud es toward s 19 1-2 and the arts 20 1,20 3.101) TV: 5 television
calendar o f events and seaso ns 19 9 BBCand ITV I I)7-6 I Twickenha m 193
and co m pet ition 19 1-200 ch ann els I ~ 8
cro wd beh aviou r 192 . 191) and elections 10 0- 1, 10 2 URiO 169
m cducarion 133 , 191 , 19 8 fina nces [1)6. 11)7 UDA (Ulster Defence Associa tion) I 19
and the language 19 3 in Parliament 9 I)" UFF (Ulste r Freed om Fig h ters) I 19
and local go vernmc nt 8 8, 19 2 and political part y lead ers H-I) UK (U nit ed Kingdom) 9
nat ional British teams 8, 12-13 and poltncs 69. 11)7 Ulster 23 , 29 , 1 18- 20
m th c p rcss I P .1 9 1 satell ite and cable 11)9 Ulste r Un ion ists 73
and the ro yal fam ily 19 7 and spo rt 19 1, 19 2 Underground . the 164, 16 S"
224 Index

une m ploy me nt 142- 3,168-9 wa rs: Willia m of Orange 23

Uni on Jack. the 13 Falkla nd s/'Malvinav War H ,
unio nists in No rthern Ireland 10 3. 1 18- 20 First World War 27,77
uruons. the " n- I) Crimean Wu 172
Uni ted Kingd om . the 8-9 Gulf War 29 , 1 16
Uni ted Refor m ed Ch urch 12 7 Seco nd Wor ld Wu 28
univers ities I 38-4-0 Wars of the Roses 20
USA. lhe 111)- 16 wat chd og o rgenteauons I 4 ~
UVF (Ulste r Volunte er Force) I 19 Waterloo 161)
waterways 16 7
Varsity Match . the 19 2. 199 Watt. James 24
VAT (Value Added Tax) 14- 6 WedlthI41. 14-6
vegetarianism I 8 I) weather 31- 3, 6S
vehicle registration 162-3 we dd ings 4 6
Victoria, Queen 27 , 8 0 , 13 1 weights and m easur es 60, 14 8
Victoria and Albert Museu m 207 welfare 168-7 3
Victoria Station 165 wel fare state , o rigins of the 168
Victorian value s 28, 189 Welsh:
videos I I) 1 , 20 2 cha racterist ics I I , ~ 8
Vikings. the I 7- 18 language 44, 134
village green 60. 194 sense ofrdenuw 10 -1 2. 4 2- 1)
vio lence 10 8, (91) Wembley 193
vot ing : sa elections Wesley, John 127
Wessex 17
wag es 142,1 46 West Cou ntry. the H
wales: West End. the 36
geography of 4-0 Westm inster 36
history of 17.18- 19 .20 Westm inster Abbe y 12 2
as part of Britain 10, I 18 Which! magazine 6 4
and politics H . 10 2-3 . 118 Whigs. the 24, 29. H
po pu latio n of 1 3 whips 84 .94
religion in 127 White Man's Burden, The 28
sportin 8,193 , 19 6 Whitehall 86
symbols o f 10- 1 I William the Conqueror 18
I 14-. 12 3 wtkon. Harold 81),104
Wi mbledon 192.193
Winchester I 31
Windsor Ca-alc 81
Windsor.., the 77
wi ne 187
wi reless . the (1)6
w ogan. Terry 13
wo men . posi tion of:
in law 72,1 42- 3
in pu blic life ~ I, 124 . 142-3
in social life J 88
woolwon hs I 1)0
work :
aunudcs tcwerds 141 -2
everyday working life 142 , 14 3
labour relations 144
paym ent for 14 2.146
social im po rtance of S2
unem ploym ent 141- 3,168-9
,...o rk o rg an izations 143-1)
work -to-rule 144
workho use . the 16 8
Wo rld Service, the BBe 157 . 161
WUlha ingHti ghu 38
yards 117
Yes. Prime Minisler 67-9. 117
Yo rkshire 4-7
Youth Hostels Assoc iation 61
Z Cars 10 6