Parliament in Westminster
I finally got to visit Parliament! I've visited the British Columbian provincial parliament in Victoria BC, but honestly, I didn't really pay attention. What I remember about the one in Victoria was what seemed like the pompous traditional way of doing things. I thought it was ridiculous and didn't understand it. Now at least I understand where the tradition comes from.
The Palace of Westminster is beautiful! The oldest part of the palace is Westminster hall and it dates back about 700 years. Much of the rest of the palace (where the House of Commons and House of Lords reside) has had to be rebuilt through the years due to different disasters. One thing I noticed was how so many of the decorations around the palace were very Christian. In the main lobby of the building, there are four halls. The octagonal room glistens under the gold paint on the gothic revival walls. Statues of past monarchs look down on those in the room, watching to see who goes where. Above the entrance to each of the four halls are exquisite mosaic panels of each of the saints of each of the countries that are a part of the union of the United Kingdom (St George for England, St Patrick for Northern Ireland, St Andrews for Scotland, and St David for Wales). Throughout the whole palace, there are nods to the Christian history of the UK. There are also pieces of art that show the almost reverence that past monarchs are viewed with. I've noticed, even with Westminster Abbey, in the past there wasn't much difference between the worship of Christ and the worship of the monarch.
One room, in particular, reflects this, which is the robing room. Once a year the reigning monarch opens Parliment for the session. They arrive in a horse-drawn carriage to a special door, after which they enter the robing room where they don a magnificent robe and crown. The monarch is only allowed to enter the House of Lords, not the House of Common because of Charles I (who the people executed and then had a revolution). The robing room is adorned with much decoration that shows different parts of the Arthurian legend, including a magnificent mural that depicts Christ telling King Arthur to find the Holy Grail. On the House of Lord's side of Westminster, there is much golden guild work and it feels very pompous. The House of Commons side feel a lot more humble and down to Earth.
The UK Parliament in Westminster is often called the Legislature. It is part of the Government but isn't the whole government. It works as one of the balances of the government. There are three parts of Parliment, there is the monarch, who opens it, and under whose name each new Prime Minister forms a government. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has the most seats in the House of Commons, the lower house. The House of Lords is the upper house. Through the of them, the UK gets their laws. They each debate and vote for pieces of legislation. It becomes ratified with Royal Assent and the signing of Parliament. The whole business with how Parliament works get rather complicated.
I find it interesting that the UK, which seems to be a pretty progressive country, holds fast to the amount of tradition that can be found in the way of which Parliament does business. I feel that country is divided in itself; it wants to be accepting of new cultures and peoples, but it doesn't seem to know how to adapt quickly to the changing world in how business in Government is conducted. The British identity can sometimes seem primordial, that it's always been there, especially when looking at the history and tradition used in Parliament, but like I have mentioned in past posts, it is changing and becoming something very different. It's always changing and being constructed into a new version of itself, which I think is relfected in the loss of power that Parliament has over every region in the UK with the rise of devolution in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Palace of Westminster is beautiful! The oldest part of the palace is Westminster hall and it dates back about 700 years. Much of the rest of the palace (where the House of Commons and House of Lords reside) has had to be rebuilt through the years due to different disasters. One thing I noticed was how so many of the decorations around the palace were very Christian. In the main lobby of the building, there are four halls. The octagonal room glistens under the gold paint on the gothic revival walls. Statues of past monarchs look down on those in the room, watching to see who goes where. Above the entrance to each of the four halls are exquisite mosaic panels of each of the saints of each of the countries that are a part of the union of the United Kingdom (St George for England, St Patrick for Northern Ireland, St Andrews for Scotland, and St David for Wales). Throughout the whole palace, there are nods to the Christian history of the UK. There are also pieces of art that show the almost reverence that past monarchs are viewed with. I've noticed, even with Westminster Abbey, in the past there wasn't much difference between the worship of Christ and the worship of the monarch.
One room, in particular, reflects this, which is the robing room. Once a year the reigning monarch opens Parliment for the session. They arrive in a horse-drawn carriage to a special door, after which they enter the robing room where they don a magnificent robe and crown. The monarch is only allowed to enter the House of Lords, not the House of Common because of Charles I (who the people executed and then had a revolution). The robing room is adorned with much decoration that shows different parts of the Arthurian legend, including a magnificent mural that depicts Christ telling King Arthur to find the Holy Grail. On the House of Lord's side of Westminster, there is much golden guild work and it feels very pompous. The House of Commons side feel a lot more humble and down to Earth.
The UK Parliament in Westminster is often called the Legislature. It is part of the Government but isn't the whole government. It works as one of the balances of the government. There are three parts of Parliment, there is the monarch, who opens it, and under whose name each new Prime Minister forms a government. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has the most seats in the House of Commons, the lower house. The House of Lords is the upper house. Through the of them, the UK gets their laws. They each debate and vote for pieces of legislation. It becomes ratified with Royal Assent and the signing of Parliament. The whole business with how Parliament works get rather complicated.
I find it interesting that the UK, which seems to be a pretty progressive country, holds fast to the amount of tradition that can be found in the way of which Parliament does business. I feel that country is divided in itself; it wants to be accepting of new cultures and peoples, but it doesn't seem to know how to adapt quickly to the changing world in how business in Government is conducted. The British identity can sometimes seem primordial, that it's always been there, especially when looking at the history and tradition used in Parliament, but like I have mentioned in past posts, it is changing and becoming something very different. It's always changing and being constructed into a new version of itself, which I think is relfected in the loss of power that Parliament has over every region in the UK with the rise of devolution in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The west wing of Westminster Palace (that's not Big Ben in the corner, the tower is covered up right now due to renovations)
Entrance to Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall, it's mostly used for state functions. It't the oldest part of the palace.
St Stephen's hall, the old chapel of the palace.
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