American Reacts to the UK’s Weirdest Political Traditions
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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As an American I don't know much about British politics. Today I am very interested in learning about some of the weirdest political traditions in the UK. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!
To this day, even in schools, the room where one hangs up one's coat on a coat peg is universally referred to as the cloakroom. It seems so natural that I had never thought of it as originally the room where you hung up your cloak! It takes the perspective of an outsider to illuminate such facts.
Also at theatres and clubs you will find a 'cloakroom' where they will look after your coat for you. The word is also used as a euphamism for 'toilet' in some circumstances, as often the two facilities are in the same location. Like you say- doesn't sound weird until someone points it out!
In Australia, when I went to school in the 60s and 70s, we hung our raincoats and jackets in the cloakroom too. Like you, I never questioned the word.
Same with night clubs etc.
@@carolineskipper6976 That probably stems back to the medieval tradition of the Garderobe also.
@@carolineskipper6976it's not used for toilet
You mean the US Congress and Senate don't have gun lockers in their cloakroom or a doorkeeper with a box of free aderall/cocaine?
Haaaaahahaaa
Fun fact: the US Senate also has 2 communal snuff boxes, similar to the one in the House of Commons, which were used until the 1930s. They also have spittoons for disposing of snuff or chewing tobacco (though currently mostly ignored, or used for waste paper and not much else).
Guns are not allowed in the Senate or House of Representatives
A tradition that doesn't seem to come up here is when a new Speaker of the Commons is appointed. He's supposed to make look like he is being physically and unwillingly manhandled into the room.
Or her, of course
This happens in Canada too!
'No, I don't want to be speaker. I don't want to act as nurse maid to a bunch of MPs, I'd rather be a cobra wrangler)
The Romans started that.
That's because way back. Nobody wanted to be Mr Speaker. It was often that if the monarch didn't get his way. The speaker was beheaded.
Also, MPs have to speak in 3rd party, as they're only allowed to address the house via Mr Speaker.
UK schools have cloakrooms. It's where pupils keep their coats.
You can still buy snuff in the UK. I used to work with someone who used it everyday. Old, antique snuff boxes are highly collected in the UK.
Not ALL MPs are in the house at the same time , day, week.
The State Opening of Parliament takes place once a year. The last one was on the 7th of November 2023.
He forgot to say that it is illegal to die or wear a suit of armour in parliament.
@@TheTransmission24 ... curious, I know what snuff is, but what is 'dip' ?
Oh yes - my Logic teacher at Uni was a regular "snuffer". An utterly disgusting habit!
@@Tidybitz I wanna know what snuff is, and I want you to show me :D
@@what-uc ... Snuff is powdered tobacco sometimes with added aromas, but menthol is the only one I've seen.
@@johnwelford1580 ... Now I'm curious as what a logic teacher is?
The significance of the door slam cannot be overstated. Unlike the US, the UK lacks a written constitution. The resounding closure of the door symbolizes the autonomy of elected MPs, free from the direct influence of the crown.
England had a civil war too, once upon a time. Several of the traditions emphasising the separation of the nobility (the monarch and the Lords) from the peasantry (elected MPs in the Commons) are effectively reminders of this period. Notably, *before* the English Civil War, Parliament had only a limited and temporary role whenever the monarch summoned them - it was not the primary seat of legislative and executive power that it is today.
And this is distinct again from the earlier "Wars of the Roses" which were essentially over the legitimate line of royal succession (between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, which used different coloured roses as their heraldic emblems). The House of Tudor, having resolved the crisis, adopted a combined rose emblem featuring both red and white petals.
@@Kromaatikse we've had slightly more than just one civil war - quite a few in fact haha, but I guess just not all directly named a 'civil war' in the name we know them as.
Here Here well said Old boy!
@@jgill551 indeed they are not all referred to as civil wars, in fact only the civil war between Charles the first and parliament. This is probably because it was the first and only civil war in England where the English people rose up against the monarch, and everyone had a definite side who they wanted to win, as opposed to the war of the roses as mentioned in Kromaatikse reply. This was simply Henry Tudor claiming he should be king instead of Richard the 3rd. There were a number of peasants fighting in that war who would have not given a damn who won as long as they themselves survived. The civil war was a much bigger deal for the common man.
American governance was based on parliament’s three branches, as they were in the 18th century, along with the checks and balances. Or be it that:-
The King became a President.
The Lords became the Senate.
The House of Commons became the House of Representatives.
Some of our most important documents were later copied directly, such as The Bill of Rights of 1686. Congress has on display an extract from the Magna Carta of 1216. So I’m always puzzled by Americans not understanding British Governance when for me the American system looks so familiar.
Sadly the American system remains trapped by its constitution in the 18th century, whilst the British system remains free to evolve.
We never had 3 separated branches. It's an American delusion. We always had fusion of powers. Parliament is technically the highest court, and supplies ministers.
One of the best things about the UK is having "constitutional values" but no written constitution. Can you imagine how crap life would be if we couldn't make a law because some gaggle of toffs three hundred years ago wrote their thoughts on a piece of paper?
@@ChrisBetton Except 1) they weren't toffs, 2) they didn't write many actual specific 'laws' at all in their constitution at all, they wrote broad ideals such as free speech and the basic layout of the branches of government, 3) anything in the constitution can be changed or amended, it just requires a 2/3 majority. Obviously that's happened several times since it was written. The point being that no simple basic 1-seat majority can tamper with an actual constitutional clause and instead you need pretty broad support cross party to change what are, essentially, fundamental rights, as it should be.
Also, a primary reason we have parliamentary democracy in the UK at all is the Magna Carta, which is in effect our 'bill of rights' and was quite literally signed by 'a gaggle of toffs 800 years ago'.
NO SEPARATION OF POWERS OF FRENCH MONTESQUIEU ...... L ESPRIT DES LOIS
Not only were the houses of Parliament bombed in WWII . Buckingham Palace Was hit by bombs nine times during WWII.
And again if you make it to London you can still see all the damage to the buildings along the Thames up to St Barts hospital 🏥 x
The monarch doesn't attend parliament every day, but only on the first day of a new parliamentary session (or shortly after a general election). This is marked by a ceremony called the State Opening, and the last one took place on 7 November 2023. King Charles read his first official monarch's speech on that occasion. The ceremony gave them a snappy title for the 2010 film about George VI's stammer and how they dealt with it.
Look I'm 50, so I guess I'm on the older side of an average youtuber, but I'm amazed there are adults in the world that haven't heard about snuff until this moment.
I'm 48 and had exactly the same thought
Perhaps Tyler doesn't pay attention when watching movies.
@@continental_driftJust as he doesn't pay attention to what is said in many of his episodes.
I'm 29, I have heard of it many many times before, knew exactly what it was
@@continental_drift just movies??
"Toeing the line" is when a speaker at parliament paces up and down the line while addressing parliament. They are following the rules by "Toeing the line"
used to see Snuff boxes / tins lying around when i was young in the early 80's
These days more than ever we need to be aware of and respect our heritage in this country. The gradualism of American infiltration in our daily lives is depressing. No disrespect intended but our language is being hijacked and ‘dumbed down’ mainly through American tech companies. Even subtitles on British films shown in the UK use American spelling which is jarring to see and eventually will be confusing to youngsters. France bans some words in the English language especially relating to gaming jargon with the aim of preserving the integrity of the native language with good reason.
I'm not on some mad English thing like you but I agree. Everything is getting too Americanised and it's good to be different and know the reason for differences
Straight to gaol. Right away
I agree and I'm a Brit who loves USA and have been visiting the USA since 1981, I have also worked there many times, and growing up in the 1960s-1970s when UK TV was dominated by US shows, love the US accent.
However as a former UK University lecturer I saw students constantly using US English, or worse still mixing it with UK English. I used to tell them I'd prefer UK English in a UK university but whichever they choose, to be consistent.
Worse still is the creeping Americanisms in everyday UK life. "Can I get" in restaurants instead of "can I have", saying "two time winner" instead of "two times winner" (or better still, UK should be "twice winner") There are hundreds like this on a daily basis. Though many would say languages evolve and absorb elements from elsewhere. And English always has absorbed of course.
Though my biggest annoyance with English is UK newsreaders on UK news channels using US English. Nothing wrong with US English...in the US!
Here in Canada, if you phone a business and there are recorded instructions, they are always done with an American accent! It's close and most people here don't notice it, but as I am from the UK . I have a more sensitive accent ear than the locals! Pisses me off!
@@MikePhillips-pl6ov I agree , you'll be calling 'chips' fries next!
Happy St. George's day 🏴
I much prefer St Edmund who actually was in England, and was the English patron saint, rather than a fashionable Greek Roman soldier made popular by a Norman king.
@@MrGrahawkif it's good enough for the Irish.....
Happy Shakespeare birthday (well,probably) and Deathday🎩
. A Drug, Snuff it like cocaine today,
@@101steel4St Patrick was either English or Welsh, a Slave who worked as a shepherd.
Until 1998, there was a top hat kept within the House of Commons. The hat had to be passed to any MP who wanted to raise a point of order during a vote before they were allowed to speak. This is possibly the strangest British Parliamentary tradition.
It often made debates take far longer than they otherwise would, due to the time spent passing the hat around, but it did have the benefit of ensuring that MPs wouldn't interrupt each other, and made it clear which member had permission to speak at which time. I sometimes think that they ought to bring that tradition back.
Interesting. I wonder if that inspired the use of the conch shell in Lord of the Flies? 🤔
Black Rod is the monarch's representative on the day. The Commons does not consider itself subserviant to the monarch and shows its defiance by slamming the door. Black Rod requests entry by knocking on the door with the staff of office - the said black rod. S/He then approaches the Speaker and invites the MPs to attend the monarch in the House of Lords.
It's all quite normal.
This tradition - slamming the door in Black Rod's face - is followed in the Australian federal parliament as well. A new Speaker for the lower House (called the House of Representatives here) is also symbolically "dragged" by a couple of Members to the Speaker's chair.
A major reason for wanting to move to the semicircular design is that MPs cannot talk directly at each other, they must address their comments to the house or speaker of the house.
This means you get a lot of "Could the speaker please remind our right honourable member for Skegness that ..." or "I think that the honourable gentleman before me should be aware of ...", they're never going to talk directly at another MP.
Arranging things in a semicircle would put the speaker in the middle and make the nature of how conversations happen more intuitive.
Also the lack of talking is why when there's disagreement or cheering it's never words, if you say a word(including "boo") that's violating the rules, so they tend to use more guteral sounds like "Ooh" or "ehr".
Breaking this rule comes under unparliamentary language, and can result in you being expelled from the chamber(although for those rules you'll likely be given a warning, there's cases though of repeated violators being ordered to leave).
The speaker, as the one keeping this rule is weirdly semi-immune to it, they can address MPs directly and talk when someone else is talking(usually reserved for calling "Order! Order!" or remimding others of the rules), but abusing this exception to the rules can result in parliament voting them out of the role.
Youre kind of talking rubbish here. Members are not allowed to clap but they are certainly allowed to boo or use other words. The most common refrain is "Here, Here". Literally watch any Prime ministers questions and you can see it. "Unparlaimentary language" generally means curse words and direct insults to other members. The big no no is calling or insinuating another member is a liar. The speaker isn't technically allowed to speak over anyone, however, when he stands everyone else must sit down. Members are not allowed to speak from a "sedentary" position (sitting down) so when the speaker stands up, everyone else will automatically sit down and stop talking.
Some of those relate to how the monarchy was reinstated after the civil war and Cromwell’s dictatorship. It kept the power of the monarch in check and gave the people more say in how things were run.
There was a state opening of parliament this week. You'll be able to watch the whole ceremony online. All uk media outlets broadcasted it. It happens every year.
I visited the House of Commons on a school visit about three days before it reopened after the war. The MP (member of Parliament) showing us around was particularly proud of the green leather seating.
With the House of Commons destroyed early in the war, members of the “Commons” sat in the House of Lords, which was actually part of the same building, but little damaged.
Hi Tyler!
'Cloakroom' is the standard name in the UK for the place in a school, theatre, etc, where you can leave your coat and collect it after the play or whatever, dating back (obviously) to the 19th century when (some) people did still wear cloaks. It's also one euphemism for toilet/lavatory (older euphemisms).
Snuff is still a thing in Europe. It's a while since I saw anyone in the UK using it, but it's more common on the Continent, and I have a tin of snuff I bought a few years ago when visiting Belgium.
The number of seats in the Commons is limited simply because the Chamber isn't big enough for more (the number of constituencies and hence MPs has somewhat grown as our population has increased). It's rare that every MP has to be there (for votes, a predictable majority is sufficient, and MPs from opposing parties who would just cancel each other out can agree to 'pair' so neither has to turn up). If they do, the surplus have to stand at the back.
Officially, the UK has an established State religion (Anglicanism) with the Monarch as its head (instead of the Pope), so for the sake of tradition we sometimes all pretend to go along with its customs - in return, its presentation in a State context is as inclusive as possible. In a political context, an MP's religion (or lack of it) is a private matter and never talked about in electioneering - contrast with the USA which explicitly "separates Church and State" but where most candidates are ostentatiously religious and declaring ones' self an atheist would be political suicide!
Debates in the chamber are usually just done for appearances' sake, in reality most questions are thrashed out beforehand in Committees, and every MP knows how they're going to vote regardless of any 'debate'.
When any tradition has been going on long enough, many of us in the UK feel obliged to keep it going even when we've forgotten what it means. Who would want to be responsible for breaking it?
@8:55 - 427 seats that's an odd number considering they are mirror image of each other i would of thought 426/428
There's the Speaker's seat in a central position.
@@ruthholbrook ohh yeah my bad
By the way, the bell in the pub does work. As a politico involved in politics, I know the Red Lion. If you want to meet MPs it is the place to go. Plus, a certain bar if after 10pm.
I am surprised they missed the whole opening of parliament and the slamming of the door in the King's face when he knocks and tries to get into Parliament.
I've never ever thought about cloakroom being a weird name for it - that's what we all called it at school
Reasons why you wouldn't want to hold every single MP.
1. Some issues of the day might not be relevant to them often leaving huge amounts of empty seats. So long as party leaders are briefed and given the relevant reports. The other MPs don't need to attend. They could be doing other essential work instead of simply sitting in doing nothing.
2. the sheer decibel level of all those people in an enclosed space could cause people to go deaf and I promise you, shouting contests do happen.
3. The heat of all those people would be horrible.
It never occurred to me that the term "cloakroom" was strange. At a nightclub you might put your coat in the cloakroom on the way in, they give you a ticket and you collect it on the way out.
up until my locals landlord died he would always offer a pinch of snuff and a glass of sloe gin when you popped in .maybe smokers should retake up snuff as there is no ban on it
The video failed to point out that one reason for limiting seating in the Commons is that - for much Parliamentary business - MPs who need to be there are very few in number. They all have important things to do elsewhere. This means that a chamber designed for 630 MPs would look a lot emptier than it often does anyway. For the big occasions, such as weekly Prime Minister's Questions, there is standing room at the back, but a standing MP is not allowed to ask a question.
Pretty much every MP can fit into the chamber if theres a big debate. Its just that they have the squeeze a few more on a benches and have lots of people stood in the area by the door.
Each session of Parliament is opening with the "speech from the throne" the King's Speech which outlines his Governments legislative agenda. The phrase "other measures will be laid before you" is included which gives His Majesty's Government scope to legislate outside the measures set out in the speech.
Too much ' responding ' to everything he sees with inane laughter. Let us see the video then respond. It would be less irritating.
Just watch the original video, mate.
They left out what he does with the Black rod when the door is slammed in his face. He uses it to tap very loudly on the door.
By the way, the reason why Parliament has those rows of seats facing each other is because the original House of Commons was converted from a church.
Parliament happens in "the Palace of Westminster". It used to be a Royal Palace, back before there was a Parliament and democracy.
So when Parliament was created, where would all these democratic representatives - MPs - meet? Where would be this new British version of Rome's "Senate" be exactly?
And, yeah, the MPs just took over one of the Royal palaces in London to conduct their business.
But, in hijacking a Royal palace, the building was not, you know, originally designed for housing a Parliament and they had to adapt it for its new purpose.
And, basically, the House of Commons took over what used to be the palace's church. Yeah, when you're a King or Queen, you get your own personal church in your extravagant palace. As you do.
But that's basically why the House of Commons has that adversarial layout of rows of seats facing each other.
It used to be a church and the two rows of seats facing each other - that's where the choir boys would have sat.
The table in front of the MPs - where the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition stand to deliver their speeches and throw insults at each other - would have been where the altar used to be, and where the Speaker sits - which is an elevated position behind the "altar" table - would have been where the pulpit was.
And, yes, MPs are well aware of the joke that they're sitting where the choir boys would have sat, despite none of them being remotely as innocent as the proverbial choir boy. They appreciate the irony.
Didn’t know any of that (apart from that Westminster was previously a royal palace), fascinating stuff indeed. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏻
The King only attends Parliament once a year to open that year's session. You should watch a video of the opening of Parliament
The parliamentary building, also known as Whitehall, used to be a palace owned by the king.
cloakroom's are pretty common...you leave your outer coat there...
The kings speech is once a year usually. A session isn’t like one day, it’s many months and then prorogation happens and then parliament is reopened. Parliament is still “sitting” even when its recess
To this day, every school I have been in Canada has a cloakroom in each homeroom unless the hallway has lockers available (so elementary, junior, and some middle schools). As do our legislatures, and even some older colleges.
But since it's Canada, no swmords. We need to be the equivalent of 2 hockey sticks apart. 🏒🏒
Definitely watching you react toour British culture and traditions is funny.
I love watching your channel, we don't often think we are weird until somebody points it out lol
I never think we're weird. The rest of the world is, but not us!!
Years ago, but well into the 20th century, I used to try snuff but it made my nose feel like it was on fire. I just ended up sneezing uncontrollably! I have not noticed it on sale for a long time now.
Tyler it's perfectly normal here to hear the downstairs toilet in a house called 'the cloakroom' ..... look at any (real)estate agents house details lol.
Look up snuff boxes; some were quite elegant made of silver or gold and adorned with diamonds and other gems. It's noteworthy that tobacco had only recently been discovered.
Snuff is more known than yhr video implies and it actually falls under the scope of many smoking laws.
Im a former tobacconist owner and i remember getting the head of our local trading standards in an embarrassing situation where he told us pioe cleaners (if sold to clean pipes, which as a tobacconist is assumed) could not be sold to a child, but snuff could because the laws reference smoking tobacco and smoke accessories.
Do love a good floral snuff personally
If you want to see the King's Speech, it's happening this week (17th July).
We've had an election so there's a new parliament. The king will open the first session of the new parliament.
The government writes the speech but the monarch delivers it.
The speech sets out what laws the government plans to introduce in the session.
It should be shown live so check it out!
Fact:all MPs can fit into the house of commons but not all get to sit. If you watch PMQ's you will see them standing at the bottom of the screen.
You may find the Denis skinner and Black Rod interactions during his time in the house amusing.
The Commons being too small for everyone isn’t great, but it isn’t as bad as it seems. It’s very rare (usually only on the state opening of parliament and the start of a new parliament) for every MP to be in the chamber. Most of the day-to-day work of an MP is either constituency case work, or committee meetings. The debates are sort of like a set of press releases, and make up a small fraction of the legislative process. The votes are what’s important, and the way MPs vote is already largely determined beforehand by both the continuous recording of sessions (remember he mentioned TVs everywhere, and there’s a written transcript that’s continuously output too, called Hansard) and the very powerful whips offices. In a parliamentary system, there’s a lot more emphasis on consensus rather than individual, personality-based horse trading in a presidential system like the US’.
It’s different in the Lords (as they have a very different function to the Commons), but still committees are the most important part of legislating there too.
UK committees are different to the US ones too: in the UK committees can be chaired by MPs from any party, and they don’t act as gatekeepers to a law’s introduction. Instead, they work on a law after it’s passed its second reading in the Commons to research, investigate, interrogate, and amend it. The third reading is usually just a final check over by the other MPs who weren’t involved in that process. This works because UK bills must be on a single topic: omnibus bills, with riders and kickbacks and everything else that happens in US, are not allowed. The bill can therefore be fairly scrutinised at a technical level by a specialist committee, rather than needing the whole house to weigh in at every level.
Not only do we tend to know these traditions, We have always been brought up with them so, to us it all seems pretty normal.
I worked at Houses of Parliament in the 90s, it was my first job after uni (and the best job I ever had). Certainly when i was there an Mp just had to go and get a 'prayer card' in the morning and put it in the little slot where they wanted to sit, I think theh could also get there secretary to do it for them, but can't quite remember. There are not many times when the chamber is full and all the MPs turn up - most commonly its for PMs questions, outside of this most debates its half empty or less apart from very important debates - plus the party whips will make sure their MPs turn up to vote and vote the way the party wants them to - otherwise they face a bollocking. In my day Portcullis House was still being built, it was completed in 2001. There was not enough offices for all MPs and many were scattered around a variety of different buildings close to parliament often I would be sent to these and it was nice to wander ton and from these historical buildings.
Snuff the original nose candy!
As far as I can see from the broadcast debates, only about three MPs are ever present in the Chamber, except for Budget Day, when there is standing room only.
There's a "secret" door in Westminster Tube (Underground) Station for MPs only 🎩
We always use the term cloakroom ,it starts in primary school in uk,,we have them in our schools, houses,venues allsorts and people still buy and use snuff today!And slamming or shutting doors in people's faces is a normal thing here in uk😂
As a teen, I bought snuff at Newspaper seller shops in the 60s and 70s
So the parliament comes into session and the kings speech is once a year. Usually in November. We have bonfire night in the because we foiled a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I on November 5th 1605. We have fireworks and a bonfire to celebrate and sometimes we burn a Guy (a dummy man made from old clothes stuffed with paper) ... the would-be assassin's name was Guy Fawkes. We used to have a tradition where children used to take their Guy door to door saying penny for the Guy and they'd get a penny if they'd made a really good Guy, but I've not seen anyone do that since around the 1980s. We still have fireworks on bonfire night November 5th though making a guy isn't so common now.
Before the palace of Westminster was built, parliament was held in Westminster Hall, which still exists and is used for some debates. It was where King Charles I was tried before he lost his head and where monarchs lie in state before their funeral, as did the late queen.
Snuff was a popular way of consuming tobacco long ago, not just in Parliament, & some people still use it. Cloakroom is still the common place in any building where you may leave your coats upon entering, including nightclubs etc. The House of Commons is set up like a Church Choir, because they first sat in a Church called Saint Stephen's Chapel, which was part of the old Palace of Westminster, & one of the few space available for such meetings. Prayers & prayer cards, remind us that it was a Church, & religion was the core of medieval life. The King's Speech takes place once a year, as each Session is for the year. The slamming of the door is to remind that Charles 1st 'invaded' the Commons against the Law, & the Lords are the Monarch's representatives. The Houses of Parliament were hit several times during the Blitz by German bombs during the 2nd world war, & had to be restored.
The bells which ring to signal that a vote is about to happen and MPs need to hurry to the chamber to cast their vote are known as the 'division bell'. A few years ago there were a group of, I think female Labour MPs who had a tap dancing group called 'The Division Belles' which I thought was quite nice.
As a UK voter you can request to see Prime Ministers Question Time. You write to your MP and get tickets. I went when Margert Thatcher was my MP and also the PM.. I was shocked to find it was all scripted 🤷♂
interesting video
I'm 73, when I was at school lots of people still took snuff. and coats were hung in the cloackroom. The slamming of the door underlines the independance of the House of Commons, and makes sure it cannot be forgotten. And yes we all know this suff.
They can and do stand! During some times there may be a debate of little interest and there might only be 12 or so MPs attending!!
I'd leave a comment but I'd be wasting my time, Tyler don't bother to reply or even read th comments.
You left a comment to explain your intentions and your reasons to why. lol
@@samk9729 it's called being sarcastic, but its doubtful Tyler will understand, ho ho ho. Oops sorry shouldn't mimic Santa's cheery call.
@@samk9729😆
He ignores you which is far more amusing ,,what's the matter ,won't he be your fwend
Tyler has 3 other You Tube channels and doesn't reply to the comments either maybe doesn't' like constructive criticism
The UK has no written constitution, so everything is based on legal precedents and tradition. Over years and years what and what not is legal can change, it is not tied by a constitution. So all of that history becomes and is very relevant in decisions that are made in Parliament.
My great grandfather was Black Rod during Queen Victoria's reign.
A working class man who had great pretensions.
You say you've not heard the word 'cloakroom' used commonly. What do Americans call the room in which you store your coats when visiting the theatre? The derivation of the sword lines is, I'm sorry to say, just a legend - even in the days of the old House of Commons the lines weren't two sword lengths apart! Each parlimentary session lasts less than one year, so The Monarch 'opens parliament' only once a year, usually in November. It's literally a glittering occasion and well worth watching at least once (it's essentially the same ceremony every time, except for the periodic chnge of monarch). During the State Opening, MPs walk from the House of Commons to the House of Lords to listen to the King's Speech (actually written by the government) but can enter only as far as 'The Bar' a rail blocking their way into the main part of the Lords' Chamber, so many MPs end up listening from the corridor. Two individuals, The Lord Great Chamberlain (carrying a long white 'wand' as a mark of his status) and the Lord Chancellor (carrying a large heavily decorated 'purse' containing the speech) used to have to walk backwards in front of the monarch for part of the State Opening but, I believe, this tradition has now been retired! The Periods between sessions are called 'prorogations', while shorter breaks during the year (e.g., at Easter and Christmas) are called 'recesses'.
The Lines came in 30 years ago. They weren't there before. There are paintings of parliament and there were never those lines.
The HoC also has the Bar line, a white line a short distane from to door, if you are behind this you can not speak in a debate.
You might want to look up the "bars and restaurants" in the Houses of Parliament and the very odd/bad behaviour of its patrons.!!!
Your reactions really make me laugh lol 😂
I have been to several Debates within the House of Commons, plus some personal invitations in the House of Lords because of some organisations I belong to . loved it.
The Slamming of the door in Black Rods Face is too symbolise that the monarchy has no rights to make laws for the country after Charles the 1st got out of hand and governing the country was before the monarchs divine right. All laws now first go through the House of commons and then through to the house of Lords (which was a heredity position , but is now being phased out) the new law or legislation will bounce back and forth between the houses until agreed and is then only finally a law when signed by the King...he technically has no say on the new law and the royals do not partake in politics ( well not supposed to ) The opening of Parliament is with the Kings speech and he reads out the ruling parties manifesto in the house of lords but is also attended buy those in the house of commons. Hope that makes sense.
All South Africans know what snuff is because our grandmothers use it to this day
We still call them a cloakroom 🤷♀️
The Black Rod goes back King Charles I, when Charles tried to have several MPs arrested for kicking up a fuss the MPs in the Commons slammed the doors in the face of the King's men, since they regarded the King's actions as being a breach of their Parliamentary privilege.
How one person can say what all the time.
Cloakroom is also another name for a downstairs loo.
I took snuff for a while at school when I was about 16. It was a fad for a few of us!
The American thinks he knows better than Winston Churchill. Whilst we are all here, I have some suggestions about changes to be made to the constitution....
Symbols matter. The slamming of the door reminds folk that the Commons are independent. Yep. It amazes me that folk wouldn’t know these, but if you spend a load of time on social media and watching US films etc…..
This misses the historic context thereby cheapening the reasoning for each activity. Black Rod being a prime example, worthy of further research. Further, Snuff. Tried it, blew the back of my head off. You can still buy it in traditional tobacconists shops.
You can still get snuff at tobacco shops
Should b perminatly locking The House of Lords doors after yesterday.
Tyler
Brilliant , how do you think these up
To make a point of order in the House of commons the MP where's a top hat
What's the only thing the rest of the world has, but cannot be or never will be found in America:= Intelligence.
And you bothered to write that, clever stuff, ingenious
@@keefsmiff ah but tis only the meanderings of a failing mind.
The kings speach is only once a year
I still take snuff and yes it does wake you up.
MPs are never allowed to sit in the House of Lords: they have to stand.
I'm sure snuff was used in the USA.
You didn't mention the the woolsack...this has gone since l was young.
It's not like history it is history, you live and learn like who know
England should have legal open carry for swords. I need to go into politics...
The snuff box has cocaine in it these days
Just shows u ingrained the pub is in Britain
You should research the bombing of Britain during WW2, and the rationing of food during and after.
You can get some british food on line
Locking out the King
Read up on Oliver Cromwell which will explain the whole House of Commons & House of Lords History
Church of England is official church.
People throughout the us also use snuff, before you try to learn about other country's learn about the place you live in.like who know
K W cnt go into The City of London, has to b escorted.
During the opening of parliament an MP goes to Buckingham Palace to act as a hostage to ensure the safety of the King while he is in parliament
I didn't know that, really?
@@judyburgess3357 Yes, although it's obviously symbolic.
These days it would also have the benefit of if a disaster *did* occur, they would be available to be Prime Minister Pro Tem if there were no other survivors (assuming all other MPs were in the House at the time), and could do any necessary functions required on parliament's side to dissolve parliament and call new elections and make necessary appointments alongside the new monarch. Basically it gives us a "designated survivor" as a bonus of the weird hangover from tradition.
pretty sure my old mp had to do that once lol
No they don't. Absolute nonsense.
@@pmc8451 They do, not sure why you are calling it "absolute nonsense".
If you want to check for yourself, Google: UK Parliament State Opening: Elements unseen by the public or visit that page on the UK parliament website.