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The publish er andautho r would like tothank thefollowing

for th irper mi ssionto use extra cts fromco pyr igh t materi al BBC EnterprisesLtd forextracts from Yes PrimeMinister by Jonathan

Lynnand Anton}'Jay

Cam bridge University Pressfor extractsfrom 'TheInvisibleScot'

in EnglishToday18 April 1989

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Reed Consume rBooksfor extracts from The Quttn and I bySue Townsend (Meth uen London),0 1992 bySue Townsend Times News papers Ltd for extractsfrom 'Mad about plaid'by

A AGill,T htSundayTimes, London,2~January 1994, Times Newspapers Ltd 1994 : 'Who gives a caber toss?'b Harry Ritchie, TheSunday Times London, 2~Janua ry 19 94 Times Newsp apersLtd 1994 : 'Defiant Englishhold out against Welsharsoni sts'byStu art Wavell,T htSunday Times, Londo n, 1S"No vember 19 9 2.·tJTimes Ne ,spapersLtd 1992:and 'Britain bansEC Medals'from News Digest,Th SundayTimes,

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Cover photo graph:

Co llections PhotoLibrary/GarySmith

86.87, II~. 209 Oxford Univcrsn yPresstechnicalgraphics departme nt pages~2 B.46.89.91 104 108.109 121 1~2. lB IJ? ,14 ~ , IH ,

146,1l;2,1l;3 1l;8 160 171 180 181.19S",199, 202 Murray Zanoni pages 174, 176

Studio pho tographyb· Haddon Davies pages 118, 134, [S"S", 211

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Lure Cun hapage 172:Dom inicPicturespage2 1 ~ (C Ashmore) ; The Environmen talPictureLibrarypage 197 (ATesta):

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We would also like tothank GertrudeErbach atthereferenc e

library News International for her help in obtainin g illustrative material andDerekHeater,founder Chairman of the Politi cs Association for his adviceon the chapter s concerni ng historyand politics

James O'Driscoll

Oxford University Press

o

The publi c aui tude to p oliti cs Th e sty le of

de moc racy Th e on stit uu on T he s tyle of poli ties.

T he part y srs tem The m odern s ituatio n

Contents

Introduction

Country and people Geogra phic ally s peaking P olitically s peaking

T he fo ur n auons The d ominance o f Engla nd

Na tio nal loya lties

6

8

I

6 Political life

6]

77 The eppeerencc : The r e alit y Th e rol e o f t h e

m onarch The value of the m onarchy The futur e

of t he mona rchy

Pr ehi story The R oma n pe riod (43 -4 10)

Th e G erman ic invasions (410 1066) T he medieval period (I0 66-148r;) The sixteenth cen tury

Th e sev e nteenth century T he e ighteenth c('mmy

The nine t eenth ccntury T he t wentiet h ce ntury

The cab inet T he Prime Mi nistc r The civ il s crvtcc

Centr al and local governme nt , Lo cal government serv ices

C llm atc Land and settlement The enviro nment

and p ollut ion Lon do n Sout hern Eng land.

TheMidlands NorthernEng land.Sco tlan d

Wale s N o n hern Irel and

4 Identity

JI

T he atmosphere of Parliam ent An MP ' s life

P arliamen tary bustne ss Th e pan y sys tem in Parliament T he Hou se o f L ord s

90

E thnic id en tity: t he native British Ethnic id ent ity :

th e non- native Briti sh The family G eographical idcn u ry Cl ass M en and wom e n R eligious and

p oli tical id en tity S ocial and e veryda y c ontacts Identit y in No n he rn Ir eland B eing Briti sh

Ste reotypes and c han ge English ver sus Bnti sh Multi cu lturali sm Co nservatism Being differ ent

Th e l ove o f nature The love of antmal s Formalit y

a nd i nfo rmality P ubli c s piritedness a nd

a ma teurism Privac y and sex

1 ) Ele ct io n s The s ys tem F ormal arrang em ent s Th e c am paign Polling day Election night R ecent r esults and th e future

The p olice and the pu blic C rim e a nd c rim inal pro cedure The syst em of justice Th e lega l prof ession

12 International relations 113 18 W e lfa re

Co n ten ts S'

168 The benefi ts system, Social services and charities, The n ational health sen-icc , The medical profession

The end o f empire The ar m ed for ces T ransatlantic rclauons The sove reig nty of t he uni on : Europe

T he sovereignty of t he u nion: S cotla nd and Wales The sovere ignty o f the uni on : Nort hern Ir eland

Rel igio n a nd p olitic s Anglican ism Catholi cism.

Ot h er co nvent ion al Chri stian churche s Othe r religi on s, c hur ches and religious movement s

H o uses , no t flats , P rivate p ropert y and public prop ert y, Th e im porta nce of , h om e' , I nd ivid uality

a nd c on formity , In teriors: t he im po rtance of cos iness , Owni ng and re nting , H om e l cssncss

- H i storical ba ckgro und Organ ization Style R ecent

d evelopment s Sc hoo l life Public exams

E ducation beyond s ixteen

everyday life

Attitudes to food , Eati ng o ut ' Al coho l, P ubs

A na t on al pa ssion , T he so cial i mp ortance of s port '

C ricket , F oo t b all, R ugby, An im als i n sport , O ther

s po ns ' G ambling Earn ing m on ey w ork o rganizat io ns Th e st ruc ture

of tr ade a nd i ndus try T he di stribution o f wea lth.

Fi nance an d investment - S pending mone y:

s hopping S hop openi ng ho urs Th e a rts i n soci ety - The char acteristics of Bri tish arts

a nd letters , T heat re and cinema, Music , Literature

T he fin e arts

16 2

T he importa nce of the national pr ess The t wo types

of n ational ne wspaper , T he c haracteristics of t he nat ional p ress: po litics , T he c haracteris tics of t he national p ress: sex a nd sca nd al ' The BBC '

T ele vision : orga nization , Tele vision: styl e

On th e road , P ublic t ransport in to w ns a nd ci ties ,

P u blic t ra n s p ort betw een town s and ci tie s, Th e sto ry

o f t he c hunnel ' A ir a nd wat e r

occasions

T radi tional seasi de holidays Modem holidays Christmas and New Y ear Other no tab le annual occasions

W ho t his b ook i s for This book i s for l earners of Englis h as a foreign language, at any l evel

of proficiency fro m intermediate upwards, who need to know more abo ut Br itain It will b e invaluab le t o studen ts on Brit ish Studies courses and to those who are st udy ing Bri tish cult ure as pan of a genera l E n g li sh cou rse I t is for a ll people who recognize that a know-ledge of Br itish life is necessary to improve the ir unders tanding and use of t h e English l an guage as it is s poken in Bri tain.

H ow many times h ave yo u not f ully u n d ersto o d a phrase in a Brit ish text an d fo und t h at th e dic tionary did not help' How many times h aveyOllunderstood every wor d that a Bri tish pe rson h as said but no t u ndersto od what he or she meant? In any soc iety, writers a nd

speakers leave some things unsaid or unexplained because they assume t h at the ir reade rs a nd listeners are equipped wit h th e basic

k now led ge which comes from sharing the same cultural bac kground.

You may have reached a high l evel of proficiency i n Eng lish but fin d

B ritis h peo p le hard to understa nd because yo u lack th is background know le dge T his book aims t o fill in the gaps so t h at, when you enco unter Br itish w riters an d speakers, you are closer to being i n t he

same p o sitio n as an averagely e ducated Bri tish pe rson wou ld b e

Of course, i t is impossible for you to put you rself in exactly t he

same pos ition as n atives of B rita in They h ave been s haring many,

d istin ctly B ritish, ex periences an d i nfluences ever si nce they we re

b orn There fore, th is book a lso loo ks b ehi n d the facts a nd figures,

so t ha t yo u c an b egin to u nderstand the Br itish approach t o life in genera l.

W hat thi s b ook i s a bo ut Thi s book c ont ains a ll t h e bas ic i n form atio n you nee d abou t t h e

st ructure of t he Br i tish politica l system and other aspects o f public

lif e But i t h as m or e tha n t hat T hroughout the book , p art icul ar atten

-t io n i s pa id t o t h e a tti tudes of B rit ish peo ple Know ledge o f t hese is very impo rta nt b ecau se t hey are wha t' co lour' the lang uage u sed by

Br iti sh people Fo r exa mple, to un d erstand t he wor d 'Ca tholic' as

u sed in B ri tain , it i s n ot e nough to k n ow the legal pos ition ofCa

tholi-cis m an d how man y Cat holics t h ere are; you also have to know so me -thi ng abo ut t he g en era l p lace of religion i n B ritish people's minds and how diffe rent re lig ious groups i n t h e count ry feel about each

o the r (see c hapter 1 3 ) Because att it udes are so importa n t, t he re

ar e two c hapters concer ned ent irely w i th t hem : one is a bou t how

Briti s h p eo ple f eel a bout t hem selves ( c hap t er 4) and th e o the r i s

ab ou t t heir a ttitudes t o certain aspec t s o f life i n ge neral (c h apt er 5).

A ll the pieces of i nfor m ation in t hi s book a re included f or one or

both of tw o po ssible rea son s Some o f them, for example t he

m ent ion of the Uni on J ack ( see pag e J3), are t her e becau se t h ey form

p art of a B riti sh per so n 's ge neral k owle d ge But o the rs , f or exa m ple

t h d escription of t he pa iring system in Parli a m e nt (see pag e 72 ) , ar e

not s o w ell -kno wn The y are t here t o s erve a s ill ustrations o f mo re

gen eral p oint s.

Thi s b ook i s n ot an enc yclopaedia Brita in s hares man y character

-i st ic s w ith o ther count rie s Th i s b o k c o n centra t es on wh at make s

B ritai n d iffer en t.

U sing t his b ook

In e ach c hapter th ere i s a main text plus extra mater ial in the m a rgin s

and el sewhere , w hi c is pre se nted i n var iou s forms (table s, gr aph s ,

t ex t, p ic tu res etc ) You w ill s ome ti mes fi nd a n i nvi tat ion in t h e main

t ext t o r efer to th i s ext ra m ater ial, ind icate d b y th e sy mbol t-

Th e inf ormation prov ided in thi s way ma y ill u s trate a p o int made in

th e main t ext or add som e extra de tail , or introduce a r elated iss ue.

Th e tw o t ypes of mate rial can be read i ndep en dently

As you r ea d , rem em ber th at ' facts' are r la tive t hin g s F or exa mp le.

w he n y ou re a ( on pag e 10) that S t Andrew i s the patro n saint of

Sco tland , yo u a re ge tting a hard- a n - ast fa ct How ever, so m e of t he

mo s t impor tant a s p e ct s ofhfe c anno t b e d e cribed in ter ms of hard

-and -fast fa cts For e xam ple , this b o k refe r s t o the imp ortance o f

p rivac y in B ritain T his i s n ot a f act; i t i s on ly a n int erpre t ation of th e

f acts O f co urse, s uch c o m me n ts h a ve not b ee n m ad e li ghtl y - an d in

m o s t c a ses ot h e c o m me n t a to rs on B ritain h av e mad e th e s ame o nes.

B ut i t i s always p o ssi b l e tha t a nother co m me ntato r, l o o kin g a t t he

s ame set of facts, mig ht arriv e a t a di fferent co nclusio n

A t the end of each ch apt e there i s a Qu esti o ns sect ion The que stions

a re i ntend ed a s 't aking o ff ' p oint s f o r d iscussion in cl a ss , a s top ics

f o r w r itte n w o r k, or s im ply t o get y o u t hinkin g ab o ut t he v ari ou s

a spec t s o f Briti sh lif e de sc rib e d in th e c hapter, pa rtic ularly in co m par

-i s on w ith lif e in yo ur ow n co un t r y Y ou w ill s o m e t i mes al so fin d

s u ggestio ns fo r furthe r reading an d o t h e ac ti vit ie s.

A n ote o n t erminology

In t his bo o k you w ill e nc oun t e t he w o rds s t ate, co unt ry an d n ati on

Th es e ar e si m ilar in m eaning but ar e not u sed inter ch an g eabl y Th e

wo rd st ateh a s a p o litica l m eaning I t i s use d when r efe rring to a unit

of g overnmental autho rit y The wo rd n otion i s u s ed when r eferri ng

to Engli sh, S cottish, We lsh o r Iri sh p eop le an d w hen t h focu s i s o n

t he s e se of i dent it y w h ich th ese p o l e fe el T he word co untry i s

u se d m ore ge nerall y, t o r f er t o e ith er B ritain or o ne o f i s nat i on s

w it ho u t speci fic a llu sion t o e it h e gove r nme nt o r pe op l e

I ntrodu ction 7

Country and people

This is a book about Britain. But what exactly is Britain? And who are

the B ritish ' The t able b elow illus trates t h e problem You migh t th ink

t hat, whe n it co mes to inte rnational sport t he situa tion w ould be

si m ple - one c ountry o ne tea m Bu tyOllcan see t hat t his is d efini tely

n o t the c ase w ith Britain Fo r ea ch o f t he f ou r s po rts or spo rt i ng e ve nts

li sted i n the table t h e re arc a d iffere nt nu mb er of n ation al tea ms

wh ich m ig ht b e ca lled 'B ri tish ' Th is chapter describes how this situ

-a tion h as come ab o u t and explains t he differ ent name s which are used

when people t alk about Britain Geo graphically s pea king

Ly ing of f t he nort h-wes t coast of E urope , there are two large i sland s

a nd several mu ch s maller ones Co llec tive ly, t hey a re kn o wn as T he

Br itish I sles The l a r ge s t i sland i s c alled Great B ritain Th e o ther lar ge o ne

is ca ll ed Irel and ( t> Th e Bri tish I sles)

P olit ically s peaking

In the British Isl e s there are two states One of these goy erns most of

the is land of I reland This state is usually c alled The Republi c of I reland.

It is a lso c alled ' Eire' (i ts I rish l an gu age name) I nform ally it i s referred

t o as jus t ' Ireland ' or 'the Re pu blic '.

Th e oth er s tate h a auth or ity o ver t h e res t o f t he Br itish I sles (t he

whole of G reat Britain , t h e no rthea stern ar ea o fIre l and a nd mo st o f

th e s m a lle r i s land s) Th is i s t h e coun try t h at is t h e main sub ject o f this bo ok It s o fficia l nam e is T he Un ited K ingdom ofGre at B ritaina nd No rthern

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

England Wales Scotland Northern I re l and Ir ish Republic

c ricket iii En g l and Scotland Ir eland

un ion

f ootball ~ E ngland W ales S cotl and N orthern Ire land Ir ish R epublic

P o li tic all y spe aking 9

-vis io n S ong Co ntest, at t he Un it ed Natio ns a nd i n t he E u ro pe an

e ver yda y spee ch this is o ften shortened t o ' the U K' In o t he r contexts

O lympic Game s Th e s lic ker s on cars ('G B') a re anothe r exa mple of

f ormal o r i nfo r m al, th e na me ' Br i ta in ' is u sed Th e n o rm al a djec tive,

Crown dependenci es

T here ar e tw o s m all pans of the

Br itish I sles w hich have special polir -ica l a rrang em ent s These 'Crown

de pende ncies' are the Channel

I sland s a nd the I sle of Man Each h as complete internal self

-governmelH, i ncluding its own

Pa rliam ent a nd i ts o wn tax system.

B oth ar e 'r uled ' by a Lieutenant

G overn or a ppointed by t he Bnush

g overnmen l.

T he B ritish I sles

•

NORTHER IRELAND

\ j \ U N l iTED Al KINGDOM

.0· ~ IRELAND~ r: ' Isle0( 1

REPUBLIC '" OFIREL A N D "bublin

>U( EIR E) ) GREAT BRITAIN

Chann el •

Islan ds*It •

©O xford U niversityPres s

Ir e land

Sc otland

I re land

tl

P eo ple o ften r efer to Bri tain by ano the r n am e T hey call i t ' Eng l an d'.

Bu t t h is is n ot s t r i c t y correc t, an d i can m ake s o m e pe op le angry

En gland is o nly one o f t he f our n ation s o f t he Brit i s h I sles (E ngland,

S co t lan d, Wa le s and I reland) Th eir p oliti c l u nifi cat i o w a s a

g rad u l proce ss t ha t took se veral hu ndr ed y ears ( see c hap ter 2) I t

wa s co m pleted i n 180 0 w hen t he I rish P arli am ent w as j oin e d wit h

t he P arliam ent f or E ngland, Scotla nd and Wa le s in W estm in ster, s o

t hat th e w hol e o f t he Briti sh I s le s b ec am e a s ing l e s t ate - th e U nit e

K ing do m o f Grea t Bri tain and Ir e l and Ho w e v er , in 192 2, mo st o f Ire land b ecam e a s eparate s tate (se e c hapter 12)

A t o ne tim e th e f our nati on s w e re di stin ct from ea ch o t her i n almost ev e ry a s pe c t o fl ife In t h firs t p lace , th ey w ere dif f e rent

Flag

P lant

Colour2

E ngland

Ident ifying symbols of the four nations

Brit annia

or rhetorical contexts to refer to

Eng land Itwas the origina l R om an

name for Britain.Itmay co me fro m the

Lati n word albus, meaning ' wh ite' The

w hite cha lk cl iff" a ro und Dover on t he

south coast are t he fi rst p an of Eng lan d

tobe seen when crossing the sea from

the Euro pean mainland.

Brit annia is the name that the Rom ans

gavetothe ir southern British p ro vi n ce

(which covered, appro xim ately, the

area ofpresent-day Eng land ).Itis a lso

the name given to the female em

bodi-ment of Br itain, a l ways shoe n weari ng

a helmer and ho lding a tr ide nt ( the

symbo l of power over the sea) , hence

the patriotic song which beg ins 'Ru le

Br i tannia, Britan nia ru le the waves'.

The figure o f B ritanni a has bee n on t h e

reverse side of many Brit ish coi ns for

more tha n 300yea rs.

Patron s aint St George

St David

p lant but t he l eek is the m ost we ll-known