THE BRITISH CONTEXT

In prehistory Britain experienced different invasions from peoples who originated in mainland
Europe such as Romans, Germanic tribes, Belgic tribes and so on. These immigrants over time
created a multi-ethnic British population. The last external military invasion of the country was
carried out by the French-Norman people which particularly influenced the English people and their
language (in fact French was the language of the nobility).

The British state was achieved by political unions between England, Wales and Scotland in 1707
and between Great Britain and Ireland in 1801* (Acts of Union) but, after periods of violence and
political unrest, it was divided in 1921 into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which
remains part of the United Kingdom).

(*creation of the UK)

The UK experienced many problems during the process of union such as national revolts which
have persisted till now. In fact, as you might probably know, 2 years ago Scotland held a
referendum to decide whether to be independent or not. Even now, since Scotland voted for
remaining in the EU, unlike England, they would like to hold another referendum for independence.

In the nineteenth century the country became a dominant industrial and political word power and
was responsible for many scientific, medical and technological advances.

Britain owed the majority of its power to its Colonial Empire, but in the twentieth century due to a
rising nationalism and self-determination in the colonies Britain was forced to renounce to its
colonial empire.

In recent years Britain has been involved in military action such as in Iraq, Afghanistan and other
countries around the world. It was probably for this reason that Britain has attracted terrorist threats
which culminated in suicide bombings against the London public transport system by British-born
Islamists.

Britain today is a complex society in which diversity and change have created problems as well as
advantages.

A huge problem which Britain has been facing in the last few years is a "loss of identity". The
multiculturalism led Britain to lose its identity and many people feel uncomfortable with these multi-
ethnic society. Also politicians have even been struggling to stabilize the country from an economic
point of view. In fact, Britain hasn't seemed to be able to find economic stability since the end of the
British Empire.

THE COUNTRY

The word "Britishness" should embrace people from Wales, Scotland, England and Northern
Ireland, but many foreigners still call all British people "English". That is due to a major influence of
the english culture upon the others. In fact, since the unification of the country power has been
mainly concentred in London and the English have dominated numerically. It wasn't until
devolution* in 1998-99 that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland regained some of their former
political identity.

(*devolution is the grant of powers from the central government to govern at a subnational level, such as a
regional or local level. It is a strong form of decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make
legislation relevant to the area)

Although many years have passed since the Acts of Union, in the UK people still feel like they have
two identities: first their Scottish, Welsh, English or Irish Identity and then the British one. In fact
there are still many National Parties which call for independence and each country within the UK
has still its own traditions, religions and customs.

To complicate the picture, there are ethic minorities (white and non-white) within Britain who may
use multiple identities: many, for instance, call themselves British and also Scottish and then
Afghani. Some may even call themselves British Muslims, Black British and so on.

So, it's clear that the idea of "Britishness" is practically far from being applicable at the same level
for everyone, but the fact that the UK is still a single unit proves that "Britishness" still continues as
an umbrella identity for the majority of people.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The first form of Parliament was established after King John was forced to sign Magna Carta which
was a document that protected the aristocracy limiting the power of the king and increasing the
influence of the aristocracy.

The parliament had restricted powers in the past and it was only with the Civil War in 1642, caused
by the refusal of the king to rule along with the parliament, that the Protestant Parliamentarians
under Olive Cromwell won the military struggle against the Royalist to the Stuart dynasty and
established a Protectorate which, however, wasn't destined to last for a long time. In fact, few years
after the monarchy was restored.

With the passing of time, two groups became dominant: the Whigs, which were mainly Cromwellian
Protestants and gentry, and the Tory which generally supported royalist beliefs.

Due to social and economic factors the Tories became known as the Conservatives: they believed
in established values and the preservation of traditions, supported business and commerce, had
strong links with the Church of England and were opposed to radical ideas.

The Whigs, however, developed into the Liberal Party which wanted social reform and economic
freedom without government restrictions. The emergence of the new Labour Party marked the
decline of the Liberal Party which later merged with the Social Democratic Party and the two
became the Liberal Democrats which is the third-largest party in the UK.
The Labour Party became the main opposition party to the Conservatives. It was supported by the
trade unions, the working class and some middle-class voters.

Nowadays Britain is described as a constitutional monarchy, but is also referred to as a

parliamentary system which is composed of the Westminster Parliament in London that is the
legislature and possesses the supreme power to make laws in the UK matters, then the executive
UK government* and the judicial branch.

(*the government is "supported" by the Cabinet which is a small executive body made up of approximately 20
senior minister who are chosen by the Prime Minister.)

Britain has no written constitution contained in one document. Instead, the constitution consists of
distinctive elements, most of which are in written form (Acts of Parliament), common law,
conventions, certain ancient documents such as Magna Carta and EU law (probably the last one
will be soon no longer valid).

Until recently, the UE law was superior to British national law, but I think now many things are going
to change.

Moving to the monarchy, we can say that nowadays it has only formal roles and is practically
powerless. Yet, the monarch possesses the power to choose and appoint the UK prime minister.
By convention, this person is normally the leader of the political party which has a majority in the
Commons, however, if there is no clear majority, the monarch could in theory make a free choice,
in practice, though, advice is given by royal advisers and leading politicians to find an acceptable
candidate. In addition to that, the impact of royal advice on formal and informal levels may be
significant, especially when it comes to political elections.

But what does public opinion think about the monarchy? Well, according to the polls, some think
that monarchy should be replaced or abolished because it's out of date, others, instead, deem it as
a symbol of national unity and a defender of the constitution.

Also the Privy Council, with the passage of time, has lost its powerful position.

The parliament consisting of the House of the Commons (elected), the House of Lords (non-
elected) and formally the monarch is probably the most important body in the the UK's political
system. A bill must normally pass through all three parts of Parliament before it can become an Act
of Parliament and law. During this process the transactions are published in a parliamentary
"newspaper" and the debates which take place are televised or broadcasted by the radio so that
people can have a close-up of what is going on. MPs in the House of Commons are elected by the
simple majority system.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

British Empire embraced a quarter of the world's population at its height, but due to economical,
social and political changes many countries in the British Empire began to ask for independence
and many of them achieved their goal (e.g. Canada, New Zealand and South Africa).
In 1931, the British Empire became the British Commonwealth of Nations and independence was
gradually granted to other colonies which could choose whether to break all connections with the
colonial past or remain within the Commonwealth as independent nations.

The present Commonwealth is a voluntary association of some 54 independent states (including

Britain). The British monarch is its non-political head and has some constitutional roles in the
different countries. The prime ministers, or heads of state, in Commonwealth countries meet every
two years in different parts of the world. Common problems are discussed in this meetings.
English in its many varieties remains the common language of the Commonwealth and the
Commonwealth Games are held every four years.

However, Britain UE entry was seen as ending the close relationship between Britain and the
Commonwealth, in fact the UK trading market and its economic priorities lay more with the EU than
the Commonwealth, at least until two weeks ago.

THE MEDIA

In the UK the print media (newspapers and magazines) has had a huge expansion over the last
200 years due to the growth of literacy and the abolition of censorship restrictions.

Most national papers are usually termed either "quality" or "popular" (tabloid) depending on their
differences in content. Other are called "mid-market" and fall between these two extremes.

The qualities (such as The Times) report national and international news in depth and analyze
current events.

The populars (such as the Sun) deal with relatively few "hard news" stories and tend to be
superficial in their treatment of event.

Mid-market papers (such as the Daily Mail and Daily Express) cater for intermediate groups.

There is no state control or censorship of the British press, though some regulations are placed
upon the general freedom. The press is also financially independent of the political parties and
receives no funding from government.

The internet has been a game changer in the press industry leading many newspapers to develop
online versions which in most cases are free, but sometimes, in order to get extra features and
longer articles subscription may be required.

The contemporary broadcast media are divided into two sectors. The "public sector" is the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) financed by the taxes paid by anyone who owns a television set.
The "independent sector" consists of commercial stations or channels, which are funded mainly by
advertising revenue.
An area of huge concern is the ownership of the media. Today it's common for newspapers to be
owned and controlled by corporations which are already involved in other media interests such as
radio, television, the Internet and so on...

The concentration of ownership in a few hands has caused concern. Although these
concentrations do not amount to a monopoly situation, some critics argue that the state should
prevent big-business group to monopolize the media and, indeed, there are now some laws to
prevent this from happening.