The UK government

It is said in the text book that Britain is a large country that differ from other countries. The way to be used to contoral the country has its own features. In Britain has profound influences of modern world history. She opened the industrial revolution, the cornerstone of modern national development lays, In the political ideology, even on the government system of world, she is very obvious effect. Today the world about the British political system and the government management mode and constitution proclaims a bicameral legislature, congress, professional tenure, emphasize the performance control management style, and implementation of the system of the public service agreement ", are applying the traditional British representative democracy, according to the circumstances of the demands of the people, and make the government system and the function of adjustment.

Cabinet departments of cabinet secretaries of leadership, handle affairs, Cabinet ministers often by several junior secretary support. Within each department has a senior civil servant, called CiGuan, standing in the administrative department and the work within the policy. The standing CiGuan and CiGuan e-government affairs in CiGuan is different, the minister of government activities, belong to the same page, and with the cabinet standing CiGuan with daily work, maintain the division of political neutrality, don't attend party activity, the employment term cabinet would influence. The administrative institution is a government departments directly under the subprime autonomous institutions (such as semi-official institutions), And usually by funding and instructions to the policy of the cabinet departments in charge directly.

The cabinet departments by senior civil servant, usually called CiGuan or standing in the CiGuan standing. Some of the cabinet departments have supervision or management function, make its status from politician.

We will learn more about the Uk in the future, hope we will know it better.

National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales is just as a symble for the Welsh people.
We visited it in 19th November. The weather that day is good , we could see a lot of sunshine.
We took a big bus to Cardiff where the National Assembly locates.
The building was buildt by plenty of big glass,whih can provide the sunshine to the people who work in the building.
The heat is come from the recycle resources which can not only save a lot of money, but also protect the environment.
The staff in the assembly told us a funny thing, the water in toilet comes from the rain which is very special. So a lot of students went to the toilet when the visiting was finish.
We saw the conference room where the leaders have their conferences. We also saw one of the members whose name is Franks. He told us the assembly contants so many parts, such as education, health, environment, transport, agriculture, housing, language, sports, music, economy etc.
The staff told us Jane Davids is the one who represent for the people in Ponty and Treforest.
We noticed that there was a golden arrow in front of the meeting room, they told us that is the symble to show UK is a big family.
We had a nice day which we learnt a lot and enjoyed the visit.

The British Parliament

The British Parliament is the building which consists of the house of commons and the house of lords. The House of Commons is the democratically elected house of the UK Parliament, responsible for making laws and checking the work of Government.And the House of Lords makes laws, holds the Government to account, investigates policy issues and provides a forum of independent expertise.

The British Parliament plays very important role in the UK goveriment.Parliament is an essential part of UK politics. Its main roles are:
The first,Examining and challenging the work of the government (scrutiny).
The second,Debating and passing all laws (legislation).
The Third,Enabling the government to raise taxes .

The business of Parliament takes place in two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Their work is similar: making laws (legislation), checking the work of the government (scrutiny), and debating current issues. The House of Commons is also responsible for granting money to the government through approving Bills that raise taxes. Generally, the decisions made in one House have to be approved by the other. In this way the two-chamber system acts as a check and balance for both Houses.

The Commons
The Commons is publicly elected. The party with the largest number of members in the Commons forms the government.
Members of the Commons (MPs) debate the big political issues of the day and proposals for new laws. It is one of the key places where government ministers, like the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and the principal figures of the main political parties, work.
The Commons alone is responsible for making decisions on financial Bills, such as proposed new taxes. The Lords can consider these Bills but cannot block or amend them.

The Lords
The House of Lords is the second Chamber of the UK Parliament. It makes laws, holds the Government to account and investigates policy issues. Its membership includes experts in many fields and it complements the work of the House of Commons.
Members of the House of Lords are mostly appointed by the Queen, a fixed number are elected internally and a limited number of Church of England archbishops and bishops sit in the House.

The story of gunpowder

This class Emma brought a video to us and offered us a oppurnity to know the story and to know the come of the burn fire night.The Gunpowder Plot was the name given to the failed assassination attempt on King James I of England in 1605. Along with James I, this plot was intended to kill his family and the majority of the protestant aristocracy in one attack, by blowing up the House of Parliament during the State opening. The people responsible for this plot also planned to kidnap the royal children (who were not present at the opening) and later start a revolt in the Midlands.
The Gunpowder Plot was only one in a series of attempted attacks against the monarchy, which included the Main Plot and the Bye Plot of 1603. The Gunpowder Plot itself was planned in the Ordsall hall in Ordsall, England.

The plot was actually uncovered the night before it was to take place and while its origins remain shrouded in mystery (and indeed may never be cleared up), many historians generally believe that it was an attempt to re-establish the Catholic Religion in England. However some other historians, particularly in recent times, have surmised that the act was the work of a group of agent provocateurs who were bent on smearing the name of the Jesuits and therefore pave the way for the rise of the Protestant religion.
The Gunpowder Plot was actually the brainchild of five conspirators namely Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes. Robert Keyes later joined the group and they planned the attack to coincide with the State Opening of the House of Lords when the King, the Lords and the Commons would be present in the Lords Chamber.
Interestingly, Guy Fawkes who history has rendered infamously as the main conspirator of the assassination attempt was actually a minor player in the whole operation. Although born as a Protestant in 1570 at York, Fawkes later converted to the Catholic religion after serving as a mercenary in the Spanish Army in 1593. While in the service of the Spanish Army, Fawkes marked himself with an exemplary performance particularly in the Capture of Calais in 1595. He was deemed well suited for the demands of the assassination attempt, which required digging under the House of Lords. The fact that he was away from England for an extended period of time, and was therefore largely unknown in the country also made him an ideal candidate for the task.
The plot was discovered when an anonymous letter found its way to Lord Monteagle warning him to stay away from the opening ceremonies. Subsequently, a search of the Parliament was made and at midnight of November 4, Fawkes was discovered in the cellar along with a cache of gunpowder.
By November 12, all of the people involved in the plot were either killed or arrested with the exception of Robert Winter. Those who were left alive at this point were taken to the Tower of London where historians believe they were subjected to interrogation under torture. Fawkes and his co-conspirators were later tried and found guilty of high treason and were sentenced to death.

We had a party at home to celebrate the special day and saw the firework outside the window. We all felt very happy and one of my friend drunk a lot and fell down on the stairs.

Summary on EU enterprise policy

Today Emma told us some aspects about EU,what stand for Europe Union.

EU Policies have many areas,they are Environment,International policies,Economics and the EU,Justice and home affairs,Economic and social affairs,Enlargement,Making European laws.

Enterprise
DG Enterprise and Industry's website is currently being migrated. The contents of the current page will be developed as the migration advances. We appreciate your patience while this process is underway.

Access to finance
Small businesses often have difficulties financing their growth and innovations. The European Commission is working with the Member States to stimulate the provision of loans and venture capital for SMEs.
Getting an innovative firm off the ground or expanding it requires money, but financing SMEs is a risky proposition for financiers. To solve this, Europe needs more investors and banks willing to take the risk, and European entrepreneurs need a better understanding of investors' and banks' concerns in order to be able to provide assurances about the soundness of their proposal.

Better regulation
The regulatory environment in which businesses operate influences their competitiveness and their ability to grow and create jobs. The Commission is committed to developing a better regulatory environment for businesses; one that is simple, understandable, effective and enforceable.
The better regulation agenda of the Commission aims at:
implementing a strategy to simplify existing legislation through a simplification rolling programme composed of about 185 initiatives in all policy areas
reducing administrative burdens by 25% by 2012
placing greater emphasis on the use of impact assessments and public consultations when drafting new rules and regulations
monitoring the application of Community law.

Growth and Jobs
At the Lisbon summit in March 2000, European Union leaders set out the Lisbon Strategy, a strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the EU. It was revised in 2005, with a stronger focus on the key actions to create growth and jobs in the EU.

Security research and development
One of Europe's main objectives is to preserve its values as an open society, including respect for fundamental rights and freedom, while addressing the increased and diversified security threat.
Over the last decade we have witnessed a shift in security threats. The fight against terrorism and organised crime, the protection of the external European borders, the need for preparedness in case of natural disasters and civil crisis management have gained importance in our daily life. Internal and external security has become increasingly inseparable. Addressing them requires the use of modern technology prompting citizen concern.

Single market for services
Creating a single market for the service sector - one of the main drivers of Europe's economy - relies largely on the opportunities available for businesses to provide and access services in the EU.
Europe needs an effective space policy that will allow the EU to take the global lead in selected strategic policy areas. Space can provide the tools to address many of the global challenges that face society in the twenty-first century: challenges that Europe must take a leading role in addressing.

We will do more research about EU, and try to know more about it.Hope someday we can travel the the European countries.

The 4 nations of Britain

As we learnt from the last class, we know that Britain contains four parts, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In today's lesson, Emma told us something about the General situation about the four nations.


Flag
England's national flag is called St George's Cross.
Wales's national flag is Dragon of Cadwallader.
Scotland's national flag is named St Andrew's Cross.
Republic of Ireland's flag is St Patrick's Cross.

Plant
England,Rose.
Wales,Leek/Daffodil.
Scotland, Thistle.
Republic of Ireland, Shamrock.

Saint's Day
England,23 April.
Wales, 1 March.
Scotland, 30 November.
Republic of Ireland, 17 March.


Patron Saint
England,St George.
Wales, St David.
Scotland, St Andrew.
Republic of Ireland,St Patrick.

We learnt a lot about the Great Britain.Not only the history, but also the geography.It is very useful for our study and it is helpful to our understand the Brirish cluture.Hope we will learn more about the Uk, and we will try our best to adapt to the culture here in UK.

Magna Carta

Today,we have learnt something about British history,Emma gave us a piece of paper which is a brief history of Britain.

In the middle ages,there were a lot of famous thing happened,Magna Carta were included.

As we can see froom the book,Magna Cartas also can be called Magna Carta Libertatum (the Great Charter of Freedoms), is an English legal charter, it was written in the year 1215. its name is usually translated into English as Great Charter.

This contains a lot of sections and chapters. What Magna Carta was written is to establish the first time a important principle: the power of the king could be limited by a written grant. Magna Carta required the king to use certain rights, have certain legal belongs, and also under the law.

The Magna Cartaas had become the key lawof that time and changed the situation for . For example, people could do a lot of things and will not be killed for no reason. The Magna Carta resonates now for almost 900 years so far after it was written, today we have learnt not only the history,but also the great event. We will try our best to know more about the British history.

The first lesson we had about British Study

Today we sat together and discussed about the General situation of Britain.
Emma told us that the Britain consists of four parts,England,Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We were divided into groups to anwer the questions.Our group's assignment is to talk about the students' entertainment and social life in Chinese universities.
Other groups also did very well.Emman spoke highly of us and that encouraged us a lot.

We also discussed the culture shocks that we had since we came to school, some of the students said that they were not adjust to the climate here, some said they really like the learning style here.We had a wonderful day together,we not only learnt about the geography bot also learnt many new word and phrases.

I will find more information about the module in this weekend and I hope we all have a nice weekend.

Alive

Not too young, not too old.
Thanks god, we are alive.