January 1st: Parliament

The Acts of Union 1800 merged the British and Irish Parliaments, creating the UK Parliament as we know it today. Here are a few things you might not know about Parliament in the UK.

1. Nobody knows for sure when the first Parliament met but it was long before 1800. The word "Parliament" comes from the French verb meaning to talk. The first parliaments were meetings called by the king to discuss matters of state, and they took place wherever the king happened to be, which needn't be in Westminster or even London. The House of Commons didn't have a permanent meeting place until 1547. Even then emergencies like an outbreak of plague would force them to meet elsewhere.
2. The House of Commons was one of the first places to bring in a smoking ban - a few hundred years ago. However, the powers that were realised that MPs might not be able to sit through lengthy debates without a tobacco hit, and so they had a snuffbox installed by the front door. It is kept full of snuff although there's no evidence to suggest anyone uses it these days.
3. The UK Parliament is bicameral, which means there are two chambers - the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons has Green seats, and corridors used by MPs have green carpets, which originally signified they were the least important people in Parliament. The areas used by the House of Lords are Red and gold was the colour of the areas used by the monarch. Westminster Bridge is painted the same shade of green as the seats in the Commons.
4. The monarch, and members of the royal family, are not allowed to enter the House of Commons. The last monarch to go in there was Charles I, who stormed in to arrest some MPs for treason. The State Opening of Parliament takes place in the House of Lords, where the monarch is allowed to go, and there's a throne in there for them to sit on. So on this occasion, an official called the Black Rod goes to the House of Commons to summon the plebs to the House of Lords to hear the Queen's speech.
5. There is a lot of pomp and ceremony, and rituals which to our modern eyes, may seem archaic at best and at worst rather ridiculous. For example, the official who brings the symbolic mace into the House of Commons still has to wear a Medieval outfit and affect a funny walk. MPs and people in the public gallery are instructed not to laugh, which, according to one of my sources, is quite difficult.
6. There are rules and regulations presumably intended to stop fights breaking out. There are strict rules about the language which can be used during a debate. Swearing isn't allowed, because it might “offend the dignity” of Parliament, and MPs are not allowed to insult each other or accuse each other of lying. Euphemisms for lying have therefore evolved, such as "being economical with the truth" and they call their opponents "the honourable gentleman" (or lady) because they are not allowed to call them swine, git, blackguard, liar, coward, traitor or any other insulting name you can think of. Even the physical dimensions of the House are carefully designed so that members of the opposition are sitting more than two sword lengths apart. In the days when everyone had a sword, they were expected to leave their weapons with their coats in the cloakroom. Purple ribbons were supplied on the coathangers for this purpose - and they are still there. One blogger who wrote about their tour of Parliament said some plastic swords were hanging there, suggesting some MPs were making fun of the tradition.
7. The Houses of Parliament cover eight acres of land and have 100 staircases, over 1,000 rooms and three miles of corridors. Westminster Hall is the oldest part of the Houses of Parliament, built in 1097 (approximately 500 years after the Hagia Sofia in Turkey) by King William II. At that time, it was the largest hall in Europe at about 17,000 square feet. Parliament produces 80 million printed pages a year, ranging from the official parliamentary record - Hansard - to committee reports and draft legislation.
8. A frequent occurrence in Parliament is a vote, commonly called a "division". When there is to be a vote, a bell called the Division Bell is rung and MPs have eight minutes to get from wherever they are in the building to the Commons chamber. Traditionally the vote is first taken by means of MPs yelling "Aye" or "No" in answer to the Speaker's statement of the question. The Speaker expresses his opinion as to which side has won but it's not always easy to tell so they are asked to stand for aye or no and if it's still not clear they have to go to opposite sides of the room to be counted. This is a very old system dating back to Roman times. Any MP who was afraid of the party whips could hide in a toilet behind an oak panel. Once a bill is passed, the clerk of the Commons writes "Soit bail as Seigneurs" on it - "let it be sent to the House of Lords" in Norman French. When the Lords vote, they use the terms "content" or "not content". The final stage is "Royal Assent" where the monarch signs it off. It is virtually unknown for a monarch to refuse to do this. The last one to do so was in 1708, when Queen Anne refused the Scottish Militia Bill. The bill aimed to give arms back to the Scottish Militia.
9. If an MP was too shy to speak in public, they had the option of placing their petition in a velvet bag hanging from the Speaker's chair, known as the Partition Bag. This is where the phrase "in the bag" comes from.
10. There are less seats in the House of Commons than there are MPs. Anyone who has watched Parliament on TV will know this often isn't a problem but on occasions like Prime Ministers' Question time or the budget, it will be standing room only for some. There is a way MPs can be sure of getting a seat. They place a prayer card on the seat they want to reserve. It does mean they have to attend the prayers, which have opened every session for over four hundred years.

New!

Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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