Summary: book "Britain for Learners of English", James O'Driscoll

Chapter 10: Elections
To be a candidate for MP in the parliament
A citizen of UK or a British overseas territory, of the Republic of Ireland, or a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
21 or older
Not eligible to stand for government
An undercharged bankrupt Prisoners serving sentence for more than a year Guilty of electoral malpractice in the past five or ten years Traitors or mentally ill people
To be eligible to vote, a person must beat least 18 years old and be on the electoral register. This is compiled every year for each constituency separately. Nobody is obliged to vote.
Canvassing is the activity that occupies most of the time of local party workers during an election campaign. Canvassers go from door to door, calling on as many houses as possible and asking people how they intend to vote. Distributing prohibited | Downloaded by Ngan Tien (nganctddongnai@yahoo.com.vn)
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Chapter 12: International relations
European relations.
From the very second the Brits were asked to sign the contract of joining the EU they have been against it. Britain is a very proud country and would rather be on its own as apart of Europe. The reason they joined was of economic necessity and to create apolitical advantage. Britain is apart of Europe on paper but this can’t be seen on the outside. They still hold to their own habits such as the English pounds instead of euros.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
In 2007 the last British soldiers withdrew from Ulster after a 38 years of military occupation. Politics in this part of the world is dominated by the historic animosity between the two communities there. The Catholic viewpoint is known as nationalist or republican (in support of the idea of a single Irish nation and its republican government the Protestant viewpoint is known as unionist or loyalist loyal to the union with Britain. After the partition with Ireland in 1920, the newly created British province of Northern Ireland was given its own parliament and Prime Minister. The Protestant majority had always had the economic power in the six counties (Ulster. In late s a Catholic civil rights movement began. There was a violent Protestant reaction and in 1969 British troops were sent into keep order. At first they were welcomed by the Catholics. But as time flew by the welcome became cool and violence increased. The welcome entirely disappeared in 1972 (30
th of January. This day was also known as Bloody Sunday. The troops shot fourteen unarmed Catholic marchers. Recruitment to extremist organizations from both communities and acts of terrorism increased. One of these groups, the Provisional IRA started a bombing campaign on the British mainland while Loyalist paramilitaries started committing terrorist attacks in the Republic of Ireland. The Troubles as they were known, dragged on into the early years of this century. 1998: Good Friday
agreement (Agreement to give anyone born in Ulster the right to become part of the republic of Ireland.

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