American Reacts to the UK Government Explained 

When we were in lockdown in March 2020 i was worried about my relative living on her own 400 miles away. I contacted her local MP to see if he could get a local charity or church to help her. He contacted her himself and did her shopping for her even buying her a bouquet of flowers. Amazing.

The whole writing to/emailing your local MPs is 100% true. When my secondary school was fairly new there was an alleyway next to it which many students would walk through to get there and go home - but at the same time a few days of the week we would finish later in the day so, especially in winter, it would be dark outside and we soon realised that the lights in the alleyway did not work and it was pitch black through there. With the ground of the alleyway really uneven it was a complete nightmare trying to walk through. My dad came to pick me up one day simply so he could take a picture of the alleyway (it being literally a black screen) and he sent it to our local MP to get them to fix those lights before someone got hurt. The MP responded to it immediately and within a week or so the lights had been fixed.

Magna Carta is extremely common knowledge in the UK, at least on a surface level. It was essentially a bunch of nobles being unhappy with King John (same John from Robin Hood) raising taxes so high. Rather than have a civil war, the nobles forced the king to sign Magna Carta, which would essentially limit the crown's power, and put restrictions on what the king could or could not do. Before then, if you were king, you could do whatever you felt like with no legal repercussions, because you were the king. Magna Carta is generally regarded as the original beginning of Parliament. It's probably almost as significant to British history as the Declaration of Independence is to the US. I don't think I'd heard of Simon DeMontfort, though.

I have had to contact MPs on a number of occasions and always found them responsive even when they disagreed with the point I was raising. On one occasion I was listening to the live broadcast of a debate when a comment was made by a minister which I knew to be wrong. I phoned the parliamentary office of my local MP at the time and told the staff member who took the call, that the minister had made a mistake. About 20 minutes later the local MP, who was from the same party as the minister, raised a point of order to question the minister on the fact that there was an error in what he had told the house. The minister said he would have to look into the matter but the information he had given was, to his understanding, correct. The following day the minister returned to the house to make a ministerial statement admitting that the information he had given the house was in fact wrong. It is not a problem having 800+ members of the House of Lords as they do not all turn up at the same time. Most of the Lords are appointed because of their special knowledge or interest in a specific field. In the main they only tend to turn up for matters which are related to their field of special interest. So, it is rare that there are more than 200 lords present in the house at any one time. Most of the time there are only about 50 present. Unlike MPs, members of the House of Lords only get paid when they attend the House of Lords.

It's important to point out that on the official UK Government petition website, after you get something like 40,000 signatures they debate it in parliament.

Perhaps you would be less surprised at the similarities between the UK and US systems when you consider almost every US institution in existence originated and evolved from the original colonial system the Brits put in place to govern the 13 colonies, same for Canada, Australia, India and dozens of others

I'm British and live in the UK, on the most part, the Parliament works quite well, but there are some departments such as The Home Office and Immigration, which are in dire need of being scrutinised, also amazingly, bullying is common in Parliament, and unfortunately has been allowed to continue unchecked, more recently victims have spoken out about this problem in the hope it can be dealt with.

I would absolutely recommend Jay Foreman's "Politics Unboringed" playlist (or just his entire channel), to learn more about how the UK Government works (or doesn't work).

So funny to watch your facial expressions. Yep, as a Brit, all this 1,000+ years of History. Monarchy + Parliament are seeped into our bones from the moment we're born! My school was several hundred years old, my house is 300 years old, my village is 1,500 years old - so we take it all for granted and love it to bits :)

A few points of clarification: The word Government is used slightly differently in the US and the UK. In the US the word government refers to both the legislature and the executive. In the UK the word government refers only to the executive. The UK legislature is parliament. The other important difference is that in the US the legislature and the executive are completely separate, whereas in the UK the members of the executive (government) are a subset of the legislature (parliament). Yes, every law has to be formally approved by the monarch, this is called "royal assent". However these days this is purely a formality. The last time royal assent was not given to a bill was over 300 years ago. If no party manages to win a majority of seats in a general election, this is called a hung parliament. The largest party can form a minority government, however this makes it very difficult to pass laws, since they aren't guaranteed a majority of votes. Instead, more than one party can come together to form a "coalition" government, in order to get a majority between them. The last time there was a formal coalition was 2010-2015, however there was an informal coalition between 2017 and 2019. If you want any further clarification feel free to ask.

Easiest way to summarise how new legislation comes in: 1. House of Commons propose it 2. House of Lords reviews and can send back for refinement or re-debate 3. Monarch reviews and can send it back for refinement or re-debate.

Additionally to parliament we have local government Councils which run smaller areas and regions these are elected separately to parliament itself. This is worth looking up too

Fun fact. When Margaret Thatcher was elected as the first female and longest serving PM. The house of lords wrote to my great uncle a professor of theology FF Bruce. And, they asked him his thoughts n feelings on a woman being PM. He replied, he saw no problem whatsoever as there was already a woman at the head of The Crown and had been for over 20 years in 1979.

The one thing that really confuses me when I look at the US is the lack of manifestos. In the UK it's the biggest part of any election. In the US it's all so vague. A few big policies but very little else.

This was a good basic video covering the U.K. Parliament. The most powerful part of The government over here, is that they get to control parliamentary time. They get to decide what bills get “government time” - there is time for opposition bills and debates, and the same is true for “private member bills” - but the vast majority of the power comes from controlling time and what parliament will actually debate. Great video.

"If you elect someone, they're going to be there for 5 years" Tell liz truss that 😂😂

I would recommend "Politics Unboringed" by Jay Foreman, it explains how the UK Government works from a more civilian standpoint, and through comedic methods

They forgot to mention this: "A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents." (From Wikipedia). Manifestos are where I go when I want to figure out who to vote for because I cannot stand all the noise that comes with campaigning. Whenever I write to my MP I get a standard pre-written response. Interestingly, friends of mine who have written to their own MPs, from the same party, on the same issue, have often received the exact same standard reply. The House of Lords is an unelected body made up of peers. Peers being Lords, Ladies, Dukes, Barons etc. Life Peers are proposed by the PM and then appointed by the queen. Hereditary peers are the descendants of people who were were given peerages from way back in history. Hereditary peers are becoming less relevant to politics. The monarch doesn't have overall power. The prime minister doesn't have overall power either. That is the whole point. No one has over all power. 'Parliament' is made up of the party in government, the opposition, the monarch and the body of civil servants who seem to have been running the show since the beginning of time. We mostly have a vague idea of the history of Parliament but don't really spend a lot of time thinking about it. You can get more information about Peerages at Debret'ts Guide: debretts.com/peerage/ranks-and-privileges-of-the-peerage/ Or if you are really interested in how Parliament works watch Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister if you haven't already don so. it's not only educational it's hilarious!

The monarch is also kept informed by daily reading reports from the Government departments- sent to them in a "red box".

I really enjoyed this video. Have learnt a lot about how your country works too. Well done for getting your head round our government , it's not that easy! 😅 🙏🇬🇧

I think you’d love watching a political comedy series called ‘yes Minister’ and ‘yes prime minister’ 😂

I wanted some bushes cut down near me as it was a safety issue for the children playing nearby. I contacted my local council who refused to do anything about it. I then contacted my local my local member of parliament by email and all the bushes were cut within two days! Sometimes they do listen.

An annoying misconception Americans seem to have as a whole is assuming Britain is *ruled* by a monarch. The dichotomy of the Monarchy/Parliament situation is basically the Monarchy has the authority to dissolve an elected parliament, but parliament has the power to deny it. (No, it doesn't make any sense, but so far, it works.) The monarchy are essentially decoration, a symbol of continuity. When you get down to it, they serve no governmental function other than ceremony.

My Two favourite facts about parliament, 1/ you can't die inside the House of Commons, You can become ill and get taken out of the Chamber at that point you die. 2/ Once a year the Monarch kidnaps/takes hostage an MP. While they visit parliament to give the King or Queen's speech.

I spoke to my local MP by phone on Election Day. He took the time to speak with me and answer my questions . He also forwarded to me some information via text and was keen to hear my response

Magna Carta was essentially the first human rights document, it's the basis of all UK, Commonwealth and American law.

5 year terms are great. In the US House, representatives with their 2 year terms are campaigning pretty much the whole time (or raising money to be ready to run) which massively increases the influence of large donors. In the UK MPs get to concentrate on being MPs not just candidates.

The house of commons is literally the house of the people- with MPs etc. The house of lords means those with a title (Baron, Earl, etc). I've always just understood it as parliament formulates the laws and when approved in parliament is then passed through the house of lords who can veto those laws. edit: The government is an elected party of parliament with parliament being the makeup of different political parties

The Queen is someone the Prime Minister meets each week to talk about what’s happening. With all her experience, it’s useful for the PM to be able to have a private conversation with someone on a regular basis.

I even wrote to speaker Berkow on Parliamentary behaviour of some members behaviour in the house and received a hand written formal letter in reply.

I love your curiosity Tyler and the way you are trying to grasp our systems.

MP's have regular meetings in their constituency that any of their constituents can go to to bring an issue to their attention- I have actually done this, I also regularly email my MP about current issues, and she always responds. Like any system it's not perfect, but it does usually work.

I learnt about some kings and queens in history class in England and most of what I know about the British government is what I was taught by my mum, by watching the news, by books I’ve read and films and documentaries I’ve watched. You can actually watch parliamentary debates in the House of Commons online. It’s very interesting to watch as it can get quite rowdy!!

I think the UK and Norway are pretty similar in how the King /Queen interact with politics. In Norway, the King officially "opens" the parliamentary session every October. After an election, he's technically the one who appoints a prime minister, and every week (Friday at 10 Am) he meets the Prime minister and all the other ministers and signs or Vetoes new laws. A veto is very rare, and can through a convoluted process be overturned by Parliament.

It wasn't mentioned in the video but at the start of each parliamentary year the monarch officially opens parliament. And a very splendid occasion it is too, with the monarch wearing all the Royal regalia, crown, insignia, robes etc...etc.... There are also some very old and symbolic traditions that go with this occasion which as an American you would find fascinating!

The Prime Ministers always say the safest conversation is the one with the king/queen because it will never be leaked

When you consider that the uk is the size on just 1 or 2 us states and has more representation than the entire us government

As a Labour party member I attend meetings every two months where members in my constituency can hold our MP to account in terms of her voting down party/manifesto lines and how she is representing our community. Every year the various branches in the constituency review her performance and decide whether we would like her to carry on being the Labour candidate for our constituency if a general election were to be called.

One more thing if you gather 100 000 signatures for a subject it has to be discussed in parliament

One thing they didn't mention was an election takes 6 weeks and there are strict spending limits.

You’ll notice a lot of similarities because the US based much of its legal and political system on the UK, broadly, although things have diverged a lot since

I have met my member of parliament many times, and he carried questions from me to the minister in the government. Sometimes a question from a constituent is asked in prime minister or ministerial questions. An member of parliament is literally our representative in parliament

The weird thing to remember about the UK is that the Monarch is legally the ultimate and absolute power in the land. Parliament is theoretically an advisory body rather than actually having legal weight. The balance of power between Parliament and the Monarch is a very bitterly contested series of traditions and compromises, which was rather settled in the English Civil War when the king lost his head after fighting against parliament, but that balance is tradition rather than being legally enforced- no monarch nowadays is going to rock the boat by fighting Parliament.

This is true....I had an issue with a decision that was made by a specific government department that would have a direct negative impact on my self and felt strongly that I wanted my voice my concerns and reasons about why I thought the decision was unjust or wrong. So I made an appointment with my local constituent member of parliament at his home and voiced my objections and my opinions with my reasons to him to why I disagreed with the decision the department had made. He then sent all that to the senior MP representing that department in the houses of parliament and that senior MP wrote back to me straight away agreeing that I indeed had a valid point of concern about the decision that was made and he had contacted the relevant people within that department to overturn their decision with immediate effect based on my arguments put forward. To be able to get my voice and opinions heard and passed up the chain to the 2nd highest person it could go to behind the actual prime minister just shows that we have a system that shows we can have our voices and opinions heard without someone just chucking in the bin like Tyler says he feel like happens a lot in America most of the time. I've got to add though, it was the most official looking and fancy letter I've ever had sent to me.....thick quality watermarked paper...and thick envelope marked with the governmental portcullis symbol and even officially red waxed sealed....it made me feel important anyway

On speaking with your MP, most MPs (all I think) hold a weekly surgery, where any constituent can meet them (mostly by appointment, though not always) to discuss any issue the constituent has with government departments or other official body. The MP may then contact officials to clarify or sort out the issues, the MP will then repot back to the constituent. This can be very effective in clearing red tape and 'not my problem' type issues or high light issue in a particular area.

You can visit you MP in their local office. All the MPs in my town have a shop front office. Simply, call up and make an appointment. I have had lunch with 2 MPs at community events. They are mostly just normal people. On a darker note 2 MPs have been murdered in recent years while undertaking these types of appointments/ meeting with members of the public to help them with issues.

The writing to your MP does work. I wrote to mine to make posistion on certain issues clear and he wrote me back answering my questions.

One thing to take note of - here there is a legal spending limit on campaign budget. So, no one party can throw a billion £ at TV advertising.

I am Canadian and I am familiar with Britain's system. I learned about the US system and some other governments in high school. I am not sure when I started learning about Britain's government, Canada is part of the Commonwealth and we have similar styles. We don't have so many representatives. Having so many representatives also means it can take longer to get things done. We only have about 38.5 million people in Canada. I also learned a lot of US elections from tv shows growing up. What do Americans learn in school?

MPs hold what are called surgeries in their local area so you can make an appointment to go and speak to them, an American friend that lived in the UK said that there’s way may encouragement and expectation to contact your MP over lots of issues that you’d never consider writing to you representative about in the US In the US you have the notion of sending someone to Washington and that’s it, understandable back in the day but it’s much easier to travel those distances quickly now. In the UK while a lot of an MPs work may be in London they’re expected to spend a decent amount of time in the areas they represent

I have personally written to a Minister of The Crown when no action was happening on a matter of pensions. I had an answer from his secretary within 24 hours. It does work.

Parliament always has 650 members and the current (Labour) Government consists of 412 of these members. This is a huge number compared to recent results.

When we refer to government we usually mean the executive branch, the prime minister and other ministers. The Monarch is Head of State; our judicial branch is now the UK Supreme Court, it used to be the House of Lords, there are 12 judges on it and they are selected by an appointment panel; they are not political appointees in the way they are in the USA. Just as our electoral boundaries are drawn up by a commission not by politicians. There are also very strict laws on political donations, corporate lobbying, and election spending. We don’t have commercials for parties in the way you have in the USA. Instead parties are given five minute broadcasts at election time, the number of these each party gets is dependent on their likely votes. Also don’t be fooled by the five year term. It’s possible and is happening now that the Prime Minister can be replaced at any time. MPs can be made to resign if they breach the rules. Five years mean that they have time to actually do something before they have to start campaigning again. (Btw it used to be 7 years, because of shifting events we often have early elections too, as in 2017 and 2019) Manifestos are a thing, usually quite dull, but they do exist. No “filibuster” either. It’s normal for you to be able to make an appointment to be able to meet and discuss an issue affecting you with them. They’re our representatives and work for us.

The "history" lesson is very well known in every Commonwealth country, although nowadays it probably isn't as well taught in schools.

I do remember parts of it but school for me was a long time ago but I do love learning about history.

In my dim & distant youth I worked in London during which time marched against Maggie Thatcher policies when she was Education Minister & was one of the marchers who reached the Lobby of the H of P. Later I marched in support of nurses/care/ancillary workers - nothing much changes!. I have also written to my MP & signed many petitions including YouGov Petitions. Public opinion can affect/amend government policies (though not when the government of the day chooses to act as an autocracy rather than as a democracy which is possible when their majority is too large). Government is too important to be left solely to the politicians. People before politicians. After all politicians answer to corporate lobbyists & corporations often operate in the interests of powerful minorities rather than in the interest of the majority (workers/consumers) but there is strength in numbers. Organise, unionise & educate. Make your voices heard. People before politics. Power to the people. Keep up the good work T R. Your people need you. IMO. Cheers.

In Canada we also have the parliamentary system , as do most commonwealth countries, we have the House of Commons, but instead of a House of Lords we have a Senate. Unlike the American Senate, in which Senators are voted for. Our senators are appointed to the position, and are representative of the provinces and territories. The Queen is our Monarch and Head of State, as she cannot be present for many official duties we have a Governor General, who is the Queen’s representative.

Manifesto's do exist and 'should' be a key impactor for a constituents choice of vote.... however in reality manifesto's are rarely the same if that party comes into power. Too many times policies are placed in manifesto's and then completely change and policies omitted when they come into power

a couple of things - 1) The party manifesto is not binding - although there would be a major problem if a government was elected which then ignored their manifesto and changed direction completetely. 2) The House of Lords is effectively appointed - Hereditary peers (which are only a small number) are there simply due to luck of their birth - many of them do bring some real world experience to the role. Life Peers are appointed by the government mainly for their expertise and experience. New batches of life peers are made each general election (by the outgoing government) and occassionally in the New Years Honours list : There is a significant movement in the UK to make the house of Lords elected. 3) Minority and coalition governments do happen (the last coalition was in 2014) but they aren't common. 4) The house of Lords can only amend legislation, they can't create it, and if the houses of lords and commons don't agree on a law the commons have the last word. 5) The government propose a budget every year, which normally is only changes to taxes, and changes to government spending plans, and since the government have a majority the budget is almost always agreed. There is no risk of a government shutdown in the UK - tax money keeps coming in and previous payments keep going out when the budget isn't agreed.

One thing that wasn't covered much was what MPs do in their constituency. You can make an appointment (some even have open drop in clinics) with your MP either to discuss a political issue or to ask for their support in holding public agencies to account on a personal matter. For example, many years ago my aunt was having difficulty in getting the Child Support Agency to look into fraudulent financial statements submitted by her former partner. She took the evidence to her MP and he contacted the agency on her behalf to make sure her case was looked at again and the evidence she had gathered was properly considered - without her having to go to the massive expense of civil legal proceedings. When working for a homelessness charity, clients who were getting past from pillar to post with housing or benefit applications were also encouraged to speak to a local MP when other avenues dried up. You don't even need to be a citizen, migrants and asylum seekers can also ask for support. As elected representatives MPs can, and usually do, get better access and more immediate responses from public bodies who are accountable to government. And obviously, they can more easily access other MPs and committees where they need to lobby on behalf of a constituent. This is as big a part of their role as what they do within the chamber, committees or even the cabinet. Even the prime minister has to hold meetings with his or her constituents and take responsibility for helping ensure they get the responses and support from public bodies that they are entitled to.

Everyone is taught the history of Parliament through out school - wether they remember it is another thing! I think most people have a vague idea that long ago people got fed up of the ruling monarch acting like a dictator so wars were fought and now we vote for things and the monarch just oversees it. The trouble is we have a lot of history so most major events are briefly skipped over in class. Where as in the US history lessons can focus more on "recent events" such as the story of the founding fathers and civil wars etc etc....

The UK also has no written constitution. The UK's constitution is written in hundreds of Acts of Parliament, court cases, and in documented conventions. Its essential principles are Parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, democracy and internationalism.

Here in the US a number of organizations, both right and left, have something called "bill trackers" where people can sign up for email alerts about issues that concern them so that whenever their state legislature or Congress is holding hearings or votes on them, the list members get emailed a summary of the bills in question. Some elected officials also email newsletters to their constituents about their activities such as town halls, ribbon cuttings, etc. which sometimes includes info about the various bills they've been working on. I would guess that politicians and political groups in the UK probably do the same.

One interesting thing they didn’t mention was that boundary changes are done by an independent non-partisan body. In the US because it’s partisan there are the issues of gerrymandering or arbitrary drawing of boundaries. In the UK the boundary commission’s have a duty to group similar communities together if in Geographical proximity rather than pairing areas randomly or arbitrarily. Another great thing we have now is recall as well, where between elections if enough constituents are dissatisfied with their elected representative they can sign a petition and if it gets enough signatories the representative is forced to fight a special election (we call it a by-election). It has happened several times over the past several years.

If you actually do write to your local MP generally you tend to get a boiler plate reply from their secratary/admin team saying that they have read your letter and have taken it into account and that's about it....

My primary school used this video in history to explain the government and how it’s changed over time

I have made an appt with my local MP, and though he doesn't have the greatest reputation, he really helped me with my problem.

The P)M is like a managing director, the monarch is chairman of the board

Spoke with my local mp on many occasions and they are always willing to listen!

I think because England or the UK has such a huge history we are taught so much more in school as youngsters about the Empire and the rest of the world, Americans are only taught about US history

I would recommend you react to a video called what powers does the queen actually have. Very broad overview to give a clearer understanding of what powers the monarch has in the modern world

The UK also has seperation of powers / three branches of government 1) The legislature makes the laws. 2) The executive is responsible for creating policy, putting proposals for laws to the legislature, and putting laws into effect. We call this the government. 3)The judiciary decides whether laws are being followed or if they have been made properly. The UK House of Parliament and House of Lords are roughly equivalent to US Senators and Representives.

In US your President is elected as a temporary monarch, the house of commons is basically the house of reps, and your senate is the house of lords

When I vote I tend to go with someone who has lived locally and not a party that just puts someone in as a token. They have to understand where we are coming from. Some years ago I was living in an apartment that leaked and no matter how much I complained and the workmen came out to repair it they just couldn't manage it so I E-mailed the MP who sent me a letter back straight away saying he was dealing with it, within a week I was offered 3 alternatives and 2 weeks I was in my new apartment. No better MP.

several years ago, I went to see my MP in person to get something explained that I was having trouble understanding

I went to the houses of parliament to lobby ministers to keep our local hospital open , it didnt keep the hospital open but i got to meet a few mps and had a good day out in London and got to see round parliament .

We call the Prime Minister and Cabinet the "Government"; but the rest of the MPs ( Membets of Parliament) of any party feel their job is to scrutinise what the Government is doing. We're in a bit of a mess with the House of Lords at the moment. Until recently it consisted mostly of every hereditary noble in the land! There are still a few places for hereditary peers. (Peer = noble.) Nowadays the parties recommend people to be created 'life peers', I.e. nobles who can't pass on their titles to their descendants, and these are usually selected for their expertise. Surprisingly, the Archbishops of the Church of England, and the most senior Bishop's of the Church of England, also sit, as the 'Lords Spiritual'. This is not very satisfactory, and we're trying to work out how to change how the House of Lords is selected. What improves the situation is that since 1911, if the Lords throw out a Bill passed by the Commons, the Lords can't block it again if the Commons pass it again in the next Parliamentary session. The Lords can't block a Money Bill at all. There is also a convention that the Lords don't block a proposal written down in the manifesto of the winning party in a General Election.

I think one of the biggest differentiators in the outcomes of our democracies is the extent to which money is allowed into the process. Uk election campaigns are capped at around 150k I believe and therefore corporate lobbying is not the most powerful policy influencer. For sure that still happens in the UK but not to the same extent as the US where public benefit in policy making seems to be quite low on the list of priorities.

Fun to compare with Canadian Parliament. Some of it is common : Magna Carta, and Westminster Statute but after that it became different in both countries

Canada of course is similar. I can go to my local MPs office and complain about whatever. I once had a problem with Revenue Canada not believing my marital status for some weird reason...after contacting my MP, that problem just disappeared. So, they do have power to intervene on your behalf.

You should look into the Welsh and Scottish parliaments and the Northern Irish assembly next.

In Australia we have a similar system the senate here is used to represent the states so smaller states are not disadvantaged and also we have the queen as our head of state but she is represented here by the governer general

The Speaker of both Houses is the Representative of the Monarch in that house. The huge gold mace that lies across the centre of the House represents the Monarch too.

Stephen Fry raised the idea that it's a shame the US doesn't have something similar to the prime minister's weekly visit from the monarch. It'd probably do some good if once a week the president go a visit from "Uncle Sam" - a living symbol of the nation that has seen half a dozen presidents come and go - and had to explain what he's been up too this week and answer to "Do you really think this is the best thing to do for _my_ country son?" A regular reminder that he's a soon to be replaced public servant. Should keep some egos in check.

The Manifesto is what we judge a government on. After 5 years we have a document saying what they promised to do and we have the record of what they have actually done during their 5 years. If the two don't match up we might think twice about voting for that parties candidate to represent our constituency during the next election.

House of Commons is for the representatives ( member of parliament , MP ) of the Common People If you look at countries that were in the empire you'll find laws and a type of parliament that is very similar to the British Parliament ( even the USA ish ) For more ways look up on RU-vid the Prime Ministers Question Time and select committees ( these look at various potential laws , environmental problems etc etc and can call anyone to attend , even non UK people )

The Queen never refuses assent, but is, in theory, an impartial figurehead

Interesting to hear an outsider's perspective on how the UK's democracy operates, having been developed slowly over 100s of years in the way it has. Whilst it's not perfect by any means, no system ever is afterall, there are some things I would like to be adopted in every country, Prime Minister's Questions being my personal favourite.

Yes, (at least technically) every citizen can go into the House of Commons and 'summon' their MP using a green card which is brought to them, and explains what you want to talk about. Naturally they may well not be present, be busy, or just refuse to speak to you! However lobby groups can attend in larger groups, and all summon their MPs at the same time. This will typically result in at least a few MPs coming our to the lobby and listening to your point!

Politicians are held to account more in the UK than the US, where your only recourse really is more elections, so I can understand why you’d want shorter terms. You can get rid of an MP before their term is up. It’s also much easier to remove a Prime Minister from office than a US President, we don’t have to go through the impeachment process. Maybe something to look into in future

We had a Hung Parliament in Australia a decade ago or so. This means the two major parties had a 50:50 number of seats in the Lower House, (House of Reps). It was a credit to the Rudd/Gillard Government that any bills were passed and made the job of governing difficult. This equal split leaves the sprinkling of Independents with huge sway as the major parties court them for their deciding votes. It makes for interesting politics.

The vote on proposal is a government (cabinet ministers) vote. All senior politicians (Home Secretary,Chancellor etc) form the cabinet (or government).

Good video and comments. You may find it interesting to look at other forms of government, such as MMP (Mixed Member Parliament) Which we use in NZ and gives each voter two votes, one for a constituent representative and one for the party the voter prefers (not always the same thing). Or Single transferable Vote as used in Australia. There is an excellent series on RU-vid which compares various forms of government and their strengths and weaknesses. We also voted to drop the second house quite a while back and voted to keep our term of election at three years. Most of such changes are made by national referendum, not parliamentary vote (who is going to vote themselves out of a job?) So that people get the government they want.

I wrote a email to my MP about my neice who was waiting along time for a payment she was entitled to as she was fighting cancer, My MP sorted it out and she received it 2 weeks latter.

The monarch gives approval but cannot deny that approval. It is in essence a symbolic gesture

In reality, they only turn up when it's a topic to do with something they have a financial interest in and then they spend the whole time arguing with each other. They never actually DO anything or get anything done. You can watch it live too if you want. If it's something about the people, the room is usually empty.

In Australia our parliamentary system is based on the British Model with 2 major differences, 1- In Australia voting is compulsory if you are over 18. 2 - We vote for our politicians in both houses (House of Reps and the Senate) ,while Britain only votes for 1 (House of commons ) and the other ( House of Lords ) are appointed.

Love him explaining the Electoral college like we all know as little about other countries' systems as Americans seem to.

You may find 'prime ministers question time ' of interest or the 1980s comedy 'yes. Minister ' Both are real eye openers

I’m now addicted to watching Tyler reaction to the different things and places you can visit when in 🇬🇧 and sightseeing in London. He makes me laugh 🤭