New Government Summary

A NEW GOVERNMENT

Summary Notes

6^th of May 2011, new govt is elected.

Labour Party replaced by Liberal democrats and conservatives.

Led by David Cameron

65 years since Lib Dems have been power

Conservatives are pro: free market

                                     Privatization

                                     Low taxation

Labour party are pro: Social and economic equality

                                   More public spending

                                   Larger govt role.

Recent times have seen the parties get closer

General Election: -Conservatives – 36%

                             -Labour – 29%

                             -Lib Dems- 23%

Seats: Conservatives – 306

           Labour – 258

           Lib Dems – 57

Hung Parliament; no majority 4 any party.

11^th May: Coalition/merger

No system of proportional representations.

Seats are also constituencies/districts

Each has an MP (representative)

Terms of the coalition was that a more PR must incorporated in the future.

People of Britain

People of Britain

In order to understand modern day people in Britain, a journey into history must be embarked upon to get a better over view of the subject matter. 

In 1707 the Union of England,Wales and Scotland was formed. (BBC.co.uk) Within this Union a variety of different cultures and identities intertwined and interacted and many disputes arose which led to a number of clashes. (BBC.co.uk)

In an article authored by McConnachie(Sovereginty:2002) he estimates the population of the British people in 4000BC was 3000 people. This figure rose to 20 000 by 2500BC and between the 1000-700BC the population had reached 10 000. He goes on to further to show the population increase over the years chronologically but those details will be ommitted for the purposes of this blog. I rather focus more on the reasons given by McConnachie for the causes of Britain's exponential population growth rate through out the times.

The main reason given for the population increase is migration of foreigners into Britain. Causes of such migration can be attributed to factors such as political asylum, colonialism,the slave trade and the world wars of which Britain played major roles in both.

Whereas the elite of the past in Britain was mainly royalty and other families of nobility, the elite in this generation tend to be footballers such as David Beckham, musicians such as the Spice Girls and actors and producers such as Guy Ritchie. 

Education

Education

UK and Botswana's Education system.

To a large extent the education system in the U.K is similar to the education system in Botswana. This is most likely attributed to the fact that Botswana is a former British colony and thus many British practices have been adopted.

The similaraties between the two education systems are that it is compulsory for children to attend school from the ages of 5-16 years of age. Another similarity is that there are three types of schools,namely, local authority,independent and international schools.In both countries uniforms are also compulsory unlike in the USA where it is very rare to find uniforms.  Another common factor that there are three terms in the academic year unlike countries like South Africa which have four terms. The main exams written in both UK and Botswana are GCSE and A levels..

On the other hand, to a lesser extent the two education systems vary at certain aspects. For example, in the UK the school year commences in September and ends in JULY whereas in Botswana its from Febuary to November. Another difference is that in local authority schools in Botswana have corporal punishment where as its not allowd in the Uk.Also unlike the education system in UK the government sponsors students beyond secondary school and given the right marks they will award u a scholorship!!