Christmas Cards

Hello,Jeanette,

Merry Christmas to you!

Wish you will have a happy

Christmas with your families!

Government

§ The minister of Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Hilary Benn, whose jobs focus on the UK Climate Projections and the Government’s plans to adapt to the challenges it will cause.

§ Secretary of State for Transport‘s minister: Lord Adonis, who’s responsibilities are involved in the security on the road ,delivery of Government's transport commitments and Long-term transport strategy, including high speed rail and carbon

§ Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’ minister: David Miliband, who is responsible for relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the UK's overseas territories and the promotion of British interests abroad.
§ Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ minister: Yvette Cooper, whose jobs refer to reduce the rate of unemployment and ensure people’s pension when they retired.

§ Secretary of State for Defence’s minister: Bob Ainsworth charged with making and executing Defence policy, and with providing the means by which it is executed, the Armed Forces. He is Chairman of the Defence Council and of its three Boards, (the Admiralty Board, the Army Board and the Air Force Board).

§ Home Secretary for the Home Office’s minister: Alan Johnson who is responsible for immigration control, security and order. Also, responsible for the police, United Kingdom Borders Agency and MI5, It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism and ID cards.

§ Secretary of State for Health’s minister: Andy Burnham, who is responsible for NHS , social care delivery , system reforms, Finance and resources and Strategic communications.

§ Chancellor of the Exchequer’s minister: Alistair Darling, who is the head of the treasury and control the finance of Britain.

§ The Prime Minister's responsibilities: First of all, the Prime Minister is the head of the UK Government and is ultimately responsible for the policy and decisions of Government. Moreover, as head of the UK Government the Prime Minister also oversees the operation of the civil service and Government agencies, appoints members of the Cabinet, and is the principal Government figure in the House of Commons.

The Welsh Assembly

Today, we visited the Welsh Assembly which is a national assembly for Wales, located in Cardiff Bay .Also, is a fantastic building which is built with traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak and other sustainable materials such as glasses .In addition, this building represents sustainability and democracy and it is a place for welsh politicians and people to discuss about their rights and to make decisions.

The Welsh Assembly is sustainability and friendly building because of the following reasons. First of all ,the inside of the building is still very bright without any electricity light because it is made of a lot of glasses ,so there is much natural sun light. Moreover, the roof of the building which is specially designed can recycle the rain to use for the toilets of the Assembly. Finally, It doesn’t need heaters or air-conditioners to control the temporary of the inside Assembly because the temporary is controlled by the natural source which is from the under of floor.

The Welsh Assembly’s responsibilities are involved in many areas such as education, health, environment and culture and so on. However, it also has some disadvantages; for example, they haven’t got enough power from London Parliament.

Scrutiny of Parliament

An overview of the three main ways Parliament holds government to account
There are three different ways that Parliament holds the government to account: these three ways are questions, debates and committee which examine and challenge the work of government
The first one is questioning government ministers. In the Commons, the Prime Minister answers questions every Wednesday and ministers from each government department answer the questions orally on a rota basis. In the Lords, government ministers are questioned every day.
Questions may be answered in two different forms: oral forms and writing forms.
The second on is debating. Debates in the Commons look at national and international issues and can be on any subject. The Lords debates and revises major legislation, and also general debates and discuss subjects of topical interest.
Committees: examine issues in detail, from government policy and proposed new laws, to wider topics like the economy. Committees made up of around 10 to 50 MPs or Lords.

The role of ‘questions’ to Ministers in the House of Commons and House of Lords

Members of Parliament oblige minister to explain and defend the work, policy decisions and actions of their Departments. However, the House of Commons and the House of Lords question the government in different ways:

Questions from House of Commons, which is called ‘Order of Oral Questions’, relate to the responsibilities of the government department.

Questions from House of Lords are not as the Commons dose, the Lords focuses on questions to the Government as a whole.

The role of Select Committees

Select Committees check and report on areas ranging from the work of government departments to economic affairs. The aims of Select Committees are offering advices, to producing reports and altering legislation.

Besides,Select Committees work in both the Commons and the Lords:

The Commons Select Committees are always focusing on examining the work of government departments which include spending, policies and administration.While the Lords Select Committees concentrate on four main areas: Europe, science, economics, and the UK constitution. They spend most of their time on investigations of specialist subjects.

Halloween

Halloween means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the 'All Hallows', also called 'All Hallowmas', or 'All Saints’, All Soul observed on November 1.It is celebrated on October 31^st in every year. Its original date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain .The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, which means the end of summer, the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter .Beside, a time of this year was often connected to human death. On the night of October31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth and it is a day which is easier for Celtic priests to make predictions about the future.

Moreover, there are a number of interesting things about Halloween, for example, the colours black and orange have become associated with the celebrations because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire of pumpkins. Finally, There many activities on the celebrating of Halloween, including trick-or treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires and so on.

International Plocy

The International Policies include foreign policy, aid and development, security policy and justice and home affairs.I am going to explain some of them which are more important.

Foreign policy: The EU is a player in the reforming the global trading system, its aim at giving an important collective voice on the international state to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and the word. However, the EU may only act when all of its members are in agreement. Especially, The UK has a far in flounce on global issues that affects all of us by co-operating with EU partners.

Aid and development: There are many problems cause from war and terrorism to crime, mass migration and the spread of diseases, which spread freely across borders. Therefore, The UK is committed to getting rid of poverty and meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals. Besides, The EU now accounts for more than 55% of global aid, and It is also the world's largest provider of humanitarian aid.
Trade and customs: First of all, Britain is one of the most open economies in the world; Furthermore, they are the fifth largest international trading nation, and the second largest exporter of services .As a result, The UK IS committed to making international trade fairer and more open. In addition to the WTO Round, the EU is negotiating with other countries at a bilateral and regional level. Negotiations are already underway for Free Trade Agreements with the Gulf Co-operation Council and Marcos countries. The EU recently launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations with India, South Korea and countries from the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

The four nations

Britain consists of four nations which are England,Scotland, Wales and Ireland and there are a lot of differences among these nations, such as their traditional custom, identifying symbols, and national identity and so on.

England: The flag of England is St George’s Cross (the colour is red and white); the England's national floral emblem is Rosethe capital city is London; the name of England takes from the Angles and most of England is lowland which are mainly of Germanic Origin; the most common surname in England is actually ‘Smith’.

Scotland: There are two kinds of flags in Scotland which are St Andrew’s cross(the colour is blue and white)and Lion rampant(the colour is red and yellow); the Scotland’s floral emblem is Thistle and its capital city is Aldeburgh and they’ve got their own language which is Scottish. Moreover, the people in highland Scotland belonged to the Celtic race and those in lowland Scotland were mainly of Germanic origin. In addition, the prefix ’Mac’ or ‘Mc’ in surnames is always Scotland; the most common surname in Scotland is actually ’Smith’ and there are also nicknames for Scotland; In Scotland, the kilt is a very well-known symbol of Scotland; the bagpipes are the most famous musical instrument which are regarded as distinctively Scottish; Finally, the most interesting thing is that the Scots have a regulation for being careful with money.

Wales: The flag of Wales is Dragon of Cadwallader(the colour is red, green and white); the Wales’s national floral is Leek /Daffodil ;the capital city is Cardiff; the people in Wales belonged to the Celtic and they speak Welsh as well; there is a large number of surnames suggest Welsh origin and there are also nicknames of Welsh men; the harp is an emblem of Ireland and the Welsh are renowned for their singing ability.

Ireland:The flag of Ireland are both of St Patrick’s Cross (the colour is red and white ) and Republic of Ireland (the colour is green, white and orange);the Ireland’s floral is Shamrock for Irish, they also speak Irish and the people in Ireland also belonged to the Celtic race ,besides, first names can also be indicative between Scottish and Irish. In Ireland, the most famous musical instrument is the harp which is the same to the Walsh; the Irish are supported to be great talkers.

the Victorian Age

I am especially interested in Victoria who is one of the most famous historical people in the word,not only just what she contributed to the UK but also the person who she is.When I was in my middle school,I have known her from my history course,but just very basic information about her.After that,when I moved up to study in my university,I learned more about her.

First of all,how is the person she is.She became the Queen in 1837 when she was 18 years old,and married a German prince called Albert three years later,and there is a very romantic story about their love .However, her husband died when she was very young,then she had never married with others because she loves her husband very much even all her life.So I respect her attitude of love .Moreover,the most important thing is how she affected the development of UK,even all over the world,she is one of the most successful and greatest Queen in the UK,there were many advances in many ares such as science,economy and culture and so on during the Victorian period.In addition,the territory of British Empire was extending at that time,meanwhile, the Britain's army and navy was the most powerful at the Victorian Age. In generally,she obtained a giant achievements in different ares when she was the Queen of the UK.
She built the most famous era which chinese people call :Sun does not set the Empire.I really admire her abilities in the policy and leading .

uk quid

I am surprised that there are a lot of colloquial words in English people's daily life,they are very interesting and convinient.And I learned more informations about British geogrophy as well as some commonsences of UK.