Not All Who Wander Are Lost (But I Probably Am): Parliament

On Thursday a group of us were able to go and sit in on a session of the House of Commons, which is the lower house of parliament. They don't really let you take pictures inside (other than the visitors hall), so you're just going to have to be happy with what I was able to get.

Every day at the opening of parliament (which is around 10:30) there is a small opening ceremony/procession, where several people wearing robes and those darling powdered wigs solemnly walk into the chamber, placing the golden scepter on its traditional resting place in the center of the room.

There is also a traditional daily prayer before the opening of debates, but, as it took our group a while to get up all of those flights of stairs, we missed it (And darn, you guys know how much I like praying). In any case, the prayer is a tradition, as it was first started in 1558 and became permanently established in 1567.

You're not allowed to take pictures anywhere other than the visitor's hall (see below) and you're not allowed to take any of your stuff into the actual chamber with you (other than coats, weirdly enough, but I guess by that point you've been through several metal detectors and they're not afraid of exploding coats).

Apparently, the house only has seats for 437 of its members (there are 659 members) but it seemed pretty comfortably empty when we were there. The debate was on the topic of higher education (particularly funding for higher education and ensuring that everyone has access to the education necessary for their desired career). While the topic was interesting, debate does get rather dry after a while (although the M.P.'s do crack a surprising amount of jokes).

One of the things that surprised me was how familiar the parliamentary debate structure was, and how closely we'd followed it in our debates. I mean, instead of a P.O. you address the guy as Mr. Speaker, and the questioning sessions are waaaaay longer, but aside from that the structure was primarily what I was used to.

By the way, they don't all wear those powdered wigs, just the three clerks in the middle get to.

In general, the House of Commons' sessions are open to the public, but they can have closed sessions if they choose. These days a member has to move "That this house sit in private" but it used to be that they'd stand up and declare "I spy Strangers." After 'spying strangers' everyone but members and officers would have to withdraw, and as it was frequently used as a delay tactic, they changed the rules.

Traditionally, also, snuff is provided to the M.P.s, although few of them take it anymore, and it's the only form of tobacco allowed within Parliament. Also, the reigning monarch is not allowed to set foot within the House of Commons, just a fun fact.