Visit to the Houses of Parliament

On Monday, 22 July 2019, the China Construction Bank (CCB) executives had an exciting opportunity to go on a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. On that visit the executives were given a history of The Palace of Westminster.

On the first part of the tour, the executives visited the House of Commons and learned about what is the difference between The Government and Parliament. The UK Government consists of  the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and their junior ministers. While parliament is made up of people who have been elected or appointed to represent the interests of the people and to make sure that they are taken into account by the Government. The executives were also taken through the process in which the MEP (Elected Members of Parliament) debate and cast their votes. In the House of Commons, the executives were given a taste of how democracy works in the UK and how the Government cannot make new laws or raise new taxes without Parliament’s agreement. In summary, the key takeaway for the executives was that they realized the role played by parliament – to maintain the checks and balances of the incumbent government.

The second part of the tour took the executives to the House of Lords. There the executives got a closer look at how the work of the House of Lords complement that of the House of Commons. For many overseas visitors, the system of the House of Lords is a unique and interesting one. In particular when the members of the House of Lords are not elected but rather appointed for their experience and expertise in a number of different positions outside of Parliament. The executives all saw the merit in how the House of Lords use their specialist knowledge to challenge the work of the Government and scrutinize the new laws closely. Furthermore, the executives also understood another advantage of the House of Lords – the crossbenchers. The crossbenchers are Members with no political affiliation and they make up a quarter of the membership in the House of Lords. In other words, there is no political party who has a majority in the House of Lords, so the Government does not have a majority, unlike when it does in the House of Commons.

All in all, the executives had a very educational tour of the Houses of Parliament and learned about how the parliamentary system works in the UK. They asked many questions, in particular the election of Prime Minister, the role of the Speaker of the House, amongst many others. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and they all appreciate this wonderful opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience to understand more about the British way of life.

[Reported by Dr Carryn Yong ]