Britain, France, and the European Union - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 93

geographical insularity, its ties to the former Empire, and its special rela-
tionship with the United States. Then when it changed its mind in 1961 and
sought to join the Common Market, the French vetoed its membership.
It did not become a member of the successor European Community until
1973. The island's natural resources were few and declining. This changed
in 1969 with the discovery of oil of the east coast of Scotland. Production
grew rapidly to more than 22 million barrels per day. The timing could not
have been more propitious, because the price per barrel rose from $2.50 to
a peak of $40 by 1985. The North Sea fields also produced vast quantities
of natural gas. The cheap and close-by oil and gas brought a boom to the
kingdom. In terms of air pollution and carbon emissions, natural gas was
nearly the perfect fuel.
Government: Great Britain has a parliamentary form of government,
and indeed is the model for parliaments around the world, hence, is called
the Mother of Parliaments. The House of Commons represents the people,
and the House of Lords represents the aristocracy. In fact, the power of
the Lords has been whittled away, so today plays a limited role. The prime
minister, who holds an elected seat in Commons, leads the government
and appoints ministers from members of his own party. They serve both
as elected representatives of their constituents and, for a few, as admin-
istrators of departments like Environment, Health, or Foreign Affairs.
This is called the Westminster System after the neighborhood in London
where Parliament sits. Party discipline is strict. Once a party has finished
its internal debate on a policy, all members of Parliament are required to
vote in favor or risk expulsion.
Great Britain has a two-party system, with a few minor parties over the
years. The Labour Party won a large majority of the House of Commons
in 1997 and continued its majority in the 2001 and 2005 elections. As its
name implies, it developed from the labor movement at the turn of the
20th century, and first came to power in a coalition in 1924. The party
represented the working class in a society where class affiliation domi-
nated. The Labour government elected in 1945 made sweeping changes
by nationalizing (i.e., taking ownership of) major industries like coal and
steel, by building public housing on a grand scale, by establishing cradle
to the grave health care, and by taxing heavily. It considered itself to be
socialist. Its strident left-wing ideology lost favor with the voters during
the 1970s, and the party appeared doomed to perpetual minority status.
Its Manifesto in the disastrous 1983 election had so little appeal to the
average voter that it was called the “the longest suicide note in history.”