Thoughts on Parliament

After taking a tour of the Houses of Parliament, we listened to a presentation by Sir Peter Viggers, a Member of Parliament. It was quite an honor to have the opportunity to hear him speak. In addition to being a conservative Member of Parliament since 1974, he has also been a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Law Office and the Treasury, Industry Minister for Northern Ireland, delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a fast jet pilot, a qualified lawyer, and a director of a merchant bank. Additionally, he was recently Knighted in 2008. Sir Viggers explained to us the difference between the U.S. and British Governments. Surprisingly, The Prime Minister has much more power than our President does. I also found it interesting that the Prime Minister can call an election whenever he or she wants. There is also a limit on how much can be spent for campaigning (10,000 pounds) in UK, but in the U.S., as we know, millions are spent on political campaigns. Even though he is a powerful man, Sir Viggers was very down-to-earth, answered all of our questions, and was extremely informative. He even took a picture with us at the end. I learned a lot and gained a better understanding of British Government from his presentation.
Kristen McGrane (Winsted, CT)