Parliament The three elements which make up Parliament are the Queen, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons. They meet together only on occasions of symbolic significance such as the State Opening of Parliament, when the Commons are summoned by the Queen to the House of Lords. The agreement of all three elements is normally required for legislation, but that of the Queen is given as a matter of course. The main functions of Parliament are: to pass laws to provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government to scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure to debate the major issues of the day Scotland has its own parliament, and Wales an elected Assembly, which sit in Edinburgh and Cardiff respectively. Both Scotland and Wales remain part of the United Kingdom and have continued representation in the Parliament at Westminster in London. The Monarchy The Monarchy is the oldest institution of government. Queen Elizabeth II is directly descended from King Egbert, who united England under his rule in 829. The only interruption in the history of the Monarchy was the republic, which lasted from 1649 to 1660. Today, the Queen is not only Head of State, but also an important symbol of national unity. The Queen's title in Britain is 'Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith'. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, the Queen is represented by a Lieutenant-Governor. Although the seat of the Monarchy is in Britain, the Queen is also head of state of a number of Commonwealth states. In each state, the Queen is represented by a Governor-General, appointed by her on the advice of the ministers of the country concerned and completely independent of the British Government. In each case the form of the royal title varies. Other Commonwealth states are republics or have their own monarchies. In British-dependent territories the Queen is usually represented by governors, who are responsible to the British Government for the administration of the countries concerned.

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