Mr. Speaker...

My friend and I spent the morning navigating the area around Westminster Palace right next to Big Ben, preparing ourselves for the Questions with the prime minister in the House of Commons. The UK is a Parliamentary system, consisting of two houses; the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the second of which is the most powerful. Every Wednesday the MPs (Members of Parliament) have a chance to ask the prime minister questions for half an hour. In the back sits the Speaker of the House who moderates the discussion and decides who will speak. The chamber where they sit is green, and divided along party affiliation. The government in power, currently the Labour party, sit on the left while the opposition, currently the Conservatives, sit on the right. In the front of each side sit the main leaders of the party. For the Labour party this is Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his cabinet, and for the conservatives it is David Cameron who might be the next prime minister. When one MP answers a comment by the other, they never refer to the other MP directly, but in the third person and all comments must be addressed to the Speaker of the House. So whenever they are called on they first say, Thank You Mr. Speaker.
We made it in five minutes late and stayed until the debates became tiresome. The mood inside the House of Commons is, well, common. You can tell this is the people's branch of government. There are shouts and jeers when bad comments are made, and even some witty insults. No real work gets done on the chamber floor; most of that is done in committees, but it still the most fun I've had so far. Living, breathing London.