Country profile: United Kingdom
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Country profile: United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has a long history as a major player in international affairs and fulfils an important role in the EU, UN and Nato. The economy – one of the largest in the world – is no longer manufacturing but services-based, with e-commerce of growing significance. The City of London is a global financial centre.
OverviewThe country has not yet adopted the euro currency and the debate continues over when, and indeed whether, it will do so. The government has said a series of economic criteria must be met before the issue can be put to a referendum. In recent years the UK has taken steps to devolve powers to Scotland and Wales. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff opened in 1999, and the possibility of devolution for the English regions has also been discussed.
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In Northern Ireland, after decades of violent conflict, the Good Friday agreement of 1998 led to a new assembly with devolved powers, bringing hopes of lasting peace. The assembly was suspended in 2002 amid a row over alleged IRA activities. Its suspension was to last for three and a half years. In a bid to restart the political process and after consultations with Dublin, the UK passed legislation paving the way for the recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2006. But assembly leaders missed a November deadline to form a power-sharing executive. Assembly elections in the following March led to the eventual swearing-in of the leaders of the power-sharing government on 8 May 2007, ending five years of direct rule from London. Diversity The UK is ethnically diverse, partly as a legacy of empire. Lately, the country has been struggling with issues revolving around multiculturalism, immigration and national identity. This is against a background of concerns about terrorism and political and religious radicalism, heightened after the suicide bomb attacks on London’s transport network in 2005. Some politicians and commentators say a stronger sense of shared British values is needed to foster integration within a mixed society. And while some advocate tough policies on limiting immigration, others attempt to put the case for it as a positive force. One of the latest trends in migration has been the arrival of workers from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe. Culture The UK has been at the forefront of youth culture since the heyday of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s. It has a rich literary heritage encompassing the works of Englishman William Shakespeare, Scot Robert Burns, Welshman Dylan Thomas and Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney. Traditional music has deep roots across the UK which has also produced classical composers from Henry Purcell in the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.
Facts
LeadersHead of state: Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952 upon the death of her father, George VI.
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She is the second longest serving head of state, after the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was crowned in 1946.
She is also head of state of 16 independent countries including Canada and Australia. As a constitutional monarch, her role in the legislative process is largely ceremonial. Prime minister: Gordon Brown Gordon Brown became prime minister on 27 June 2007 after serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) in three consecutive Labour governments under Tony Blair. He was the only candidate for the premiership when Mr Blair stood down two years into his third term in office.
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Mr Brown had had his eye on the top job for many years – British political folklore has it that he formed a pact with Mr Blair in 1994 according to which he agreed to support his younger colleague’s bid for the Labour Party leadership in return for a promise that Mr Blair would step aside to allow Mr Brown to assume the premiership once Labour had won a second term in office. Mr Blair’s alleged reneging on this deal was said to have soured relations between the two men, who both entered parliament in 1983 and soon became close allies with a mission to modernise the Labour Party. Much has been made of the contrast between Mr Brown’s image and that of his predecessor. The public perception of Mr Brown is of a dour, self-absorbed figure, while Mr Blair was seen as being more charismatic and media-savvy. The son of a Presbyterian minister, Mr Brown was born near the Scottish city of Glasgow in 1951. He was marked out as being academically gifted from an early age, and went to Edinburgh University when he was only 16, gaining a first-class degree in history. He joined the Labour Party while still at university, and after graduating became a politics lecturer. He rose rapidly through the ranks of the party, inspiring fierce loyalty in those close to him. In 1992 he was appointed shadow chancellor. On the Labour Party’s landslide election victory in 1997 – after 18 years in opposition – he assumed the chancellorship, holding the post for a record 10 years during which Britain enjoyed an unprecedented era of sustained economic growth. His commitment to fiscal prudence earned him the nickname “the Iron Chancellor”.
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He once declared that his actions were guided by a strong “moral compass”, and has pledged to make education and health the key issues of his premiership. In the foreign policy arena, Mr Brown is regarded as more of an Atlanticist than a Europhile. He has also been long committed to increasing aid to Africa. He faces the challenge of restoring the British people’s confidence in a Labour government before the next general election, due in a few years’ time. The greatly reduced majority Labour won in 2005 was widely seen as an expression of dissatisfaction with Mr Blair’s decision to become involved in the war in Iraq, and much attention will be focused on Mr Brown’s handling of this issue.
MediaThe UK has a strong tradition of public-service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making. The fledgling BBC began daily radio broadcasts in 1922 and quickly came to play a pivotal role in national life. The Empire Service – the forerunner of the BBC World Service – established a reputation worldwide. The BBC is funded by a licence fee, which all households with a TV set must pay.
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Commercial TV began in 1955 with the launch of ITV. Commercial radio was introduced in the 1970s, although ship-based pirate radio stations flourished in the 1960s before being outlawed. Hundreds of privately-owned radio and TV stations now compete with the BBC for listeners and viewers. Home-grown soap operas have long topped the TV ratings, and British viewers keenly follow the ups and downs of life in east London’s Albert Square, the setting for the BBC’s EastEnders, and Coronation Street – ITV’s soap about northern-English working-class life. Programmes which catapult ordinary people into the public eye – known as reality TV – are enjoying a wave of popularity. In a rapidly-changing digital world, British media providers are looking at new ways of reaching audiences via computers and personal multimedia devices. The once-dominant terrestrial TV networks face strong competition from digital satellite and cable, which offer hundreds of channels, and digital terrestrial TV, which carries a smaller number of mainly free-to-view channels. By 2006, 70% of British homes had access to multi-channel TV. Digital radio (DAB) has had a slower start, but the BBC and commercial operators provide digital-only radio services. Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, has set a timetable for a switchover from analogue to digital TV broadcasting; it hopes to turn off the analogue TV signal by 2012. The British media are free and able to report on all aspects of British life. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion, as well as the British public’s voracious appetite for newspapers. The press
Television
Radio
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Voice of Bhumihar 
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