The Modern Britain: industrial centers and branches
Private enterprises in the Great Britain generate over three-quarters of total domestic income. Since 1979 the Government has privatized 46 major businesses and reduced the state-owned sector of industry by about two-thirds. The Government is taking measures to cut unnecessary regulations imposed on business, and runs a number of schemes which provide direct assistance or advice to small and medium-sized businesses.In some sectors a small number of large companies and their subsidiaries are responsible for a substantial proportion of total production, notably in the vehicle, aerospace and transport equipment industries. Private enterprises account for the greater part of activity in the agricultural, manufacturing, construction, distributive, financial and miscellaneous service sectors. The private sector contributed 75% of total domestic final expenditure in 1992, general government 24 % and public corporations 1%.About 250 British industrial companies in the latest reporting period each had an annual turnover of more than Ј500 million. The annual turnover of the biggest company, British Petroleum’, makes it the llth largest industrial grouping in the world and the second largest in Europe. Five British firms are among the top 25 European Community companies.
Religion in England, Scotland and Wales
According to the 2001 UK census, Christianity remains the major religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in terms of number of adherents. In the 2001 census, 71.6% of the population put themselves down as Christian. Though each country that makes up the UK has a long tradition of Christianity that pre-dates the UK itself, in practice all have relatively low levels of religious observance and today are secular societies. Christianity is the main religion in England with the Church of England the Established Church. It is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion (except the Scottish Episcopal Church which has separate origins and is a Sister Church rather than a Daughter Church) and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national churches. Christianity is also the main religion in Wales. In the 1920s, the Church in Wales became independent from the Church of England and became 'disestablished' but remains in the Anglican Communion. Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchies were re-established in England and Wales in 1850 following an influx of Irish Catholics fleeing the Great Irish Famine. Today the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is the second largest Christian church across England and Wales with around five million members, mainly in England. Pentecostal churches are continuing to grow and, in terms of church attendance, are now third after the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in England. The presbyterian Church of Scotland is recognised by the Church of Scotland Act 1921 as the national church of Scotland. The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is Scotland's second largest Christian church, representing a sixth of the population. The Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, dates from the final establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland in 1690.
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System of government in England, Scotland and Wales
The UK is a multi-party system and since the 1920s, the two largest political parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. England has no central government instead using elements of the British system, which is itself rapidly becoming fragmented by the spliting-off the Scottish Parliament, and to some extent. The Welsh Assembly. The Scottish Parliament is the national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" (cf. "Westminster"), is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament. Members are elected for four-year terms under the mixed member proportional representation system. As a result, 73 Members of the Scottish Parliament represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality ("first past the post") system, with a further 56 returned from eight additional member regions, each electing seven Members of the Scottish Parliament. The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales, and is also responsible for Welsh Assembly Government departments in Wales. The Assembly was formed under the Government of Wales Act 1998, by the Labour government, after a referendum in 1997 (also supported by Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats) approved its creation. There is now a legal separation of the legislative and executive functions of the National Assembly, since the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Act created a separate executive called the "Welsh Assembly Government" which performs the day to day running of government affairs and contains members of the highest elected party of the Assembly chamber.
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