I started out my free day with a tour of the Palace of Westminster, aka Houses of Parliament. Sadly no pictures were allowed, but the interior reminded me of the grandness of Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was not the interior that was the most interesting to me; the traditions and differences in government systems. The one thing my Blue Badge guide stressed was the “non-political” sides of the government. For example, the House of Lords, although selected by an entity separate from Parliament, serves more of an advisory function. Lords are selected for their experise in a certain area. Umile senators in the States, Lords are only payed £300 each day they show up to Parliament. Attendence is only expected of Lords when there is a debate about issues they have knowledge on. There are not enough seats in both houses to sit all members, since there are so many members in Parliament, many more representatives than in the US. The lack of career politicians in one house of government with instead experts in particular areas seems like a useful element of government instead of having two different, yet similar houses of government. It would be interesting to look up how effective this style of government is compared to our federal system.