Parliament - Da Fuq?!

I get you - you tune into the news, politics is often the main subject. You'll see a bunch of people in a fancy hall talking about things that, on the face of it, you don't care about (though you probably should - read this). But you're still confused. What. The Hell. Is Parliament?

As Maria Von Trapp famously said, let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

The Houses of Parliament look like this.

It's proper name is the Palace of Westminster, but we'll leave that. The Houses of Parliament have Big Ben attached to them - so they're probably quite familiar.

The Houses of Parliament is split into two. The House of Commons...

The House of Commons is made up of 650 MPs, who represent small parts of the country (the whole UK - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and are elected by people in that area who are able to vote. These people are called constituents.

MPs usually represent a political party - like Conservative, Labour, or the SNP.

...And the House of Lords.

The House of Lords is made up of around 800 unelected people - they are often former politicians or experts in their fields, and are given the title by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. They're usually experts in business, culture, science, sports, academia, law, education, health, and public service. Some belong to a political party, others don't.

Between them, they make laws.

Something that an MP, a Lord or the Government wants to become law, has to go through both Houses. The process goes like this (credit: www.parliament.uk):

So. To explain that a little more (as it looks so confusing, right?)...

Any member of Parliament - whether they're an MP, a Government Minister, or in the House of Lords, can put forward a Bill (something which they want to become law).

We'll just look at the top one - starting in the House of Commons - as it's probably the most common...

So how are laws made?

Firstly, it's read out in the first House - this is called the First Reading - and is then printed. Then comes the Second Reading, which is the first chance for members to debate the main ideas of the Bill; at the end of the Second Reading, there is a vote on whether it should be allowed to carry on.

Then comes the Committee Stage - where the Bill is looked at in closer detail and scrutinised line by line. This usually happens at a special Public Bill Committee. Things can be changed, amended or removed from the Bill at this stage, and it is then re-printed. After this is the Report Stage - where the Bill goes back to the House and is debated another time and more amendments can be proposed. This can take several days. After this comes the Third Reading - where MPs vote on whether to send the Bill through to the House of Lords.

In the House of Lords, there is more depth - though the same stages are used. The First Reading sees the long title read out in the House of Lords, and the Bill is then printed. The Second Reading is, just like in Commons, the first opportunity for Lords to debate and discuss the Bill. Here they can flag up any concerns or amendments they feel necessary. At the Committee Stage, again, there is a line by line scrutiny - however, as Lords is often made up of experts in a variety of fields, their input is often seen as more important and crucial to a final bill.

At the end of this, the Bill with all its changes is re-printed and sent to the Report Stage and Third Reading, which is the last chance for Lords to amend and scrutinise the Bill.

There's something at the end of this which is known as ping pong - where the Bill, after it has gone through both Houses, goes back and forth between each House to come to a compromise about what changes will go into the final Bill. When everything is agreed, the Bill gets Royal Assent - the final part before a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament (law).

Yeah, okay, it's quite confusing!

Thankfully there's a video (made by UK Parliament) which might be able to help you.

Let's move on.

There are times when many members of the House of Commons vote on really big issues.

A current example of this is voting on whether to trigger Article 50 to leave the European Union (read here). Last week, the House of Commons voted in favour of triggering Article 50 by 498 votes to 112.

In this vote, most Labour MPs backed the motion. However, there were some who rebelled against the will of the party and voted against it for some reason. But what you'll probably be wondering is how MPs know how to vote or how this is decided.

There is a role within each party called the whip - and there are a few of these. Their main job is to help organise their part's contribution to Parliamentary business in each House. This can include ensuring that MPs vote, and that they vote a certain way. There isn't much that we actually know about what they do (they've got a code) but it's pretty common knowledge that they will do all sorts of tricks and dodges to get an MP to vote a certain way.

But a lot of the work they do isn't necessarily voting on big important issues.

The main role of Parliament is scrutiny - to look at policies that might be put through Parliament, laws that could be amended, to look at current issues, and to pick them apart line by line to criticise them.

There are many Select Committees, which tackle one topic and focus on policies, amendments and issues in that area. There are Select Committees in both the House of Commons, and the House of Lords - usually made up of "backbenchers" - those who aren't Ministers in Government - across all parties. These committees include:

• Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Commons)

• Education Committee (Commons)

• Exiting The European Union Committee (Commons)

• Foreign Affairs Committee (Commons)

• Home Affairs Committee (Commons)

• Petitions Committee (Commons)

• Communications Committee (Lords)

• Economic Affairs Committee (Lords)

• European Union Committee (Lords)

• International Relations Committee (Lords)

• Science and Technology Committee (Lords)

So this might help explain why the actual House of Commons never seems to be full (unless it's something important - like Prime Minister's Questions, a big vote or the Budget statement).

Don't forget, your MP actually works for you.

MPs have their own office in their constituency and hold things called surgeries, where people in the constituency can contact their MP about all sorts of issues that they need support with, or want to be taken to Parliament. You can find out who your MP is here, and then get details on how to contact them. It's really quick and easy.

And if you don't like what your MP is doing; or you don't like the party they represent - you can decide to vote against them in any by-election or General Election, as long as you are:

• Registered to vote - you can do this online here very easily

• Over 18 years of age in England, Wales or Northern Ireland - 16 in some elections in Scotland

• A British citizen, an EU citizen in the UK or a qualifying Commonwealth citizen in the UK

Parliament means the Government is accountable.

It's a common claim that the Government can do what they want - and, to be honest, I can somewhat see where that comes from. Government Ministers (leading departments in things like Health, Education or Justice) have to answer questions in the House of Commons on any subject related to their field.

In the same way, the Prime Minister is also accountable: and something called Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) happens each week - on a Wednesday, at 12 noon for half an hour. The Prime Minister doesn't usually know what they're going to be asked, but they will be extensively briefed on important issues that are likely to come up. PMQs is one of the main events in the Parliamentary week, and you'll often see a full House of Commons for this.

PMQs usually seems more like a pantomime than an important discussion or confrontation about serious issues - there is lots of jeering and "hear hear", as it's not usually allowed for MPs to clap.

The Leader of the Opposition (Jeremy Corbyn) is allowed to ask six questions - the most of anyone in the House. The Leader of the second largest party (Angus Robertson, representing the SNP) can ask two. Everyone else is only allowed to ask one - apart from the MP who asks the opening question. The first question is often to outline the Prime Minister's schedule for the week, and a follow-up question (on any topic at all) is then allowed to be asked by the MP. This means that this question is usually the most popular one to be submitted to the Speaker to be asked.

Watch the latest PMQs - regarded as one of Jeremy Corbyn's finest - below. Be warned, it's quite long...

#politics