A day at that place where I don't have an internship

Today was my first real day at the place where people occasionally disagree with each other about politics, and it was an exciting one! I arrived at Portcullis House about 10 am and was taken up to my boss's office for the first time. It is a two room suite on the fifth floor, with a splendid view of Westminster and Big Ben across the street. I can tell time by the big clock if I wanted to. The entry room has three desks, the desks of the two full-time researchers (let's call them Thomas and Simon) and the intern desk. I sat down and the first thing Simon tells me to do is screw around on the internet for a while while he prints stuff off for me. I can do that. While reading the news the three of us had a conversation about Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts and how that will impact the healthcare debate. I told them I think it is a good thing to bring the GOP back to the bargaining table so that a more intelligent bill can be passed. We talked for a while about the advantages and disadvantages of the American system. While I figured these discussions could have been contentious, I found that Thomas and I agreed about a lot of things during the day.

After reading the general procedures for work in the office, Simon took me on a tour of the Palace at Westminster. Down the elevator and through a tunnel under the street, we emerged in the green area in front of the building inside the fences. I think it is called Parliament Park. We entered the front doors into a massive, cold, dark, enclosure called Westminster Hall. The oldest part of the palace, this is the place where Henry VIII ruled and where Charles I and Oliver Cromwell were tried and summarily executed. More recently, Nelson Mandela addressed the world form this chamber 3 weeks after released from prison. 8,000 people were in attendance, including my boss, even though capacity in this room is 1,600. We walked the length of this room into an ante-room and then the main buildings.

The place between the two chambers is called the King's Lobby (I think). This is where any citizen can enter Parliament and request to see his or her member to ask for something (hence the term "Lobbying"). There were several tour groups going around at this point, but I felt special because I had a private tour from a staff member. It felt like the White House. I think theoretically I will be able to take people in if I get a security pass.

We then walked into several rooms with historical significance to the monarchy. Simon pointed out how our walk mimicked the progression of the British constitution -- from entirely monarchy, to a monarchy with gradually increasing Parliamentary power, to a figure-head monarchy with complete power in Parliament. The Queen's drawing room is where Elizabeth II puts on her ceremonial robes and crown to open Parliament every year. We then entered into a big ante-chamber to the House of Lords with huge paintings of England's two big victories over France at Waterloo and Trafalgar. Apparently whenever French dignitaries come, they hang huge drapes over the paintings to not offend the snotty French. Simon told me that when Jacque Chirac first came to London to deliver a speech, his staff said it would be okay to leave the paintings up, and everyone thought the UK-France rivalry had been forgiven. Chirac then proceeded to give his entire speech in French. Hahaha.

We then entered into the House of Lords. I walked right by the Queen's throne, where she delivers the Queen's speech every Parliament. Simon and I stood on the railing by the throne as he explained to me the workings of the Lords. I was surprised we talked so much about this chamber, as we have always been told that the Lords are sort of the worthless second chamber that has to bow to the House of Commons. Apparently, the Lords are still very powerful, as many of them, although unelected, are still experts in various fields. When an expert in the Lords speaks about a bill, say a physicist or expert on disabilities, then most Lords from both parties will agree with him and pass the bill back to the Commons. The Lords are by no means a rubber stamp to Commons bills, and they will frequently change language as they see fit. I was surprised by how long we stayed in this chamber, and how little I knew about this house.

I was even more surprised about how little time we spent in the actual House of Commons. Simon told me how voting procedure worked as we waited for a grade school group to mimic the Members of Parliament in a voting line. We walked into the much more plain and simple room through the back door behind the speaker's chair. Attached to this chair is a bag where MPs can put requests in from their constituents to ask questions (hence the term "in the bag"). I walked right by the place where Gordon Brown sits and answers questions. The boxes on the table are cracked and the green seats are actually quite worn out. The two aisles of the house are separated by two-sword lengths, in case someone wants to attack during a session. Leaving the Commons there is a room with statues of different former PMs, and MPs rub the foot of their favorite one. Churchill's is pretty worn, while Thatcher's ... not so much. Simon said "only first year conservative MPs who don't know what they are doing" rub her foot hahah.

After the tour we returned to the office and Thomas gave me a letter that my boss had edited and wanted changed. It was torn apart with red ink. I was reminded of the awful handwriting of Mr. Missey, the Prep News moderator, when I had to make changes to articles he edited. Dusting off my newspaper skills from high school, I went to work changing a letter about internet governance. Thomas and I went to lunch at a cafeteria in an adjoining building. The food in Parliament is at cost, so I paid 3 pounds for a huge portion of fried turkey and noodles. I could get used to those prices. We had another interesting conversation over lunch about US and British politics. He asked me how I think McCain would have done if he was president. I said I think he may have done a better job in that he would have focused on fixing the economy right away instead of choking a healthcare bill through congress while thousands of Americans lose their jobs (I said it a little friendlier than that). We had a good discussion about the stimulus bill and what works when attempting to create jobs. We both agreed that massive pork spending exemplified by the stimulus bill is probably not the best idea.

After lunch we went to a meeting for one of my boss's interests - IT management and development of e-skills to make the UK more competitive in IT. I really had no idea what I was walking into, but I schmoozed with some industry leaders in IT and other organization heads. A few folks were interested in the American's view about IT and internships. I had no idea what I was doing, but I used my good ole business major savvy to pull some stuff out of my ass. I took notes on the meeting with Thomas as our boss's (and I guess the Labour government's) representatives. The meeting was an attempt to create an academy where UK IT professionals can get certified so their skills are verifiable. Thomas explained some of it to me afterward, but I'm still a little confused as to what went down at the meeting. It was still pretty cool though. I just took notes and pretended like I belonged there. The guy from Vodaphone next to me was texting so I felt ok.

After the meeting I went back and struggled to finish the letter and then had to rush up Whitehall through the square and into a lecture at the LC about "cosmopolitan London." I felt pretty awesome running past Parliament and No. 10 and Trafalgar and all the tourists in a suit. Not gonna lie. The parts of the lecture I was awake for were pretty interesting. TJ, Sam, and I then hung around Leicester Square and ate dinner at an Australian pub before our required play for Intro to London Theater. The play was 39 Steps, a remake of a Hitchcock film, at the Criterion Theater off Piccadilly Circus. The theater was old but cute, and we had first and second row seats. The play was pretty funny. It had 4 actors playing over 129 roles. Basically its the story of a guy in 30's London who gets framed for murder, and hilarity ensues. It was a good first play for our class, I think. I still want to see Les Mis and Avenue Q on my own so Dennis won't get mad at me. Tomorrow I have class all day again, and then maybe I will make spring break plans finally. Maybe.