English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

40.3
40.4

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88
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
British politics
41
Influencing political decisions
Lobbying and petitioning
Methods of lobbying vary and can range from sending letters, making presentations, providing 
briefi ng
1
material 
to Members and organised 
rallies
2
. Often the result lobbyists are seeking for the MP or Lord to vote a certain way 
on a specifi c issue. However, this decision will 
ultimately
3
be
down to
4
the MP or Lord’s own judgement and the 
infl uence (if any) that existing party policy will have on them.
1
informational
2
large political meetings or demonstrations
3
in the end
4
the responsibility of
The public can petition the House of Commons to make MPs aware of their opinion on an issue and to request 
action. All that’s needed is that the petition is properly
set out
1
and has the signature and address of at least 
one person. A petition can also be created and submitted online, as an e-petition. The text of the petition is 
published in
Hansard
2
. 
There is a procedure for petitions in the Lords, but it is very rarely used. Generally, 
MPs will
present
3
all petitions they receive from their
constituents
4
. MPs present petitions by either giving a 
short statement in the debating chamber of the House of Commons or by simply placing the petition in the 
Petition Bag (which hangs behind the
Speaker’s
5
Chair). If a petition gets 100,000 signatures, the government 
will respond and it will be considered for debate. A copy of the petition is sent to the appropriate government 
department. Government departments are expected to off er