1. The country and the people

2. 1. The country and the people

3. 1–1- The geography of the United Kingdom A) Definitions Great Britain = England, Wales, Scotland (3 nations). UK = Great Britain + Northern Ireland (4 nations). • The United Kingdom is a political entity . • Great Britain is a geographical term.

4. B) Town and country • Surface area : 244,000 sq. kms, • less than half that of France, for a similar population. • the country is urbanised: only about 15% live in the countryside. • The ten biggest urban areas contain a third of the British population : • • Greater London Urban Area • • West Midlands Urban Area (Birmingham) • • Greater Manchester Urban Area • • West Yorkshire Urban Area (Leeds/Bradford) • • Greater Glasgow • • Tyneside (Newcastle) • • Liverpool Urban Area • • Nottingham Urban Area • • Sheffield Urban Area • • Bristol Urban Area.

5. London Underground : « the tube »

6. Birmingham

7. Manchester town hall

8. Liverpool quay side

9. C) North and South • This division dates back to the industrial revolution: it started in the North, which was therefore more prosperous. • Between the two world wars, striking development of the South and of the Midlands which has been going on since. one of the most constant features of Britain’s post-war economic development : persistence of the ‘north-south’ divide due to the decline of traditional industries (manufacturing, coal mining, textiles, ship building) in the country’s central and northern regions.

10. The North

11. Incomes, job opportunities and even education expenditure have all remained substantially lower in these less prosperous regions of the country than in the South. • The result : now the North is much poorer than the South: unemployment is almost twice as high, death rates are higher, living conditions are not so good, etc. • The split between the two parts of the country accelerated with the Thatcher –Major years (1979-1997): the state stopped funding special zones that were deprived of investment. • The slower growth of the northern regions • Escalating house prices and overcrowding in the South East.

12. The South

13. 1-2- The population Britain ranks 18th in the world in terms of population size.. • Since 1971 the population has increased by 4 million people, to slightly more than 60 million in 2006. (Over 63 million in 2011)

14. Growth has even been faster in more recent years. • death rates for both males and females are lower nowadays. • the birth rate has remained relatively stable. • Immigration is rising.

15. The population of the UK is ageing . • In 2007, there are for the first time more pensioners than young people under 16. • In 2007 there were 311 000 women and 106 000 men over 90 in the UK. • Causes • the move toward smaller families. • lower infant mortality (better food and health care) • lower mortality of old people. • This means greater demands on health, social services and social security arrangements. • The state pension age (currently 65 for men and 60 for women) will be increased between 2010 and 2020 to 65 for both sexes. There are proposals to raise it to 68 a few years later.

16. Women • 30.5 million females compared with 29 million males (estimates for 2005) although more boys are born each year than girls. • This is due to : • Levels of net migration (more men migrate) • Higher male mortality (accidents, suicides, illnesses) • As a result: • By age 22 the numbers of men and women are very similar. • After 50, the difference between the sexes increases, as death rates are greater among men. • In 2005, there were over three times as many women as men aged 90 and over

17. Women represent about 45 % of the British workforce. Employment rates in Britain by sex and age in 2008

18. Women are not promoted as easily as men. • Just 10% of directors of FTSE 100 companies are women, and only 24% of top jobs in the public and voluntary sector, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission (2009). • These numbers have risen somewhat, especially in the public sector, over the last twenty years • 21% of local government chief executives are women • 19,5% of Members of parliament are women.

19. The Equal Pay Act (1970) and Sex Discrimination Act (1975) mean that men and women are in theory equal before the law. • Since 2007, public sector employers are obliged by law to “promote gender equality”. • It is not enough to avoid discriminating, public sector employers must actively promote equality. • Despite trade union campaigns, private employers are not subject to this obligation.

20. But on average, women earn two thirds of men’s wages, mainly because they are concentrated in low-status, low-paid, and part-time jobs: retailing and clerical work, health care, cleaning, hairdressing, etc.

21. Fawcett society logo

22. C) Immigration • In the 19thcentury, immigrants mostly from Ireland. • In the early 20th century, Jews escaping persecution in Russia. • Caribbean immigrant workers in the 1950s and 1960s boom. • Immigration from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s. • .

23. More recently there have been increases in the number of asylum seekers trying to escape war as well as in the number of economic migrants, particularly from new EU States (Poland, Czech Republic…). • About 500 000 people born in Poland live in Britain.

24. An Irish cultural centre in London

25. A mosque in Bradford

27. A London synagogue

28. Where were the people who live in Britain born? (2010 estimates) United Kingdom54,215,000 Republic of Ireland 405,000 India 693,000 Poland 532 000 Pakistan 431,000 Germany 296,000 United States 200,000 Bangladesh 220,000 Nigeria 151 000 Jamaica 150,000 South Africa 236,000 Kenya 128,000 Australia 112,000 Italy 118,000

29. Newspapers for different communities in London

31. The UK population: by ethnic group, Census 2001 • In the 2001 Census, 4.6 million people (8 % of the UK population) described themselves as belonging to a minority ethnic group. • The largest minority ethnic group was Indian (2 % of the UK population and 23 % of the minority ethnic population). • Pakistani, Mixed and Black Caribbean were the next largest groups, each making up around 1 % of the population.

32. The minority ethnic population of the UK is concentrated in the large urban centres, often in poorer areas. • White people make up 61% of the total population in London. • The second largest proportion of Black and Asian people is in the West Midlands (13%)

33. Black and Asian groups are on average much poorer and have a higher unemployment rate than White people. • Few high status jobs, lower salaries. • However, there is some progress especially in public sector employment. • Public sector organizations are obliged by law (since 2000) to promote racial equality. • This duty does not apply to private companies, although trade unions are campaigning for its extension.

34. Four Race Relations Acts (in 1965, 1968, 1976 and 2000) • The creation of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in 1976, replaced in 2006 by the equality and Human Rights Commission • The EmploymentEquality (religion or belief) regulationsmakereligious discrimination illegal and oblige employers to makereasonablefacilitiesavailable for believers (prayerrooms in workplaces, for example). • Political campaigns against racism : Rock against racism ( 1970s) Anti-Nazi league (1970s and 1990s) Love Music Hate Racism and Unite against Fascism (today)

35. Riots in inner cities in the mid 1990s and more recently in the spring 2001 and 2005 . Police and young Black people fighting each other. • The fascist British National Party won two seats in the European parliament in 2009. • In 2009 and 2010 groups like the English Defence League have organized demonstrations against muslims. They were often met by counter-demonstrations,

36. . A poster from Bristol

37. The publication of the Macpherson Report (1999) on the murder of Stephen Lawrence by four young White thugs also showed that British institutions (particularly the police) were institutionally racist. • A particular brand of racism called ‘islamophobia’ is targeting Muslims. It started to develop at the very end of the 1980s, and has been reactivated since the terrorist attacks In the US (2001) and in London (2005).

39. In May 2006, the racist British National party got 54 local councillors elected – the highest number for several decades. In the 2010 elections, the party won only 26 council seats,

43. Anti-racist campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s

44. anti-racist campaigns today

45. End of part one http://johncmullen.blogspot.com

46. Work, leisure and social classes

47. Work in Britain by sector

48. Full-time workers (in 2009) 21.47 million Part-time workers 7.53 million In 2008-2009 more than 250,000 extra people who would like to be in full-time employment have found themselves working four days a week or fewer, according to the Office for National Statistics. -companies are trying to cope with the downturn by reducing staff hours, rather than just making people redundant.

49. Socio-economic classification: by sex, 2005 Percentage of working age population Source: Social Trends 36 (2006) Office of National Statistics

50. Workingweek In Britain people work long hours 13% sometimeswork more than 48 hours a week. On average a full-time employeeworks 44 hours a week – thisis more than in most countries in Europe. On average an employeeworks 40.2 hours in 2009 (in France 38.4) The maximum legalworkingdayisthirteenhours (in France ten). Statutory minimum paid leave (in days), 2008 24 days ( France 25).