# Non-Brits - conduct of UK Parliament? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980 "2019-09-10T13:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/1 "2019-09-10T13:41:25Z")
Hey foreign types. I’m curious. When the UK Parliament is shown on TV with its shouting, booing and shenanigans, is this seen positively, negatively, or anything? I ask because nearly all Brits seem to find it a source of cringing embarrassment, even long before Brexit entered the scene, but I’ve encountered more than a few non-Brits who find it amazingly refreshing and engaging. I guess if you only encountered it a little you might think that, but when it’s all you ever see of Parliament, it can wear. Any thoughts? I think there’s an assumption in the UK that other countries’ legislatures are dusty, library-like senatorial debating halls. That can’t be wholly true, can it? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/2 "2019-09-10T14:27:26Z")
You mean all that “Ooooorduuuuuuhhhh” business? Flippin’ hysterical. I think in general the USA takes itself very seriously, and so [any passion at all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2aO_3-RA00) in congress is a remarkable thing. We’re pretty used to dry delivery of even the most stinging attacks. But how is Parliament seen? I’ll make you a deal, I promise not to think regular Brits are anything like their MPs if you agree to not equate the average American with the depravity festering in Washington DC. It’s all theater, just different varieties of entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/3 "2019-09-10T14:47:06Z")
What I’ve seen reminds me of our House of Commons, especiLly Question Period. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/4 "2019-09-10T14:49:31Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Any thoughts? I think there’s an assumption in the UK that other countries’ legislatures are dusty, library-like senatorial debating halls. That can’t be wholly true, can it? Spain’s tends to be less, ah, entertaining than the Brits have been lately, but we’ve got our moments. There have been lines from speeches which joined pop culture (“_¿a cuánto están los garbanzos?_”, “how much do chick peas cost?” - Manuel Fraga Iribarne, as a way to point out that most PMs are completely disconnected from the worries of normal people) and others which were very much not in speeches also did so (turning away from the microphone after a particularly irritating Q&A session and thinking it was closed, Fernando Trillo let rip a “_¡manda güevos!_” which produced the new euphemism “_¡manda Trillos!_”; I’m drawing a blank on colloquial expressions right now but _güevos_ are testicles and the lines’ meaning is along the lines of “fucker ought’a keep his hands away from my balls damnit”). The general impression is that the current situation is Not Normal but also that it is a reflection of the very much Not Normal situation outside of Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/5 "2019-09-10T16:46:03Z")
Pakistani here. It sounds like our National Assembly, so meh. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/6 "2019-09-10T19:58:29Z")
This American loves it. I was actually going to start a thread on this myself. Much more entertaining than the borefest that is our Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/7 "2019-09-10T20:05:02Z")
It feels a little more honest, really - speakers at least know how their comments are being received (by their colleagues, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/8 "2019-09-10T20:11:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What I’ve seen reminds me of our House of Commons, especiLly Question Period. It’s very similar in the Australian House of Representatives and in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. (The latter is nicknamed “the bear pit”.) It’s because the leaders of the government and the alternative government sit facing each other every day that the parliament sits. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/9 "2019-09-10T20:12:17Z")
It’s so completely different than the pretend politeness and forced formality that we get. It seems like a difficult environment to get things done in, but also makes the MPs feel more like real people who care about issues than someone just playing a role to get elected. And it’s much more entertaining to watch, even some of the funnier things that have happened in US congressional testimony (like Dee Snyder suggesting that Tipper Gore is into hardcore S&M) are quite dry in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/10 "2019-09-10T20:18:56Z")
The Brits are so much wittier and tuned into sly humor than we are here in the States. I’m aghast at what you are currently enduring as a nation and over what is happening to your government, but the theater of it is nonetheless riveting. I was similarly entranced the first time I visited Australia and happened to catch some of their own parliamentary proceedings on the tee vee. Boy, could those guys and gals lay it on!! Funny. As. Hell. Yet they accomplish things. Or at least, they did then. This was 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-brits-conduct-of-uk-parliament/839980/11 "2019-09-10T20:36:41Z")
I prefer the Taiwan assembly, were politics is not only vocal but physical… Example: [Massive fight breaks out in Taiwanese parliament - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXmPDLRt6hA)