Visuo-material performances

Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) is a weekly, half-hour long session in the British House of Commons, which gives backbench Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Leader of the Opposition (LO) the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister (PM) questions on any topic relating to the government’s policies and actions. The discourse at PMQs is often described as adversarial (see Bull & Wells 2011) and in this paper I will show how the notion of impoliteness can be applied to both the questions and the answers which make up the session. Through the detailed analysis of six sessions of PMQs I will also demonstrate that PMQs is also a source of polite linguistic behaviour of the sort described in Brown & Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory. Comparisons between Gordon Brown’s and David Cameron’s speech styles will also be drawn.

This chapter examines how accountability is carried out in the UK Parliament through various questioning procedures which enable ministers and the government to explain and defend their decisions. Questioning the government provides an important means for Members of Parliament (MPs) and peers to hold the government, the prime minister, ministers, and departments to account. There are two main types of parliamentary questions: oral questions and written questions. Oral questions are both asked and answered on the Floor of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, whereas written questions are ‘often used to obtain detailed information about policies and statistics on the activities of government departments’. The chapter first explains these two types of parliamentary questions before discussing their purposes. It also considers debates over the issue of reforming parliamentary questions, and more specifcally Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs).

The paper dwells on the language of a political dialogue between two members of the UK Parliament in the House of Commons during the weekly event called Prime Minister’s Questions, which took place on the 29th March 2023. At the time, standing in for the Prime Minister was the Conservative Deputy Prime Minster, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab; the other MP is Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner. The present analysis highlights textual and linguistic features of the discourse from several points of view: that of register, pragmatic and semantic, lexico-grammatical, rhetorical and stylistic. The verbal exchange is heated, with an intensely dramatic effect, with all the elements converging towards the conative function of communication, as the public is meant to be drawn to one side or the other of the political agenda.

Journal Article The Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister's Question Time Get access R. K. ALDERMAN R. K. ALDERMAN Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 45, Issue 1, January 1992, Pages 66–76, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a052343 Published: 01 January 1992

The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of the different sensory cues on the ability of dynamic trunk control in sitting position in children with and without cerebral palsy (CP) aged between 8-15 years. Twenty children with cerebral palsy (10 males, 10 females) and 20 typical children (10 males, 10 females) were matched by age and gender. All participants were asked to lean trunk forward, backward, and to the left and the right directions as far as possible during sitting position in each of four cue conditions that performed in random order: no sensory, visual cue, verbal cue, and combined visual and verbal cue conditions. The results showed that the visual or verbal cue alone could improve LOS in typical children, but not in children with CP, whereas the combined visual and verbal cues could improve LOS in both children with and without CP (p<0.05). In addition, the visual or verbal cue alone could improve CoF trajectories in backward, the left and the right directions in typical children, whereas it could improve CoF trajectories only in forward directions in children with CP. Moreover, the combined visual and verbal cues could improve CoF trajectories in all directions in typical children and in forward, backward, and the left directions in children with CP (p<0.05). In conclusion, the combined visual and verbal cues was more effective to improve LOS and CoF trajectory in both groups.

Determining social power: Do Chinese preschoolers integrate verbal and nonverbal cues?

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to assess (1) the overall mental health of Members of Parliament (MPs) and (2) awareness among MPs of the mental health support services available...

Protecting profits

1. Introduction (by Berlin, Lawrence N.) 2. Part I. Approaching follow-ups 3. Sequentiality and follow-ups (by Mey, Jacob L.) 4. Follow-ups as speech acts in mediated political discourse (by Oishi, Etsuko) 5. Monologic follow-ups in political macro-discourse: The US anti-terrorist discourse as a case in point (by Cap, Piotr) 6. Part II. Follow-ups across genres 7. Pragmatic strategies for follow-ups in US political debates (by Berlin, Lawrence N.) 8. Follow-ups and dialogue in online discussions on French politics: From Internet forums to social TV (by Atifi, Hassan) 9. Online follow-ups as evaluative reactions to two visits of the Argentinian president to the United States (by Granato, Luisa) 10. Part III. The perlocutionary potential of follow-ups as objects of talk 11. Irony in and through follow-ups: Talk and meta-talk in online commenting in the Israeli context (by Weizman, Elda) 12. Follow-ups as multifunctional questioning and answering strategies in Prime Minister's Questions (by Ilie, Cornelia) 13. If I am elected President ...: Other-quotations in French presidential debates (by Johansson, Marjut) 14. 'When you came into office you said that your government would be different': Forms and functions of quotations in mediated political discourse (by Fetzer, Anita) 15. Subject index

The appointment by the Sovereign of a Prime Minister is an act done by virtue of the royal prerogative. In theory the Queen could commission anyone she pleased to form a government. But in practice such a notion is entirely removed from reality, because of course today the royal discretion is subject to several limiting factors, the most important of which is that in making an appointment she should commission that person who seems able to command a majority in the House of Commons. The other restraints are that the person chosen must be a Member of Parliament (or be about to occupy his seat as an MP after a general election), must not be a peer (unless he can disclaim his peerage under the Peerage Act 1963 and seek a seat in the House of Commons), and must usually be the elected Leader of his party. It is possible to go further than noting these limitations and to argue that, although the formal appointment of a Prime Minister 1s a prerogative act, the actual choice no longer normally lies with the Queen at all: in that sense the selection of a new Prime Minister does not depend upon any prerogative power.

Cook Islands Jon Tikivanotau M Jonassen (bio) This was a year of birthdays in the Cook Islands.The nation's first political party, the Cook Islands Party (CIP), celebrated its fortieth birthday in March 2004. By October, the Girl Guides, the oldest uniformed women's organization, commemorated seventy-five years of activity since its arrival in the country. And the Baha'i faith, the earliest non-Christian denomination to come into the Cook Islands, celebrated its fiftieth birthday. Also in October, the Child Welfare Association commemorated seventy years of service. The year also saw the continuation of a worrying population decline, unpopular political party switches by members of Parliament, cabinet reshuffles, land controversies, immigration concerns, and apprehension about economic development. High-profile personalities dominated the media, influenCIN g election preparations, government actions, and policies. The dramas included convicted New Zealand business tycoon Mark Lyon; Ministry of Marine Resources Secretary Navy Epati; and Eddie Drollett, former chief of staff of the prime minister's department. Efforts by Mark Lyon to seek sanctuary in Rarotonga attracted much attention, generating demands from the newly formed Concerned Citizens Group for an investigation, as well as expressions of unease from the two major political parties and trenchant media queries about the circumstances surrounding his residency. In an effort to win public sympathy, Lyon issued an open letter to the people of Rarotonga, declaring, "I came here for the first time in 2002 and fell under your spell. I have since moved my family here, in the hope of sanctuary from the lifestyle I wish to leave behind. Given my past, I do not expect you to embrace me nor to invite me into your daily lives. I can only hope that, given enough time, you may see that I have learned to live by your example. Like you I want my children to do better in life than Ihave done, not to repeat my mistakes" (CIN, 17 Dec 2003, 3). Some 100 unconvinced demonstrators marched in the capital,Avarua,openly opposing Lyon's effort to stay in the Cook Islands, but the fiasco continued when he was granted twelve-month residency and a suspected "$150,000 payout" was revealed. It was clear that the two major political parties did not support the government's actions in this regard: the Democratic Party condemned the government for granting Lyon the residency permit, and the Cook Islands Party demanded answers over related issues. Rumors persisted that Lyon had given money to assist the Democratic Party in its reelection bid. This was never confirmed, but the local media did discover that Lyon had received $100,000 of his money back, minus [End Page 185] $50,000 that his lawyer, Norman George (also a member of Parliament), had reserved for legal coverage. Cook Islands Prime Minister Dr Robert Woonton's revelation that Lyon was one of several people interested in purchasing the on-again, off-again Vaima'anga (or Sheraton) hotel project only added to the debacle (CIN, 6 Dec 2003, 1). Amid all of this confusion, Lyon traveled to Mangaia on his "Miami Vice-style launch" and arrived unannounced, much to the annoyance of residents. He was asked to leave, but damage to his boat forced a two-week stay. To make peace with the Mangaia people, he donated a processor for the island's growers of noni fruit (Morinda citrifolia).However, such acts of "inspired" aid did not help Lyon's situation. After meeting with citizens concerned about Lyon's lifestyle and influence on others, and reviewing allegations of pornography, drug use, and assault, the prime minister finally withdrew his support and banned Lyon from reentering the country (CIN, 16 Jan 2004, 1). Only months after calling them wonderful and inspiring, Mark Lyon branded the people of the Cook Islands "boring as hell" (CIN, 12 Feb 2004, 1). Lyon shared the media limelight with Navy Epati, head of the Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources, whose ownership of a fishing company generated suggestions of conflict of interest. Epati had a 70 percent stake in Te Maroro Fishing Company Ltd, a commercial fishing venture he had set up in May 2003 while head ofthe marine resources ministry. He...

BackgroundDuring a critical event in the labor and delivery operating room, it is crucial for team members responding to the situation to be aware of the designated leaders. Visual and verbal cues have been utilized to designate leadership in various healthcare settings; however, previous research has indicated mixed results using visual cues for role designation.MethodsThe purpose of this study was to explore the use of the red surgical hat as a visual cue of leadership during obstetric emergency simulation training. We used a mixed-methods design to analyze simulation-based education video and debriefing transcripts.ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of participants who declared leadership vs. those who donned the red hat. Participants were more likely to visually declare leadership utilizing a red surgical bouffant hat than to verbally declare leadership. Most participants indicated that observing the red hat to detect leadership in the operating room was more effective than when leaders used a verbal declaration to inform others who was leading.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that utilizing a visual cue of leadership with the red surgical bouffant hat improves participant perceptions of communication of the surgical team during an obstetrical critical event in a simulation environment.

Settler-State Apologies to Indigenous Peoples:A Normative Framework and Comparative Assessment Sheryl Lightfoot (bio) DURING THE PAST TWO DECADES, an increasing number of states have issued official apologies to Indigenous peoples. The first wave of state apologies to Indigenous peoples began in 1991 when Canada's assistant deputy minister for Indian affairs offered what may have been the first governmental apology to Indigenous peoples, and the first of three apologies Canada has offered for its century-long Indian Residential Schools program that removed Indigenous children from their homes and forcibly placed them in church-run Residential Schools.1 Shortly thereafter, in 1993, the United States Congress issued an official apology for "the illegal overthrow" of Hawaiian sovereignty in 1893.2 This non–legally binding apology, a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed in a small ceremony by U.S. President Bill Clinton the very same day, acknowledged the overthrow of Hawaiian sovereignty, but it also carefully sidestepped Hawaiian sovereignty claims and did not provide any federal recognition for Native Hawaiians. In 1997 and 1998, the kings of Norway and Sweden each offered formal apologies to the Sámi people for years of widespread discrimination and injustices committed against them, including forced dislocation, resettlement, and assimilation programs.3 Also in 1998, Canada's Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart issued a "Statement of Reconciliation," Canada's second official "apology" to Aboriginal peoples, which was widely criticized by Aboriginal people as insincere and inadequate. Then, in September 2000, at a ceremony marking the 175th anniversary of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), BIA director Kevin Gover gave an apology speech expressing "profound sorrow" for the "historical conduct of this agency."4 In 2008 and 2009, a fresh wave of apologies to Indigenous people washed over the Anglosphere.5 On February 13, 2008, Australia's newly elected Labour prime minister Kevin Rudd opened his first session of Parliament with his government's first official act. With crowds gathered outside and his image broadcast live on television throughout the country, the prime minister rose and delivered an official apology on behalf of the government of Australia to [End Page 15] the Stolen Generations—the Aboriginal children that had been removed from their homes and families under a century-long forced assimilation program. Several months later, on June 11, 2008, the Conservative prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, stood before Parliament in the House of Commons and delivered a new "official statement of apology" that he said was offered to Aboriginal survivors of Canada's Residential School system "on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians."6 The next year, the United States Senate passed a resolution7 apologizing for past policies of the U.S. government toward Native peoples, which was highly criticized by Native Americans for its lack of ceremonial presentation since it was tacked on to a defense appropriations bill and quietly signed, without ceremony, by President Barack Obama on December 19, 2009.8 Meanwhile, highly detailed and ceremonial apologies have been made to Māori claimant groups by the New Zealand government, acknowledging all documented violations of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, ongoing since 1992, as standard practice in settling treaty claims. In 2010, the trend of state apologies to Indigenous peoples extended to Latin America. In January 2010, Chile's president Michelle Bachelet apologized to the descendants of a group of Kawesqar people, from Chile's southernmost region. The remains of five Kawesqar, who had been taken captive in 1881 and displayed as curiosities in Europe, were returned to the Kawesqar people for proper burial, accompanied by a formal apology offered by Chile's president. While the apology was only directed at the descendants of the Kawesqar people, Bachelet did acknowledge that wider mistreatment of Indigenous peoples was the result of Chile's past racist attitudes.9 In October of the same year, on the 518th anniversary of Columbus's landing in the Americas, Mauricio Funes, president of El Salvador, offered an apology to the nation's Indigenous peoples for "the persecution, for the extermination of which they were victims for so many years" under a "reigning model of oppression."10 Given the notable recent...

Cook Islands Jon Tikivanotau M Jonassen (bio) The period under review began with the fortieth anniversary of the achieve­ment of self-government in free association with New Zealand. Scott Rob­ert of New Zealand won the popular Round Rarotonga Road Race for 2005, and a 197-kilogram northern bluefin tuna caught by Willie Farani of the Gypsy Trade was sold to Japan for a record US$62,000 (CIN, 2 July 2005, 1). But soon the rejoicing turned into a year of political sackings: Sir Geoffrey Henry as deputy prime minister in August 2005, then Tupou Faireka and Tom Marsters as cabinet ministers in September 2005, in what Prime Minister Jim Marurai called "clearing dirt from my government" (CIN, 10 Sept 2005, 1). The outgoing ministers were replaced by Dr Terepai Maoate (as deputy prime minister), Mr Tangata Vavia, and Mrs Ngamau Munokoa. Further possible changes in cabinet and rumors of new coalitions continued to emerge from time to time throughout this period. Local media magnate George Pitt was also sacked in October 2005 from his position as chairman of the board for Rarotonga Island's electricity pro­vider, Te Aponga Uira O Tumutevaro­varo. Several heads of department positions were re-advertised. The Cook Islands' most senior diplomat, the high commissioner to New Zea­land and Australia, former Cook Islands Prime Minister Dr Robert Woonton, was fired for allegedly interfering with local politics in the Northern group, an accusation Dr Woonton denied. Prime Minister Marurai asked Minister Peri Vaevae Pare to resign after he was accused of misusing public funds. Vaevae was later found guilty, subsequently losing his seat in Matavera. The by-election that emerged between three contestants—Vaine Teokotai for the Democratic Party, Kiriau Turepu for the Cook Islands Party, and Mereana Taikoko as an independent—should be decided by July 2006. However, it is doubtful that ­theresult of the Matavera by-election will stabilize a coalition-based gov­ernment that has seen many shifts in allegiance by several of the twenty-four member parliamentarians insensitive to the party supporters who voted them in. An earlier vacated ­parliamentary seat in Atiu Island ­initiated three hopeful candidates, including former MP Norman George. Standing this time as an independent, George won the by-election, potentially shifting the power base his way—a situation he is familiar with, having been a key player in many previous coalition governmental changes. The possibility of a hung parliament also hangs over the small nation. Initial efforts by Jim Marurai at creating a government of national unity were viewed as unrealistic by most local longtime political leaders (CIN, 13 August 2005, 1). But the [End Page 207] prime minister later "walked the talk," as he and members of his department trekked into the Takuvaine valley as part of a team-spirit–building exercise. Local media described the activity as an effort to overcome the negative impact of personnel changes in the department resulting from several past leadership adjustments. Sadly, Prime Minister Marurai's wife Tuaine passed away after a long illness and was laid to rest in her home island of Mangaia inSeptember 2005. The first newspaper of the Cook Islands, published 26 January 1895 under the label Te Torea, was remembered (CIN, 17 Aug 2005, 7). Sir Geoffrey Henry, the leader of the oldest political party in the nation, the Cook Islands Party, confirmed that he would step down from national and party politics in 2006 (CIN, 28 Sept 2005, 1), although most observers remained skeptical at the announcement. Meanwhile there is increasing pressure from women leaders for more access to positions of political power. A regional conference was held in Rarotonga, aimed at advancing women's representation in Parliament. One suggestion was the enactment of legal quotas for special measures for women as parliamentary members. Women leaders and the general public have long perceived that existing parliamentarians did very little legislative work for their salaries and special benefits. Some noted that by January 2006 Parliament had only sat for thirty days since the general election in 2004 (CIN, 31 Jan 2006, 1). During the year, the so-called "Sheraton debacle" continued to reemerge in a variety of forms...

In February 1780, Edmund Burke rose in the House of Commons to explain the impending loss of America and rail against political corruption in the speech on Economical Reform. Among the speech’s most effective rhetorical refrains was to remind the honourable members, repeatedly, that true reform of a corrupt, expensive and antiquated royal administration was impossible because ‘The King’s turnspit was a member of parliament’. But was he? The answer lies in the Database of Court Officers. Since 2005, the Database of Court Officers 1660–1837, hosted by Loyola University Chicago, has sought to provide an authoritative source for the career histories of every salaried member of the British royal household for this period. Prior to 2019 it included only the servants of the sovereign’s household, but in that year, it was expanded to include the forty-nine satellite courts of the various queens (consort, mother and dowager), as well as princes and princesses of the blood — a total of 21,000 officers and servants overall. The household, among its many ceremonial, social, and domestic functions, provided places for peers and members of Parliament — the vehicle of political influence and corruption that Burke decried and sought to reform. This article introduces the expanded database and establishes the size, expense, and opportunities for patronage of the combined royal households (sovereign’s and satellite courts) across the period. It concludes with an analysis of the number of peers and members of Parliament who held household office over time with a view towards establishing 1) the identity of the offending turnspit; and 2) whether the ‘corruption’ Burke called out (i.e., the contingent of peers and MPs with positions at court) was really so large or decisive as he and other reformers alleged, determining that it was neither of those things.