Post by lethen on Feb 14, 2007 22:54:39 GMT -5
The Foreign Dispatch from Great Britain and Ireland[/font]
February 2007
14th February 2007
Greetings to all the nations, regions, and readers of the world from the desks of the Foreign Office of His Majesty --Great Britain--, King of Great Britain and Ireland and all her Dominions and Colonies. The Foreign Dispatch is written by Lethen, the Foreign Secretary, and North East Somerset, the Prime Minister of GB&I, with the assistance of His Majesty's Government, Members of Parliament, distinguished ambassadors and guests, and loyal British Citizens. Special thanks to R3nnaissanc3r as Editor of this edition. Please enjoy!
Politics in the 12th Parliament
The General Election scheduled for January 2, 2007 started off with fourteen Manifestos, and very healthy interest, considering the inactivity due to the absence of the Prime Minister R3nnaissanc3r near the end of term. But disorganisation on the part of the government soon led to it faltering. After some confusion in the dates for the election entrant application, Killtron was unable to put his name on the ballot and missed his chance to run. At first claims were made that the elections should be deemed illegal, but then it was concluded that the date of the election was the date the poll ended not started.
Soon, however, another issue was brought to the attention of the masses. English
Sympathizers, who at the time was away on Christmas vacation, had stated his intent to run earlier in another thread before he left, and the Home Secretary had put forwards his application. Due to a lack of knowledge about the legality of entering an election through proxy, it was not until two days into the election that officials realized that English Sympathizers was illegally standing.
The votes at the end of the election looked as follows, with R3naissancer, The Venerable Vendetta, Lethen and North East Somerset gaining the highest number of votes:
R3naissancer (Independent) [ 12 ] [15.38%]
Windsor-Bainbridge (Independent) [ 6 ] [7.69%]
Paquerettes (Independent) [ 6 ] [7.69%]
Lethen (Independent) [ 10 ] [12.82%]
North East Somerset (Independent) [ 9 ] [11.54%]
British Allies (Independent) [ 3 ] [3.85%]
Riddim (Independent) [ 5 ] [6.41%]
Fenchurch (Independent) [ 7 ] [8.97%]
Schnecke (Alliance) [ 5 ] [6.41%]
Blairvillage (Conservative) [ 1 ] [1.28%]
Venerable Vendetta (Independent) [ 11 ] [14.10%]
English Sympathizers (Independent) [ 3 ] [3.85%]
Due to the lack of required votes, a minimum of three, to gain entry into Parliament, the eleventh name on the ballot, Blairvillage, would not gain entry into the House of Commons. It was therefore argued that by making English Sympathizers position void, the three votes he received could have been given to Blairvillage thus making him an MP. After review of the elections by the High Court, the Lord Chief Justice, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, King John of Gililand, concluded that a common sense clause in the Elections Act meant the Elections would not be made void due to the disproportionate affect this would have on the regions stability and the unlikelihood of enough of English Sympathizers votes going to Blairvillage.
The final results of the general election after the Court Case meant the following citizens were elected as MPs:
British Allies, Fenchurch, Lethen, North East Somerset, Paquerettes, R3naissancer, Riddim, Schnecke, Venerable Vendetta and Windsor-Bainbridge
When the issue of the legality of the election was concluded, a majority of the MPs nominated and thus declared their support for North East Somerset to be appointed Prime Minister. The appointment of the Prime Minister was made by the Monarch, --Great Britain— on January 8th 2007. It is North East Somerset’s third term as Prime Minister.
North East Somerset upon his appointment as Prime Minister
The Prime Minister then decided to announce a temporary Cabinet on January 9th 2007, as because there was a shortfall in the number of MPs a by-election could be called:
Home Secretary: Riddim
Foreign Secretary: Lethen
Colonial Secretary: Windsor Bainbridge
Minister of Defence: The Venerable Vendetta
The Prime Minister, North East Somerset shortly called the by-election for the 17th January 2007.
Killtron, who had stated his intention to stand, due to his missing of the General Election, placed his name in the candidacy submissions. But the more surprising entry was Posul, a long standing member of the region.
It was to prove an extremely exciting by-election, with two high profile characters, both with considerable support. In the end the by-election was closer than anyone could have possibly imagined, with an outright tie.
Posul (Independent) [ 12 ] [50.00%]
Killtron (Independent) [ 12 ] [50.00%]
Under GB&I electoral law, both Posul and Killtron were elected as MPs, bringing the total number up to twelve, still under the thirteen member limit.
Posul reflecting on his last few months
Posul, who has come under a lot of pressure over the last few months over a series of incidents, made a quick return to parliament, rapidly causing an argument over asking questions to the government, before procedure was put in place for a Question Time in the future.
The Cabinet was then changed to include Killtron who was interested in the Minister of Security position. The addition of a new Department of Immigration, with Fenchurch at its head, reflects the high priority being given to recruitment during the rest of this term. There have been other changes to the running of Cabinet with a new office for the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Commission for Constitutional Affairs, headed by R3nnaissanc3r being moved into that Office’s jurisdiction.
The new Cabinet is much larger, and will hopefully be able to cope with the increasing demands on the government to improve the region further, and involve more people. The new Cabinet is as follows:
Deputy Prime Minister: Windsor Bainbridge
Foreign Secretary: Lethen
Immigration Secretary: Fenchurch
Home Secretary: The Venerable Vendetta
Colonial Secretary: Riddim
Minister of Security: Killtron
Independence granted to Dominions
Has the sun set on the Great British and Irish empire for the last time?
The Great British and Irish empire has been part of the regions culture and heritage for a long time. The most powerful political camp in Great Britain and Ireland has for a long time been the imperialists, with the Liberal Imperialist Party in particular dominating GB&I Politics for almost a year until its disintegration several months ago.
The GB&I Empire once had over 100 nations in it, and expanded to over 10 different regions, of which several had forums. After Palestine when military expansion became a non-option, GB&I concentrated on the Dominions scheme: regions founded by GB&I citizens, which were semi-autonomous and intended to be developed separately. Since the adoption of the Dominions, the empire suffered, and failed to expand so rapidly, due to the effort. In the end it became a drain on resources, and though it effectively collapsed several months ago, it has taken a long time to break the ties, due to the sympathy for imperialism still in GB&I.
Since then opposition to the empire has been growing steadily, with citizens proclaiming the empire is a waste of resources, and bound to fail. After several attempts to make the empire more successful, it was the imperial Windsor Bainbridge who finally supported publicly that the empire was no longer a viable proposition in the form of dominions, when he was Colonial Secretary back in 2006. Many attempts have been made to make the empire a success, but GB&I was unwilling to distract her members’ work to the small dominions, and eventually unwilling to expend effort on what seemed to a useless cause.
The final nail in the coffin to many was the capture of The Falkland Islands by a regional empire builder, after the government failed in a re-founding attempt. An Inquiry into this is due to begin soon. Ceylon has also been lost recently, though it was deliberate rather than an accident as before.
The Abolition of Dominions Bill grants independence to Dominions, but gives all current citizens of the empire citizenship of Great Britain and Ireland. A new future was envisaged for the region as a power in its own right across Nationstates last term, and the government has been moving in that direction, rather than in the direction of imperialism – and it seems now, with the bill past the Commons, and the Lords, about to be approved by the Monarch, there is no turning back.
The Empire is not officially abolished, though. The Commonwealth Realm law has not been repealed, and there are no plans to do anything of the sort. It has instead been decided to keep it, as it is useful legislation for any regions wishing to join the Empire. In contrary to being a dominion, a region which has been granted Commonwealth Realm status enjoys a fixed number of seats in the Parliament, as well as independent foreign policy. In an era of consolidation in Nationstates, the prospect of a Commonwealth might soon become a reality. The closest ever achieved to a Commonwealth was when the FCS almost gained 30% seats in the GB&I parliament but the overthrowing of the democratic government put an end to the union, and eventually resulted in a long lasting war between the two regions, to be resolved about a year after the failed union. It must be noted that the Commonwealth Realm status has been heavily amended since then.
The Government Agenda
Prime Minister North East Somerset made a speech to the region on February 12th 2007, which can be found here. He outlined a plan for the future of the region in the short and medium term to follow on from his Manifesto which outlined the long term plan.
The Prime Minister's Office's targets for the 12th Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland:
- Administer Cabinet members to maximise progress.
- Help in areas of slow progress personally to ensure failure is avoided.
- To take all ultimate responsibility for any failures.
- Work to produce advice for the next government on what to do next, noting clear direction and vision as a priority.
- Fulfil PMs duties when he is away, and act as a deputy in all statesman duties.
- Review the electoral system.
- Undertake continual review of laws to identify areas in need of change in the future.
- Be there to construct and work on laws when the government needs them.
- Look at the possibility of condensing or removing unnecessary or overly complicated laws, and repealing and passing through new acts for laws that have too many amendments.
- Release two Foreign Dispatches each term
- Have all Ambassador roles filled and organised properly.
- Form new strategic alliances, and work to honour current ones.
- Introduce the new ambassador reporting system.
- Work on Foreign Policy direction for future.
- Conclude abolition of dominions.
- Integrate Commonwealth Realms part of Office into Foreign Office.
- Deal with governmental legal administration in the parliament and courts.
- Deal with governmental administrative details around the forums.
- Report on forum activity situation, and suggest and administer initiatives to increase activity.
- Update Citizenship applications and registers.
- Conclude the functional details of the break up of the Home Office.
- Increase the GB&I population to 200
- Introduce an active an effective regime similar to the ambassadorial system for immigration assistants.
- Make a new recruitment telegram to increase efficiency.
- Discuss best way forward for military through the revival period.
- Get the number of military personnel up to 12, and press issue hard, every active citizen should be in it, unless they have good excuse.
- Make a new military bill separating defence and intelligence, and making the military work effectively through any means.
- Be able to both execute complex operations and send 12 UN units to help allies by end of term.
Military Revitalisation Plans
After discussion, speculation, criticism, and spurts of inactivity, the military
of Great Britain and Ireland is being reorganized and revamped. The military in
question has quite a history. It was once one of the most active imperial powers in NS, involved in such famous battles as Hong Kong and the Battle of Palestine, The Battle of Fiji, as well as defensive missions, and the FCS War. The main argument for change is that the military members desire less red tape, an improved command structure, and a more active military that attracts more citizens to join.
Steps have thus been taken. The newly elected Parliament gave a vote of no
Confidence to remove the inactive previous CIGS (Chief of the Imperial General Staff) and Stony Stratford has been appointed as a temporary CIGS. His main task will be to promote some other members of the military, so that a new, active, and knowledgeable CIGS will be chosen from the Officers. The favourite future CIGS is Posul, who wrote a speech about the future of the military recently.
Legislation has been put before the House of Commons to make widespread reforms to the military service, to allow members of the Cabinet to authorise and give orders for missions, as well as changing the system to remove red tape.
The Great British and Irish Military gears up for action
Training missions have already begun; with successful responses in a short time, although still in relatively low numbers, and an active Minister of Defence, Killtron has taken the helm and got right down to work, from first hand barracks inspections to crawling through live-fire courses. It is hoped by the end of this term, that the military will be able to take part in real missions once more, and respond with 12 nations or more within 24 hours. Great Britain and Ireland can only benefit from a stronger military force in Nationstates, in order to implement its foreign policy, and protect itself and its allies.
Foreign Relations
The Ambassador’s Official Flag
During the last term, diplomacy has moved to the forefront of the Great Britain
and Ireland government agenda. Several new treaties were signed last term revolutionizing the diplomatic situation in GB&I.
Ten new embassies have been requested and approved: The Land of Kings and Emperors, Equilism, the Anti Liberal League, Americana, the League of Dictatorships, Cingeta, Torino, the New Power Federation, the Inquisition Republic, and Taijitu. Lethen, upon being appointed as the Foreign Secretary, has assigned a new Head of Ambassadors, Schnecke and they hope to work to expand Great Britain and Ireland's diplomatic influence further, and take more active roles in current alliances, as well as ACCEL.
A new Reporting system is being phased in from the release of this Dispatch, to rate the performance of ambassadors, so that they perform to the high standard expected of them. A numeration system for embassy status is already in place and in use in the Ambassador Roster.
From the good folks at Hansard
Parliament has seen key legislation in the Chambers this term
Both Chambers of the Parliament have been active during the last few weeks. There are several reforms in different stages in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
In the House of Commons, the Amendment of the Dominions Bill[/i[ was proposed by the Rt Honourable Venerable Vendetta on January 3rd 2007. A day later, the Rt Honourable Windsor Bainbridge proposed the Abolition of the Empire Bill 2007. This went to vote on the 7th January 2007, and lost after the Rt Honourable R3nnaissanc3r pledged his support for another bill with the same effect.
On the 9th January 2007, the Abolition of the Dominions Bill which incorporated parts from all three gentleman’s bills went to vote, and it was passed by the House of Commons on the 12th January 2007. It has recently been passed by the House of Lords, after much debate in the Upper Chamber, and it awaits the Monarchs signature.
The Monarch signed The Intelligence Affairs Bill on the 19th January, and the Decolonisation Bill two days later. The highly important Military Reform Bill is proceeding towards a vote, and The repeal of the Flags Act is in discussion.
Nominations for the Falkland Islands Inquiry have been selected by the House of Commons and Lords. Representing the Commons will be the Honourable British Allies, and from the Lords, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, Gililand, and the Earl of Westminster, Stony Stratford.
Also, the Rt Honourable R3nnaissanc3r has completed the Parliamentary Votes Index which can be viewed here. It categorises every piece of legislation ever passed in GB&I, totalling over 150 separate bills, linking to where the bill was signed, and it will be extremely useful in managing our legislation in the future.
Other Regional News
The forums have broken the 100,000 post mark to the jubilance of many citizens. Surprisingly Spamming accounts for fewer than 25% of this, with Westminster and Whitehall, the main governmental forums accounting for over 30%, showing just how much hard work has gone into the region over the past two years. The regional population is down below 200 again, but the new Immigration Office is hoping to set this right before the end of term.
The University has recently had a new Chancellor appointed. R3nnaissanc3r the ex-Prime Minister, has taken over, and updated all the records, with the latest sources from scholars in GB&I, and across NS. Click here to visit.
The list of new Citizens is again very healthy, with activity standards set by the Home Secretary being maintained at competitive levels, allowing only those with a proven interest and more than 20 posts with citizenship usually. The following Britons having recently become Citizens:
Dezzland
RavenScare
NatetheGreat
Worldends
Phil
Freedomdom
Quantum Bonus
Croisland
Gahanderfrachenbrachen
Revived Thacherism
Donchatryit
Packard Mill
French Foreign legion
Riddim continues her job as UN Delegate for GB&I, with Natethegreat to take over UN Affairs in the near future although Riddim will remain UND. Interest was fair overall, with good interest in some issues, with discussion on healthcare, nuclear responsibility and prohibition of UN Military. The resolutions votes held since the last Dispatch are listed below:
In vote (2-1 Against) Emigration Rights
Against (6-0) Continuity of Government
Against (7-2) Nuclear Responsibility
For (10-1) Repeal UN Educational Committee
Against (10-2) Healthcare Certification
For (6-4) No ex Post Facto Laws
Tie (4-4) Extraordinary Rendition
Tie (4-4) Sexual Privacy Act
Against (10-2) Prohibition of UN Military
For (3-2) Repeal Fair Sentencing Act
Against (5-1) UN Drug Act
The future of GB&I remains bright.
Goodbye from the Foreign Dispatch Team till the next update in March 2007.
God Save the King![/SIZE]
