Post by Ad Nihilo on Jul 24, 2008 14:13:39 GMT -5
The Foreign Dispatch from Great Britain and Ireland[/font]
July 2008
21st July 2008
Greetings to all the nations, regions, and readers of the world from the desks of the Foreign Office of His Majesty --Great Britain-- II, King of Great Britain and Ireland. The Foreign Dispatch is written by the Foreign Office, with the assistance of His Majesty's Government, Members of Parliament, distinguished ambassadors and guests, and loyal British Citizens. Please enjoy!
Regional Stats and Positions
Click to visit the Great Britain and Ireland Region
Click to visit the Great Britain and Ireland Forums
Regional population: 401
Regional power: Very High
The Government:
Prime Minister: Fenchurch
Deputy Prime Minister/First Sea Lord: Bilrow
Home Secretary: OnderKelkia
Foreign Secretary: Pope Righteousness III
Minister of Community: Engul
World Assembly Delegate: Engul
Number of Endorsements: 57
By-Election Results In
A by-election was held in Great Britain and Ireland on June the twenty-second for the two seats left in Parliament by the General Elections of June the sixth. There were four candidates for the two seats, which many Citizens were glad to see, owing to some worries about an uncontested election early on in the process. The four candidates and their results are as follows:
Free Liberal America (The New Party Party) [ 14 ] [31.11%]
Pope Righteousness III (Independent) [ 20 ] [44.44%]
Royal Aston (Independent) [ 2 ] [4.44%]
Ad Nihilo (Disgruntled Citizen’s Party) [ 9 ] [20.00%]
The following were elected to Parliament:
Free Liberal America (The New Party Party)
Pope Righteousness III (Independent)
Political Parties Return to Great Britain and Ireland
The Palace of Westminster observes the first political party in GB&I in many months
On July 1, 2008, Posul, Member of Parliament and former Prime Minister, formed The Whig Party, with co-signing founders Bilrow and Engul, both being MPs as well. Falconio, a Citizen of GB&I, has since joined The Whig Party. Many senior members of the GB&I community had varied opinions on the new development on the political front. The charter of The Whig Party and reaction can be found here.
In summary, many people viewed both the formation of the party and its principles with little surprise. The Prince of Wales, r3naissanc3r, former Prime Minister Sir Dingle Foot, MP, and the Duke of Northumbria, Westmorlandia all commented upon the party’s charter as “vanilla” or “expected.” The Duke of Northumbria and others, including Trade Wind and the MPs King John of Gililand and Free Liberal America questioned the apparent contradiction in the charter, concerning the desire for both a strong executive and a strong legislature.
In a speech to the House of Commons, Posul supported his formation of the party as well as propounding on his view of the current political stagnation of the region. Posul spoke against the “unity of silence,” stating that it was his firm belief that GB&I’s politics suffer from a lack of willingness to debate. He suggests that, because of this lack of debate and because of a lack of political socialisation, GB&I’s political health is in danger. In the second part of his speech, he defended his actions concerning the formation of The Whig Party, especially against claims that political parties engender personal argument and personal clashes. He pointed out that the lack of political parties hadn’t stopped personal arguments, and argued that the parties, in fact, were necessary to the continued political growth of the region. The reason, he said, that the parties hadn’t worked in the past, was due not to a fundamental flaw in the idea of a political party, but merely the fact that the people in parties of the past did not want to commit the necessary effort to the task.
There was no reaction in the Commons when this issue when to print, however, in the Public Gallery, there was varied, and mostly negative, reaction from a few forum members.
The Home Office Developments
The Home Office
On July 12, 2008, Home Secretary OnderKelkia made the announcement that Home Office efforts had greatly paid off and Great Britain and Ireland’s regional population had reached 400 nations. While waxing sentimental about the announcement of reaching 300 nations when he was the former Director of Immigration, the Home Secretary shared cautious opinions about becoming content with current numbers and practices. He cited the lack of a “massive influx of new members” to the forum, ineffective naturalization processes and an “appallingly low” level of regional participation in Home Office efforts. After strongly urging all Citizens to apply themselves and help out in the recruitment drive, the Home Secretary went on to congratulate Great Britain and Ireland on attaining the position as the largest monarchy in the NationStates world, surpassing The New Inquisition in that spot. OnderKelkia finished by saying “The population now indicates and represents our true position globally as a key leader of monarchy regions.” In close, he encouraged the region, once more, to take a larger part in the Home Office efforts.
Foreign Office Developments
The Foreign Office
Making headlines in foreign affairs today is the newly signed Treaty of Cornwall. The Treaty of Cornwall established the Sovereign Regions Alliance Treaty Organization, in some ways the successor organization to the Congress of Sovereigns, and in some ways, an entirely new organization. While the treaty’s terms have been agreed upon for some time, there has been a bit of a delay in getting the proper legislation passed and getting the proper signatures in order. It remains a high priority on the Foreign Office’s lists, however.
The former Foreign Secretary, Clemantion, made clear in his first few weeks, that clearing up the embassies and ambassador lists and growing healthy relationships with foreign regions were among his top priorities. July 3 marked the opening of a new embassy of Great Britain and Ireland in Imperial Britain and other regions are on the horizon. Also, closer relations with regions that share that particular British flavour, especially culturally, are to be targeted for the future.
Headway has also been made in the area of the Diplomatic Service. From a start of the term, seven vacant embassies have been filled and the Service’s goal remains to man all embassies abroad.
Unfortunately, Clemantion had to resign his position due to moving cross country and having no access to the region until the beginning of August. Prime Minister Fenchruch appointed Pope Righteousness III as his replacement. Pope Righteousness III has chosen Ad Nihilo to succeed him as Head of the Diplomatic Service.
Honours
On June 30, 2008 the King announced a list of Honours, the second list this year, after the January 12, 2008 announcements.
"Dear Citizens of Great Britain and Ireland,
Cabinet has unanimously authorised me, as King of GB&I, to award honours to those whose service to Great Britain and Ireland has been deemed exemplary. In some cases they are widely apart in terms of political views, and some of them have been aware of their appointments for some time, but now we officially honour them publicly before the entire region. They are:
For reliable and long-standing service to the region both domestically and internationally I bestow upon King John of Gililand the honour of being made a Knight of [the Order of] the British Empire in recognition of his services to the region in Government as Prime Minister, as well as Minister of Defence and Home Secretary. He has served our Military and Cabinet as First Sea Lord for a considerable period of time recently and previously served the Military as Commander of the Imperial General Staff. However he will be known to many members of the region as the Lord Chief Justice for much of the earlier part of our history. A most distinguished, loyal and honourable member of the region, his consistent services to the region and Crown deserve no less than a KBE.
For his services to the region in Government as Head of the Diplomatic Service, I hereby make Pope Righteousness III, a Member of [the Order of] the British Empire. He has brought much competency to this difficult but important management position.
For his services to the region in Government as Director of Immigration, as well as serving in Cabinet as Home Secretary, I hereby make Flake a Member of [the Order of] the British Empire. His recruitment blitzkrieg paved the way to the region finally breaking out of the 150-200 nations bracket we had so long been stuck in.
For her services to the region in Government as Minister of Community, for her many terms as a Parliamentarian, as well as for general contributions to the culture and community of the region, I hereby make The Kingdom of Paquerettes a Member of [the Order of] the British Empire.
My warmest congratulations go out to you all, and I hope that in future all of us can work hard together to secure the everlasting future of Great Britain and Ireland, and to continuously develop, expand and promote British power in NationStates.
Ever yours,
--Great Britain-- II
King of Great Britain and Ireland. "
From the Good Folks at Hansard
The 20th Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland was seated early last month and began with the Maiden Speeches of the first-time parliamentarians including: the Right Honourable OnderKelkia concerning solutions to naturalisation problems, the Right Honourable Taliesin concerning the evolution of NationStates2 and Great Britain and Ireland’s proper role, the Right Honourable Pope Righteousness III concerning the future of the Diplomatic Service and the Right Honourable Free Liberal America concerning governmental accountability and prudent military strategy.
In the House of Commons, the focus of most legislation leans in the direction of administrative matters. The Right Honourable OnderKelkia introduced The Justice Amendment Bill on 22 June, to officially give the authority to prosecute to the Attorney General, instead of the Home Secretary. It passed the Commons on 28 June and was sent to the House of Lords. The bill was amended by the Lords due to an offending extraneous definite article, and was sent down to the Commons on 4 July. The Members of Parliament quickly passed the bill, on 7 July.
The Foreign Affairs Act 2006 Amendment was introduced to the Commons on 25 June and is simply corrections to the referenced act, including tense forms and proper names. It passed the Commons on 28 June. The Lords, feeling that proper legislative procedure was not followed in the amending process while agreeing to the substance, passed an edited form of the bill on 8 July. The new version is currently at vote in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister introduced The Elections Act Amendment, which would limit the number of ministers to Cabinet a Prime Minister may appoint to five. Currently, there is no maximum set for Cabinet. Of the MPs who have commented on this bill, still on the floor of Commons, most have stated they feel the bill unnecessary.
Also introduced by Prime Minister Fenchurch was an amendment to the Standing Orders to include the creation of a Speaker of the House of Commons. The bill sparked heated debate among the parliamentarians and is still on the floor of the Commons.
Two related discussions taking place in the House of Commons was COPS (The Convention on Off Site Property Security) and legislation required by that convention if Great Britain and Ireland was to sign onto it. One of the original drafters of the convention answered questions from the MPs and mentioned a revised version of the treaty would be forthcoming. The MPs then decided to table debate due to objections to certain clauses in the convention and the pending revised version.
In the House of Lords, His Majesty the King introduced The SRATO Representation Amendment Bill, which outlined the procedures for the appointment of Great Britain and Ireland’s representatives to the Sovereign Regions Alliance Treaty Organization, one to the Council of Representatives and one to the Sovereign Regions Alliance Treaty Command. In the Second Reading of the bill before the Lords, there was some prolonged debate concerning the appointment of the military representative and in which act in the body of legislation the process should be outlined. The bill passed the Lords on 30 June, but some Lords were displeased with the expediency at which the bill was put to vote. A prolonged debate took place in the House of Commons on this bill as well. However, that debate was mostly concerned with the necessity of the bill on the whole, with some MPs saying that such a detailed piece of legislation was unnecessary for such a small task. Others claimed that the authority invested in the position made such legislation required. The bill passed the House of Commons on 7 July.
On 21 June, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, Prince R3naissanc3r submitted The Parliamentary Procedures (Further) Amendment Bill to the House of Lords. Its main objective was to repeal part of the Parliamentary Legislation Act 2005 and amend parts of the Justice Act 2005 so that violations of the standing orders of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords could not longer be considered criminal offences and, in the future, referred to Judicial Review. After debate, however, the amendments to the Justice Act 2005 were deemed undesirable and unnecessary and were not included in the Second Reading and the version that passed the Lords on 4 July. Following no meaningful debate in the House of Commons, the bill passed that house on 7 July.
Also on 21 June, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, Prince R3naissanc3r introduced The Discharge of Sailors Amendment Bill, which aimed to give the First Sea Lord more control over the Royal Navy by allowing him to dismiss sailors at his pleasure. Following a short debate, the bill passed the Lords on 4 July. The bill passed the House of Commons on 7 July after minimal debate.
Other Regional News
The forums are past the 190,000 post mark after several months of reasonable activity levels. The regional population stands at around 380 currently, up from the start of the term.
The following Britons have recently became Citizens:
Dah Bean
Woolcott
Akarin
Tekryn
Vernionia
IreUSA
Manx Lad85
Mexican Ambassador
discojames
skullage
The Kingdom of Paquerettes
Falconio
Landinnia
Appalachia
Janrober
New Darlington
Roscanium
The following regions or organisations have had embassies opened in GB&I in May:
The Black Hawks
The United Kingdom
The New Meritocracy
Engul continues as WA Delegate for the region, having served for over 100 days, and the results of voting can be viewed here.
The future of GB&I remains bright.
Goodbye from the Foreign Dispatch Team for now. The Foreign Dispatch is no longer a regular publication, but you should continue to receive Foreign Office Press Releases at regular intervals.
God Save the King!