Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Ministers review Parkford's closed shops legislation amid pressure from unions.
January 11, 5728

The Tapihana government has another issue now onto their sleeve, following the passage of the Finance Act 5727, which officialised the proposed autumn budget from Chancellor Chavez into law. The Chancellor’s budget saw taxation revenue increased by £30 billion on average. The Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary (Chief of Staff), Dame Cecilia Rhoades described the passage of the proposed budget as the “first step” into Labour’s promise of “correcting the mistakes of the past”.

The 5727 Finance Act, which was passed by the House of Peers with a resounding majority of 382-231 after an expedited debate as the Leader of the House of Peers invoked the Budget Consideration Act, which forced the House of Peers to come to a rapid conclusion of debate in financial matters, preferably before two weeks. That meant that the House of Peers couldn’t outright reject the law, as Labour had convinced enough crossbenchers to back the Finance Bill and couldn’t force the Imperial Diet to reconsider the law after substantial delays, as it was forbidden by the Consideration Act, which clearly state that if the upper house aimed at using any of those tactics, the Bill, as passed by the Diet will be forced through and will go straight to the Orange Palace for assent.

The Finance Act include the implementation of a new tax upon plastic products of around 7.5%, it also implemented a new inheritance tax of 15% upon assets worth more than £500.000, this tax mainly targeting large inherited estates and assets. The law also implemented an emergency VAT tax break for low-earning households and a 2% rent tax relief. Apart from increased revenue from taxation, the Finance Act also increased expenditures towards different government agencies.

Priority was given to education, healthcare and welfare, the three departments being dubbed as the “pinnacle” of Labour’s social and economic agenda, in regard to said agenda, Education Secretary Kim Kok said that the Tapihana government will be introducing a “bold set of measures” to “alleviate previous mismanagement” of the education system, a jab at the preceding government.

Recently, the government has come under pressure from trade unions, one of the National Labour Party’s main arms and supporters to modify and relax restrictions on the creation and maintenance of closed shops, shops in which membership of a certain union is mandatory to freely exercise. The Parkford government cracked down on these kinds of businesses, by passing the 5724 Employment Act, which stated that “...businesses throughout the nation must have a quota of either non-union employees or employees belonging to another union, if one union is overrepresented...”, effectively neutering the concept of closed shops. It also barred close shops to have more than 500 employees.

These two bills were meant to weaken the unions’ traditional hold over the Luthorian working class, these organisations, which are traditionally hostile to the Conservative Party, represented an ever-greater political threat for the government, which warranted their neutering.

Now with Labour in control over both Houses of Parliament, the trade unions have made it clear to PM Tapihana that they will not settle for anything less than a return to pre-5724 Employment Act status quo, demanding that the Cabinet acts “decisively” on the issue. In a meeting with Employment Minister, Kenna McGregor, the main unions described their position as being equivalent as to “correct great wrongs” that have artificially weakened union power for political benefits. While the Prime Minister seems inclined to agree with the demand and whispers have emerged about a potential repeal or full repeal of the Employment Act, one man has made his opposition viscerally clear.

The Lord Stemford of Wittfield, also known as Lord Wittfield, the current Leader of the House of Peers, has described the situation in the House of Peers as being “very volatile” as with anti-communist sentiment dominating the media cycle and public opinion, he wasn’t sure that the Labour Party’s push towards legitimisation these forms of practice on the unions’ side was the “correct and fair assessment” of the situation. He privately expressed “disapproval” of the Prime Minister if she decided to carry on with her plans for a full repeal, instead advising for a limited repeal of the Employment Act, which will then be revised by the House of Peers to remove some “contentious” elements of the Act.

In the opposition, these announcements have been met with outright hostility, while the Prime Minister never expected to find many allies in the Tory Party, even the reasonably “moderate” factions, notably the Constitutional Research Group of Fort William MP, Mike Onugul-Gvir, have expressed reservations in regard to the proposed bill. The Leader of the Opposition, Blanche Yhwartz accused the Prime Minister during Question Period to wanting to “throw Luthori back under the control of anarchist thugs”, although she was later reprimanded for her statements, Yhwartz made it her point to defend the so-called “silent majority” of Luthorians, those who “do not speak, do not voice, do not complain” she said.

The ball is now with the Prime Minister, who either heed to the advice from the influential Leader of the House of Peers or reject it in a bid to court union forces behind her government.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

March 3, 5728

Not even a year into the government’s term, they have already failed to act on one massive crisis that have struck our communities like a spear. Due to the Labour’s Home Ministry ineffective nature, the drug crisis that have struck our long-prospering and thriving communities has now been left out of the government’s control.

Drug trafficking has always been an issue within Luthori, although in recent years this issue has taken a turn for the worse. According to the Imperial Health & Prevention Agency, the Luthorian government’s body tackling with drug use throughout the nation, illegal cannabis usage has risen by 78% between 5708 and 5728, over a 20 year period during which the National Labour Party was in government for 16 out of 20 years. The Labour government’s striking inability to deal with the crisis, under four different prime ministers and even more governments has drawn criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, notably from the Conservatives and the HPP. 

“It is a lunacy to even hear that communities throughout the nation are being left to their own devices when the government is seemingly unable or unwilling to crack down hard on both drug users and drug traffickers. [...] It is a moral peril placed upon our great nation, and I hereby ask the Right Honourable Prime Minister to ask what this government will do to make our communities safer and finally do something about this crisis that they seemingly ignored for so long”, said HPP MP (and Tory defector) Sir Lloyd Genjisen in the Imperial Diet.

According to the Home Ministry, the drug flow towards Luthori seems to be originating from both Dovani and Majatra. In the former, largely impoverished and unstable nations make stable grounds for cartel and drug traffickers to set up production plants there. Due to the reliable climate, cannabis, opium, cocaine and heroin or methamphetamine produced in the global south and later exported to Luthori through entry ports of Narikaton and Darnussia and Beluzia, alongside Malivia and Hobrazia also acting as major entry points for drugs into Luthorian territory. The Home Ministry’s statistics from 5726 also described that 12.5% of young Luthorians (aged 18-25) had consumed at least one recreational drug substance in the last three years.

During the last campaign, the Conservative government promised to increase the number of anti-drug police forces by an additional 1,475. With the Labour Party’s victory in late August, these plans were put on hold by the Home Secretary Joshua Park after taking over the Home Ministry from the Conservatives. Mr. Park emphasised to the Imperial Diet that the Labour government was aiming at creating a “safe, reliable and non-penal approach” to drug usage crackdown, opening the way for a modification of the law about cannabis usage during a December 5727 interview. These statements were widely unpopular among the Luthorian public, with a Poldata poll from January 1 observing that over 82% of Luthorians were opposed to any form of modification which would allow some form of recreational drug usage in the nation.

“...drug users aren’t criminals, they are merely caught up with a nasty system, we are aiming at protecting our people from the usage of these drugs, but also we are aiming at crippling of illegal drug traffickers which are poisoning our communities with their nasty products, so in that light and objective, we are obviously looking every solution at our disposal, notably legalise the usage of some, low-level drugs, which would be heavily regulated by the government and sold at dedicated places such as pharmacies and users would be strictly followed by medical advice and counseling before being able to take one...”

Other non-state actors have also weighed in this controversial debate; the National Anti-Drug Association (NADA) criticised the Home Secretary’s plan as being “inadapted to the modern day’s concerns and needs”, the Temperance Society of St. Richard described any move to legalise the usage of drugs in the nation as being “ludicrous [...] and a complete slap in the face of our movement”. 

The Home Secretary was forced to back down from his comments on January 7, during his first speech in the Imperial Diet in 5728, where he described the possibility of the Labour government allowing drugs to be legally sold and consumed within Luthorian soil as being “near-zero”. The Labour government seems to be heavily divided over the issue, revealing the nasty issue of factionalism within the largest political formation to date. Some within the government are favourable to a relaxation of drug usage laws, such as Health Secretary, Dr. Patrick Bowall or as said earlier, Home Secretary Park, others however remain deeply opposed, that side includes the Leader of the House of Peers, the Lord Wittfield, the Leader of the Imperial Diet, Sarah Campbell or even, the Prime Minister herself.

How can we trust the Labour government to adequately fight this crisis while they are divided within their own house about the method that they should use to appropriately fight such crisis? With the continued rise in drug flow and usage across the period during which the National Labour Party was in office, no need to wonder why did the Luthorian government fail to act immediately on the crisis.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Last remaining defendants for terrorist attacks sentenced to death by Court.
March 22, 5728

After a lengthy year-long trial, the Imperial Court of Justice in Fort William has released its final verdict on the fate of those who in 5726 perpetrated the deadly terrorist attacks in Luthori’s capital city. These attacks claimed the lives of over 200 people and wounded even more. Out of 18 original terrorists, only four were up for judgement, the others having been killed by law enforcement officers during the events.

In its final judgement, the Court recognised the four defendants as guilty for counts of terrorism, first-degree murder, destabilisation of the state and destruction of public and private property and other charges related to the Felonies and Penalties Act 5709 (amended ver. of 5696 Act). The prosecution advised that the death penalty be applied to all defendants, an advice which was applied by the court, which sentenced every single remaining defendant to death by an unspecified method of execution.

The court’s verdict was widely celebrated throughout the country, with a majority of Luthorians agreeing that the judgement was the “right choice”, 77% of Luthorians in a poll agree that the death penalty being applied in this case was “righteous”, terrorist victim associations have also applauded the verdict, with some of their members openly celebrating the outcome ahead of the Imperial Court of Justice.

The Secretary of State for Justice stated that the verdict would “hopefully” help the nation to “heal and move forward, without forgetting the 192 poor souls that were tragically lost on this day”. The Prime Minister has for her part stated that the verdict was “the testament that the Luthorian justice system stands tall and proud regardless of the threats placed upon her by outside and inside threats.” 

The defendants’ lawyers have stated that they would consider appealing to a higher court to try to change the judgement, that they’ve decried as being “influenced by outsider forces and the strength of emotion”, and as such, not neutral and objective.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

The Tapihana administration has announced the formation of a renewed drug enforcement program to tackle the rising threat of drug trafficking and the increase in illegal drug importation towards Luthori from foreign states. The task force was introduced by Home Secretary Park today during a press conference at Blackhall Palace, in this, the Home Minister described the formation of the National Anti-Drug Task Force as a “necessary endeavour to make our streets safer and deter international drug traffickers to dump their products in Luthori”

The “Directorate” as it was called, will be tasked with tracking, monitoring and dismantling the international or domestic trade routes that are used to transport drugs inside Luthorian soil, the task force, apart from dismantling the routes, will also strive at neutralising the traffickers and perpetrators of such illegal activities.

For the Home Secretary, it was “unacceptable” for the government to overlook the “countless pains and suffering that the daily usage of drugs brings into our society and communities. [...] [The government] also reject the idea that a few bad-intended individuals should have the power to disrupt our society, as such it is our responsibility to combat them regardless of the consequences.” The Anti-Drug Task Force shall enter in the realm of government agencies under the direct oversight of the Ministry of Home Affairs, avoiding falling under police supervision, instead remaining under direct government oversight.

The government also confirmed that the Anti-Drug Task Force would be militarised to “adequately respond to potential armed groups involved in the international trade of narcotics”, with members potentially receiving 

The Home Secretary later defended the creation of the Anti-Drug Task Force and answered questions related to it by MPs in the Diet during a Prime Minister’s Question Period. The creation of an anti-drug task force was criticised by both the right and the left, albeit both for different reasoning, the left criticised the government’s immediate turn towards “repression instead of compassion”, according to Left Party leader, Catherine Mbeki, the government’s turn towards the formation of an anti-drug, militarised agency under its direct oversight was a “bliant disregard for their [Labour’s] earlier campaign promises”, she said: “The Labour Party once again showed its true colours today, during the campaign, the Prime Minister promised that drug users would see a government that stand with them and not against them. [...] I’m personally not opposed to the formation of the task force, but the Labour government prioritised the formation of such task force to the implementation of grassroots measures that would have thwarted the fall of our population into drug usage. [...] Drug usage isn’t just a public health crisis, it’s an economic and social crisis that if we do not take the adequate steps towards fixing, we will not resolve. [...]”

The Prime Minister expressed the government’s view during this Question Period as “[...] [we are] focusing on tackling the flow of drugs coming into this nation first, we want to avoid current day drug users to continue receiving their so-called medicine. This government has made its priority to protect all Luthorians, regardless of background and I do believe that by cracking down hard on these drug traffickers, both at home and abroad, we will actually acheive our objectives. [...] The National Labour Party hasn’t turned its back on anyone, as the Rt’ Hon. Lady seems to suggest, we have merely acted on our program, as described in our manifesto.”

When asked about the scale of the militarisation, the Home Secretary stated that some anti-drug operations would need military-grade training, operations related to the dismantlement of potentially risky cells and others. “All and all, I do believe that in our fight against drugs, that all means be placed upon our side to lead it to victory.” The usage of the military vocabulary has been condemned by the radical left and even some members of parliament of the National Labour Party as being “antagonising towards drug users”. One anonymous MP said that the government’s militarisation of the drug issue was “deeply worrying and seemingly stigmatise some parts of our population”.

For the right, it’s too little too late, in the House of Peers, Conservative peers booed the Lord Wittfield who was answering questions about said anti-drug task force. The right was, while pleased about the government’s turn to right-wing solutions to militarise the drug task force, but lamented the government’s reluctance to enact hard “law and order” policy proposals.

Even within the Labour Party, the different factions also reacted differently depending on their alignment with the Prime Minister’s government. PM Tapihana’s Social Justice Council reacted positively to the development of the task force, calling it a necessary endeavour to contain and stop the drug outbreak. Same for the Lord Wittfield’s Red Sun Society. Others like the Cresent Moon Association expressed some displeasure about this move, but remained silent to keep the government united in the face of right-wing and left-wing opposition.

(Published on May 11, 5728)

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Historic same-sex marriage law granted imperial assent after successful passage in House of Peers.
June 7, 5728

Luthori has entered a new age today as the Marriage (Same-Sex Relations) Act 5727 was granted imperial assent today by Emperor William XI. This law, the very first piece of legislation introduced by the Tapihana government in the Imperial Diet back in September 5727 aimed at legalising the practice of same-sex marriages throughout the Empire, ending the civil union compromise that was currently in force when handling homosexual partnerships. 

During the campaign, then-Leader of the Opposition Martha Tapihana had promised to decriminalise the practice of same-sex marriage amid heavy right-wing (notably HPP and Conservative) backlash at her comments, even then-Prime Minister Parkford had criticised her comments as being “reckless and ignorant of [our] traditions”, anti-homosexual propaganda had reached critical levels during the campaign, with anti-LGBTQ+ associations, closely associated with the far-right, running advertisement campaigns to attack the idea of same-sex marriage among the electorate, an elaborate hate campaign which happened under the Conservative government’s watch. The Tories and the HPP, during the entire period of debate of the Bill in the Imperial Diet and later in the House of Peers ran a vicious anti-government campaign on the topic, entering the fabricated issue of “culture wars” to entrench their opposition to the proposed Bill.

Former Prime Minister and Former Leader of the Conservative Party Jay Parkford emphasised during the remaining months of his leadership the Conservative position of remaining under the status quo under the simple sentence of “if it’s ain’t broke, don’t touch it”, after his successor, Blanche Yhwartz was elected under the promise of bringing the Conservative Party further to the right after the worrying gains of the HPP at the Tories’ expense, the Conservative Party while remaining favourable to civil unions, begun to embrace more conservative positions on that matter.

While the right entrenched itself in its bigoted positions, the left-to-center political formations quickly came into an agreement for the passage of the bill in the Imperial Diet, the final vote being 301-134-36, with the Bill being sent to the House of Peers for final verifications and approval. In the House of Peers, the Lord Wittfield, influential member of the National Labour Party as leader of the informal Red Sun Society and leader of the House of Peers initially expressed reluctance as for the chance of the bill’s passage in the upper house, but the large margin in favour of it in the Diet encouraged him to force through its passage even without Church approval or tacit acceptation.

The Holy Luthori Church, for its part, while releasing a statement which discouraged same-sex marriage, didn’t explicitly express its opposition to the passage of the bill. The Archbishop of Tresham, the Primate of All-Luthori had, according to our information, reached out to the Lord Wittfield to express the Church’s acquiescence to the passage of the bill, with some guarantees for the Church’s Canon Law to be respected. Later, amendments were added to the draft bill which specifically emphasises the state’s role in the organisation and recognition of same-sex marriages as of now and reaffirmed the Church’s independence to recognise or not these practices.

The Church’s delegates in the House of Peers abstained from the final vote, although progressive forces in the House of Peers collaborated to thwart a Conservative-led motion of continuation, which, according to House Rules would have prolongated the debate period in the House of Peers. The Bill later became an Act of Parliament with the final approval of the Emperor on the draft.

Immediately after its passage in the House of Peers, celebration erupted throughout the nation, with state officials such as the Prime Minister taking on social media to celebrate the news, and pro-LGBTQ+ association and activists taking to the streets to celebrate the Bill’s passage. One Times editorialist, Erik Champ described the atmosphere as being “liberating and euphoric”, as if “one heavy weight had been removed from the shoulders of an entire community”. 

Celebrations throughout the Empire showed that Luthori was finally moving forward, in an era where people could finally marry whoever they want without fear of state or religious persecution.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

PM’S SEXY DANCING IN PARTY, YACHT AND ALCOHOL IN SECRET CILDANIAN HOLIDAYS; NUMBER 10 IMMEDIATELY GOES ON DEFENSIVE
August 7, 5728

The Prime Minister chose Cildania for her personal holidays, her choice settling on a remote private resort off the southern coast of the Majatran nation; drawing controversy in the home country. 

Luthorian Prime Minister Martha Tapihana has had a busy first year, to decompress from the stress accumulated during her first year as Prime Minister, she and some of her friends decided to use the holiday period to go on vacation in Cildania. While the Majatran nation has been known for its busy and hot vacation spots, it’s not usually a place where a foreign head of government is usually remaining for her holidays.

The Prime Minister and her friend group resided in the Lakimadis Hotel Resort in Mar Alessandra, in which the Prime Minister and her friends were treated as royalty.

The Prime Minister arrvied in Mar Alessandra on August 1, by covertly flying by private jet from Fort William to Cildania.

Martha Tapihana, 41, was accompanied in this extensive two-week vacation in Cildania by 6 of her friends, in what was described as an “improvised all-girls vacation paid by the state; at least for the Prime Minister” - for Tapihana, the holidays have for now been absolutely nice – she was seen laying down on the beach, navigating on a private yacht which was according to the witnesses, “lent by a close friend”

Videos of the Prime Minister hitting the clubs were leaked to the press, in them, we can see the Prime Minister still has something up her sleeve as she danced in a sexy motion.

“It was something incredible,” said Ana Vy, a Hanzen tourist who was in the Lakimadis Club when she noticed the Luthorian Prime Minister and her friend group: “We were like, waiting on the line to enter and then we see 6 girls entering the club without any clearance, some recognised them and were like: “Holddup, is that the fucking Luthorian Prime Minister?!” [...] I don’t follow political stuff but like it was wild.”

Another witness at the scene, Pete Bood, a Mordusian tourist in Cildania at the time, reflected on his impression of the Prime Minister hitting the dance floor: “She’s got that y’know, she was partying hard, she got the dance moves, the alcohol everything. It was something I tell ya.”

Her two-weeks secret vacation in Cildania was quickly defended by Number 10 as being a “privately-funded affair” with no state fund being found to finance it.

The PM is expected to return to Luthori on August 16 to resume working as head of government after getting her head out of the stress accumulated during this year.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Prime Minister Martha Tapihana has returned from her holidays in Cildania on August 16, according to Number 10 she “immediately” got up to work after enjoying her holidays. While the Prime Minister might have enjoyed her holidays away from the political bickering of Darlington Palace, her return has created enough controversy to plunge the Prime Minister and her government into a crisis that they didn’t wish for.

Indeed, the Prime Minister’s Cildanian escapade was widely commented upon on the media outlets, with each giving away their opinions on the matter, for the right, the Prime Minister was a “disgrace” during her holidays, behaving in such a way that humiliated the His Majesty’s Government and brought shame upon the Luthorian people that she’s supposed to represent. The opposition, specifically Blanche Yhwartz demanded an “open and transparent investigation into what went wrong the day the Right Honourable Prime Minister decided to go on this vacation illegally” during a PMQ session in the Imperial Diet.

The Leader of the Opposition stood to the podium and addressed the Prime Minister’s “moral irresponsibility”, which was, from her point of view, “a total humiliation of the Luthorian people by its second-highest ranking representative”, the Opposition pointed out as what they saw as “treasonous actions” from the Prime Minister, as she deliberated hid her vacation from the rest of the government, and behaved in a way that was “unfit for a head of government”, according to the Conservative Party which were joined in their criticism by the Hosian People’s Party leader, Crystal Tyce who even called for the Prime Minister’s resignation in Parliament: “If you had any shred of dignity left and drinking your sorrows while in this ungodly place, you would resign” she launched directly at the Prime Minister.

Unexpectedly, it wasn’t merely the Conservatives and HPP which were criticising the Prime Minister over her vacations, other political formations in the opposition have also sharply criticised the Prime Minister and the government for their actions during the summer. Left Party leader, Catherine Mbeki declared to the press that the Prime Minister’s actions during her holidays represented an “enormous breach of trust” upon both Parliament and the nation, she added that the Prime Minister “preached a lot about example while in the campaign trail, where is that example for our constituents now?” she asked rhetorically. Criticism also emerged from the Green and Liberal benches, both of them criticising the Prime Minister’s moral hypocrisy, as images of the Prime Minister and her friends partying on a private yacht belonging to Matthew Reynard, Luthori’s 11th richest person and close friend of the Prime Minister emerged. In an other controversy, it is currently unsure if the PM’s vacation was funded through public funds or privately, even if the PM guarantees it was funded privately.

Liberal leader in the Imperial Diet, Evelyn Burnswick declared that the government’s “blatant hypocrisy, asking Luthorians to make sacrifice for the greater good, while our own Prime Minister is partying alongside a billionaire is a shameful example of Labour’s continued hypocrisy and dishonesty towards the Luthorian people and I’m sure that they will remember it dearly. Because there is one that the Luthorian people hate being taken as, and that is as fools.”

Silence governed the Tapihana government’s frontbenches, as unease settled in inside the ministers’ sitting alongside the Prime Minister while all the opposition criticised them and their boss’ behaviour.

The Prime Minister answered to these critics one by one, notably recognising that she had been “reckless in her behaviour” during her vacations, but denied any wrongdoings: “These videos were taken against our collective will, these are not videos that have published with our prior consent, as such, I cannot recognise any form of wrongdoings in these videos from my point of view, these were just friends celebrating a very special event as it was my friend’s Becca’s birthday.” However, the Prime Minister rejected any assumptions that she might resign from her position: “This scandal doesn’t change anything to the manifesto and electoral promises of our party towards the Luthorian people, the National Labour Party and this government shall strive to carry on the policies as enacted in our manifesto to create a better and fairer Luthori.” This statement was met with shouts, whistling and shouts from opposition members while Labour MP offered timid support.

In response to it, the Prime Minister said that: “The opposition is currently facing too much government success that they are required to go on a personal story to hurt me and my government. That’s quite sad, don’t you think.” She said, ironically asking the Leader of the Opposition facing her.

While the Prime Minister stands defiant to criticism and the National Labour Party remains supportive of her, in the realm of public opinion, her little party in Cildania made her lose 12 points in the latest popularity poll, with over 64% of Luthorians stating that they were “appalled” by the Prime Minister’s behaviour while on camera.

“It was like she was drunk as hell and didn’t even realise her surroundings” one Fort William male told us, a feeling echoed all the way in Northminster, where one elderly woman stated that “Look, I voted for her, I wanted to win very very much, but in the past, this kind of behaviour would have never happened, it was unacceptable, I don’t know nor think it should be today.”

[Ligbruderkrieg]

October 5728 (backdated)

The Imperial Luthorian Navy is exceptionally pleased today as the Emperor and Empress officially launched the first Type-24 destroyer built (in large part) by Reynolds Heavy Industries. The ceremony was notably attended by Hugo Asquith-Churchill, the Secretary of State for Defence, Joseph Lowe, the Secretary of State for Naval Affairs, Mark Houghton, CEO of Reynolds Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Reynolds Heavy Industries and finally overall Reynolds CEO and billionaire Lydia Reynolds in a grand display of Luthorian military renewal and power.

His Majesty and Her Majesty arrived at Briarford, Shipleyriding to attend the ceremony held at the Reyonlds-held naval dockyard in which the first Type-67 destroyer had been built. 

Her Majesty the Empress, while visibly physically weakened after years of public service for the nation, officially named the new ship as HMS Yellow Marble, under the applause from the crowd.

His Majesty the Emperor made a speech after the ship’s official inauguration, the monarch said that the ship was a “powerful symbol of our [Luthori’s] continued resilience and willingness to step up in light of the crises that surround our fair land,” he said. The Emperor continued by congratulating and thanking the numerous workers that were involved in the project, notably saying: “We shouldn’t forget that without the tireless and most exquisite involvement from every party, that ship that we are today inaugurating, wouldn’t even exist.”

Admiral Todd King, Chief of the Naval Staff addressed the crowd shortly after the Emperor did, in his speech, he outlined the objectives of the Imperial Luthorian Navy with the addition of new equipment at its disposal. He stated that the Imperial Navy, with the addition of the new Type-24 destroyer, the Imperial Navy will begin the process of decommissioning the relatively old and aging Type-67 destroyers, besides that, the Imperial Navy will look towards “reinforcing” current deployments with modern ships rather than creating new deployment orders.

“Our aim with the slow and steady replacement of our ships is to reinforce our current deployments orders first and foremost, later we’ll look with the increased number of ships at our disposal to reinforce other areas in the world where Luthori isn’t as present and where security is left to be desired.”

The ceremony was concluded by a speech by Defence Secretary Asquith, as while his government is currently embroiled in controversy after the Prime Minister’s “secret” holiday in Cildania and her failure to appropriately answer the grievances of the nation’s representatives in the Imperial Diet about her behaviour left her government in a difficult position, he, personally isn’t in such a difficult state, having narrowly avoided government cuts to the military in the first Labour budget in 5727, he was able to steer the ship of military renewal launched under the previous Labour governments. 

During his speech, he described the state of the world today as being “far more uncertain” than it was 10 years ago: “Ten years ago, when we first launched this daring program, some asked, why do it now? Today, we can see that our decision has been vindicated by the events.”

This naval vessel, HMS Yellow Marble was the first naval ship from the Type-24 destroyers series to be completed after four years of construction in its shipyards, the other Type-24 destroyers which were commissioned by the government are expected to be delivered by early March 5729 and the Type-36 frigates are expected to be delivered one-by-one starting in November.

With the increase of the number of ships planned for the ILN, comes the question of recruitment – succeeding Labour governments have expressed dissatisfaction with the continued implementation of national service, but haven’t dealt with the issue by fear of angering the House of Peers, Prime Minister Tapihana promised during the campaign to suspend national service for the next generation of conscripts, but with her political capital in jeopardy following the Cildanian scandal, who knows if she will have enough credentials and enough support to even consider passing it.

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Istalian-Luthorian Tory MP arrested on corruption charges; leaving Tories in controversy after supposed warnings.
December 5728

Istalian-Luthorian Conservative MP, Leonardo Campbell has been arrested in corruption-related charges today in his home of Fort William.

The Conservative MP become the first elected official to be arrested by the police while in office. According to the Fort William Metropolitan Police, the Crownchester MP has been found dealing with pro-big agro lobbies, accepting bribes in exchange for his vote and influence in the Imperial Diet.

The Tory MP has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has called his arrest “illegitimate”, vowing to fight this all the way in court.

The Conservative Party has immediately suspended Mr. Campbell, leaving the MP to sit as an independent in the Diet until his likely resignation or forced exclusion from the Chamber.

The scandal place increased public interrogation about the role of lobbyists in the Imperial Diet, with many calling to reduce their power or outright banish them from Darlington Palace altogether. 

The scandal also removes a weight behind the Prime Minister, as she’s no longer the target of Darlington’s ire ever since her “secret” vacation in Cildania in summer 5728, since then, while the Prime Minister apologised for having “misled the public” on October 22, the Diet attempted to force the formation of an investigation committee which would have looked into the finances of the whole trip, this motion was later foiled by the mass rally of Labour MPs behind the government.

Leader of the Opposition Yhwartz, known among the public for her anti-corruption credentials, is currently under fire from the press and the Labour government for allowing a corrupt member of her party to “continue rotting this sacred institution of parliamentary governance from the inside”, according to the Prime Minister.

According to some unconfirmed reports, pre-emptive warnings had already been sent to the Conservative Party by law enforcement, advising the party to take the “necessary measures to help anticorruption brigades in their inquiry”

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Auto giant Olyster-Rohan confirms closure of two plants, putting jobs at risk
December 5728

Luthori’s auto giant, Olyster-Rohan has today communicated on the future of two plants at the risk of closure.

The company confirmed that it had no intention of continuing the exploitation of both plants at it looks towards a “new strategy”

The two plants are in Crawley, Northriding and Hartham, Orange. Both locations are historic locations for Olyster-Rohan, but the company shifting towards an international outlook as the domestic market stagnates – it seems that Luthorian jobs are the first victims of such a shift in market strategy.

Unions have decried the decision, calling it “short-sighted”, one union official fustigated Olyster-Rohan's behaviour during the negotiations: “[They] were all like, we are likely to save the plants, as we wanted, as their closure would put these two communities in real risk of extinction [...] but then, a company statement state that they won’t do that and will continue with their decision, citing economic costs, it’s quite frustrating and apologies for the language, a bullshit reason.”

Government officials have vowed to continue to press Olyster-Rohan to guarantee the continuation of the factories’ exploitation until 5730 and have vowed to support all “potentially laid-off workers” and strive at finding a new corporation to exploit both plants.

No communication from Olyster-Rohan about a timeframe for the factory's closure - some sources argue that the company aimed at moving quickly, likely forcing a close by 5729.

Olyster-Rohan is expected to release a new strategy that will include the creation of additional plants outside the Luthorian Empire’s territory, notably in Dovani.

[Ligbruderkrieg]

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