Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Government's "Representation of the People Act" dead in Committee

June 5616 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - It would seem that after weeks of negotiations, that the Prime Minister and First Secretary of State's first version of the "Representation of the People Act, 5617" has been declared dead in Committee, as the Committee on Constitutional Revisions rejected the Government's proposals over the modification of the size of the Luthorian Diet. This Bill had for objective to speerhead an effort to reduce the number of seats from 529 currently down to 300.

This plan was sharply criticised by Labour MPs in both the Diet and the Committee, who attacked the Government on this infringement of the people's right at a "proper and decent" representation at the elected national legislature.

Prime Minister MacGregor stated that he was "dissappointed" with the results of the Committee hearing, stating that the Parliament "had also infringed on the rights of Luthorians by refused to even send this Bill to be studied and voted upon for a first reading at the Diet". He also stated that the Government "would do whatever is in our powers and capabilities" to pass a Bill reducing the size of the Imperial Diet, even proposing a "watered-down proposal" where the lower house's seat number would only be reduced to 400 max.

First Secretary of State Cromwell vowed that "the fight for a smaller government isn't over, we are going to come up with a better Bill that will be approved by Parliament". Mr. Cromwell's Liberal Party had been one of the main proponent of reforming the size of the House and changing Luthori's electoral system, with preference being the implementation of a proportional system when allocating seats to political parties after an election, even though, for this term, the Conservatives, the Liberals' coalition partners, refused to even consider the possibility of the latter.

The Bill in question was about, as stated earlier, the reduction of seats in the lower house, this Act proposed that, before the next general election, the total numbers of seats set to be elected by direct constituency vote was to be 150, while the numbers elected by party-list proportional representation at the regional level was to be 150. According to the Bill, this arrangement could have reduced the "unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles" (Home Secretary) and provide with a more stable, more cohesive and less divided Parliament in the future.

For the Liberals, the Bill didn't meet their requirement for a "discussion" about the electoral system, which was unacceptable to the Tories (as, again, said earlier), but also to Labour, who greatly benefits from this type of suffrage. Liberal MD, Peter Carlson stated to the LBC that: "...it's impossible, for my part, to consider such a Bill which much ramifications for our democracy, without discussing of the electoral system with all lawmakers in both the lower and upper house..".

Leader of the Diet, Sarah Campbell MD repeated this afternoon at Channel 4 that the "Government's position on electoral reform is that the current system of a mixed-member proportional system is fine and will not be subject to any changes", in response, First Secretary Cromwell stated during a Liberal MPs gathering at Darlington that while "the idea of electoral reform now is dead, there is a genuine opportunity towards making some changes to this nation, such as by removing the last imperial vestiges off Parliament, increasing the people's voice in our democracy and, again, and I've spoke with the Prime Minister, reduce the size of the Fort William bureaucracy by slimming Parliament's size."

While saying that, he also reiterated the Liberal position of "no less than 350 seats in the Diet", since, even less MPs in the Diet would create an issue with the people's representation in the Diet. Today, one MP elected in a single-runner district is, on average, the representative of 347.943 people, with 259 MPs in the Diet coming from this electoral system, with the reduction of seats to approximatly 147 seats (if the electoral system remains as it is), one MP would represent, over 613.043 people, while less than the double of constituents, it would pose a very threat to the representation of the people in the lower chamber, and by that, it could boil down to social unrest, economic downturn among other things.

The Government is likely going to introduce in the next few days, alongside the first version of the Budget, a slimmed down version of the Representation of the People Act, with less seats being slimmed down and a "dialogue" being engaged on the very difficult subject of electoral reform, at least according to statements coming from the First Secretary of State and the Leader of the Senate. The Prime Minister, while disappointed with the Government's first Bill being dead in Committee, stated during a Cabinet meeting that the Government's priority wasn't "constitutional reform", but the Budget, which will be announced in some weeks from now during a session in Parliament (likely in September).

In other news, the Foreign Office has stated that they were "in discussions" with Dolgavan embassy staff and government to organise a state visit to Luthori in mid-5620, when the Crown Princess would have become Queen of Dolgava, although a sooner state visit "wasn't excluded".

This marks the Government's first failure to pass through a Bill in Parliament, and this is something that should be very intriguing as traditionally, the Government succeeds in passing legislation with relative ease this early in the term.

@TheTimes

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Armed Forces to launch "Operation Freedom Fighter", the invasion of Etxea.

May 5512 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - As last year faded by, Luthori found itself at war with Kundrati. The Duke of Northminster, Prime Minister, stated in his address to the Senate the day after the war declaration that it [the declaration of war] was "necessary to stop Kundrati's growing acts of agression against the Empire". As Luthori found itself in a state of emergency due to the enactment of the War Measures Act, Parliament's work has been mostly slowed down during the beginning of the war, although, due to the Constitutional Court ruling that "in absence of a direct and ongoing threat", the continued usage of the War Measures Act was illegal and stopped its enforcement upon Luthori in January.

Regardless of the War Act controversy, Parliament passed the "Extended Mobilisation Act, 5612", with the known aim of assembling as much personnel as possible for the Empire's next dark undertaking against Kundrati.

The Imperial Luthorian Army has already announced that more than 600.000 Luthorians have been mobilised as per with the terms of the Extended Mobilisation Act, which allowed the military to increase the cap of active personnel to 1 million servicemen and women. Chief of Defence Staff Burkley stated that the "Grand Test" for the Empire "was slowly but steadily coming", as Luthori prepared, alongside its allies in Mordusia to bring the fight to Kundrati.

"We've been pretty much handed the invasion thanks to the heroic sacrifice of thousands of Kalistani sailors alongside the Artanian Sea, without their heroic service to cripple the Kundratijian fleet, maybe this invasion wouldn't have been possible.", stated Navy Chief Davy Cricket, who also announced that the Home Fleet, normally parked at the Home Territory's naval bases and making some sorties to rout out pirates in the region would be re-directed towards following the invasion forces towards Kundrati and potentially destroying the last remaining Kundrati vessels that are in the Artanian Sea.

Lord Northminster stated that the War's aim was to "liberate the people of Kundrati from their comically oppressive and evil government" and that, "Luthori would not stop, regardless of the consequences of this actions, before that objective is completed, be it today, in two weeks, in months or even years and decades". The Luthorian Government communicated on the invasion force that will land shortly in Kundrati soil, 600.000 Luthorians, 200.000 Mordusians and a contingent of 20.000 Aldurians, which will all engage in their next journey towards the liberation of another part of the world still hanging within the firm grisp of autocrats and despots.

The Luthorian Air Force has confirmed the beginning of air operations over Kundrati's southern territories, warning of a likely "costly" affair, this is done with the objective of securing air superiority before the ground invasion could begin. Secretary of Defence Ronald Grey confirmed that "Operation God's Wrath" had begun, with Luthorian XF-43 (F-35) and JF-70 (F-15) fighter jets engaging with the Kundrati air force.

A ground invasion of Etxea is seemingly the road that the Luthorians seems to privilege, as Etxea is a valued base of operation that will be critical for any invasion of the Kundrati mainland by sea to succeed. The Defence Staff had stated that it was "expecting heavy resistance on the island", as indoctrinated soldiers seems to care little for their lives in comparaison to that of the regime. "The Luthorian people would have to deal with a very different reality of war than what has been painted on the media", warned the Defence Staff's press secretary.

@TheTimes

[Ligbruderkrieg]

5516 "Autumn" Budget introduced by Govt; sees budget cuts and investments.

September 5516 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - After months of drafting, Mr. MacGregor's government seems to have finally worked on a sensible proposal of budget to be laid forward to Parliament for further inquiry by lawmakers. The Government's 5516 "Autumn" Budget was moved to the House by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mrs. Matilda Brakenbrooke after an "intense" period of "proactive" negotiations between coalition partners, trade unions, business representatives and others, to "come up with the best budget possible that would answer to this Country's needs for a limited period of time", stated the Chancellor of the Exchequer during her introducing speech in the Imperial Diet.

The 5516 Budget is composed a various proposals which would, at least according to the Government, "lay a path towards prosperity that the Nation needs". Prime Minister MacGregor seems to have tweaked his economic liberalism opinions a bit, as the Budget which was proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer today is less radical than some economists and political analysts had predicted it would be on the days before the introduction.

The Liberals seemed pleased by this proposal, as Liberal Leader, Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State stated in Parliament, in defence of the Government's proposed Budget, that it was "the only way to make our country more prosperous and more richer than it has ever been before". Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader, Mrs. Pamela Brooke, while praising the Government's efforts to invest in some "necessary" targets, such as energetic transition, she also criticized the Government's decision to cut some welfare benefits and to reduce their accessibility. Chancellor Brakenbrooke stated that these cuts were intented "to not allow people to wholeheartedly fraud the Luthorian welfare benefits system, by for example, not trying to actively work".

Well, we've talked about how parties reacted to the Budget, now, the Budget in itself, what does it contain? First of all, the Government's first commitment was to increase the defence budget for this term to bring to over 4.2 % of the total GDP, in order for it to happen, the Government here proposed in their Autumn Budget to increase the defence expenditures by 0.8%, increase the Department's budget with the aim of allowing it to work in tandem with the General Staff to work out a permanent doctrine, strategy and increased Luthorian troops readiness in case of a conflict not too dissimilar to the one in Etxea.

The Government of Luthori hopes to instigate a sort of "technological" revolution within both the Armed Forces and wider society, as Prime Minister MacGregor and his Tories have vowed to do during the last election season, so the goal of this increased budget for the Department of Defence is to do so just that, work in tandem with defence contractors to work towards increasing the Armed Forces' technological gap that is currently existing with some nations. The Budget also calls for an £15.4 billion investment package meant to be directed towards investments to small and medium tech companies, with the aim of pursuing Luthori's nascent technological industry's development. 

Secretary of State for Digital Transition, Sir Bobby Lamont MP stated that the proposal of increased investment into the digital world was "in tandem" with the Government's efforts to digitalise the Luthorian bureaucracy. Mr. Lamont stated in Parliament that his ministry was "doing well enough" amids the Government's decision to move from the current platform used by Luthorian civil servants towards a new one and that the transition is "doing slowly but steadily", to continue with this trend, the Budget allocated him an increase of over £25 millions to continue his efforts.

The Cabinet also increased the budget of the Environment Ministry, with that being an explicit request from the Prime Minister's ally, Sir Alfred Flecher, who was appointed in the position of "Secretary of State for the Environment and Energetic Transition", as the Government's aim, in consensus with both the National Labour Party and Liberal Party, is to invest heavily into renewable sources of energy to tackle Luthori's overreliance on fusible sources such as coal, gas or oil for its energy alimentation. The Budget of the Environment Ministry is planned to be increased by over 3 % until the end of the term, with stated objective to bring more efforts into the preservation of Luthori's landscape through the Environment Protection Agency, which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Environment and to spearhead Luthori's gradual transition from fossil fuel to more "responsible, more respectful" energy sources such as nuclear energy.

Mr. Flecher in an address in the Diet stated that "Luthori's future policy on the environment will be focused around its protection through the implementation of strict guidelines for conduct in forests, protection of endangered animal species, protection of national parks and finally, the transition from a fossil-fuelled energetic grid to a more responsible greener energetic grid.", he also stated that for the latter, he would organise a meeting with Luthori's largest energy distributors to find out a common strategy and guideline for the transition to happen. Mr. Flecher's goals have been, unsurprisingly, praised by the Opposition, with Labour Leader stating that "it is good to see, that, at the very least, this anti-social administration, is still one that is making environment protection one of its priorities".

The Budget also vowed to increase the budget for the Department of Housing, a department which was put in place during the first ministry of Harold MacGregor, it's aiming at tackling the current housing crisis by allowing for an "hands-off" approach, Secretary of State for Housing, Mrs. Camilla Mullan MP stated that the Government's plans to alleviate the current crisis was to build, through the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure collaboration, at least 1 million new residences by the turn of the 5630s. This "laissez-faire" approach was criticised by the Opposition as being "too little, too late", with the Opposition Leader proposing rent controls for example.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government would unlock a portfolio of £27 billions to invest into the housing market and would increase the budget of the Housing Department by 0.9 %, with the stated objective that with this allocated money, the Department would continue running more efficiently its operations.

Onto the other ministries, three Departments have been announced to have been cut, with the Department of Foreign Affairs seeing the largest cut in their budget in their history, even though, privately, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Matthew Cromwell (ex officio First Secretary of State) expressed its displeasure at seeing his ministries' budget being cut by over 2.1 %, with the Chancellor stating that this was a "necessary sacrifice" for the government. In reaction, the Foreign Secretary announced that, due to these cuts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would undergo some staff replacement, with some embassies seeing a decrease in their employees. Mr. Cromwell stated that "while it's disheartening, it will be a great way to orchestrate a little studies on Luthori's relations when this suppression in posts will be handled."

Both the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Justice will also see a cut in their budget, although these are considered to be "less drastic" than the one seen in the Foreign Ministry, one surprising Department that didn't saw any cuts for now is the Department of Health and Social Services, that the Government vowed to cut during the campaign trail, it seems that disagreements between the Liberal Party, represented by the Health Secretary Adams and the Conservative Party stopped these plans. Chancellor Brakenbrooke stated that while the Health Ministry didn't see any cuts during this Budget, as the Government preferred to cut social welfare benefits accessibility, as with all other government ministries, budget cuts are not excluded in the future 5517 Budget. Although, for the two former, worries have begun to bloom upon Luthori's security and judicial apparatus being weakened and the consequences of such a choice long-term.

The Education Ministry, while not seeing any changes to its budget, was stated to receive "additional funds" to "conduct the Government's policies in education in the near future", stated Education Secretary, Dr. John Stoph, whose nomination was a surprise due to the long-running feud between him and the Conservative Party, leading him to leave the Party during the last years of the Duke of Northminster's Administration. He is also very critical of the way that education is handled within the Empire, and he vowed to make schools a "place of learning, intellect and free from political bickering", criticising the various Tory government policies on education, as he's more following an "Canrille-style" education system. He is also considered to the left of the Conservative Party, having found himself in agreement with the Labour-led education reforms of the Pryce Ministry. The Secretary stated that "education remains one of this administration's commitment" and that he would wish to table a Bill in regards to students loans in "early January 5617".

Finally, upon taxation. The most critical aspect of most Luthorians' lives. The Government, both the Liberal and Tory parties promised to decrease taxation upon both corporations and people alike. The Government, according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered on this promise by this Budget, where the income tax has been decreased for all and the corporation tax has also been decreased by over 3%, to come up with these losses, the Government has stated to "look forward" increasing the current national debt of 49% towards 60 to 65% in the course of 15 years, although, while this course of action is popular within the Liberal Party, some Tories stated that "going into an increased deficit may be a good idea on the short term, but may be catastrophic on the long run". Chancellor Brakenbrooke stated that "all options are available", such as maybe an increase in the Value Added Tax or the Inheritance Tax, something, which was praised by the Opposition for the latter, but sharply criticised for the former.

Amid all of that, Prime Minister MacGregor stated that a revised version of the "Representation of the People Act, 5616" has been presented by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Renewal, Dame Patricia Holmes to the Select Committee on Constitutional Reform on Tuesday, with the Secretary confirmed that the Bill would "watered down" from its previous aspirations, with a House being reduced to 400 seats. A Labour MP stated that the Imperial Diet "should look" towards the abolition of the Imperial Senate, calling it "elitist" and riddled with "corruption". His motion was defeated by the Diet by a resounding 7-520-2 vote, with 520 MPs voting against the proposal. Labour Leader Brooke stated that the "Party's rebels who voted in favour of this would be suspended for 3 months for not respecting the Labour Whip's wishes and breaking party line".

@TheTimes

[Ligbruderkrieg]

The Weekly Telegraph | Humperdinck Media Group (Luthori)

Govt's Budget handily passes in Senate; Select Committee on Constitutional Reform approves Bill.

October 5616 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - The proposal of the 5616 Budget was passed with a large margin in the Senate, the Budget received Imperial Assent this morning upon communication from the Orange Palace. The Budget has been presented to Parliament by the Chancellor Brakenbrooke after a long awaited period for its delivery. While the Budget is considered to be "fairly moderate" by numerous economists, some government agencies such as the Departments of Home, Foreign Affairs and Justice saw cuts in their yearly budget according to this legislation.

That is on one hand, on the other, the Luthorian Government unveiled some popular tax cuts measures upon both corporations and populace. With the "Income Tax (Relief Effort) Act, 5616", a part of this Budget, stating the Government's policy about taxation, with the lower (poorer) brackets seeing a reduction of 4.8 % in their income tax, the low-to-medium revenue seeing a reduction of 3.4 %, the medium-to-high revenue earners are going a reduction in their income tax of over 2.1 %, while the richest of us all, would only see a reduction of 1.4 %. While this Bill was quite controversial within the House due to the interrogations of other parties about how the Government is going to fund for these tax cuts, the Bill passed the Diet with a relative ease, the Opposition couldn't oppose tax cuts and the Senate did the same, with an expedited debate in the Upper House before the Bill was approved.

The Empress received the Bill and gave its Assent to it on October 9th. The same day where she gave assent to other measures proposed by the Cabinet in Parliament, such as the "Business Attractiveness (Taxation) Act, 5616", which aimed at reducing the corporate tax imposed on both Luthorian and foreign companies operating a BoO (Base of Operations) in Luthori. The Bill brought the corporate tax which had risen to 35.7 % under the last Labour government down to 27.4 %, a reduction of 8.3 % compared to pre-5616 levels. This decision has been praised by business leaders and by numerous business-friendly organisations and by liberal-minded economists.

Apart from them, the decision has been highly controversial even within the Government's benches, as some One-Nation Conservatives seems quite distrustful at the idea of decreasing corporation taxation in such a drastic way. The Labour opposition has lauched their claws upon the government's unprotected back and has repeatedly called upon these "One-Nation" Tories to work with the National Labour Party to "protect Luthori's fair taxation system", where "everyone pays a fair share". But, successfully whipped by the Leader of the Diet, Mrs. Sarah Campbell MP, who essentially forced non-complying MPs to vote the Bill anyway, except if they would like to risk their membership within the Conservative Party.

The Prime Minister congratulated "the strong coalition of the willing" who made these passings possible and vowed that these proposed changes to the Government budget would only "continue" Luthori's current economic growth, if not even enhance it to new levels. This is another good news for the Prime Minister as it's been confirmed by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Renewal, Dame Patricia Holmes that the "Representation of the People Act, 5616", which would reduce the number of seats in the Imperial Diet from 529 to 400 if passed without amendments that would come to change that fact, has been passed through the Special Committee for Constitutional Reform, after the first incarnation of the Bill had been sourly defeated in late June.

@TheWeeklyTelegraph

[Ligbruderkrieg]

#Dolgava, #Dundorf, #Egelion, #Lodamun, #internationaltrade

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Air Force continues air bombing campaign on Kundrati capabilities as ground forces prepare to make entry into battle.

June 5512 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - Amid the recent entry in active combat by Coalition troops, the Luthorian Air Force has begun conducting "Operation God's Wrath", Luthorian air engines have begun conducing strikes against Kundrati forces located in the regions of Celania and Jilidrath, with the fire unleashed being concentrated upon the bombardment and crippling of Kundrati's air capabilities to make Luthori achieve full air superiority in Etxea the day the inevitable will come. And to be quite honest, it seems that this day is seemingly drawing even more closer than we might have imagined.

Luthorian Prime Minister, Lord Northminster today addressed concerns about the war from some segments of the population, arguing that the "liberation of the Kundrati people" remains "Luthori's steadfast goal within this conflict" and adopting a very optimistic tone to, seemingly reassure the populace about Luthori's chance to secure a victory, even a partial one in this conflict. After all, Kundrati is no Istalia, nor Ikradon. Even though, in the same time, the General Staff carries a cautious and even alarming tone, stating that Luthorian and Coalition forces "shall suffer a great cost in this moral crusade".

Meanwhile, as politicians talked and strategists decided on the next course of actions, on the ground, the Luthorian Air Force has recorded 67 devices having been shot down or highly damaged by the Kundrati Air defence and Air Forces as of now, even though, current views are quite optimsitic, with an Kundrati Air Force having, according to some reports as the Legionnaires haven't reported on their losses, lost approximately 78 to 94 air devices as of now, with reports suggesting that Luthori may just be barely able to maintain air superiority during the invasion.

Although, Kundrati's war industry is on the kickfoot, their dictator Sladek having declared a war for the "salvation of the motherland" and thousand of indoctrinated Kundratis are today content with taking up arms against their former allies in the South. It has been reported by Kundrati State Media, that the President [Sladek] and his administration of inbred motherfuck*rs had sent over 300.000 troops to defend Etxea from the Luthorians and their Coalition. While this number has been stated as being worrying, the Luthorians remained optimistic about their chances, although fighting in a highly dense city and highly populated one such as Jildrati City worries some.

The Kundratis are sure to not leave the city before having inflicted as much losses to our forces, so the death toll planned varies from 50 to 150.000 Coalition wide casualties. This comes at a time where Luthorian forces are preparing to jump into the Artanian Sea, where the Home Fleet had been redirected to act as a intermediary and helper for the invasion and has also receive the order to "clean up the Artanian Sea" from the remainder of Kundratijian naval forces, which had been destroyed by Kalistani forces during their initial engagement.

It was announced as a way to boost morale in Luthori, it's been stated that the Prince of Orange, Alexander, upon his request, would participate in the invasion at the head of his Royal Drivers' Regiment. While the popularity of the royals increased due to this announcement, some wonder if it was the right call, as national worry increased now knowing that one of its Princes, the Crown Prince not to say the least, was in an active battlefield. Some worried he would have finished like Prince Charles of Hutori who was KIA in Davostag during the Macon War.

Luthori is already in talks with Kundrati's last remaining pro-democracy figures, which are in the diaspora, to secure their support for the liberation of their homeland that the fascists riddled with confusion, corruption and ideological inflexibility, destroying the last remnants of the proud Kundrati democracy that stood there.

@TheTimes

[Ligbruderkrieg]

The Independent Observer

Government leads charge in housing relief effort; announces ambitious plan to build 1 million house.

March 5517

Fort William, Luthori - With the aim to alieviate the Luthorian people's struggles with rising rent prices and low housing throughout the nation. The Cabinet unveiled a long-term solution to its people's difficulties, with the introduction to Parliament of the "Build More, Pay Less" initiative, this was presented as an "alternative" to current housing shortage and rising rent prices in Luthori. Prime Minister MacGregor approved of the initiative of his Secretary of State for Housing, Sir Paul Habeck, who tried to strike a "middle-way" between current hardships experienced by the Luthorian populace and the Prime Minister and Cabinet's stalwart commitment towards the implementation of economic liberal ideals.

Knighted in 5610, Sir Paul Habeck is a specialist in economic theory and stated that the "correct" way for the Government to intervene in the housing market during this particular crisis was to "build more housing in order to alleviate the demand that was rising and the offers which were becoming increasingly sparse and less-affordable" to most common citizens.

During his address in Parliament outlining the Government's hopes with that program, Mr. Habeck stated his wishes to see "one million houses being built during the next decade until the 5630s, where we think that our housing situation would have been alleviated by a significant amount thanks to this program." He also outlined goals for the architecture of this new housing installations, with a emphasis being put upon Luthori's "natural" growth, with focus being put on the implementation and creation of lodging respecting "contemporary" or "new classical" architecture, rather than an "archaic" and "brutalist" architecture taking hold in the Empire.

This move was meant to "beautify" Luthorian towns and cities, as, while Luthori is still a beautiful country by many aspects, many worries that the implementation of "modern" and "brutalist" architecture styles, like in some areas of Fort William's suburbs would measly help in "destroying Luthori's landscape". Housing Secretary Habeck reassured most architects about the implementation of such plan, stating that it'll be "impossible" and "laughable", to think about the people's housing needs, while not "giving a damn" about the "looks of their houses", which gives, depending on the style used, a feeling about a certain neighbourhood's safety, tranquillity and overall ambiance.

While Mr. Habeck today introduced the program defended by the Federal Government and backed by federal authorities, he stated that he had called all his "counterparts" in the Grand Duchies/Principality [of Orange] and stated to them that the Federal Government was "encouraging each local authorities to draft their own plan" about "each duchies' needs" in resolving the housing shortage crisis. He stated to have had "positive and productive calls" with each Ducal Housing Secretaries and Minister-Presidents.

Another aspect of Mr. Habeck's program is the expansion of transportation links between the core centres of cities and the suburban and peri-urban areas, with Transport Secretary, Joe Stanford MP stating this his ministry had already begun discussions with both the Imperial Railway Corporation (IRC) and smaller private corporations alongside local transportation authorities such as the Fort William Metropolitan Transportation Authority (FWMTA) to discuss the implementation and strengthening of intra-regional transportation networks, the reason being is that the Government's focus for housing construction will be upon Luthori's suburban or peri-urban areas, with an emphasis on economic development of these areas being the Government's priority.

The Fort William Metropolitan Transportation Authority has stated in a statement that they "hoped to reach an agreement with both the Government of the Principality of Orange and the Fort William Executive Authority" for the "configuration of a three-step based initiative to increase the link between the city centre of the capital [Fort William] and its peri-urban and suburbs areas", this initiative, called the "Cardinal Direction Initiative" seeks to increase links between the capital city and its bordering areas through the expansion of the Overground network.

This move could also be interpreted in political manners, the suburbs are traditional Labour-dominated strongholds, with much of the population there voting for leftist or reformist candidates instead of the Conservatives and/or Liberals, on the other hand, the peri-urban areas are traditionally dominated by both the Liberal and Conservatives and increased investments in both areas may give both parties an edge in both areas that could be crucial in future elections. Besides, the very sight of the government making actions to alleviate the people's difficult would be seen in a good light and this measures seems to draw significant approval from both the right and the left, with the NLP giving a "positive review" of the Cabinet's plan for housing.

National Labour Party leader, Mrs. Pamela Brooke stated that while the Government's proposal was "far from what Luthorians would have wanted from an active government", it was still "acceptable" to the Labour Party as a "necessary" measure and vowed to collaborate with both the National and local Governments to see this plan being pushed through in both local and national legislaure and governments. Parliament approved the plan in both the Senate and Diet after an expedited debate which saw most parties find themselves in agreement with the proposed plan, with some MPs even praising the Government for its handling of the housing crisis, in contrast of the laissez-faire approach of the Northminster ministry.

Only fiscal conservatives had some grievances with the Bill which would see the Government spend over £15 billion in investments towards both the transport and housing efforts, although their criticism were muted by the Conservative Party for the most part. The Government released a small peek of what these "new" suburban renovated towns and cities could look like in the future. Although many people took inspiration from the town of Grownberry in the Principality of Orange.

@TheIndependentObserver

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Luthorian Prime Minister to meet with Beluzians about FTA and raw minerals deal

June 5617 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Beluzia has today confirmed alongside the Foreign Office in Luthori that the Luthorian Prime Minister, Hector MacGregor would meet with its Beluzian counterpart to discuss "important issues related to both countries", according to Bismarck Palace's spokesperson. The Luthorian Prime Minister's visit isn't one that was awaited on the other side of the border, as since the Labour government was elected as part of the wider "Red Wave" trend in the Artanian continent, no major state visits were organised in the other side of the border by Luthori or even any other major Artanian state.

The Prime Minister of Luthori's visit will be also an historic one, as the Empress and Prince Consort are planning to come with him in a visit in another Artanian state, a rare occurrence knowing the Luthorian imperial family's relative seclusion in Luthori in recent decades compared to other royal families such as the Anantos in Kalistan and the Rothingren-Traugott-Ludwig in Dolgava. While one is an absolute monarchy so the monarch playing an important role in negotiations through state visits is necessary, the others are basically constitutional monarchs, which are used by the Dolgavan Government as a form of soft power renewal for the Kingdom of Dolgava.

The Empress and Prince-Consort's visit to Beluzia has been laid out and confirmed by the Orange Palace, with an extensive program being laid out for the 4-days long state visit in the country, with numerous visits in Beluzian towns and cities being planned, opening ceremonies, a state dinner being organised by the President of Beluzia in Her Majesty's honour and finally visits in Beluzian famous landscape alongside both the President and the Prime Minister and the Luthorian Prime Minister as well.

This visit from the imperial couple is considered to be a part of the Government's "seduction operation" towards the Beluzian people and government to increase the support for the creation of a free-trade zone between both nations, the Secretary of State for International Trade, Richard Campbell, who will be apart of the visit and remain on the sidelines to conduct negotiations directly with the Beluzian government about the signature of a "Beluzian-Luthorian Free Trade Agreement" in some months or years from now. This free-trade agreement is part of a wider Luthorian government's offensive on the world stage with countries such as Dolgava and Xsampa seeing an increased Luthorian interest at concluding and signing free-trade agreements with both nations.

The Luthorian Government is also represented by the Environment Secretary, Mr. Alfred Flecher, his presence at the meetings between the Luthorian and Beluzian officials may be apart of a wider scheme for Luthori to secure uranium deposits for its own energetic transition from fossil fuels consumption and towards nuclear energy, this has been Mr. Flecher's great promise when he got appointed as Secretary of State for the Environment and Energetic Transition, to lead Luthori towards a full energetic transition away from traditional coal and oil energy production to nuclear, drawing opposition from both environmentalists and pro-coal lobbyists, the former calling for "greener" energy sources to be used and the latter calling the whole thing a "hoax".

It'll be interesting to see how discussions turns out, but it's highly likely that a reasonable agreement will be found between both states.

@TheTimes

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The National Bulletin | Martwick-Alchester Investment Fund (Luthori)

Representation of the People Act 5616 voted in Parliament with close majority.

September 5617 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - Tonight, after a long debate in Parliament following the third and final reading of the Government's Representation of the People Act, the Imperial Senate narrowly approved the Bill after intense and fiery debates between both pro and anti-Bill senators. The upper house of Parliament, after carefully manoeuvring the tedious debate that took place about that said proposed legislation, pushed forward the matter to vote and, in similar vein than the Imperial Diet, passed the Representation of the People Bill with a narrow majority, with all Labour senators voting against the Bill, the Church abstaining due to the controversial nature of the Bill and finally, the Liberal and Conservative senators voted in favour of the legislation. The Bill was then sent to the Orange Palace where the monarch is expected to give her assent to its passage, a formality in modern Luthorian parliamentary culture.

Immediately after the Bill's passage, the National Labour Party's national leader, Mrs. Pamela Brooke vowed to not "finish the fight for a better, more inclusive and equal representation" in Luthori and she called all Luthorians to "protest in a non-violent manner" the Government's Bill passage, she also stated that it was a "very dark day for Luthorian democracy". Meanwhile, while the NLP vowed to "rip off the Bill" the second it gets into trusted into power, the Conservative prime minister seems pleased with the result of today's vote in the upper house, as it was projected that the voting would be close as Conservative senators opposed to the Bill threatened the Government to break ranks with the majority and vote with the Official Opposition.

Leading this potential walkout was Free-Market Conservative senator for Orange, Anthony Taylor, who after losing the Tory leadership election to Hector MacGregor and being snubbed by the Prime Minister when appointing his government, pursued a policy of "collaboration", as he would support his Party while in Government but would not hesitate to break ranks and vote with the Opposition when he came to the conclusion that the "interest of his group were not satisfied with this Bill", to avoid such a potentially destructive walkout, the Luthorian Government engaged in negotiations with rebellious Senators and came to an agreement which secured Mr. Taylor's group support to the Bill, which, as we've seen, was crucial in securing the Bill's final passage in the Senate.

Not much is known about the contents and agreement agreed between the representatives of the Government and Mr. Taylor, although it was observed that the Senator was reportedly "very happy" after coming out of the negotiating room at Darlington Palace's "William III" room. One could maybe argue that he was promised a government office in exchange for his support, the drop out of some controversial Bills according to his Group or anything of value to persuade him to support his Government. Regardless of these issues before the vote, the Prime Minister spoke out in the Imperial Diet about the Government's victory in the Senate after the Bill's passage.

When this Government was formed on April the Eighth of last year, we promised to the Luthorian people a stable government, which would bring noticeable changes to their way of life and address their long sustained difficulties that they had to endure. While on this side of the aisle, we have been opened about negotiation, respected parliamentary customs and tried to bring change to the Luthorian people through numerous initiatives and Acts which were passed by this Honourable Parliament.

Today, I must say that, once again, the Government showed its steadfast commitment towards building a future for the Empire's one hundred and forty-nine million population, with this Act having finally passed its parliamentary trial, the people would enjoy a far better representation in the Imperial Diet than before and our promises of reducing the Government's overreaching power in this nation, in that aim, we've reduced taxation upon our struggling business, we've heavily invested in the construction of a dialogue between both the Federal and Local Administrations, we are currently undertaking serious discussions upon the implementation of policies of devolution of the Federal Government's power towards the Provincial Governments. We've increased the budget towards the Housing Department to more effectively tackle the issue of housing shortage and we've launched a program that would be presented before you in some days from now, which is about Luthori's energetic transition.

For all Honourable Members on the opposite end of this row, I must just say, this is how you run a government efficiently and with progress after 1 year in office. We'll continue our fight for the Luthorian people during the next 3 years that we have in office.

The Opposition criticised the Luthorian Prime Minister's address as being arrogant and "short-sighted", with Labour leader Brooke stating that the Government didn't care for "extended representation in the Legislature", as "if they did, they wouldn't have reduced representation in the lower house and wouldn't support the current electoral system which gives to the Conservatives and to the National Labour Party", Mrs. Brooke was applauded by Members of the Labour-Left faction, the democratic socialists to socialists members of Parliament who supports a policy of "breaking" with the current Conservative-led economic and social status quo, promising to build a "true welfare state" in Luthori and "expand the people's rights", according to the official manifesto of the Party which came out after Mrs. Brooke's elected as Labour leader. Meanwhile, members of the traditionally dominated Soft-Labour (or Labour-Right) faction, the social democrat to social liberal members of the Party was more muted, with some becoming openly hostile to Mrs. Brooke's leadership style.

Some rumours have it that some members of Mrs. Brooke's shadow government are planning to overthrow her during a leadership election that would be triggered during the National Labour Party's General Conference in November.

@TheNationalBulletin

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#economy, #investments,