Aloria

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Government buys ships from Istalia
October 4806

The Minister of Defence for Aloria, Sophia von Schalt has announced that the government has purchased three frigates and six offshore ships from the Istalian Empire, as part of their plan to upgrade the Alorian Military. The deal will mean that for the first time, the Alorian Navy has ships that are actually modern and up to date, rather than ships from fifty or sixty years ago.

The ships are going to be a good addition to the Alorian Navy, bolstering it's strength and effectiveness, and making it a serious fighting force once again. The Defence Minister said that the deal is hopefully "one of many" and the the Military will have "many more additions to make our force modern, effective and stronger, which will help us to once again be a, hopefully, strong presence in Artania and Terra."

The money to pay from the ships will take quite a chunk out of the military budget, but the Finance Minister Alison Morgan has promised more funding for the military to meet growing demands, which will be announced in this year's budget, and is expected to be quite a big boost.

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Politicians pay-rise
October 4806

The Senedd has voted to raise the pay of MS and Ministers, to 80,000 Aloriks a year. This happened due to Members apparently submitting a motion, because of shortages in candidate due to the 'low pay', which was 30,000 Aloriks. The Prime Minister David Drakemouth agreed to give government support to this, saying it is a "long term investment", rather than "a self-interested pay-rise", and saying that it would "benefit the nation in the long run."

There was obviously some opposition to this, so the government announced it in a long list of payrises, including doctors, hospitals and police officers. This probably helped it get through the Senedd, as members of the Conservatives were apparently going to vote against it unless there were government concessions on other pay rises, which the government also agreed to.

Many activists were against this, saying that it would now attract people to the job of MS for the money, rather than for making Aloria better and helping people, and also saying it is not appropriate for politicians to get a pay-rise whilst many people live in poverty. However, Mr Drakemouth said the government was "working on poverty", and that it was not simply a "personal pay-rise."

The Prime Minister's pay was raised to 175,000 Aloriks, and the Deputy Prime Minister's was made 160,000 Aloriks, with ministers getting 100,000 Aloriks a year now. Apparently this will be a "good way to get the best minds into politics", and will also help "encourage many people to aim for Ministerial posts, which at the moment they do not", says Mr Drakemouth.

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Election: Conservatives win another election
May 4807

The Conservatives have won another election, though they lost nineteen seats, taking them down to 287 seats out of 550, and won three out of five regions, down from four in the last election. David Drakemouth confirmed that he would be staying on as leader, but said that he would not seek to lead the Conservatives in a third general election, which caused speculation as to when he might resign.

The Conservatives managed to just beat the Liberal Party, but still are able to form a government. Mr Drakemouth said that he is going to reshuffle his cabinet quite a lot, and we will report on that Cabinet shuffle when it happens. It is likely, however, that many members of the Cabinet will remain in the cabinet, but just in a different ministerial position and with a different portfolio.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Cabinet reshuffle
May 4807

There has been a major cabinet reshuffle today, following the general election. Several of the Great Officers were reshuffled, with one being demoted to a normal minister. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Alison Morgan kept both her positions. The ex-Foreign Minister and veteran MS Vaughan Linicht was moved to internal affairs, which is not seen as a demotion or a promotion. Former Internal Affairs Minister Jane Heiner was also moved to Justice, with Amelia Iowerth, the ex Justice Minister, being demoted to Infrastructure and Transport.

However, the big shock in the Great Officers reshuffle was the promotion of ex Infrastructure and Transport Minister Edward Sterme being promoted to Foreign Secretary, a big move and an obvious promotion. Sterme is also known to be a Drakemouth loyalist, whereas Iowerth was less loyal, so that might be a reason for the move.

Hans Heiner, the former Trade and Industry Minister was removed from the cabinet, and the new Trade and Industry Minister is David Martins, a former backbench MS. Kirstie Davids also moved into Health and Social Care, where ex-Minister Alice Spencer was removed. Angela Schint, another former backbencher was also promoted to the Science and Technology brief, so several new ministers have entered the cabinet, but Drakemouth has also retained a lot of his seasoned Ministers.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Nationalists gain one seat in total in Caermoel and Cymertraeth: overall failure
May 4807

The nationalist Draddwyr National Party gained one seat in total in Caermoel and Cymertraeth, but overall failed. They lost two of their seats in Caermoel, considered one of their strongholds, and gained three seats in Cymertraeth. Whilst they did make a gain, it is a failure as they had planned to form majority governments in both the Parliaments, and also shows that nationalism is slowing to a halt, as instead of the 101 seat surge they had previously experienced in 4802, they gained a solitary seat, with Conservative and Liberal seats going up, showing a surge in Unionist feeling. The Conservatives and Liberals went into coalition in the Caermoel and Cymertraeth parliaments, both led by the Conservatives.

The First Minister of Caermoel David Bryn said that this is "embarassing" for the DNP, as they had previously said that the next election is "freedom for Draddwyr", something which he said "has not been realised, very embarrassingly for the racist nationalists." Many other Unionist supporters also supported this sentiment, saying that the "Nationalist surge was more a Nationalist flop."

Prime Minister David Drakemouth celebrated these results, calling them "heartening", and congratulating Unionist supporters, both Conservative and Liberal, and saying that they had "stopped our country being torn apart by ethnic nationalists." He said he will do another tour of the two regions soon, to help Unionist feelings grow and show that "we do care about Caermoel and Cymertraeth."

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Government loosens up on religion
October 4807

The government has passed a bill aimed at making religious regulations less stringent, by allowing them to advertise with government permission. Members of the Conservatives mostly agreed with this bill, with 200 voting in favour, and 87 voting against. It is likely that the Liberal Party, which promotes religious freedom and has attempted to remove restrictions on religions before, will vote in favour, meaning that the bill will pass.

Religions were banned from advertising after the Aurorian Patriarchial Church released advertisements targeting members of the LGBT+ community, and calling for them to be imprisoned. Public fury, political fury and even strong backlash form the Alorian Hosian Church, which accepts LGBT+ members, caused the government to ban religious advertising, which some condemned as "heavy-handed."

The government has said that they will not allow advertising which "attacks a certain group", and has said that the Aurorian Patriarchal Church "should be careful with what advertisements it attempts to put out", warning that "they may face a blanket ban if they put any more hateful advertisements out."

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Government announces New Jobs Programme
November 4808

The government has announced a new jobs programme, intended to get people off of benefits and into work, and has also announced that employers will be awarded 1000 Aloriks for hiring people who have been on benefits for over six months, though did say that they would "have to work hard to stop people abusing the system."

The new system will introduce new jobs in the public sector, by creating more defence facilities, and introducing more publicly owned post offices, so that people can get jobs there, and also creating 150,000 more jobs in the process, which the Finance Minister Alison Morgan has said will "boost the economy hugely" and will benefit "not only the person getting the job, but also society as a whole."

The programme was passed with 287 votes, with all Conservative MS voting for it, since there was a three line whip. The Minister for Trade and Industry introduced it after the Prime Minister had finished answering questions, and it was quite a popular debate, with seventy speeches being given. The Finance Minister also gave a speech after, quelling fears that the Conservatives would cut benefits or roll back the welfare state, by saying that they had "absolutely no plans" to do this unless they could do it "without harming any of the vulnerable people who rely on benefits to keep them going."

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Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Government refuses to budge on religious schools
May 4809

The government has refused to modify their stance on religious schools, which is the complete banning of them. They were banned when several schools were apparently teaching "discriminatory and radical agendas", including teaching that women are meant to serve men and that "religion is ultimate", rather than being loyal to the State, which created fears of terrorism.

The bill proposed in the Senedd by the Liberal Party did only make provision for heavily regulated schools set up by recognised religions, but the government refused to budge even on this, saying that there are "still radical elements in mainstream religion." The government has been criticised by religious groups, who say that it is "discriminatory" against them, including the Aurorian Patriarchal Church, who have stormy relations with the government. The stance has also been criticised by some non-religious groups, who argue that "religious freedom should be allowed."

However, many secularists agree with this, along with many teachers, who say that it would be "hard to apply the national curriculum in religious schools", and also say that "teaching children in religious schools a different national curriculum could be seen as unfair to children in non-religious schools", and that it could be "incompatible" to have religious schools that teach different curriculums.

The government has said that they are not planning to introduce religious schools, and argue that it is not part of "religious freedom" as parents teaching children about religion at home has no restrictions, and that if parents want their children to have religious education it should be done "in their own time", and that "school time should be about teaching them basic things, necessary things that they need to get on in life, and not about religious things."

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Istalian ships arrive
May 4809

The ships that the government has ordered from Istalia have arrived today, to add to the Navy's capability. There are ten ships in total, all of them brand new and probably the most capable in the navy, as most of it's ships are old. The Defence Minister Sophia von Schalt said that the ships arrival was "good news for the Navy." She said that she felt the military budget was "well spent" on the ships, and added that she would be "looking to buy some more Istalian ships", and also "other vehicles for the Aerial and Land arms of the Military."

The warships will be named after the King and the Prime Minister, Henry I and Drakemouth, and will be manned by men and woman from the navy, which is currently the second largest branch of the military, after the army, and is growing due to the government's recruitment campaign, which is also being done with money from the military budget. Minister von Schalt said that the "Air Force and Army are now going to grow" and said that she was "looking for other suppliers to make vehicles for our military", as well as "work being done by Ministry of Defence engineers."

The Finance Ministry is apparently going to spend some of the new surplus on the Ministry of Defence, and is going to perhaps spend up to 2,000,000,000 Aloriks on it, meaning it will remain one of the highest budgets, just below health and education. There have also been 10,000 jobs created in the Ministry of Defence, such as engineers, scientists and manual workers. Hopefully this boost to the budget will create even more jobs.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Government raises police budget
November 4809

The government has raised the policing budget in this years budget, saying that "the police needs our support and extra funding", and it was also party of a manifesto promise, which the government is keen to carry out. The Internal Affairs Minister Vaughan Linicht, a strong supporter of the police, had apparently been asking the Finance Ministry for extra funding since he assumed the office, and this was finally delivered on today.

The head of the Senior Police Officers Federation (SPOF), the trade union and representative body for senior police officers, Bryn Williams, said that this is "a great thing" and said that Mr Linicht has been "a good internal minister so far, and a good friend of the police. I hope this will continue." The government has also pledged another pay rise for the police, which of course was met well within the policing community as well.

The government has also been focusing on raising police numbers, promising 10,000 new police officers within five years, an offer which some think will be carried off easily with the government's promises and pay rises. The huge budget rise of 1,000,000,000 Aloriks, the biggest Internal Affairs boost in a long time, will also bring in a lot of new equipment, which will no doubt give people confidence in joining the police, if they feel they will have more equipment and be better protected. The government is also raising the Health and Defence budgets, to recruit new military personnel and health personnel.