Aloria

[LPA]

First Awards Ceremony

Today was the day of the first New Year's Awards Ceremony, where the monarch gives people who have contributed to Aloria an award in recognition for their work.

At the ceremony today Her Majesty Queen Eleanor Gruffud awarded several rewards. However, most of them were political, as this is the first ceremony, and it is thought that many more rewards will be given next time, to people who are truly heroic and help defend our nation.

Among the awards given were Privy Council positions given to all members of the Cabinet (as is usual), and knighthoods to the Prime Minister Mark Jones for "political services", and to Finance Minister Vaughan Linicht for "political services" and "helping the growth of the economy". The Commissioner of Police was also given a knighthood, and the Chief Whip was given the Order of Honour, along with Paul von Salzan, a police officer responsible for saving several people from a Draddwyr nationalist group.

Senior civil servants were also given peerages, including ex Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office Gustav Harrand.

It is likely that many more people will be given awards next year, including many police officers and servicemen and women who risk their lives every day to help our nation be safer.

[LPA]

Government plans to stop univeristy fees subsidation

Today in the Senedd, Education and Culture Minister Alun Iowerth presented a government sponsored bill on reform of the education system. The bill proposed what the minister called the "de-politicisation" of schools, including making the political education of students only a basic necessity, and also stopping mandatory singing of the national anthem.

Among other things in the bill, the Government has plans to stop subsidising student's university fees. This will mean that students will have to pay for university, but only when they reach a certain tax bracket. The government's logic was that "subsidised university means...that people who have never had a chance to go to university are paying for strangers to go there."

This was critised by several organisations, including the National Union of University Students, who said that it is "unfair, and discriminates against the poorest in society" and also said that it is "elitist." The Government has also reintroduced selective schools, which was also criticised by the NUUS, who said the same thing, and that it treats "students who don't get into these schools as second class citizens."

The board of the NUUS, comprising of a President and fifty delegates from universities, is discussing today what to do, and it is highly likely that there will be a strike involved.

The Education and Culture Minister has said that it is "only fair" and that it will not disadvantage poor students because they "can still go, they will just have to pay the money back, and only when they earn a certain amount of money."

The NUUS did not reply to the Minister.

[LPA]

Students riot as Government stops university fees subsidization

Today students took to the streets to protest the Government's new 'Education Reform Bill', which has stopped the subsidisation of university fees, meaning that students will have to pay back their university fees after they earn a certain amount of money. The Government has also apparently planned to cut the education budget due to the introduction of selective schools has made students increasingly angry.

Several people were arrested by the police for public disorder, and unfortunately eight police officers were injured in clashes with students.

John Davies, a representative of the National Union of University Students (NUUS), said that the government's handling was "authoritarian, sending in police to deal with rioting students. It is ridiculous."

[LPA]

Internal Minister condemns riots

The Minisrer for Internal Affairs, Alice Powys, has condemned the student riots, after twelve police officers were injured, including one who is in intensive care. The Minister warned that "these riots are showing the worst in students. We are not going to continue subsidising their university fees."

1000 extra "auxillary police officers" have been recruited, as an ad hoc force to stop the riots, which has been criticised by opponents as the government as "creating a paramilitary" and they have been accused of running a "fascist state." More than one thousand people have now been arrested, and the police are telling the government that they need more funding to deal with the problem.

The Government's budget, being debated in the Senedd, does not seem to have an increase in the Internal Affairs department, which is one of the biggest departments of the government, but the military budget was increased, allegedly because the Government "want[s] to spend 5% of GDP on it", but this has created fears that the Government is preparing to mobilise the army to deal with rioters.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
New party formed
October 4772

Today, among the chaos still being caused by rioting students, a new political party has been formed, which will hopefully help bring the country back to peace. The Ceidwadwyr Aloria (Alorian Conservatives) was formed by various centre-right groups and politicians, including some members of the Liberale Partei's right-wing, including Alun Iowerth, who has been made a new member of the Cabinet, some reports say.

The party will be the first party to be formed since the Liberale Partei dissolved. However, a rump party of Liberale Partei members still sits in the Senedd, and they have formed the caretaker government since Prime Minister Mark Jones stood down. It is expected that new Senedd elections will be called immediately, in order to provide a working government for the people of Aloria. Although the current government (composed of the Liberale Partei rump) is technically a "working" government, it has not been elected by the people, something which it admits.

The Ceidwadwyr Aloria's leader Alun Daffys has promised that the party will restore "law and order" to Aloria, by increasing police funding and making a Royal Commission to look into student fees. He has called on the National Union of University Students to stop it's rioting, saying that he "understands where they are coming from. And I understand that the vast majority of them are simply peacefully protesting. However a minority are being very violent and causing a lot of trouble."

Mr Daffys is a member of his party's 'Modern Conservative' caucus, a socially liberal caucus that has promised to be "fair" to protesters, but also to stop those "who are being violent and stopping Aloria function properly."

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
New party formed
December 4772

The current Conservative government has introduced a law into the house to provide provisions for referendums creation of "Regional Assemblies". These assemblies would have some powers to create laws, which will be allowed by the Government. However, there will be some "reserved" matters which only the central government can vote on.

The referendums would be held with universal suffrage, with all of those who are of the voting age able to vote. There had previously not been any regional assemblies, so this will form another level of government. It will take on some functions currently performed by local governments, including borough councils, city councils and county councils.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Prime Minister delivers speech to Conservative Party
April 4773



The Prime Minister, Alun Daffys, delivered a speech today to the Conservative Party Executive Committee, the top decision-maker in the Conservative Party's internal organisation. This is the first speech made by the Prime Minister, and was praised by many members of the Senedd, and members of the Executive Committee. The Prime Minister said:

Today, Aloria must change. I will tell you, Aloria has changed a lot. We do not have an oppressive socialist republican government, we have Her Majesty the Queen, and a fairly, universally elected Senedd. We have a country where, regardless of who you love, you can serve openly in the military without having to worry about being sought out and fired. We have a country where people are not in fear of being arrested because they speak out against the government, and, as I well know, a country where people are not afraid to speak out against the Government! But there are some things we need to fix. The trade unions that are so dear and important to workers, which protect them,l have become politicised and have far too much power. They can cripple the economy at will. We also have a bad tax system, where people are taxed too much to enjoy their hard earned cash. We need to fix this, and we need to do it soon. I promise that this will be fixed.

The speech received a standing ovation, with many members praising it as a "big tent" speech, which welcomes all, rather than a speech aimed at a certain group. However, critics have pointed out that the Prime Minister made no reference to the students rioting, and have accused the prime minister of making an "ideology, not policy" speech, saying that he has "spoken about what he would like to do, what his party stands for, but not what they are planning to do. Of course, they mentioned a few points, but they did not mention a lot of things that are important to our nation."

Head of the Executive Council, Daffyd Huren, has said that he believes that the speech is "a broad church. It will attract many members of society, from trade unionists to young people disengaged with politics. It will end apathy, especially with those who do not usually vote. The speech will probably annoy the right-wing, but then they are not are target, our main target is young, working class voters."

Mr Daffys is a member of his party's "Modern Conservative" faction, a faction that is socially liberal, and wants some regulations. The Modern Conservative faction is currently the ruling faction both in the party and the parliamentary party, with one hundred and ninety Members of the Senedd being part of it, thirty members of the fifty-member Executive Committee, and half of the normal party members. The right-wing faction, the Priceites (led by Member of the Senedd Edmund Price), is in favour of socially conservative policies, including stopping same-sex couples from adopting children and perhaps even stopping same-sex marriages, and economically liberal policies, including de-regulation. It also favours strong "law and order" policies, including reintroducing the death penalty. It makes up just over a quarter of the normal party members, and has about one hundred and thirty five members of the Senedd, and has nineteen members of the Executive Committee.

The third and smallest faction, the Liberal Conservatives, makes up about just under one quarter of the party, and is supportive of Mr Daffys' leadership, as it sits in the centre-ground and favours socially liberal policies and some regulation. It has twenty five Members of the Senedd, and one member of the Executive Council.

Mr Daffys is set to carry on passing reforming laws, and it is highly unlikely that the right-wing will take over the party. It is also indicated in polls that many people voted for the party because of it's Modern Conservative leader Mr Daffys, and would probably not vote for Edmund Price if he became leader, because of his right-wing policies.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
"No more socialism. More social-ism!" Prime Minister denounces right-wing calls for anti-LGBT laws
May 4773


"Anti-social" says Prime Minister of right-wingers. Finance Minister Vaughan Linicht is seen laughing

Today, Prime Minister Alun Daffys denounced the right-wing of his party's call for anti-LGBT laws, saying that "although we have left socialism, does not mean we have to leave being social behind! It isn't an excuse for being anti-social, just because you're anti-socialist!"

The Prime Minister faced Question Time in the Senedd, a weekly occurrence when he must take questions from members of the Senedd, usually backbenchers, who want to scrutinise the government or criticise their ideology and policies.The most vociferous attackers are usually from a list of "usual suspects", including Heinrich Hannler, Fred Elis-Wigley and Alan Herenr, all right-wing members of the party.

Today, Fred Elis-Wigley made a suggestion that led to the highlight of the PMQs. Mr Elis-Wigley said that "homosexuals aught not be able to adopt. They make bad parents, if you ask me.The whole thing will ruin the child's childhood."

This was met with hoots of derision from the frontbench, the Modern Liberals and the Liberal Conservatives, with many attempting to shout Mr Elis-Wigley down. The Prime Minister had to wait for the speaker to calm the House down before making his reply. He said, according to the official parliamentary writers,

Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker! Not only is the honourable member's opinion pretty outdated, but his evidence is duff! I have proof here that shows that, from a survey of 10,000, 89% of children are happy with same-sex parents! I do not know if the honourable member's evidence is from his own opinion, or from some sort of anti-LGBT organisation he is a member of. But it is false, Mr Speaker. And I say to the honourable member that although we have left socialism, does not mean we have to leave being social behind! It isn't an excuse for being anti-social, just because you're anti-socialist!

The members of the Senedd seemed to find this funny, as half of the house burst out in laughter, forcing Mr Elis-Wigley to sit down. The right-wingers also attempted to make more anti-LGBT suggestions, but were shouted down each time by the House, before the Prime Minister attacked their views as "anti-social" once again.

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Prime Minister secures deal with NUUS, no more rioting
May 4773


Prime Minister speaks with NUUS representatives

Today, after three years of rioting, the NUUS has promised to stop it's students. The rioting, which has become very violent, started when the Liberale government introduced means-tested loans, and stopped subsidising student's university education. There have been over two thousand arrests, and the police are apparently "failing to keep all of the arrested criminals in cells."

The current Conservative government has introduced several measures to alleviate the riots. Firstly, they have increased the Internal Affairs budget, so that the police funding can be increased, and have introduced a more effective tax system, so that more tax can be raised to fund the police, and the Prime Minister has been speaking with NUUS leaders.

The Prime Minister said that, while the government would not stop the means-tested loans, they would put a cap on them of 1000 ALOs a year, and students would only have to pay them back when they earned 20,000 ALOs a year, and only have to pay back 1000 ALOs a year.

The NUUS representatives said that, while they would rather than the student's were fully subsidised, this is "the next best thing", as "it means that those who do not have as much money can still go to university. There will be a bigger strain on them, however."

The Prime Minister has said that the agreement is "fair, and it means that tax payers don't have to pay for strangers to go to university, but it also means that those who are from poorer backgrounds will be able to attend university."

[moderates]

Gohebydd Dyddiol Aloria
Rferendums held on regional parliaments, Yes wins.
October 4773


Voters at polling stations

Referendums held on establishing Regional Parliaments were held today, with all regions voting 'Yes'.

The regions all have county councils and other smaller councils, such as parish councils, but there is no parliament for the region as a whole. The 'No' campaigners said that the Regional Parliaments would be bad for the region, as it would make inequality worse, and would also be useless as they wouldn't have much legislative power. 'Yes' campaigners said that Regional Parliaments would be good as they would mean that there was more local government, and so the region would have more representation.

The regions all had a good turnout, with national turnout at 89%. The Sildar region had the least 'Yes' votes, with only a majority of one thousand, and Caermoel had the most 'Yes' votes, with a majority of 370,000.

The results were said to be "good, and a show of local representation." by the Prime Minister, who congratulated the 'Yes' campaigners, and will introduce a bill to give the Assemblies powers later today.