I will use this topic to post the updates from GB&I.

21st January 2006

Reforms in the Immigration Service

On Tuesday, our Home Secretary (myself ;) ) announced some radical innovations in GB&I's Immigration Service, the department of the Home Office that is responsible for recruitment and integration of new members. These innovations include a new recruitment system, called "Scheduled Recruitment" and a promotion system for Immigration Assistants.

Before I go deeper about these two, I believe that a brief description of our Immigration Service is needed. The Immigration Service (hereinafter mentioned as IS) is under the administration of the Home Secretary. It consists of volunteers, called Immigration Assistants. One of these Assistants is appointed by the Home Secretary as Immigration Director, to help the Secretary with the administration of the Service. The Home Secretary is also considered to be an Assistant, too.

1) Scheduled Recruitment: With this new system, all the dates are separated into five groups, using as a criterion the last digit of the date. For example, one group is the dates with 0 or 5 as last digit (like 25/1/2006 or 10/2/2006) etc. Then, each Assistant is assigned to one of these groups. For example, personally I am assigned to the group "1, 6" (dates with 1 or 6 as their last digit).

The Assistants will be obliged to recruit when it is their turn to do so, according to the group of digits thay have been assigned to. There is a standard of 40 telegrams to be sent these dates by each Assistant.

The key-point of this system is that everyone will now have to recruit only for six days per month. And, since 40 telegrams aren't that many, this means 1 hour per day, which is six hours per month. On the other hand, this system ensures that we will recruit every day. So, everyone has to work less, but as a whole more recruitment is done. After all, this is the advertising motto for this new system,

"Less work to do, better results".

2) Ranks: Ranks have been introduced to add a little competition in the IS, since competition always breeds activity. The Assistants are now separated into four categories, cadets, majors, seniors and veterans. All the current Assistants have been placed into the "Cadet" category. Assistants will move up the Hierarchy ladder by recording the new people they bring into the region. For example, when a Cadet Assistant reaches a number of 15 new people, he is upgraded to a Major Assistant.

GB&I troops take part in the recent Warzone Battle, new medal pending

Lately, there have been battles in the Warzones, involving our allies in ACCEL and ADN. Detailed reports on these conficts can be found in the newspapers I have posted here.

GB&I troops took part in these conflicts and we have been with the winners. For that reason, our CiC, Gililand, has petitioned to the Parliament that a new medal is awarded to all the troops that took part in the Battle. Discussions in the Parliament about this have already begun.

It is worthy of remark that the GB&I Parliament has not awarded medals to military troops since the Battle of Palestine and the Palestine Medal, in April 2005.

By-election begins

Today, the poll for the By-election has opened. There are two candidates, both from the same party, the Free Dempcratic Party (FDP). This by-election gives the chance to the FDP to get its first Parliamentary seat since its foundation.

(Personal comment: Obviously, since both of the candidates are from the same party, FDP will get at least one seat ;) ).

New Embassies, New Ambassadorial Ensign

Embassies have been exchanged with the regions of Canada, Coconut Island, Galts Gulch, Gatesville, Government, N Ireland, The New Meritocracy, The Non Aligned States. Embassy request from GB&I are still under consideration by the regions of Equilism, Europa, Lemuria and Nasicournia. The region of Alpha Omega has posted an Embassy request in our forum, which is currently discussed by our Cabinet.

GB&I welcomes all these regions. We hope that this is the beginning of a long friendship among us.

And, as all these new Embassies need Ambassadors, there has been an advertisement campign for the Diplomatic Corps of GB&I. Four GB&I citizens have already signed in to become Ambassadors. And, from now on, all the Ambassadors will carry the Official Ambassadorial Ensign of GB&I: it is the picture in my signature ;) .


That's all from GB&I! See you in our next update. I need to warn you, it might be a little delayed, because of my exams in RL.

30th January 2006

Emparh!

Under the administration of the new Colonial Secretary, Posul, our Imperial building is progressing fast. Of our Dominions, Ceylon is still the biggest, owing to its founder's, Westmorlandia, efforts. The Falkland Islands have been revitalised and, now, the first Dominion of Great Britain and Ireland is back to thirty nations. British West Indies population is increasing as well, while two new Dominions were created: The British Americas, founded by British Glory, and British Hanover, founded by Posul.

The Parliament is currently discussing a revised version of the Dominions Bill, which will replace the old Dominions Act 2005. This new version will separate Dominions, depending on their activity and population. In this way, the more active Dominions will become more autonomous, in terms of internal affairs, while the lesser active will be more tightly dependent on Great Britain and Ireland.

New Embassies

Embassies have been exchanged with the regions of Liberalia and Europa.
GB&I welcomes these regions. We hope that this is the beginning of a long friendship among us.

Embassy exchange with the region Alpha Omega has been approved by the Cabinet of Great Britain and Ireland.

Our Embassy in Abyss was closed, since the region merged with Spinward.

GB&I sends troops to support Global Right Alliance

On the 28th January, the Delegate of Global Right Alliance (GRA) was ejected from the UN for rule violations. Since the region is founderless, GRA found itself in a situation of emergency.

GRA requested support from its allies. GB&I has responded immediately and troops from the GB&I forces were sent to support the native delegate.

GB&I and GRA have long-lasting relations. They are also both signatories of the Quad Alliance.

For more information, look at the latest selection of newspapers. There are many articles about this incident and GB&I's involvement.

By-Election Chaos

Because of a loophole in legislation considering elections, our recent by-election resulted in a fiasco.

The whole confusion was created from an Amendment passed by the previous Parliament to decrease the number of Parliamentary seats from eleven to nine. However, some relative article in the section about By-Election were not changed. As a result, the Prime Minister could call a by-election, but noone would be elected from it!

The loophole was ditected by the Home Secretary (myself ;) ). Since then, there have been efforts a quick amendment to be passed from the Parliament before the poll closes, to fix the situation. However, this attempt failed.

The Cabinet is still discussing about what action needs to be taken. The only two alternatives are either to call the by-election null and void and, after the legislation is properly amended, call a new by-election or to ask for a Judicial Clarification on the matter.

UN Resolution: Repeal "The Rights of Labor Unions"

GB&I has strongly supported the UN Resolution 'Repeal "The Rights of Labor Unions"'. This Resolution was proposed by Galts Gulch, an ally of GB&I in ACCEL. Galts Gulch has requested the support of its allies, in order the Resolution to be passed and GB&I responded.

Thx for the update! :)

You are welcome :) .

8th March 2006

General Election called!

On the 7th of March 2006, our Prime Minister, North East Somerset called a General Election to be held. The General Election is to be held on the date of Tuesday the 14th March.

Elections in Great Britain and Ireland are ruled by the Elections Act 2005 of the Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland. Under this Act, every citizen of Great Britain and Ireland may stand as a candidate for the House of Commons of the GB&I Parliament. The Elections Act 2005, as amended on the 1st February 2006, regulates that the eleven candidates with the most votes are elected as Members of Parliament (MPs). There are several cases, however, under which more or less than eleven MPs will enter the House of Commons of the Parliament.

When the Election is over, the Eighth Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland will be formed. The MP who controls a majority in the Parliament will become the Prime Minister and will form a new Cabinet.

Citizens have already began to submit their candidacies. Currently, there are candidates from two parties, the Liberal Imperial Party (LIP) and the Free Democrat Party (FDP), while there are many independent candidates as well. Candidates are campaigning to get citizens to vote for them, while the party leaders (Posul and Nonbrazilianfootball for LIP and FDP respectively) have already begun announcing the policies of their parties for the future of Great Britain and Ireland. Election fever!

Military Reform Bill defeated in the House of Lords

One of the main priorities of the current Cabinet of Great Britain and Ireland has been the reformation of our Military Forces. Several times in the past, symptoms of inefficiency and lack of effectiveness have been noticed in the GB&I forces.

After a long period of discussions for this subject, the Cabinet presented an ambitious Bill in the Parliament. Yet again, there have been many disagreements over the provisions of the Bill and, through its two Readings, the original version has been amended a lot.

The Bill was finally passed by the House of Commons. However, the House of Lords vetoed the Bill, considering that there were still a few technicalities that should be fixed.

It appears that the new Parliament will have to cope with the miltiary reform again, although this time there is a solid basis from which it can begin discussions.

Judicial System Reform debate still in the process

Two weeks ago, the Department for Consitutional Affairs of the Home Office has launched a debate between the two Houses of the Parliament, regarding the reformation of our region's Judicial System.

What gave the occasion for this debate were the fierce arguments between the Upper and the Lower House, regarding the Judiciary. Two Bills had been presented, each one being supported by one of the two Houses and being rejected by the other. Since a consensus could not be reached, the debate was launched as a last effort to achieve a compromise.

Yet, there is no conlcusion reached and the discussions are being continued.

Isaac City admitted into the Empire

After the successful admission of City of London in the Empire of Great Britain and Ireland, almost three weeks ago, a new region has also applied for Dominion status.

The founder of the region and members of the Cabinet had discussions for quite a long time. These discussions have been fertile and, on the 7th March 2006, a Bill was brought in front of the Parliament, to make Isaac City a Dominion. So far, the Bill has been heartily welcomed by the House of Commons.

Dominions are semi-autonomous regions, which are governed under the provisions of the Dominions Act 2006 of our Parliament.

Isaac City is mainly an RP region, mainly oriented towards the age of Feudal Japan. It is expected to become an RP bastion of Great Britain and Ireland and help the Empire expand her cultural activities.

Foreign Relations

- The Foreing Office has decided to propose the repeal of certain Treaties that were obsolete and no longer served the interests of Great Britain and Ireland. Treaties with Sangria Sands will be repealed by the Parliament, since the region in question has recently withdrawn from all alliances it wa involved in. The Parliament is also voting to repeal the Treaty for the triple alliance "Allied British Imperialists" (involving GB&I, The British Empire and FCS), which has been defunct since summer. Finally, there is a vote in the Parliament to nullify an alliance with the region Holy Land, which is virtually defunct as well.

- Great Britain and Ireland has accepted the offers from the regions The West Pacific and Flavian Amphitheatre to exchange Embassies.

- Great Britain and Ireland, along with Global Right Alliance, are considering the re-construction of the Quadruplex Alliance (QA).

The QA is a close alliance, originally among the regions Great Britain and Ireland, Scarfaces, Global Right Alliance and Sangria Sands. Revently, Sangria Sands left the alliance and only three of the original signatories remained.

After the recent events in Scarfaces, Great Britain and Ireland and Global Right Alliance have begun considering removing Scarfaces from the Alliance and seeking for new partners. Discussions are still in the process in the QA forums.

21st March 2006

General Election results - New Government up-and-running!

After the General Election of the 14th March 2006, the Eighth Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland was formed. The new MPs are

J and W (Liberal Imperialist Party)
Klopstock (Independent)
Los Cielos (Liberal Imperialist Party)
Magnetic Flux (Independent)
nonbrazilianfootball (Conservative Democrat Party)
North East Somerset (Liberal Imperialist Party)
Olde Delaware (Liberal Imperialist Party)
Posul (Liberal Imperialist Party)
r3naissanc3r (Independent)
Westmorlandia (Independent)
Windsor-Bainbridge (Liberal Imperialist Party)
Zeon-x (Liberal Imperialist Party)

Our Monarch, --Great Britain--, appointed the leader of the Liberal Imperialist Party, Posul, as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland.

Posul, as leader of the Liberal Imperialist Party, the party with the majority in the House of Commons, was appointed by our Monarch, --Great Britain--, as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland.

Posul announced the new Cabinet. The Ministers for this term will be

Chancellor of the Exchequer - North East Somerset
Home Secretary/UN Delegate - r3naissanc3r
Foreign Secretary - Winsdor-Bainbridge
Colonial Secretary - Zeon-x
Minister of Defence - Olde Delaware
Minsiter without Porfollio - Los Cielos

Most of the governmental positions have also been filled. Here are the people in each seat, appointed by the respective Minister (appears in brackets)

Immigration Director for GB&I - nonbrazilianfootball (Home Secretary)
Culture Councillor - BigThunderRumbleFishhh (Home Secretary)
Commissioner for Constitutional Affairs - Trividium (Home Secretary)
Head of Ambassadors - Klopstock (Foreign Secretary)
Governor General - Taliesin (Colonial Secretary)

The new Commander-in-Chief (CiC) of the GB&I Military Forces has also been appointed, by the Minister of Defence. In return, the new CiC appointed his Second-in-Command (2iC).

Commander-in-Chief - Westmorlandia
Second-in-Command - --Great Britain--

A few appointments are still pending. But, all of the Governmental posts will be filled, shortly.

On a side note, the Foreign Secretary, Windsor-Bainbridge, was also appointed as the new Director for GB&I in ACCEL.

The new Government has set as top priorities for this term: the reformation of the military forces and the intelligence services, the re-organisation of our Dominions and improving our recruitment infrastructure.

Foundation of the GB&I University

After contructive debates on which form it should take, the University of Great Britain and Ireland was finally opened on the 16th March 2006.

The GB&I citizens unanimously elected Westmorlandia as the first Dean of the University. The Dean published, on the 14th March 2006, two days before the opening, the Charter of the University (can be found here).

As defined in the Charter, the University is and will always remain totally independent from the Government. Course will be in the form of debates over various issues, both NS and RL related.

Many citizens have already contributed documents and essays to the University. The University has also begun building a Library, by collecting various important documents from the History of GB&I. The Cabinet has declassified a few documents and put them in the University's disposal.

At the moment, the University is open only to citizens of GB&I (but it can also be viewed by non-citizens). However, it may be opened to the NS world later.

British Conference Commenced

As promised in his agenda, our Foreign Secretary, Windsor-Bainbridge, has announced the conduction of a conference among all the British and Commonwealth regions in NationStates. As the Foreign Secretary has stated,

Invitations have already been sent to 23 regions. From the responses received at the moment of typing this, there have been both regions that declined and that accepted to attend the Conference.

The forum for the British Conference can be found here. Observers may join, if they wish.

Party Merger

On a surprising move, on the 16th March 2006, the Conservative Party, consisting mostly of the peers of the House of Lords, and the Free Democrat Party merged, to form the Conservative Democrat Party.

The merger occured after complaints expressed by many citizens about the lack of a strong second party, to oppose the domination of the Liberal Imperialist Party in GB&I politics. In the last General Election, the two constituent parties had only gained a sum of two Parliamentary seats, from four candidates overall that stood as candidates for these parties. And, the number was reduced even more, when one of the elected candidates, after the General Election, left the party and became an Independent.

The Duke of Mercia, Imperial British Glory became the leader of the new party. The Earl of Westminster, Stony Stratoford, and nonbrazilianfootball, leader of the Free Democrat Party, became Deputy Leaders of the new party.

The Conservative Democrat Party has yet to announce its policies.

The Empire takes priority

The first Imperial Conference is held these days in the GB&I forum. This conference aims to address problems that the Dominions of GB&I face and try to propose solutions.

At the moment, two issues have been raised, regarding the Territorial Army and the Dominions' forums. Especially the second has drawn the attention of many citizens. Debates on these issues are still on the process.

Meanwhile, two more regions have expressed their interest to join the Empire. The Orkney Islands and The North Atlantic are currently under consideration, but they will probably be granted Dominion status, soon.

Quadruplex Alliance news

In order to recreate the alliance, Global Right Alliance and Great Britain and Ireland have terminated the old Quadruplex Alliance. As the corresponding Treaty regulated, in order a new member to be admitted to the Alliance, the Treaty in question had to be repealed and signed again by all the members, with the new member included.

Global Right Alliance, Great Britain and Ireland and Flavian Amphitheatre have agreed to resign the Treaty and so form the second incarnation of the Alliance. The Alliance will retain its historical name, although the members are no longer four but three.

I love this idea. Wow.

Congratulations to your new government officials.

Thanks, King_Girl :) .