RTD 24
-
James Mizrachi-Roscoe calls for EDA budget boost
Today James Mizrachi-Roscoe indicated he is considering voting to raise the EU budget contribution consent despite the likely defeat of his amendments to allow a growth in the EDA budget. He has said in a statement " I believe in the EU and believe in its power to change lives, nations and help in a green transition. That is why I would like to see the EDA budget raised to a minimum of 20 billion Euros but preferably 30 billion Euros this year so it becomes less of a chocolate teapot . I would then support growing the EDA to over 50 billion Euros a year over a series of years. I believe this sort of money is needed in addition to funds like the GEF and Kiresile to help poorer nations develop more and transition all economies including oil and resource economies like the DU and Vayinaod as quick as possible. Its essential we reach carbon neutrality in an equitable way by 2040 at the latest but preferable 2030-2035 if we are to stop the biggest effects of climate change on the poorest in this world and on this continent and poorer nations should not have to spend money to transition themselves they need for poverty alleviation. This is where I believe we need big EDA budget boosts to help not only anti-poverty relief and developments but also the Green transition." The government has said it will assess its Green European Fund contributions depending on the EDA budget but would prefer an EDA budget boost over a boost in contribution to the Green European Fund. It did however say if it feels the EDA budget boost is not enough it will likely double or triple the GEF contribution boosts over 2 to 3 years.I feel the the current IAC and Premier Comissioner are good for Europe and giving it a purpose while reforming it in a democratic way. I can only hope they can help deliver a budget over time that will make the EDA relevent and a great tool in anti-poverty relief , development and green transition development. I will support budgets that achieve this if enough is spent on the EDA.
-
Joint Shield fails to pass in Imperial Senate
Today the Joint Shield Programme has failed to pass the Imperial Senate. The upper house voted down the programme by a margin of 60% with government withdrawing the bill soon afterwards. The Imperial senate debate expressed concerns about rising nuclear technology or possibly hypersonic missiles to overcome such a shield and many said they worried it would actually make the security situation worse. The government is expected to try to find a new path now that ABM has been blocked with the government expected to apply for nuclear weapons albeit reluctantly following the increased nuclearization in Europe. Though the government have refused to confirm such a course of action saying only "We are taking the threat of nuclear weapons seriously" -
New Dawn banned by government after police arrest leadership
The "Far Right" New Dawn Party have today been banned by government and all candidates suspended from parliament under laws governing links to extremism and terrorism. The party has been officially linked to terrorism and far right extremism and organised hate crimes after a police and intelligence investigation results were unveiled. The ban will mean they cannot take part in parliamentary proceedings and the seats they won will go to an election if local or if list seats be put on a national election for the list seats.The party leadership and over half the Ministers of Parliament have been arrested on charges of terror, incitement to violence , hate speech and threats of violence. The investigation has been ongoing for over 2 years with the evidence found to be overwhelming according to police. It is expected trials will last until at least Christmas to New Years period. The party in a statement have said "The government are persecuting us and our supporters for being true patriots to the Duchies and opposing their liberal agenda. We will fight this ban and fight the charges and have launched legal funds to help anyone being charged." A host of far right groups have also been banned with the leadership arrested. The government said "There is no persecution of the far right going on. All we have done is made them follow the law like anyone else and prosecuted groups who have consistently refused to follow our laws of acceptance and tolerance and not threatening others."It is expected the government will look to run all out elections in the Duchies instead of partial elections with a campaigning period until May 5th . The government and opposition parties have voted to dissolve parliament until May 5th the day of the the next elections and to have elections for Members of Parliament on May 5th alongside the local elections.
-
Roscoes fire employee after transphobic comment
Today Roscoes fired an employee for a transphobic comment on his Twitter feed. The manager of a store in Brummagem in the Duchies posted "Women are people with an XX chromosone okay. All these XY "women" are not real women so don't call yourselves that and force your maleness into our female spaces thank you. Just a memo science doesn't care about your feelings." The outburst of the lady was noticed by thousands and condemned by many. Raw data from the company has shown 2,060 sackings for homophobic, transphobic , sexist or racist comments in public under the hate speech provision of the job contract at Roscoes.The company said "Our manager crossed the line and we appologise to customers and people in the community offended by the comments. We cannot have people who don't follow our values of tolerance and acceptance of all working for us especially in such a senior role. She has therefore been fired in line with company policy with immediate effect and will not be able to work for us for at least 10 years and only then with monitoring of her social media for 2-3 years into any future job contract with us. We hope this is a lesson for transphobes that if you are a transphobe Roscoes is not the company for you."
-
Councillors should work to "European not National Interests" says Roscoe
Today James Mizrachi-Roscoe in an interview said councillors should work for European Interest and not National interests alone in an interview about the job and his role on national tv. He said " I think the most difficult skill some councillors don't get is that the role of a European councillor is to fight for the European interest and not just the national interest. Sometimes this will mean supporting laws or amendments that openly harm your own countries national interests to please other countries and come to laws that will benefit the broader European community. Ultimately it comes down to compromising on national interest in order to get balance policy that works for all nations in the EU. We need more people and nation pleasing candidates willing to overcome national interests to compromise to come up with the best solutions for all. A good example of this is my amendments on behalf of Nofoaga and other nations that are not the Duchies. I know this was appreciated by them and I was thanked by them. We need more councillors willing to introduce amendments on behalf of other nations.We need less selfishness and only considering your own nation in EU and more considering the needs of European nations especially those who are poorer end on the economic front or that have smaller populations. Europe should not be run for the benefit of a few big imperialist laissez fair powers "This has proved controversial with his supporting parties supporting his stance but his critics on the nationalist right saying he is "Forgetting he is the Duchies councillor and has become part of the European establishment". However we want to know what you think. Do you agree with James Mizrachi-Roscoe on this?
-
Election poll and seat projection for 2022 General Election as 24/04/2022
House of Commons
CPCI:0.02%(1 Seat)(+0 Seats)
The Left:2.20%(14 Seats)(-141 Seats)
IUAC:0.14%(2 Seats)(+1 Seats)
PSD:22.28%(145 Seats)(+76 Seats)
Liberal Party:9.86%(64 Seats)(-3 Seats)
Moderate Party:28.34%(185 Seats)(+65 Seats)
Union of Democrats:23.27%(152 Seats)(+33 Seats)
Unus:13.89%(90 Seats)(+1 Seat) -
PSD pledge "New Deal" for workers if in coaltion
The PSD competing for The Left votes have announced a new package they would make a red line if they were to enter a coaltion. They unveiled plans for a "New Workers Deal " to strengthen work place protections. They pledged to make UD the nation with the best labour rights in the EU . The new package would contain 4 key measures to increase labour rights and conditions the first would be 45 days of paid holidays per year for all workers. The second is to set the amount of hours over which is considerer overtime to any hours over 32 hours per week. The third and fourth proposals are raising minimum wage to 14 Dux Libra Minumum wage or €17.42 per hour overiding any lower minimum wages raising all but one minimum wage in the country and workers representatives or union representatives having 50% of the seats on company boards being elected by the workers and union members in that business. A fifth proposal of mandatory profit sharing and and percentage of profits to go to a welfare fund to help fund employees through additional costs as a result of natural disaster or illness on top of any mandatory sick pay. Any company with a physical presence in Duchies would have to offer these in their Duchian subsidiaries.The package has been described by the PSD as "The next stage in labour rights guaranteeing a work-life balance , higher incomes and better worker control of the businesses." The package proposals have been opposed by the UoD who said they would damage the competitiveness of the Duchies and hurt workers more than it helps especially in lower gdp duchies. The PSD have stated however it would be a red line. The Moderate Party said all options are open for coalitions and they would look at all parties red lines.The Moderate party said they would be revealing labour proposals in the next few days but their proposals are expected to be moderate increases in minimu wages and introduction of welfare society requirements for businesses.
-
The Left run on Co-operatisation and significant wage increases
The Left today have announced their upcoming labour red lines if they are asked into coalition. The party known for its left wing politics has prioritised cost of living and labour reform as their main policies. The party has promised its red lines for any coalition would be a drive to cooperatise the economy and disincentise any big private business , raising minimum wage to to a national minimum wage of 25 Dux Libra per hour or €33.25 per hour within a year and capping with overtime pay kicking in at just 28 hours and a max wage cap of 5 times the lowest paid full time worker working 28 Hours a week or €242,060 a year for the average CEO on standard hours. The policies they say would encourage equality and good work conditions as well as "democratise" business. The plans have been criticised by a broad spectrum of parties who said they will not go into coalition with The Left on these conditions with most parties saying they would damage the economy and are just envy of the rich.The party also will seek some democratic reform including abolishing the Imperial Senate or turning it into an elected house that would be elected by union members with union foremen allowed to run to be in the house with 1 foreman representing each union.
-
Remaining policy redlines announced
The Union of Democrats have announced their red lines for any coalition they are in. They have said they will oppose any requirement for companies to be forced profit share or set up welfare funds for the workers saying it should be up to the companies. They also said they would require tax cuts in income tax and spending increase freezes with a commitment to keep government spending to a maximum of 46% and try to cut it down to 43% if possible over the coming years to help people keep more money in their pockets. The party also said it would try to cut income tax to 40% of income for the highest bracket to help people keep more money in their pocket.On business the party said they would seek to limit minimum wage increases to inflation to prevent job losses.
This leaves a stark choice for the Moderates if current polls or something close to it prove correct a Moderate government with Liberals and UoD with emphasis on cutting or maintaining only existing spending as % of GDP or a more high spending high minimum wage government with more pro-union policies in a change of course. The UoD said " We can afford to not spend as much percent of GDP on government services and still benefit from the rising tide of the economy."
The Liberal Party promised it would seek to maintain existing policies on economy and try to keep any change to a minimum while focusing on social policies in any coalition including the mandating of bathroom access laws for transgender across the Duchies and increasing strength of anti-discrimination codes in law.They have not laid out any redlines saying they would work with any party and approach negotiations on a case by case basis.
Unus have set redlines at maintaining the immigration quotas at 1 million excluding anastasia with no increase while hoping to decrease the quota and banning Anastasia citizens from taking jobs up anywhere outside of Anastasia City. They would also seek to reduce money transfer to the Anastasian government to only the level required by treaty. The party is seen as hostile to Anastasia City and its refugee population. The party is also seeking stricter requirements for immigrants including shortening the amount of time they have to learn Duchian English or Duchian German. The party seeks to increase public services for citizens while restricting non-citizens from accessing services without payment arguing they have not paid into the system or accepted the commitments to society. The party also seeks to mandate a 5 year residency requirement before citizenship is considered.
-
Duchies unifies E-Mobility payments
Today the United Duchies has announced all E-Bike and and E-Scooter rental schemes are being transferred onto the GO Payment system with a new GO Pass to be made available for nationwide E-Scooter or E-Bike rental. Under the new system all systems would still offer their own passes but would have to offer the GO-Move pass which will cover E-Scooters and E-Bike rental nationwide. The revenue from this would be passed onto the companies depending on the proportion of use the user uses those scooters per month. All would have to accept bookings of a new Go-Move app that will have all options on the app and either show the charge of the local scooter company in case of just processing the payments or be able to unlock the E-Scooter or E-Bike for free.The Department of Transport has been working on the scheme for months getting all the E-Scooter and E-Bike rental companies on board. The move is designed to make it easier for people to catch a train to a new city and just scoot away without having to face license ID checks again in the new city if the scheme is run by a different company. The app will pass details of the user onto the E-Scooter or E-Bike provider.The Department of transports said "This is one part of our bold strategy in order to allow people to move more freely and easily around the country without having to worry about paying extra , or compatibility of apps or having to provide license details again. We must make environmentally friendly options the most conveniant choice." The app will offer a pass for 75 Dux Libra a month for nationwide Scooter rentals with unlimited rides of up to 45 minutes. They will also offer at select centres day rentals for E-Bikes under Go-Cycle to allow intercity trips on a rental bike with you having to return the bike to a station at the other city. This would be monitored and bikes repositions between cities as necessary.
-
Be weary of false reports from Copalan Appeal on Anastasia say government
The government have said reports on Anastasias disrepair and unsafety are untrue and to be careful not to fall the for the lie. The government said there had been stready investment in city infrastructure , full repairs to the city from the terrorist attacks and that the transit systems including public bike sharing and e-bike sharing had been implemented and construction on the big projects like stadiums and full time shopping centres were under way.They said on housing "Far from bad quality housing we are using the best quality pre-fab housing which is a proven reliable , high quality long lasting home as proven by developments elsewhere in the Duchies.". The cities institutions have also been improved according to the government with many youth clubs and more public services set up. The government revealed their aims to have over 900,000 by next year in Anastasia cities with more Anastasia visas being granted and that crime level has been reported to be no more than above average since the calming down of issues in Anastasia. The city has been planned in a connected and integrated way with good access to Porterdam.
The government pledged on transport the first major metro and tram stations and a high speed station would be open within two years with the aim of improving the connectivity of the city with 10's of billions more direct funding per year pledged to the city many more times the current treaty requirements. The government called out the Copalan Appeal calling it " Fake news conspiracy theorists."
-
United Duchies signs partnership with Underath
The Duchies government backed by a majority of opposition parties and governing parties in the parliament have approved and signed a partnership treaty with Underath. The country signed a deal to help develop the country of Underath in return for some of the profits.The government has founded a company in Underath with the Underath government owned 65% by Underath and 35% by the United Duchies to develop a Port , future Airport and transport infrastructure as well as hotels in the country. The government of United Duchies will fund all of it out of the foreign aid budget while giving Underath controlling stake and a majority of the profits with the government getting 35% of profits. The treaty also grants 10 Billion Dux Libra or approximately 13.5 Billion Euros per year in aid over multiple years until a new deal gets signed that can be spent with Duchian companies to help develop the nation of Underath. The country will also have access to expert advice on modern technology from Duchies paid for by Duchies government to provide the best advice. The treaty has also guaranteed additional funding to help Underath modernise farming and get sustainable high yield farming with green standards. The government have also comitted to vaccinating all Underathians against many of the diseases in the modern world before any free travel arrangements banning most Duchians from visiting until this is completed to protect the nation of Underath from diseases.
There will also be meetings between nobility twice a year once in United Duchies and once in Underath with the High Duke also inviting the royal family of Underath to the High Dukes dinner yearly. The treaty was described by the current government as "A document underlining our special bond as fellow monarchical based countries that will seal a long lasting special relationship between our two peoples."
-
Selling Cooperatives raise Minimum Price Floors again
Selling Co-operatives in the United Duchies in an unprecedented moves voted to raise minimum price floors again for agriculture goods to raise them to a level 60% above 2021 minimum price floors. The move has been criticised by some as cartel like activity by the Selling Cooperatives that represent 90% of farmers and also mean supermarkets cannot pay less to non-selling cooperative farmers.The move was justified by farmers unions as "protecting farmers from unfairly low prices". The move is likely to raise the price of groceries by 70% in a year resulting in an average annual grocery bill rise from €8,771.79 to €14,912.04 for a 4 person family with 2 adults and 2 children with an average meal for a cheap 3 course meal from €20.50 in 2021 to €33.00 in 2022. Experts have said to expect big price rises for any food related products including meat and also any products made out of agricultural goods like plant based packaging.
-
Dominic Grant calls for review into Selling Cooperatives and law to freeze the minimum prices temporarily
The Treasury Minister Dominic Grant has called for a review into Selling Cooperatives to see if they need more regulation after accusations they are acting as cartels. The Price selling Cooperatives announced the second Minimum Selling Price increase taking the price of crops from Duchies up to 60% above 2021 levels. Experts estimate costs have gone up only 15% from 2021.Dominic Grant said "We need to review whether these Selling Cooperatives have too much power and need regulating.While we recognise the importantance of protecting small businesses and farmers from the exploitation of big businesses who may seek to use their scale to bully them there must be balance. I think this may be broken."
He suggested the idea of regulating the Selling Cooperatives to allow them to increase minimum prices for crops by inflation of costs plus 5% to protect the farmers while also ensuring they cannot just use the power to exploit the market. The idea has been backed by many in the UoD and Moderates as well as Liberals with the PSD and The Left opposing calling it "An attack on producers to protect big businesses." Public records of the votes in the Selling Cooperatives show that the votes for the price increases were backed by only 52% on a turn out of 27% .
-
Emergency session in parliament over 60% Selling Coooperative price rises
The parliament has concluded an emergency session to discuss regulations on the selling Co-operative price rises though PSD and The Left have refused to turn up calling the sessions "An attack on farmers and SME's on behalf of big business." The sessions plan to discuss a response by all parties and come up with a new set of laws and regulations on Selling Cooperatives. The government are planning to introduce a law requiring a freeze in prices of agricultural goods for 18 months while a pernament law regulating Minimum Price setting by Selling Co-operatives is sought.The Moderates, Liberals , UoD and Unus are looking at banding behind regulations that would limit the Minimum Selling Price increases to any cost increase percent +5% when averaged over different types of crops which will essentially limit the price rise this year to 10-20% depending on the market. They are also seeking to require a majority of all members voting in favour in order for a minimum price rise to pass.With the election looming it has been suggested the Moderates are looking to continue co-operation with the UoD given the PSD's recent stances though they have backed workers representatives make 50% of any board of any company over 250 employees with a recommendation this be the case for businesses with less than 250 employees.The other 50% under such laws would be split among shareholders proportionally under law unless other arrangements were set up in a company constitution.
-
As polls open today who will win?
Today as the country goes to the polls in what was due to be just local elections for the councils of all the major authorities and Duchy Councils(except Anastasia) we face a big national decision for who runs the country for the next 3 years in House of Commons and House of Duchies. The elections were called for parliament in April after the banning of New Dawn for breaking the law made it easier and more democratic to run an all out election rather than just try to replace New Dawn seats since most parties have had candidates in place already and have their lists updated constantly. Many putting existing ones on the ballot.So who will we see win and where? This is an important question since this will affect the the result. Will the Unus stronghold in Albion , Weastseaxna and Doornevale and Aranvale hold therefore giving them power to be king makers if they get enough seats in the House of Duchies there? Will the PSD make the most of the collapse of The Left in polls and make a big comeback or will the Moderates take a big amount of the votes back home and take votes off all parties as polls seem to indicate? Will the Liberals be able to make enough gains to stay relevent in coalition building? These will be vital areas to watch , watch the races in Albion, Doornevale and Aranvale to see how Unus are likely to fare in ability to be in government and also look to key battlegrounds of Supseaxe and Baltica to see how the vote split between PSD and Moderates look and whether a two party coalition will be possible. Remember any coalition needs a majority of both House of Commons and House of Duchies to form a government.
Furthermore can smaller parties remain relevent locally as polls have suggested that local council elections may be a fruitful ground for The Left and Unus still and how will this affect local policy. In terms of Duchy Assembly elections Moderates and PSD are predicted to be the biggest gainers in seats though this remains to be seen and ultimately the biggest and most important poll is tomorrow.
-
Centre Left and Centrists gain at expense of Right and Far Left
National Results:
House of Commons:Party % of Vote Votes Seats Seat % Previous Seats Change ADA 0.05% 31,645 1 0.15% 1 0 The Left 4.40% 2,784,720 28 4.29% 155 -127 IUAC 0.14% 88,605 1 0.15% 1 0 PSD 20.71% 13,104,734 135 20.71% 69 +66 Liberal Party 14.00% 8,863,383 91 13.96% 67 +24 Moderate Party 30.84% 19,516,044 202 30.98% 120 +82 Union of Democrats 16.30% 10,316,123 106 16.26% 119 -13 Unus 13.56% 8,583,844 88 13.50% 89 -1 Total 100% 63,289,097 652 100% 655 * -3 Party Seats Seat % Previous Seats Change Votes Vote % ADA 3 1.25% 4 -1 36,172 0.06% The Left 8 3.33% 30 -22 2,578,063 4.09% IUAC 9 3.75% 7 +2 93,593 0.15% PSD 36 15.00% 14 +22 13,381,760 21.23% Liberal Party 30 12.50% 19 +11 8,944,590 14.19% Moderate Party 63 26.25% 46 +17 19,518,097 30.96% Union of Democrats 37 15.42% 47 -10 9,985,167 15.84% Unus 54 22.50% 58 -4 8,497,874 13.48% Total 240 100% 240* 100% 63,035,316 100% *Party Seats do not add up to full total due to New Dawns 34 House of Commons MP's and 15 House of Duchies Representatives being removed.
The Moderates , Liberal and PSD parties were big winners of the election in a night of Centrist and Centre Left gains with House of Commons gains of 82 , 66 and 24 seat gains respectively and House of Duchies gains 17,11 and 22 seats respectively. The gains means Keys party is in a stronger position than ever with PSD also in a strong position. The Moderates have announced they are negotiating a coalition with the Liberal Party and PSD parties which will include a change in direction from a more centre right direction to a more centre left direction. He has confirmed the hours at which overtime rates are mandatory will drop with it expected that Moderates are pushing for 35 hours being the new limit. It is also confirmed now a law will be attempted to be passed within a month raising the requirement of workers reps or union reps on boards of companies over 250 employees to 50% up from 33% a rate even above Roscoes 45% with this being applicable as usual to subsidies of foreign companies. The moderates have as a compromise required restricting public spending to 47% of GDP, a growth of only 0.3% with the government also requiring tax cuts to 47.5% of GDP arguing they no longer need to tax as much. Tax cuts as a concession to PSD will be focused mostly on the poor with taxes affecting the poor or that are regressive to be held steady or cut. Other policies are likely to remain similar though it is expected there will be reforms to benefit co-operatives more funding streams to be made available to Co-operatives ,Community and Third Sector entities.The coalition agreement is expected to be concluded by Sunday with parties having negotiated potential coalitions before the election having met with both UoD and PSD. A national minimum wage of 11.75 Dux Libra or €16.22 per hour to reflect rises in cost of living. Duchies Council and Council coalitions are to be negotiated over the weekend.
-
Terrorists Burn Roscoes Store in Anastasia
Terrorists set fire to a Roscoes store in Anastasia City today and committed knife crime. The store was set on fire just before the usual big rush and the patrons of the store evacuated to safety while police dealt with the issues. Roscoes has now announced it will be looking at introducing security checks of bags and people to keep patrons safe in their stores. The stores in Anastasia have temporarily suspended trading despite profitability for the safety of patrons. They plan to reopen with new safety protocols within the month. The event was described as an isolated event by police and government.The government have said "There has been an incident in a Roscoes store that has been dealt with with perpetrators arrested on terrorism charges. It is understood stores are looking at reopening with new security protocol. " The Roscoes company has announced part of that will be removing loitering people from the stores and the car parks and entrences ensuring they maintain a minimum distance from the stores in order to keep stores more secure. Roscoes said in a statement "Working with local communities to serve them and give them good quality service and access to local goods in a safe environment is our top priority. We will be reconfiguring stores to include security checkpoints at all entrances , we do not want to do this as we believe in liberty and freedom of our patrons but we must also keep them safe." Home delivery into Anastasia from stores in Porterdam will be available though this will be done using unmarked vans to ensure safety of the staff members.
-
Prefab Stadium , Convention Centre and Shopping Centre to be built by mid 2023 in Anastasia City
The government have announced the Pre-fab multi-use stadium and indoor arena are to be completed by late 2023. They promised world class facilities at the sports park with some training grounds outside. The stadiums will host the Anastasian teams which will share the stadium.The Convention Centre and , a Concert hall and the shopping centre for the city which will be 50% reserved for local businesses at below market rates to be subsidised by big chains at above market rates will be completed by late 2022 or early 2023. The government are making construction a priority along with connecting bus lanes and transit routes. The shopping centre will also feature a local market reserved for Anastasian smallholders . The rates will once again be kept low. The government said they will be putting these under a community thirds sectore organisation with the directors being appointed by a mix of national and Duchy government.
-
Duchies companies change board make ups in advance of 50% Workers Rep law change
Duchies companies and duchies subsidiaries over 250 employees have been changing board structures to increase the amount of directors on the boards or reduce the amount of shareholders directors in order to make way for the 50% Workers or Union representatives soon to be required by law up from the current 33% of the board. Many companies have decided it is better to act in advance rather than wait for the law change and are arranging elections for the union and worker reps. Roscoes are among those changing the board make up before the legal change. Most companies do not want to be the last to do so as it might imply to some they only did the change because the law forced them to.The reform will be the biggest reform in a generation with it being described by unions as a "revolutionary step towards workers having more say in their businesses and ensuring workers cannot be screwed over by multinationals and big business." Critics of the change have said the move gives workers too much power and undermines shareholders rights.
