RTD 24

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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.

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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% .

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Foreign Aid Boost to 1.25% of GDP
The government of United Duchies have announced the foreign aid budget will increase to 1.25% of GDP up from the current 1.16% with plans to potantially increase it to 1.5% of GDP within 5 years to top the European giving list in percentage and total amount given in foreign aid. The programme is open to charitable organisations operating in or from countries that have have GDP per capitas of under €25,000 per year. The current spending for this year is €135 Billion with this projected to increase to at least €165 Billion a significant increase on just €90.5 Billion in 2021. It is expected to top €230 Billion by 2024.

The aid programme has been praised by many as an example of the "kind heart" of Duchians and the Duchian government while some also see it as a waste and potentially a contributor to problems in the countries aid is directed to.

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High Duke Cup
The High Duke Cup season has officially begun following the last matches of the Duchies Super League and Duchies Cup. The competition with a storied history going back to 1873 has been held annually as a competition between Duchies with culturally linked national teams of Reitzmag and Inquista and Montengbourg joining in since the 1950's often using it as a chance to test strategies in a non-eufa qualification event as well as play against Duchies in a friendly.

This year the UK and Anastasia City have been added with their teams having been training for this years competition. The competition will be held over 3 montths from June to July with 1 match per week during the period. This is an ideal time for players to train and stretch their legs over this period and keep in shape while participating in a storied competition.

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Government up Minimum Bus Service requirement
The government of the United Duchies as part of their transport plan to accelerate the transition from car based travel in rural areas announced bus service minimums would be raised. The current requirement of 95% of Residents being served by a bus within
10 minutes walk that has a frequency of at least 30 minutes or can be hailed by an app or by ringing within 30 minutes will be doubled with it now requiring a Bus to be available within 15 minutes of getting to a stop within 10 minutes walk. The government have announced they are upping subsidies to meet the requirement and help authorities deal with extra costs.

The money will go to bus companies and councils to pay for extra bus infrastructure and buses. The move was agreed upon by all parties as part of the plan to de-carbonise the Duchies. Funds will also be made available to increase footpath links in the country side to make more journeys safe and possible by foot and to more easily enable people to link to bus stops.

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High Duke Tour to begin in June
The High Duke tour has been announced the begin in June. The High Duke Tour has always been held within 6 months of the High Dukes crowning so is on course. The planning has been said to be extensive with plans for a 70 day tour of the 8 Duchies or Duchy Level districts including Anastasia City. The High Duke tour will take place using a combination of Electric car convoy , train and ship with plans for the Anastasia visit only provisional based on the security situation there.The event will be live streamed.

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1st High Duke Tour Destination announced

The first High DukeTour visit has been announced. Aranvale will the the first destination with 4 days of touring the Duchy with a 4 day tour of Doornevale to follow. The schedule is including parades through the capitals with visits to key local towns on the other days. He will host a garden party in each Duchy which have already been fully organised with guests arranged from a variety of backgrounds with people from police, public services , charity work, youth work and other good works invited. The tour will kick off a tour which will then lead to Westseaxna , Supseaxe and Baltica. The tour will be conducted along the railway lines with any travel off that route being done by electric motorcades in order to keep it sustainable. The High Duke said "I am looking forward to the many people I will meet and meeting the people who make this nation great, the social workers, the carers, the parents and single parents working hard while taking the role of two people for their childrens sake and those fighting everyday to help the opressed , less fortunate and those who need additional support to help with health needs , neurodivergence issues or disabilities that affect their lives. These are the Duchians to me the people who everyday work hard to make this country a better place than it is already and fight to change the things that are wrong in our society." The statement was seen as him coming out in support of social justice echoing the words in his coronation , it would seem he wants to be the High Duke of the People and much more visible in society and much more active in doing good while remaining neutral politically.

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Primark announce shutdown in Duchies
Primark one of the major budget fast fashion clothes chains has announced it will be shutting down operations in United Duchies. It said in a statement "We are going to shut down any operations in the United Duchies and reorganise our business abroad with a new HQ country in order to continue operating in more suitable environments for fast fashion where the requirements are not onerous. We will be locating to the country that provides the best bid in terms of operating environment, transport connections and taxation and labour requirements." The company is expected expected to drop its workers reps before the 50% requirement on the board comes into effect and to look at how it can lower its wage bill in what is billed as "greater efficiencies " for the company.

Critics including the government and unions have all come out against the move accusing the government of attempting to reduce the rights and conditions for its workers and moving only so it can "continue its exploitation of developing nations workers , its workers in main retail markets and to continue to fail to meet environmental and quality standards of a decent company." Critics have said the move to leave Duchies rather that up quality and working conditions to match the requirements only shows the company "does not care about the environment or the workers or those who make its clothes" . The government has said in a statement "It is regrettable Primark rather than try to be a good corporate citizen in its communities, for its workers and for the environment has instead chose to leave. While the temporary job losses are regrettable better jobs will replace them and the market in Duchies will just have better marketshare for good corporate citizens instead. We already have Yosainese good quality brands and employers entering to fill gaps in the market and it can only be a good thing if we gain more of these and lose environmentally destructive and exploitative fast fashion retailers." Critics of the government have called on them to lower the environmental , labour and product quality standards in a bid to be more "business friendly".

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At least 20% of Duchies 500 looking to move HQ
At least 20% of the Duchies 500 are looking to move their international HQ's to other countries before the 50% workers representative requirement kicks in at the end of the year. The companies are expected to look for nations with lower taxation structures on top of looser laws on how they structure the businesses as well as good access to capital markets. The companies are expected to mostly keep subsidiaries in Duchies subject to Duchies law to continue to access what currently is the 3rd largest market and growing the EU. The movement of companies was expected though it remains to be seen the reputation hit on companies that do move their headquarters rathe than comply.

The countries that are looking likely places for companies to restructure so far are Europolis, Inquista and the Duxburian Union known for their banking systems and pro-corporate policies. Many of the businessmen owning the businesses that are staying have expressed disappointment over some businesses resisting workers rights and for opposing workers having more say in the business and for allegedly using the new law change as an excuse to avoid taxes.

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Duchian Air Con brands fight for sales in Elthize
Duchian air con brans such as Ritall, RS Pro, Klarstein,Rosenburg and Kesser have all announced they will be increasing sales efforts in Elthize to help resolve the Air con crisis including increasing marketing for the their smart air con ranges. The companies produce aircondtioners that cost from a about 300-500 Euros per unit with many cost 600-800 Euros at the very high end of power outage with them being rated go last at least 20 years and as A rated for energy consumption and efficiency. The companies are likely to market them based on quality , longevity and having lower bills compared to their cheaper counterparts.It remains to be seen if the high price of the product will put customers off buying the air conditioners.

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Duchian PM supports new E8 group proposal
Today the Duchian PM John Peter Key has supported the Spanish proposal for a new E8 group of the 8 biggest economies and has said United Duchies would happily join such a group. The leader said "I believe in cooperation between major economies that can help the continent on issues such as joint economic threats, environmental threats and issues such as tax evasion and avoidance that hurt all our economies. These are issues that need to cooperation of all biggest economies. We believe cooperation between the biggesst economies can only help Europe in dealing with the biggest threats to economic progress and equality and dealing with any major crisis's by working together." The coalition have supported the idea as have the UoD who are also a typical component of governments in other times.The Prime minister however suggested perhaps the group should be the E10 and consist of the top 10 economies of Europe instead so as to encompass more viewpoints.

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TUI-Abbott buys Harry Shaw as Leger merges with Kuoni
TUI-Abbott announced today they have completed a buyout of Shearings as Leger announced their merger with Kuoni to better compete in the market place the two mergers now reduce the amount of Tour Operating companies in the market giving all the brands a foothold in the Coach and Air Tours market . There are also rumours going about that Harry Shaws and Jet 2 are considering a merger to compete in the market. If all mergers are successful it would leave the market at approximately TUI-Abbott marketshare of 30.7% with a Jet 2- Shearings group possibly to be renamed at 25% followed by Kuoni-Leger at at 16.76%. This would relegate Neckermann to 4th in the Tour Operator market form Duchies from its present 3rd though the market has moved this year more towards independent operators with reports indicating the market is seeing an increase in specialist smaller tour operators bookings.

Despite this the major mass holiday companies are still performing the best. The move would see Jet 2 acquire the Shearings Hotels operations in the United Duchies including the Coast and Country Hotels chain enabling it to put together new packages. The reorganisation would help the companies realise economies of scale and potentially lower the prices of holidays in this previously fragmented market by increasing the power of their bulk buying and contracting.

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Law passed to stop Price Selling Cooperatives raising minimum prices significantly more than inflation
Today a law was passed in parliament to stop Selling Cooperatives from raising minimum price floors for goods in price selling agreements where farmers work together to not sell below a certain price by more than inflation or cost of production increases plus 1% and to only allow prices to rise once a year . The move was triggered as the Selling Cooperatives tried to raise prices 15% in unison after significant increases in January. The move is designed to ensure that the agreements are banned from essentially acting as price cartels while protecting the farmers and small suppliers from being exploited by big corporations still. The law will also require 55% of all members to vote for any increase in the minimum selling price in Minimum Price Selling Agreements and will prevent farmers from telling other farmers or producers what they are selling their produce and goods for to prevent collusion at the farmer or producer level as well Seller Cooperatives coordinating on Minimum Price levels.

The move was welcomed by key figures in the Moderate Party , the UoD and Liberals while it split the PSD with a slight majority supporting it. The Left voted against the legislation. The legislations has passed all three houses and has been signed by the High Duke. The National Coalition of Trade Unions and Cooperatives has condemned he move by government saying "The government have sided with big business against SME's and small scale suppliers by stopping them from getting a fair market rate for their goods by working together." This has been disputed by government and business who have pointed out the new ammended law still allows Price Selling Agreements and that is just limits the potential for producers to "hold the economy hostage". Polling of the public suggest the public are in favour of the move by 60% to 35% with 5% unsure.

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New inflation projections encouraging
New projection inflations following the passage of new laws limiting price floor agreement minimum price increases have been encouraging. The move has reduced projected inflation from 15% to just 4% with productivity growth. The reduction is will leave more money in the pockets of Duchies Consumers to buy goods that are classed more as luxury goods.

There is expected to be increased demands for luxury foods, holidays and increased day trips with transport demand especially for nearby nations on Eurorail such as California, Inquista ,Spain and Innimicus expected to rise. Flight bookings are already rising on routes where trains are not an option. The luxury care market is expected to do well also as people are willing to spend a little more on higher end vehicles and specifications. The news was welcomed by the business community who expect the economy to perform better as a result of the lower inflation risk.