RTD 24

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Duchies Cycling to abandon EDA bid
Duchies Cycling has said in critical comments that it would abandon the EDA bid if it is not processed within 7 days. The national cycling authority in charge of cycling policy has said in a statement "We put in a bid for a Cycle Super Highway system in April of last year and a bid for increased funding in January of this year which was solid and in line with European development goals as well as Duchian goals of delivering on sustainable development. All we have faced is beaurocracy from officials who do not understand transport in the duchies or cycling with one confirmed vote against the project already with the others having not voted delaying any potential acceptance. We were encouraged by the EU that sustainable development projects would be given funding as soon as the increased funding passed. We have waited for over a year for a decision , this is ridiculous and once again shows the EDA's inefficiency that even when it does have funds it never approves a project that is clearly in line with sustainable development in a timely manner.

Multiple projects have been funded by government schemes here and the Green European Fund yet EDA because of its structure cannot pass one. EDA has 1 week before we withdraw the application and look elswhere which will look bad as another failure of the EDA following the Azrekko Solar project failure. We also want an explanation of all votes and the reasons why Juncker voted against a project that clearly meets the goals of green transport development and getting families and more vulnerable user groups comfortable replacing car trips with bicycle trips within a 1 hour commute from cities into the country and in between more rural towns saving the environment. The EDA needs serious reform and to just work to get funding out and it needs it quick. The EU needs to make decisions on applications within its allotted time by law in a timely manner and get funding out for sustainable development or get out of the game of giving development funding altogether. Its no help having a process that could take over a year to get a no decision and with no accountability or any feedback to allow you to work on future bids with new knowledge. Do the job well or don't do it at all. We want the EU to unleash its power and for EU to work for the working class and middle class and all citizens but at present thats not the case, it has raw potential but unless its capitalised on its useless if it just is a Eurocratic centralised organisation that never gets anything done and is outshone by institutions like the Green European Fund and other funds every time due to its inefficiency."

James Mizrachi -Roscoe soon after condemned the EDA saying "Those in power constantly promise a Europe that works and does stuff and accuses people like myself who want reform to actually get money out to projects big a small through local boards as being anti-EU and trying to destroy the EU. But what is destroying the EU is them and the EPA do nothing commission which frankly is achieving nothing. They time and time again promise activity and for Europe to do more, and they can only organise one pathetic meeting of leaders in Europolis and rearranging the decks of the titanic. Is this what the EU unleashing its power looks like? We need a EU reform that grants national boards autonomy to administrate EU projects in nations with local contexts in mind and distribute funding and make decisions. The alternative is the mess we have now where a small team of Eurocrats in Europolis achieve nothing and where even getting simple development funding out takes over a year to get funding which results in agencies and organisations giving in and finding alternate sources of funding which means EDA gets no funding out. To get 0 Euros out of the EDA spent by April almost 6 months into a budget is pathetic. The EU needs to up its game and up it quick." We tried to find sources that praise the EU in the interests of impartiality but we could not find any despite asking around all parties and departments, we do as an organisation suggest that maybe the EU does need to improve on its delivery of funds from the programmes it funds and ask if the money is not being spent why does the EU take the money from the member states to distribute to said departments.

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Duchies Government welcomes Mishar to ECON
John Peter Key celebrated the entrance of the Mishar People's Republic to ECON. The PM said in a speech "Mishar joining ECON after much negotiation shows the resolve of Europe to stand together and cooperate as sovereign , independent nations on key areas of trade, security and border security. This addition to ECON is a fantastic addition with Mishar being a fantastic democratic country that is a good example in its region of the type of nation that benefits from European cooperation on these policy areas. We are confident ECON can add to the prosperity of Mishar as well as its security and crime prevention abilities. " The other parties in the country welcomed the news including Unus who are more wary of EU integration but still in favour of cooperation through ECON.

Analysts expect the move to benefit Mishars economy immensely with most of the fastest growing economies being in the ECON alliance which has been presented by ECON as an example of the benefits of ECON's economic cooperation.

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Projections suggest Moderate , Unus and AFD rises in local elections
Projections based on polling from around the country pre-election before the local elections happening around the Duchies on the 27th May have projected increases in the Moderate , Unus and AFD while the UoD continue to lose seats and popularity in projections. The night is likely to be diffucult for the UoD who are bracing themselves for losing up to 500 seats in one night and several councils as Moderates continue to gain in their traditional heartlands along with Unus and possible AfD gains. The trend shows an increasing division on key issues such as social issues and immigration.

While most are still supportive of the immigration level to fill positions and expand the economy , nationalists of Unus and the further to the right politically AfD have argued the immigration levels are too high and the United Duchies needs to find a way to grow more without "mass immigration". Other issues on the line are issues like trans rights to use a bathroom of their gender choice and LGBT rights as well as whether legal drugs can be sold in a cafe, consumed on the street or be required to be consumed at home which is governed partly at the local level. Transport and public investment and local money raising powers are also on the line. While taxes locally are limited due to grants local authorities can still raise some taxation and fees to fund local services including putting tourist fees on hotels to pay for local events and schemes. The Moderate Party are riding high on a wave of economic success since they became the biggest party while the UoD are struggling to return to form under their leader with this being a test of whether the leader Mr Terence Fitzcharles can stay with him likely to be gone by the weekend if he fails to make gains. Liberal leader Arron Scott will also be expected to make at least some gains if he is to remain in position . The PSD are hoping their stint in government this year is going to help them with PSD , Liberals and Moderates both arguing the best team is their parties being the biggest parties on the councils to get policies through and funded.

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Unitran buy Rotala
Today Unitran the 50% owner of Purple train have announced they have agreed a deal with Rotala who recently lost their train franchise to aqcuire the company and merge operations on buses while acquiring the Megabus network owned by the group. They are already partners in the All Duchies Ticketing Partnership on the Rail Network. A deal struck after they Rotala lost the rail franchise. The move is understood to be motivated by significant losses at Rotala after losing their train franchise. The move now means all train alliances have a coach partner providing fully national access for all Ticketing Alliances.

The current Ticketing Alliances are as follows:

TOC Alliances	Members	Network
Roscoes-Commomwealth	Roscoes Intercity, Commonwealth Rail Duchies , Greyhound Lines(Coach Partner)
All Duchies	Purple Train,Transholinies Express,Grand Northern,Eastern and Baltic , Megabus(Coach Partner)
DuchiesLink	Fastlink,Westseaxna and Baltic Railways,North Central Railway,WOW Train. , LuxEpress(Coach Partner)
DuchiesConnect	Central Link,Southern and North, Eastern Railway, East Coast , BlaBlaBus(Coach Partner)

There is concern for Arrivas Cross Country which has no Ticket Alliance at present to call home and has no Coach Partner though so far at least numbers have been holding up. A majority tickets sold have been either Single Operator Tickets or Tick Alliance Tickets according to national ticket sales data for 2022-2023 that was released this week.Flixtrain also announced record travel by both coach and train on its networks . A series of improved route offerings to cover the whole country have been approved for most operators by the national rail authority who announced they are moving to a franchise plus model requiring core service obligations but allowing all train operating companies to operate additional routes connected to their network.

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As the country goes to the polls on on Saturday what are the procedures
As the city goe's to the polls on Saturdays in the local elections especially in Irmgardis city where a new second a election for a protector is also in motion what are the procedures. Despite there being claims there will be requests for I.D increased on minorities this is not and never will be the case the law in Duchies is simple you can vote without I.D , you will have to go to your assigned polling station, you can find this online at www.UDVote.ud . You will be asked your name and address and postcode and be directed to the box in which you should vote to ensure you are voting in the correct election. This will apply for both the Local elections So what are the changes in Irmgardis and exceptions to general local elections law , Irmgadis "Regional Assembly Members" much like Cair Paras have enhanced powers in voting, the city runs public transport and local services as well as running the Duchy level social issues. This year is particuarly important as the assembly will approve or dissaprove the High Dukes choice for the Duke or Duchess of the city who will serve for life or until resignation with these above politics and partisanship typically.

Also Irmgardis city will only be electing for a term until 2027 to catch it back up to the actual schedule for Duchy elections where it will vote with all the Duchys in national polls including Cair Para which will NOT be voting today having only voted last year on there Duchy Assembly which like Irmgardis is a Duchy-City Council. So what do you do to vote if you are in the majority of areas voting this weekend?

1.Research look at candidate profiles written by the candidates on www. UDVote.ud
2. Look up your polling station on www. UDVote.ud and make your travel plans to get in line before 22:00 cut off.
3. Go and Vote

It really is that simple. You won't be asked for I.D to prove address unless someone has used your name and address. You may if we are finding cases of fraud being reported have to have your photo taken as standard if that procedure is triggered to be uploaded to a database of faces for security to look out for. Please not it is illegal to cover your face fully in polling station and there are NO exceptions to this rule for electoral security. Security will not let you in without having seen your face.We very much hope you enjoy your democracy day deciding local governance for the next 5 years or 4 years in case of Irmgardis City.You will also have heard from a certain definitely not reliable "newspaper you have to have been resident for 9 months , this is not true , you just have to be resident and there will not be arrest for lack of I.D unless there is heavy suspicion of voter fraud intent and you have shown up as having gone to other polling stations upon checks.If this process of checking unfortunately happens to you please cooperate peacefully this is to protect your vote and make sure there is security at elections while ensuring we don't need racist and discriminatory general I.D requirements at elections.

We also would like to point out the law not allowing political representitives or party representitives to ask who you are voting for within 150 metres of a polling station or tell you or suggest how to vote. If they do please video and send the report into police so we can deal with this as voter intimidation immediately. The person responsible will be arrested.

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Duchies Trains Explained
It used to be much more simple if expensive on the Duchies rail network. Gone are those days with multiple train operating companies with most people having a choice of 3 or more for a journey. With ridership soaring passenger satisfaction higher the opening of the intercity market to train operating companies has certainly improved services but it has also made things more complicated. Gone are the days where there was and advanced ticket and on the day ticket and flexible tickets with some season tickets. However it isn't all that hard to understand the system really. What is key to note when buying a ticket there is now three broad categories of tickets and those are as follows:
All operator:
This ticket is valid on all train services in the country with it being scanned on the train by the attendant . These are available in Peak and Off Peak with advance valid. These are fully flexible within the time period with any valid route available to you but will come at a far higher cost. This can be purchased through the GO Card system and is available as a contactless. These can be purchased in advance online and in stations also.

TOC Tickets:
Advance All operator :Available in off peak and peak and for one train in advance of the day with it transferable onto any train for up to 1 hour afterwards but only on the single TOC operator. There is also fully flexible peak and off peak tickets as well as season tickets and passes which can use any valid combination on the network of the TOC. These are usually among the cheapest tickets to buy.

Ticket Alliance Tickets:
Most TOC's are members of what are called ticket alliances. These give you points for using a network of operators and access to lounges for a certain amount of points, a fee or as part of the ticket with these operated by the alliance but the most important benefit is this ticket option, Alliance Tickets allow any valid route for the journey on an member TOC of the alliance, you can purchase season tickets and network passes this way as well. Tickets are available as advance , and flexible in peak and off peak rates. When choosing a network you should consider quality of the TOC's , access to the coach partner coach routes for your journey and the combination allowed , not all networks will serve every area by train so consider this when booking. Flixtrain essentially operates with the benefit of an alliance network coverage but all on its own services so they a a no-frills budget alternative if you want to travel cheaply be aware though there are fees for booking seats together and taking more than a backpack and one suitcase on the train so its not always the best network if you take alot of extras on the train.

The current TOC's are as follows with a projected ridership for the years as follows:

Franchise	TOC Owner	TOC Name	Network	High Speed:	% of Intercity Journeys	Intercity Journeys
Central 1	Arriva	CrossCountry		Y	6.20%	249,788,477
Central 2	Mishar National Rail	Central Link		Y	7.10%	286,048,095
Central 3	DuchieTran	Westseaxna and Baltic Railways		Y	5.30%	213,528,860
Central 4	Yosai National Rail	Southern and North Eastern Railway		Y	5.70%	229,644,245
Eastern 1	WOW Group	WOW Train		Y	3.10%	124,894,239
Eastern 2	BalTran and Transport for Albion	Eastern and Baltic		Y	2.90%	116,836,546
Eastern 3	Connexxion	East Coast		N	1.40%	56,403,850
Northern 1	FlixTran	FlixTrain		Y	10.20%	410,942,334
Northern 2	DTA(32%) AranTran(32%) , NordTran(34%)	Grand Northern		Y	6.90%	277,990,402
Northern 3	Commonwealth Railways Inc	Commonwealth Rail Duchies		Y	8.90%	358,567,330
Northern 4	Umbarra Bullet	Nord Bahn		Y	5.30%	213,528,860
Southern 1	Roscoes Rail Group	Roscoes Intercity		Y	10.50%	423,028,873
Southern 2	Purple Group(50%)Unitran(50%)	Purple Train		Y	8.40%	338,423,098
Southern 3	SICF, Reynauld Constructions ,SINA and Emior	Fastlink		Y	8.10%	326,336,559
Transholinies	WestTran(50%), SuxTran(50%)	Transholinies Express		N	3.10%	124,894,239
Transholinies 2	Vrigin Rail Group	Virgin Transholinies		N	3.00%	120,865,392
Transholinies 3	DTA(50%) AranTran(50%	North Central Railway		N	3.90%	157,125,010
Total	-	-		-	100.00%	4,028,846,407

The current alliances are as follows:
Ticketing Alliances

TOC Alliances	Members	Network
Roscoes-Commomwealth	Roscoes Intercity, Commonwealth Rail Duchies , Greyhound Lines(Coach Partner)
All Duchies	Purple Train,Transholinies Express,Grand Northern,Eastern and Baltic , Megabus(Coach Partner)
DuchiesLink	Fastlink,Westseaxna and Baltic Railways,North Central Railway,WOW Train. , LuxEpress(Coach Partner)
DuchiesConnect	Nord Bahn ,Central Link,Southern and North, Eastern Railway, East Coast , BlaBlaBus(Coach Partner)

There are also many train operators with very special perks on their trains such as Roscoes where trains include bookable meeting rooms for meetings on the go for businesses or if you need to discuss private business with a client for example if you are doing a briefing with a client before going to court in another city.

Many operators include full sitdown dining carriages and shop carriages also Roscoes is one of these as is Southern and North Eastern Railway,Commonwealth Rail Duchies and Westseaxna and Baltic Railways. As a rule Roscoes Intercity, the new incoming Virgin Transholinies , Westseaxna and Baltic, Fastlink and Commonwealth Railways are more premium but that often comes with ticket price to match the comfort, Flix Train is like your budget airline, less legroom , less amenities but it gets you there cheap with the others somewhere in between. So if comfort is a consideration consider these as many of those offer a meal in the restaurant in the ticket with some offering 3 course menus. Others offer a free snack service for some snacks and drinks. Flix Train, Purple Train and Wow Train are buy on board unless you buy an Alliance ticket in the case of Purple Train and Wow Train. We hope this guide has helped you , but as a rule if you want cheaper tickets than the national standard fares on GO Card or a more luxurious time book with the operator or through the train ticket alliances to get points and benefits as well if you want the flexibility to use any train no matter what use the GO Card . You can use a Ticketing Alliance Ticket for more flexibility within the network of TOC's that are members.There are additional operators joining train alliances while it is unknown yet which the new Virgin Transholinies is joining the new Nord Bahn is joining the DuchiesConnect Alliance.

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PSD announced Housing redline for local elections
The PSD today in a press event announced a radical housing solution redline for their party for local elections to back any party into power. The party announced they would not go into coalition in any councils unless all new housing is 35% social housing and 60% affordable housing which is defined as 5 times the national minmum wage (€192,172.50) for 1 bedroom housing and 8 times local national minimum wage(€307,476.00 national ) for 3 bedroom housing or 35%(€13,452.08 a year nationally) and 50%(€19,217.25 a year nationally) of national minimum wage for renting respectively. .They would also require the right to buy social housing with the money from sales to be reinvested in more social housing in a dedicated fund. The move follows concerns over house price issues in Duchies where the average house and 3 bedroom family flat has reached past 751,243.43 Dux Libra or €1,036,715.94 with it on trend to exceed €1,226,141.97 next year if nothing is done. Analysts are mixed on the policy with some suggesting it will help low income workers but with others worried it will raise the price of market price housing where the government would have no say over prices through the roof leading to a get social and affordable housing or be forced into much higher market rents. It remains to be seen what the effect of the policy would be if implemented in councils where PSD form a coalition or if the Moderate party will moderate the policy if PSD were to compromise on this issue.

The PSD also threatened to pull out of the coalition unless a commitment to build at least
2 million council homes a year for the next 5 years in Duchies with central funding was agreed to by the coalition. It is expected the Moderates and Liberals will agree to this demand though might request in return that the market for housing outside of social housing be left at the current requirement for 50% affordable housing as a compromise. The demands show the PSD getting bold and aiming to increase their image among the working class.

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Deal reached on housing
The PSD, Liberals and Moderates today reached a deal on housing. The PSD had in response to the housing affordability crisis called for big governmment intervention. The deal reached is a compromise which will simply keep the 50% affordable or social housing requirement on all developments in the country in the market sector while the government commit to a minimum of 2 million council or social housing per year over 5 years or 10 million new build council homes over 5 years the most radical expansion over doubling the council and social housing supply.

It is hoped this will help young and disabled into stable property conditions and hopefully home ownership under the right to buy scheme where they can buy a home for 50% of its value after 5 years of living in social or council housing.The secheme is predicted to cost 160 billion to 200 billion Euros per year with an estimated build cost of 400,000 Euros per property. Most of the new builds will be flats including family flats with developments to include nurseries on site , and social clubs for the residents to meet up among other facilities including swimming pools to encourage swimming. The scheme will be funded by central government with grants based on demand for areas but delivered by local council housing authorities.Union of Democrats announced they would vote against the proposal saying it will "cost too much" and is a "tax on hardworking Duchians to support those who are underachieving" . They argue market based home ownership solutions are the way forward not a massive government intevention in housebuilding. The government have proposed using the extensive pre-fab apartment and house companies in order to achieve maximum cost efficiency, quality and speed. All new neighbourhoods will be designed with density and 15 minute city principles in mind.

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Proposed IUIC-Liberal- PSD with ADA confidence and supply deal wouldn't work
In a stunning move the ADA have proposed confidence and supply to an IUIC-Liberal-PSD coalition however this wouldn't work for several key reasons. The first is numbers don't allow for it the proposed coalition would only have 30 out of 60 seats 1 short of the required 31 with the ADA in it.

The second is Moderates have the right to for the first 30 days to negotiate a deal with any party and have excluded the ADA from the options while Liberals and UoD will typically back the largest party in any election and that is the Moderate Party. This would again disadvantage any coalition with ADA in it numerically unless no party backed the Moderates .Especially as the odds of UoD, Liberals and PSD all turning down a Moderate government is slim to say the least.The best chance of an IUIC governmnet is one involving the PSD and Moderate Party which would also be the strongest numerically at 39 seats. The fact this is the case and that even without the PSD or IUIC a government can be formed by the Moderate Party makes a left coalition with the ADA in it incredibly unlikely and unappealing.

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Moderate proposals confirmed
The head of the Moderate Party in Irmgardis City , Malala Patil a christian from a family from Goa in Svarna has uneiled the proposals that are priority for the Moderates in any coalition in Imgardis City. She announced the following 10 policies she wants in law by the end of the year:

1. Greater integration in transport into the Baltia metro area to make travel easier between Irmgardis and the rest of the country.
2. Setting up of T.O.C to run to Cair Para and Hamborg with council money to add to competition on routes to Irmgardis in rail.
3. Increase in council housing to 90% of cities housing within 3 years in order to create more affordable housing
4. Addition of Hindi as an official mandatory langauge to learn in the city of Irmgardis to represent the growing Svarnan community here.
5. More support for local businesses to develop into bigger businesses including setting up an Irmgardis Business Development Fund
6. Increase in minimum wage 13.50 Dux Libra per hour to 17 Dux Libra per hour to increase the pay of the poorest workers .
7. More incentives from the council to move businesses into the city and increase factories of multi-nationals in the city
   8.Increase successful pre-fab housing programme in the city.
   9.Introduce new holidays in the city in addition to national holidays elsewhere in duchies with 5 extra days off for cultural festivals of local populations.
8. Introduce more culture funding in order to help develop our unique performing arts in the city.

The proposal is seen as balancing encouraging business while investing in local services more.

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National Minimum wage to increase to 19 Dux Libra per hour
Today parliament voted to raise the nation minimum wage to 18 Dux Libra per hour or 27.90 Euros per hour after the PSD threatened to pull out of government if expanded workers rights on wages wasn't granted. They had requested that all overtime be paid on double time as well though this was negotiated out of the deal for the wage increases at the Moderate Parties insistence. The new wage will mean the average minimum wage worker working 35 hours per week will get on average of 32,760 Dux Libra per annum or 50,778 Euros per annum with the average 40 hour minimum wage worker earning 39,780 Dux Libra per annum or 61,659 Euros per annum. The wage increase was requested by unions to account for cost of living and to generate a more even wealth distribution in the country. Some economists are concerned of a potential inflation spiral though there has been no evidence of such a spiral yet.

The UoD have opposed the minimum wage hike calling it anti-business and arguing it is a threat to the economy and workers . The PSD leader condemned the UoD as the " anti-worker party" and described the party as a "traitor to the working class people and enemy of good morals". The comments have only served to heighten the divide between the UoD and PSD though polling has indicated more are in favour of the PSD policy on minimum wage than the UoD policy. UoD are still struggling to gain in the polls with the party very much being seen by many as a party of the elite and rich due to its opposition to increased labour rights.

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James Mizrachi-Roscoe blasts ineffective commission
Today James Mizrachi-Roscoe has blasted the Commission and the Spanish European Councillour Donald Tusk for their role in the EU's ineffectiveness. The Councillour for the United Duchies said in a statement to press "We have had an application sitting in the EDA for a sustainable green project of cycle superhighways that could be under construction right now if the EU comission had got off its butt and voted in favour of this clearly green and sustainable project to create a future green transport network that reduces emissions. We were encouraged to bid for development funds yet any time we propose sustainable and green development projects with big economic benefits and social benefits time and time again its gets stalled then rejected and we are not the only ones. There are several applications sitting in the EDA with no comissioner voting on funding despite it being months past the deadlines.

This inaction is hurting the EU and Europe and the fact the EU is holding funds it is not spending means national governments can't use those funds to develop projects themselves so its doubly hurting nations by being ineffective and draining resources that nations could be using at home while doing it. I want a strong EU that is giving development funds out and am trying with all my focus to reform adminstration of the EU to be effective yet obstructionists like Donald Tusk oppose these efforts and pretend everything is fine and nothing is wrong with the current Eurocratic centralism stalling any hope of getting EU funding out. We cannot depend on three central comissioners to approve funds for every project its just not feasible at a 47 billion Euro scale. I never approved every deal with Roscoes because an organisation of Billions of Euros of funding needs 1,000's of agents with autonomy to approve applications in a timely manner. I proposed a common sense proposal of having national boards with 50% selected or elected local national representives and 6 appointed or elected by the EU on each national board which would then approve EDA funding with local knowledge and expertise. This was called obstructionist and an attempt to destroy the EU. We need change and we need it now. We can't wait forever for the EU to actually serve the working and middle classes of Europe instead of overpaid Eurocrats doing nothing. The EAF's autonomy in getting funding out on time and its effectiveness shows the model is possible so why is the commission and supposedly pro-EU EPA representatives opposing this model for the EDA. "

The Prime Minister John Peter Key has echoed the the concerns and issues raised by James Mizrachi-Roscoe saying "We have been encouraged to put in EDA development fund applications because it was allegedly open for all to bid for. Yet no funds have been approved over 6 months since we put the bid for cycling superhighway funding in. We also have spoken to many local authorities as the government who have stated they find it totally impossible to bid for EDA funding when considering the inevitable long wait for funding, highl bureaucratic paperwork and the cost of the trips to Europolis . It would often cost more than the funds they would recieve for projects in the millions of Euros or tens of millions of Euros projects to bid for the project. This needs fixing we need an effective EDA that can give the funds out or they need to cut EU funding and get out of the development game to let more competent third party agencies or national agencies do the job instead. We cannot afford this getting 47 billion Euros of nationstates money only to not distribute it out. Thats approximate 6 billion Euros of Duchian money being held in an EDA account not being distributed that could be spent at home on development a huge waste of taxpayer money. "

Other parties expressed similar concerns with Unus commenting that it may be time to consider pulling out of the EU though most parties reject this approach at least for them moment preferring to opt for campaigning to get an EU that works instead.

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Cycling Superhighway Usage takes off
Today Duchies Cycling which runs the cycle superhighway programme has announced that there has been record uptake of cyling in regional towns outside of Brummagem and Couentre on the Middlelands Superhighays and aroiund Goudadam, The Hague, Cair Para, Hamborg , Porterdam , and Baltia. Cycling journey modeshare for the journeys within 32 kilometres went up to about 31% on the routes where Cycling superhighways were completed with this likely to rise in the future. The agency conducted studies at the exit points to find out why people were cycling and what modes journeys replaced.

The modes replaced were a mix of 30% public transport and 70% cars. The agency says it intends to continue expansion with more links between smaller regional towns where there is a distance of less than 32 km between the two towns which is most towns in the country. The project is mainly being held up by the "EU's anti-cycling attitude and tonedeafness to Duchian transport and cycling culture" according to the agency. It is saying expansion is still happening but would be turbocharged with EU funding from the EDA where it argues it has a "strong application for infrastructure to help develop a green transport culture with green transport development". Opponents of Juncker accused the Spanish comissoner of bringing his anti-cycling , pro-car views to his job and pushing spanish ideals on EU EDA applications in opposition to EU sustainable developent goals.One environmental agency went so far as to called Juncker and Eco-terrorist threatening the future lives of Europeans and dooming millions to drowning and famine.

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Tax change in United Duchies
Today the government have announced two tax changes to come in from January 2024. The change will concern VAT and Income tax in order to help with the cost of products and food. The change announced is that VAT charged on all final sales will be lowered to 10% from 15% while a new band will be created at the highest end targeting taxpayers or couples above £125,001.00 or €193,751.55 per person with a new tax rate of 61% .The Health and Care Precept will also rise to 3% leaving the effective top rate at 64% The change was requested by the PSD who are believed to once again pushed an item of their policy into the coalition. The aim is to lower the tax the poorest pay while the rich pay slightly more tax. The tax change will raise 10's billions of Euros to enable the government to cut other taxes that hit the poorest. The Roscoes will pay an extra 700-800 million Euros under the new tax rates with other billionaires likely to be hit at a similar scale.

This would raise the tax rates on the rich to one of the biggest in Europe though there is no concerns according to experts of people moving with experts saying "For years Duchies has had one of the highest income tax rates, if people were to move for tax reasons they'd have moved long before now."

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Tariffs reintroduced on Spain, Inimicus and North Diessan
Tariffs have been reintroduced on Spain , Inimicus and North Diessan as the 0 Schedule tariff rate code expired in law following failure of Spain, Inimicus and North Diessan to meet to discuss future trade tariffs. The new tariffs applied will vary however, Spain will attract a schedule 2 tariff of 10% while Inimicus and North Diessan attract a schedule 5 tariff on imports of 35% with a possible rise to 150% tariff rate if they don't come to the negotiation table on nationalisations and compensation for property lost to the confiscations. The new tariffs are expected to reduce the share of Spanish and Inimicus and North Diessan trade with the United Duchies markets that exported to the Duchies more than imported from the Duchies. The government was keen to point out that the Spanish 10% was not a punishment but just a reversion to the stadard tariff rate.

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Party Membership revealed
Today the party membership for the United Duchies political parties was announced with two parties facing a major crisis. The first party is the Left who dropped from over 1.9 Million members to just 454,234 members with most seemingly returning to the PSD. The other party to suffer was the UoD who are increasingly seen as elitist , pro-business (some allege corporatist) and anti-worker in polls having opposed a myriad of labour friendly reforms. The party has seen its membership drop to 3,220,987. The drop is of concern as donation caps have remained the same while for future elections political spending limits are rising dramatically meaning more members are required to fund the campaigns but also because of the lack of volunteers to deliver leaflets potentially and man stalls on the streets making recruitment and campaigning harder.

The total amounts for each party are as follows for national parties:

Party	Party Membership	Total Revenue	General Spending	Candidate Spending	Total Spending	Surplus
ADA	6,012	£178,857.00	£145,634.00	£30,420.00	£176,054.00	£2,803.00
The Left	454,234	£13,513,461.50	£25,678,545.00	£18,666,000.00	£44,344,545.00	-£30,831,083.50
IUIC	56,785	£1,689,353.75	£1,535,645.00	£150,360.00	£1,686,005.00	£3,348.75
PSD:	4,634,865	£141,363,382.50	£65,000,000.00	£54,900,000.00	£119,900,000.00	£21,463,382.50
Liberal Party:	4,027,876	£121,843,249.00	£65,000,000.00	£54,900,000.00	£119,900,000.00	£1,943,249.00
Moderate Party:	5,710,987	£184,179,330.75	£65,000,000.00	£82,350,000.00	£147,350,000.00	£36,829,330.75
Union of Democrats:	3,220,987	£100,655,843.75	£65,000,000.00	£60,390,000.00	£125,390,000.00	-£24,734,156.25
Unus	5,631,900	£181,628,775.00	£65,000,000.00	£61,000,620.00	£126,000,620.00	£55,628,155.00
AFD	1,896,756	£61,170,381.00	£35,732,456.00	£30,809,820.00	£66,542,276.00	-£5,371,895.00
Total	25,634,390	£744,873,396.25	£387,946,646.00	£363,166,800.00	£751,113,446.00	-£6,240,049.75

The Left meanwhile have been left with a catastrophic hole in finances threatening the viability of the party. It is expected the leaders of the Left and and Union of Democrats who also are now in negative territory on spending are likely to need replacing. The leader of the UoD was already confirmed to be leaving to make way for a new leader but this may be done sooner following the collapse in membership.

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Roscoes open trial Roscoes Go stores concept
Today Roscoes opened trial Roscoes Go technology supermarkets in 10 of their supermarkets 2 in Brummagem, 1 in Cair Para, 2 in Goudadam, 2 in Hamborg, 1 in a new store in Irmgardis where they have reopened up , 1 in Baltia , and Porterdam and 1 in Aranvale. The concept is that tills have been removed entirely . You go into the store by logging in at the gates through the app, cameras then track what goes in and out of your basket. You just walk out and you are charged the appropiate amount. The stores have the same amount of staff but the difference is they are now free to man stands for tasters , engage with customers and help elderly customers shop and do other activities rather than dealing with payments. The technology is powered by OGO with the gates for entry being full height and only letting a single person in. There is hope the technology can improve customer service by freeing up staff. To shop one will require the Roscoes Go app powerred by Ogo. For those who don't have smartphones compatible such as tourists and some elderly people there is a request button for help where they can request a device from the staff with the app on it with special recognised I.D's at the gates that prevent customers from leaving without staff retrieving the device.The gates may also hold people with alcohol in the basket or age restricted items in the basket or if things like medicine are brought that have buy limits. If there is too much items with buy limits staff are alerted to go and make the customer put the excess over the allowed amount back. This will allow enforcement of buy limits. The stores will also not open the gates for people who's faces are on a banned faces list with this being trialed to see if it works. If it does not fingerprint technology to enter is likely to be considered to keep stores safe.Some staff will also be on hand at exits to check whats being charged for against what is in the basket in order to report on if the technology is working correctly but also ensure customers aren't being charged for something not in the bags or basket.If customers try to get around buy limits by going through another gate behind someone else leaving the technology will report this to the app and customers will be charged quadruple the price of the total basket.

The company said in a statement "We have agreed with employees to productivity reforms and use of technology to get our partners doing what they do best serving the needs of customers on the shop floor instead and restocking shelves that empty quicker. This is not about reducing staff but instead focusing the staffs on serving the needs of the customer rather than manning tills for payment."

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Price Selling Cooperatives raise minimum price selling rate by 6%
Today the Price Sellling Cooperatives members voted to raise the Minimum Price Selling Rates on crops and livestock produce by 6% the inflation increase +1% they are allowed to increase it in law. The Price Selling Cooperatives part of the agricultural unions raised the price in order to keep their business sustainable. The new price rise is much less than the 15-30% proposed last year due to the law regulating price increases. Farmers are however increasingly campaigning for a removal of the law with the Moderate/Liberal/PSD coalition in charge to allow them to once again have free reign on setting price floors, this however has been confirmed as off the table by the Moderate Party and Liberal Party who are committed to a "policy balancing needs of farmers and consumers".

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Reform sees Politician Pay linked to to Minimum Wage
A Reform passing parliament put forward by the PSD has passed parliament. The reform will see politician pay linked to the minimum wage in what the PSD described as a "Victory for the working class ensuring politicians are incentivised to keep the minimum wage high". The reform is designed to raise living standards and protect the minimum wage from every being cut or increases being slowed down by future conservative governments.The pay rates for this year are as follows:

-	£	Euros	% of Minimum Wage
Minimum Wage as of May 2023	£32,760.00	€50,778.00	100.00%
Duchy First Minister	£114,660.00	€177,723.00	350.00%
MP/House of Duchies/Imperial Senate Pay	£131,040.00	€203,112.00	400.00%
Cabinet Member Pay	£147,420.00	€228,501.00	450.00%
Deputy PM Pay	£155,610.00	€241,195.50	475.00%
PM Pay	£163,800.00	€253,890.00	500.00%

The pay for politicians in other Duchies will be linked to the Duchy minimum wage.

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United Duchies on lockdown as terror attacks unfolds
Breaking news 24/06/2023 16:37
The United Duchies is on lockdown with all borders and international travel suspended until further notice as a a terror attack has unfolds. There are reports that the suspects are Svarnan in look and origin with the words "This is for Svarna " and "Tarek was right " having been shouted during the attacks. The attacks have targeted the T20 Blast , Duchies Cup games in Football and The Super Cup games in Rugby all significant events. All public events have been cancelled for the day. The attacks are the first since alot of the security laws were loosened in United Duchies as a result of Liberal pressure a move that is now likely to be questioned following the attacks.

A tweet by Roscoes suggests he was at the events with his his sons enjoying a dose of sports with family and extended family as was the High Duke who has now been evacuated.The Prime minister has convened a COBRA meeting of all security and cabinet to determine the government response.