NationStates Jolt Archive

Somewhere on the south coast of England, near the East Sussex and Kent border

"It was necessary to curb some of Mr.Jones' more robust ideas for fund raising. I am not at all convinced that standing at the corner of the High Street and Eastgate Road with fixed bayonets is necessarily the way forward."

His pen capped and diary closed and closeted away in the dresser, a tubby little man, having bid a friendly farewell to his wife, Elizabeth, whose name he called with far more cheer going than coming, left his modest abode and advanced along the high street (High Street, in fact). He removed his bowler as he passed by the funeral director's, and was just lifting the hat back towards his balding top when a package dropped into it, and he stopped short, brandishing his black umbrella in a defensive gesture.

"There's some nice little sausages for later, Mr.Mainwaring."

"Hm?" Questioned the man, dropping his guard on recognising the local butcher.

"Well, I thought you'd be wanting to celebrate, you know, the count'll be in, tonight, and so shall you, sir, so shall you!" Replied Jones, laughing a seventy year old laugh and winking an otherwise almost useless eye.

Maiwaring gave a word of thanks and threw-out something about the number of chickens before continuing on his way, passing the Post Office before crossing the empty road to enter the Swallow Bank, casting as he went a reverent eye over the near-by war memorial.

Leader of the Whig Party he may be, but Captain George Mainwaring continued as manager of a local branch bank, presenting himself and his prospective cabinet -which was inclusive of WWII veteran Lance Corporal Jones, A.K.A. Jack Jones of Jones' High Class Butcher's Shop- as the people's alternative to aloof and tedius Tories, and corrupt, bawdy BID.

"Morning, Wilson." Said Mainwaring to his second-in-command, Arthur Wilson, who was, with a much younger fellow, in a noticibly similar pose, leaning over the small wireless set kept behind the bank's counter. "Pike." He added, with a note of mild disdain.

"Shh!" Hissed the suited boy.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Shh! Shh!"

"Now, look here..."

"Haven't you heard, sir?" Said Wilson, breaking-up what was about to become a very much more hostile exchange.

"No, I have not. I have been preoccupied with the walk to work, since, as you well know, they closed my local station the minute the Tories dismantled British Rail! Turn that thing off, you should have opened five minutes ago! There could be people waiting!"

"Were there?" Said Pike.

"Hm?"

"Were there? People? Waiting? ...Only, you've just come in, now, and I thought you'd have seen. If anybody had been waiting..."

"...You... stupid boy."

Again, Wilson had to interfere. "No, no, sir, it's the Queen. They've just announced it, on the news."

Mainwaring stopped, and looked with great interest towards the assistant manager.

"She's passed... this morning. In her sleep, apparently."

The tubby manager removed his hat and cast his eyes down, quite forgetting about the possibility that he was only hours away from being proclaimed Prime Minister.

A silence descended, backed by the occasional static pop and crack from the wireless. Young Pike's face was contorted, and he turned towards the doors, near which Mainwaring still stood, hat in hand.

"...Can anyone else smell sausages?"

Port Royal, Roycelandia

"Your Majesty?"

"Mmmph?"

"Your Majesty, there's a phone call for you from London..."

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Royce I was very hung over. Indeed, his memories of the previous evening seemed not entirely unlike something from the Benny Hill Show, but with considerably more alcohol and absolutely nothing that would be considered appropriate for Broadcast TV, even by Roycelandia's notoriously loose standards.

"Who the ever loving SMEG do I know in London?" asked His Majesty, irritably throwing off the bedsheets and hoping someone had the foresight to place a Dry Vodka Martini nearby, to enable a quick "Hair Of The Dog" remedy. Unfortunately, they hadn't, and His Majesty frowned- partly because he was dehydrated and thirsty, and partly because the fluroscent lights were buzzing far too loudly. Even the ticking of his wristwatch sounded like someone playing bongo drums right next to his ears.

"Well, several people- Sir James and his lovely wife Helen, for a start. Doesn't your cousin live there, too? Oh, and there's that lovely Redhead with the labrador who does that thing that you like, too..."

"What the... how the fu... no, never mind, Wiggles, just give me the damn phone."

The phone call turned out to be from the Roycelandian Ambassador in London, informing His Majesty that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth III had died.

"How very sad. Offer my condolences to the Royal Family." said His Majesty. "Funeral this time next week? Better make a note in the Diary. And who's the new chap in charge? Might not be a bad idea to pop over and see how things are, have a few drinks, admire the furniture, that sort of thing..."

Having rung off, he despatched Wiggles for a Hangover Cure, and looked around his rather messy Master Bedroom at the Imperial Palace.

"How the hell does one get champagne out of hand-spun silk sheets? And are you lot still here? I guess I'd better organise some breakfast. Bacon, Eggs, Coffee, and Juice alright for everyone?"

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II is met with a high level fo greif amoungst the citizens of Strathdonia and the antion offers it sinceriest condolences to the people of Britian.
General Frazer (is it OK if i steal him? i used him way back in the beginning as the perfect personification of the pessimistic paranoia that permiates the higher levels of SDF command) has spent considerable time talking to the local british command staff about where this might lead.

The Japanese government and the Imperial Household send their deepest condolences to the British people at their time of loss. Elizabeth III will be sorely missed by the world.

In a separate statement, the Japanese government welcomes the peaceful and orderly elections that Britain has undergone, holding them up as an example of what democracy can be when best implemented. Prime Minister Minase hopes that relations with the resulting UK government will be productive and advantageous for all parties concerned.

Londres

Monsieur le Vicomte du Barri had been allowed back in during the Chaffin Government as His Most Christian Majesty’s Ambassador in the Ordinary, and under his auspices the French embassy was reoccupied after being abandoned in the Bull Government.

Now, things were very different. With the relatively invisible yet amiable figure of Queen Elizabeth III gone and signs of a strong Protestant, and globally invigorated, regime on the way, Versailles played its cards very carefully. Would the embassy be revoked? Would the charming English Ambassador to Versailles, Lord Stormont, be recalled? Critically, would the British try and drive a wedge between Versailles and Port Royal? Moreover, during the Chaffin Government travel between France and England had been resumed, and visas issued to both sides. Would this now become old news? It was time for a litmus test.

First came copious condolences, in truth heart felt. Louis-Auguste was always sad when a King or Queen anywhere joined the choirs of saints (regardless that the devot faction at court happily consigned heretical leaders to the pit of hell), and a proper set of funerary gifts was soon off by helicopter across the channel.

Then came the real practicum: The Royal Family of France, Les Bourbons, sent a formal request vis-à-vis their ambassador to attend the funeral, en masse. This meant king, queen, grand-seigneurs, as well as other branches and coronets of le Nouvelle Regime. In a show of amiability, they would take the Chunnel, which had remained open since the Chaffin Government took office.

The answer would no doubt set the tone for future relations.

Mumbai, while no fan of monarchs by any means, and particularly disinclined to like Elizabeth III and her pro-French leanings, offers its condolances as well. In her honor, it is announced that another ex-IAF Lightning will be donated to the Imperial War Museum. The ambassador will of course attend the Queen's funeral.

The election of Mainwarning's party, though, is much better news. Most Unioners would of course prefer that the BID gain the government once again, since John Bull had a very exciting habit of engaging with the Progressive Bloc even in Beth Gellert's presence, but as long as the new government disapproves of the Holy League, it is okay in the Union's book.

(Strath: I'd used James Frazer as an Admiral in the old Walmington, since he was ex merchant navy in the series, you know, but since he was commander of a fleet that doesn't exist in AMW (we'd have to successfully invade the Soviet Commonwealth for that, which ain't happening!), and considering Strathdonia's Scottish/Norbray origins I suppose it makes sense that he might be a resident now of Strathdonia :) )

The news in Britain this week was almost totally dominated by great governmental difficulties. For months, the news media had been -with a few exceptions- railing against appeasement of the Holy League, and the perceived treachery of Roycelandia and the failure of NATO. Now, problems were closer to home.

The last act of Queen Elizabeth III was to grant Chaffin the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the general election. Since then, millions had gone to the polls, now closed, and the count had begun. An announcement was due on the Thursday afternoon, with exit polls showing the restored Whig Party in a clear lead, having apparently taken the lion's share of support from the flash-in-the-pan British Industrial Democratic Party, but Her Walmingtonian Majesty's passing on Wednesday night or Thursday morning -the palace hadn't released many specific details- cast a shadow over the whole affair.

There was no crowned monarch for the victorious party leader to meet, but nobody wanted to rush the coronation of the Queen's son, Charles Newry, before she was even lain to rest. Problems such as the presence in Strathdonia of, quite literally, half the army needed to be addressed, but, according to exit polls, almost three quarters of the country would be less than happy with leaving the previous parliament in charge under its pre-dissolved composition.

General Frazer would find Walmingtonian commanders less than terribly helpful and forthcoming with information on their status, and the force seemed in limbo.

Ambassadors around the world were left to convey the thanks of the House of Walmington and the British people where they were due to governments extending sympathy, and the IAF Lightning was gladly accepted by the Imperial War Museum.

There was not really anyone in a position to refuse the French their wish to pay proper respects, though somebody had apparently ordered a tightning of security on the Kent end of le tunnel sous la Manche, with armed police wandering around, MP5 submachine-guns clutched in their hands.

Elizabeth III lay in state at Westminster for only a matter of hours before a funeral procession took her through London to St.George's chapel. The leaders of the hopeful political parties -Tory, Whig, Social Labour, and Liberal Alliance- would attend, along with royals such as the heir apparent and his own son, Edryd, who was in line to become Duke of Newry when his father ascended to the throne, and the French royals and some trusted friends and diplomats.

Walmington hurried to bring about the unusually swift coronation of the new monarch and the opening of parliament as authorities delayed on announcing the result of the general election, though media speculation over a Whig victory grew almost by the hour. The whole country moved much like a suited fellow afraid that he was about to miss his train, but not quite prepared to endure the indignity of a sprint along the platform like some... continental.

London

At the Elias Embassy, a grand Georgian stucco building on the corner of Belgrave Square and Upper Belgrave Street, the monarch's death and the expected defeat of the Tories was a disheartening double blow. However, most diplomats assumed that Anglo-Elias relations, strong since UE's independance from the Ottomans in 1876 would remain so and the Ambassador, His Excellency Eskell Sasoon, incidently the President's third cousin, made efforts to contact the Whig leader and quickly ascertain that UE's economic and military ties with the UK would not be compromised if he were asked by the Sovereign to form the next government.

Although in recent years President Elias had made relatively few trips abroad, the death of Her Majesty was enough to warrant a more or less immediate state visit. 'Eagle One', in the form of an Elias Air Force Il-86 configured as a Presidential transport, promptly arrived at Northolt Air Force Base. In a less than inconspicious arrival, a flight of two EA-24B helicopters (themselves flown in from UE on an An-124) conveyed the President and his entourage into central London.

It is only customary for Mumbai to greet an incoming British government with a request for defense equipment, and the Whigs are no different from anyone else in that regard.

A communique is fired off to Downing Street, asking if the INU could perhaps get its hands on any retired Royal Navy ships. Naval expansion is especially important in light of the Philippine situation, where the IN seems ready to be thoroughly trounced by the "pasty-faced frogs" for the sole reason that the French have more ships. The Unioners are interested in the surviving Type 42s most of all, due in large part to their capacity for a very large radar and sizable main gun. Mumbai is also interested in acquiring as many additional Type 22s as possible so as to permit the retirement of the oldest Leanders and the tired, somewhat less-than-useful Mohawk.

Although Parliament is still mostly reluctant to bring-up the Philippines issue with London, Unioners don't hide their hope that the new Whig government will take perhaps a firmer stance against Roycelandia's annoying habit of taking places over, and then inviting the French to build bases there. Mumbai is also eager for a British endorsement of its re-incorporation of Rajasthan, formerly opposed by France. London's approval would go a long way towards giving the French something else to think about, with one of their advisors sitting in a Mumbai jail with drug dealers and other bad characters.

In return for giving Mumbai what it wants, Parliament promises to do several things; to keep supporting Strathdonia, to try and moderate Bedgellen zeal, and to avoid fights with Roycelandia.

London, UK

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Royce I stepped from the bobbing Sunderland Flying Boat onto a hastily-converted dock not all that far from the Tower of London, with a ceremonial guard of Imperial Guard in full dress uniform (Cuirass and Zulu War-style Pith Helmet, with SMLE Mk III rifle), waved to the small crowd of onlookers, and was quickly escorted to the EmperorMobile (a specially modified Jaguar), and whisked away to more suitable accommodation.

The Imperial Wardrobe for Her Majesty's Funeral had vexed some of the finest minds in Roycelandian Fashion, for the Emperor's traditional dress was the Imperial Loud Shirt, khaki cargo pants, and the Imperial Crown Pith Helmet (a safari-style pith helmet, not to be confused with the Zulu-war style Pith Helmet worn by the Roycelandian military). Indeed, the Imperial Loud Shirt is a work of art, and some of the better examples worn by past Emperors are in display in the Roycelandian Museum Of Interesting Things in Port Royal.

Alas, a Loud Shirt was not appropriate attire for a State Funeral outside Roycelandia, and so a daring compromise had been reached: His Majesty would wear a muted Loud Shirt with black, grey, and navy blue colours underneath a double-breasted navy blue suit, with a matching fedora.

His Majesty had reportedly suggested a piano key tie to offset the ensemble, but his Fashion Advisor had flatly refused, stating that "If it were any more '80s, it would moonwalk", and so it was decided that a traditional black tie would be most appropriate.

The fashion considerations out of the way, His Majesty had waited until after the funeral before doing the rounds at Westminster, alternating between serious matters of diplomacy and telling risque jokes and anecdotes.

Indeed, His Majesty hosted a Charity Ball (To which the representatives of all nations paying their respects to Her Majesty are invited- "And no jokes about me holding my balls, thank you very much!" he'd joked with The Times earlier) in aid of the London Children's Hospital- and after the alcohol had started flowing (as it was wont to do at any function organised by the Roycelandians), the Captain of the Imperial Praetorian Guard had amazed everyone by juggling loaded Webley revolvers whilst the London Symphony Orchestra played Khachaturian's Sabre Dance.

Of course, in the coming days, His Majesty is keen to "Sit down for a bit of a chat" with the new British Government "And some of our old friends", to try and "Iron out a few things"- which may include acquiring more contracts for Imperial Armaments and Imperial Aerospace, discussion of trade talks, and generally convincing everyone that, Imperialism aside, Roycelandia just wanted to be their friend. And sell guns and other commodities to them. With Blackjack, and Hookers, if needs be. :D

Prior to the Congress in Rome, the Royal Family en masse attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth III.

All wore mourning black, the Queen was shown as publicly crying, and at a touching occasion following the service His Most Christian Majesty gave the following statement:

"In this oppressive grief, occasioned by the loss of a fine woman and tremendous monarch, I implore England to consider their French neighbors not as enemies, but as potential trading partners, and God willing, friends."

Then the family hopped back on Monarch One, and flew off to Rome.

Before very long -in fact far more than usually quickly, leading to some quiet mumblings about impropriety- a new monarch was crowned His Walmingtonian Majesty, King of Great Britain and Norbray and the British Dominions beyond the seas. Already an old man on taking the throne, former Prince Charles, Duke of Newry, adopted the name Godfrey, and was the third King to do so, and amongst his first duties was to send for George Mainwaring as Walmington prepared to return to normal, with a new parliament assembled.

Though the election of a Whig government under a Prime Minister Mainwaring meant a change back to more normal relations with the friends and family of French imperialism, London was in no way moved to cut ties with Baghdad. The North Sea was one thing, and Mainwaring's government had ideas about Malaysian oil, but the Middle East remained of more than a little importance.

Discussions for the sale of Type 42 destroyers and Type 22 frigates to the INU progress quickly, with the Whigs having discussed the matter before the election, as a theoretical. Essentially, the Indians can have as many as they'll buy, with each used old vessel going for about as much as two or perhaps three new fighter jets.

(More laterrr)

(OCC: Curses! Well, disregard that part on my TG, then.)

IC:

Mumbai says, almost without hesitation, that it will buy nothing short of everything that Walmington will sell for the asking price. While it will no doubt upset the Bedgellens that Mumbai has opted to again hit up Britain for its naval needs, most Unioners think it an incredibly bad idea to pass-up such a golden opportunity. Nobody goes out of their way to tell Bedgellens that their war reparations are being used to buy the ships.

Union diplomats also begin to discuss a joint military mission to Papua New Guinea, perhaps including Australasian troops as well. It is hoped that such a multi-national presence, including nations that neither France or Roycelandia is particularly inclined to fight, will dissuade them from trying to take it over. At the same time, say Mumbai's diplomats, the IRI's influence can be checked and the infant Papuan democracy bolstered.

Somewhere in Great Walmington
(Great Walmington: any place deemed particularly significant to the workings of upper government)

The new cabinet had now prepared many specifics to bolster the general aims of the Whig Party, but these aims were still the subject of much private discussion.

Yes, out of necessity, United Elias remained a key trade partner, and one that Walmington would fight to defend if need be, but the Whigs didn't like it and almost wished that fuel prices would rise a few dollars so that Hudecian oil would become viable and decisions would be made for them. For now, though, tongues were bitten and fingers crossed for Elian non-involvement in Africa... not that Walmington would act to stop another Gabon, but it did set an awful precedent for imperialism and slightly taint Walmingtonian condemnations over the actions of the Holy League.

Yes, it was necessary to rebuild the Royal Navy to protect home and friends, and, if done right, to win prestiege enough to get through the next election.

No, Roycelandia's cavorting with the Holy League could not be ignored like it was just a matter of little Gabon's independence.

A looming question that nobody wanted to ask before the party came to power now fell on Whiged heads.

Empires were building, and nobody was sure for how long they would stand. If the Chinese and the Indians moved against them, the Holy League and Roycelandia would have less chance than a hedgehog taking on a truck. But it didn't seem in the nation's best interests for a British government to depend on what the Indians or Chinese may or may not do. Would the nation wait while Russia and France chopped-up half the world and drew Roycelandia further into their fold, leaving the rest to the communists? If United Elias continued to co-operate with Roycelandia while that happened, Walmington would be drawn with them and find itself waking-up in bed with a Catholic, an Arab, and a fat man in a Hawaiian shirt.

On the other hand, if Britain were to stand against the League and its allies, the need for militarisation was all the greater. Bases would once again be needed around the world, resources and manpower must be secured, places must be protected, and this would lead to fighting the league, the Roycelandians, any number of strategically located nations, and a probable assortment of other powers. The Indian National Union was a big friend in a useful place, but the chances of RN ships putting-in at the ports of a nation which must necessarily keep the Soviet Commonwealth on-side seemed strategically endangered.

Envoys were even now en route to Strathdonia and Australasia to propose alliances of a lasting sort, and the word Commonwealth was being thrown about a lot. But this wasn't enough.

There was a strong wing in the party favouring some sort of imperial rebirth, claiming that enticing Roycelandia back away from the Holy League was better than figuring-out how to do without their trade and how to fight them. Counters that this would alienate the INU were met with raspberries and the assertion that the Hindustanis were always going to have their hands tied by the neighbours, where Roycelandia could be a more vigarous ally.

Arguments over empire seemed a world away from Mainwaring's first public speech, in which he tore into the grand lie of privatisation in the last quarter century, cursed the world bank, and set-out plans for community initiatives and a social economy.

There was brief discussion over Rajasthan, and the big Whigs parted company, the ambassador in Mumbai duly informed to convey Walmingtonian recognition of the propriety of the annexation, almost dismissing it as a non-event as if Rajasthan was never rude enough to play at independence in the first place.

(And much more rambling later)

The Walmingtonian Foreign Office would soon receive a very courteous communique from Tokyo, requesting permission for Foreign Minister Shimizu Yuki to visit London. The communique goes on to state that Japan is eager to maintain and build upon the relationship between Tokyo and London, hinting that the two empires have much to discuss regarding the situation in Asia.

Japan's approach is well received in London. While inclined usually to hold grudges, or at least suspicions over the motives of other nations and peoples, in the case of Japan unfortunate histories of the mid century seem insignificant after so many changes of administration in both nations, and the return to independence and democracy for Burma, not to mention the unrelated turmoils in the rest of Asia. A few rooms belonged to the Foreign Office are soon dusting off images of notable century-old Japanese graduates of Walmingtonian military colleges, navy schools in particular, and of vessels such as the Kongô.

China, United Elias, Quinntonia, they were always going to put their own agendas first and consider themselves commanders of a given situation. Japan, Mainwaring reasoned, was several hundred percent smaller than neighbouring China, within missile range of troubled Dra-pol, in something of a territorial dispute with the Tsar, and on the fringes of both Soviet and Franco-Roycelandian interest. It looked again like a civilised nation in need of friends. Certainly China might be called almost equally agreeable, potentially, but it had more power and less need, and, however cynical it sounded, that made Beijing less attractive as a chum.

The Foreign Minister will, at his convenience, be cordially received by London.

"We have been elected because we told the truth. Now, I know that some other -minor- parties have tried to do this, but, I can only assume, they have been generally out of the loop, shall we say? They -where they were not simply lying through their teeth- didn't really have access to the most important information. Well, this Prime Minister is your in-side man!

"We have told the truth not simply about our own actions, beliefs, and private lives, but about how the country -your country- works!

"Until the start of the Whig campaign, people did not understand that the Tories had deliberately run public utilities into the ground, as had New Labour in the councils they controlled, by under-funding them until privatisation seemed an attractive alternative! Most people did not realise that this was how the world was being run, from Muswell Hill to Moscow, and Devon to Detroit.

"People do not appreciate being robbed anymore than they enjoy the company of authorities who lie to them about it, and because we have been the ones to expose this sort of thing, the public know that we will not try to do the same.

"We have been elected because our speeches, our posters, our party political broadcasts made headline news of what otherwise could be found only by being at the top of government or industry, or by watching the most obscure documentaries and reading the most outsider articles that never touch the mainstream. Now, people know that, under the privatised rail system, track was electrified at a rate several thousand percent slower than under British Rail; that, in specific cases sited and explained in our campaign, people actually died on privatised rail where they would not have done on public rail; and that, while coverage has declined and ticket prices have climbed above inflation and fuel costs, subsidies paid to the rail companies were hundreds of millions of pounds higher than those afforded British Rail in its last years... precisely because of the conspiracy to discredit socially conscious economics for failures which, as people are entirely able to see when appraised of the bare facts, simply do not exist!

"Lies have become so widely repeated in public that even heads of government come to believe them as they rise after the myth: our last Prime Minister, Russia's, Lusaka's junta leader, how many others I do not know, all seem to be ignorant of the workings of their own ministers, councils, civil servants, and captains of industry.

"It has not hurt our case, as opponents of Mr.Chaffin, that this country has entered into a pact with the devil, all be it simply an agreement to ignore his evil. Where would we be if Chaffin had been Prime Minister in 1939? Masters of half the world, no doubt... with the other half ashes in a furnace!

"I am here, today, to announce... that I have ordered a full enquiry into the entire history of privatisation, and of key international policy decisions, both under the last Conservative government and that which preceeded the BID administration, and, though more may follow pending the completion of what is sure to be a long and far-reaching investigation, I have authorised the arrest of several individuals, both political advisors and captains of industry, including two ministers of the last cabinet. This is done on a range of charges... ah, ranging from fraud, and theft by deception... to corporate manslaughter, and treason.

"As we have also revealed that millions of dollars of taxpayer money, listed under the international aid budget, has gone to carrying-out similar manipulative acts of privatisation in the 3rd world, leading to the worsening of thousands of lives, the enquiry may yet reach over-seas businesses and criminals. We saw it in what is now the Tanzanian element of the United African Republic, during the dark days of LUAN Party rule: the poorest people on earth had to choose between breaking laws backed by billionaires and getting-by on less water than is safe for an active human, while paying more for it than they did for twice as much of it provided by the Lusakan state. Those Thatcherite and Quinntonian politicians who initated such crimes as the commodification of water in other countries all were clearly thieves, and, more importantly, criminals against democracy, for the publics of the western world did not vote people into office to strengthen those associated with the international monetary fund at the expense of foreign poor. From now on, our aid money, taken in tax from the British public, will be rendered as aid as people require it, not as neo-liberal pressure groups and international bankers dictate... no more will Britons work to force African services into the hands of western businessmen.

"More importantly, as we look aborad, we see atrocity that hides behind no babble about competition-induced growth, but sails under the fleur de lis and the Roycelandian Jack.

"Indeed, what a terrible time it is, when a Prime Minister of Walmington must stand against the Emperor of Roycelandia for murderous conspiracy with the Catholic autocracy of France and the maniac of the Russias, but I have been elected to stand so, and so stand I shall."

Mainwaring, whose speech would continue for quite some time without ever losing the interest of his audience (if sometimes losing their comprehension for a moment) began to deliver the details of Whig defence reforms, which included a down-sizing of the army by removing some twenty-three thousand regular personnel and twenty thousand territorials, a sustaining of air force levels after expansions carried out by Bull and Chaffin, and a massive round of increases to the navy, which, if it can no longer be the largest on earth, certainly is set to become the biggest in Europe.

The Whig administration was set to be clearly one or other -if not both- of the best, or worst, of times.

(Navy items next post)

Versailles

Counterintuitively, His Most Christian Majesty did not issue a statement against the outrageous statements made by Walmington’s new Prime Minister. Instead, plans went into the works for a clear statement to be worked into the Holy League Congress’ keynote speech, to be given by the Tsar’s Prime Minister. Additionally, due to Britain’s downright eager stance to re-arm nations openly hostile to France their would be added to the Agenda the issue of Iberian unity (to the glee of Philip VII) which would include the Spanish again gaining Gibraltar.

What did happen was clear enough. As soon as the Froncophobic tirade had concluded, the French Embassy, present since the Chaffin Government took power, was recalled. The Chunnel was again shut. Lord Stormont, the British Ambassador to Versailles, received notice that his services would no longer be need at Court.

The outrageous statements were of such concern to the French Court that troops and naval equipment, to the tune of several divisions and several ships-of-the-line, were recalled from Asia…which since the decision to postpone the Cambodian Operation were judged as being too numerous anyway. ((n.b. I will do a comprehensive post on French deployments on my home thread shortly))

The French also proudly displayed their ever-growing Royal Navy with the completion of the Charles X[/I}, sister-carrier to the [I]Charles de Gaulle, which just came off the line at Cherbourg. France was clearly sending a signal that they were not about to give up their Restoration status as Europe’s premier naval power.

In response to the new governments ultra-protestant views a Ecumenical Council of high French clergy was held at Notre Dame, at which the Catholic religion of Ireland was praised and declared sacrosanct. No funding would yet be given to more conservative leaning Irish-Catholic groups, but the mood was being set for it by Downing Street.

Most importantly, Versailles announced another trade accord with Roycelandia, now France’s number one trading partner, Royce’s Empire having just surpassed the Tsars in terms of imports to France and exports sent to said parties.

Before anyone in the admiralty had opportunity to use the phrase, "...laughing our arses off" the PM and MoD had hastened to make public the latest round of RN expansion, something that would put to work all the major yards of the south coast, the northeast and northwest, Norbray, and Belfast, and keep them working for several years to come.

The navy's increases will not be entirely uniform, as the Upholder Class SSK reactivation programme will be halted, and any vessels thus-far refurbished shall be returned to inactive reserve, while the Astute Class shall halt at a mere six vessels. Trafalgar and Swiftsure Class fleet submarines, however, shall continue to be withdrawn, leaving Walmington with just ten submarines: four SSBN and six highly modern SSGN.

In contrast to the Submarine Service, the surface fleet -and with it the fleet air arm- are set for huge expansion befitting a global climate dangerous as that in the early C20th and again mid century.

Continued Royal Navy expansion will leave it almost four times the size -in terms of regular manpower- of its lowest point in the last generation.

HMS Ocean and the two Albion Class amphibious assault vessels built under Bull and the third Albion ordered by the Tory government are to be maintained, but the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Bay Class of amphibious landing ships is to be increased to six hulls. The logic here is that if a navy able to call on four large assault ships can't secure a landing, it isn't worth attempting, while Walmington should have the ability to follow-up a successful assault by inserting large forces of men and equipment shortly after the fact.

Given the sheer length of coast protected by hostile fighters and the number of islands basing potential enemy aircraft, not to mention the aggressive deployment of France's carrier and the birth of a Soviet fleet-carrier programme, it appears that debate over whether a fleet of three or four carriers is proper for the RN is ridiculous, and the Queen Elizabeth Class shall continue to expand until it incorporates no less than six hulls. Half the size of Quinntonia's carrier force, and with smaller vessels, but more modern and hopeful of clinging to a British knack for achieving victory when it makes absolutely no sense to have done so. Not to mention providing of a capacity almost immeasurably superior to all combined French, Russian, and Roycelandian maritime airpower.

On a related note, the Super Harrier programme, halted by the Tories when on the brink of completion, will be reactivated so that the carriers actually have some purpose. The Defence Minister was quite flippant in dismissing vague Tory speculation about a navalised Typhoon, especially the bizarre contention that such a development would be relatively inexpensive. Harrier IV and Sea Harrier 4 also may have some export potential in the long term, though this is thought to have been reduced by a worsening of relations with Roycelandia, but certainly the machine's superior ability to deploy in a forward environment during hostilities has much appeal to a military expecting action.

The Daring Class destroyers are to become an immense world power under the Whigs. General Sir Jack Jones announced a near trebling of the currently twelve-strong class to thirty-five hulls, not to mention the addition of some new systems (though not of all the enhancements that have been proposed).

Meanwhile, with the future frigate programme pushed back by the level of investment in other enterprises, the number of Duke Class frigates shall climb to forty-five, again incorporating some modern improvements.

The number of escort vessels is answered by the laying-down of new battleships...

The Prime Minister has said he will not tollerate the French, Roycelandians, and others parading around with all the confidence in the world drawn from their gun and armour ships, and the sixty-thousand tonne, 9x16" gun HWMS Courageous is to be joined by sisters Glorious, Indefatigable and Illustrious. The first of these is already laid-down, using materials gathered during the Bull years for a sister cancelled under the Tories.

Jones was also pleased to announce the ordering of two nuclear powered battleships of the proposed Queen Mavis Class, apparently to be the closest that one can go towards a battlecruiser without actually building a disaster-in-waiting. Speculative sketches show something looking remarkably like the Mighty Hood, though presumably modified by its totally different propulsion system and the likely mounting of 16" guns.

Answering speculation, the government admitted that the prospect of a new two-ship class called Dreadnought was on the drawing board, but refused to say whether it would come to anything, and cruisers are vaguely referenced as an alternative proposal.

It would appear that, with an army several times smaller than France's, the Walmingtonian road is again on the high seas, wherever they may take her, for the Royal Navy, long three or four times smaller than the Army, is now becoming the largest element of the nation's defence forces.

Despite the appearance of a future navy that no nation on earth is likely to be able to force from the sea, the fact that these totals will fall still some way short of its historical maximum strength in manpower and number of hulls speaks clearly of the death of empire: without her jewels, the Walmingtonian crown can not afford to deploy above two dozen capital ships and two-hundred-and-fifty other surface combatants, including scores of cruisers. Fortunately... nor can many others.

Port Royal, Roycelandia

"It's an Arms Race, Jack. And I don't like it one bit. We're heading for a third world war."

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Royce I was in camera with some of the Very Important People of the Roycelandian Empire. Indeed, this particular conference was so secret that the French Military Attache had not been invited- not out of a political snub, but because some rather serious decisions had to be made, and the fewer people involved, the better.

Sir Jack Sword, CEO of Imperial Armaments, was present- along with Commander Edmund Blackadder, Prime Minister Sir James Brosnan, Governor-General Philip J. Fry (and the Governor-Generals of all Roycelandian Colonies), Air Marshal Sir James Bigglesworth (Commander of the Imperial Air Force), and Admiral Sir Ivan Tasman-Cook, as well as Wiggles, His Majesty's ever-present aide, butler, and advisor.

"Our equipment could use an upgrade, but given the current political climate..." began Sir Jack.

"We're activating The Stalingrad Protocol" His Majesty announced, cutting him off.

"Are you sure that's necessary?"

"Very sure."

The Stalingrad Protocol provided that, in the event of a major war, every able-bodied person (male or female) between the ages of 16-45 in the area concerned would be given a rifle, 100 rounds of ammunition, and instructions to harass, annoy, and disrupt enemy activities- working in co-ordination with the Imperial Guard and the Colonial Guard.

"Furthermore" His Majesty continued, "I want more Atomic Missiles. Big ones. And some Hydrogen Bombs, too. The sort of stuff that can render entire continents unihabitable for decades."

"But, Your Majesty..." several of the assembled group began.

"NO ARGUMENTS!" bellowed His Majesty. "I will not have the greatest and best Empire the civilised world has ever known held hostage by a bunch of touchy-feely, tree-hugging, curry munching, rice eating peasants!
There are 140 million people in the Roycelandian Empire, and we have made ourselves wealthy and prosperous from trade and scientific advancement! We have tried to share that wealth and knowledge with others, and yet only France and United Elias have truly accepted our kindness. We must regard them as our brothers, and we must stand against the forces of Communism, Progression, and Touchy-Feely Tree-Huggery!"

Wiggles was shocked. He hadn't seen His Majesty that angry in... many years, anyway.

In short, His Majesty had decided that rather than get directly involved in the Arms Race, they were simply going to build the World's Largest Nuclear Arsenal and threaten to reduce anyone who disagreed with them to radioactive dust.

Indeed, much like Soviet Russia (and anyone who even dared make that comparison in Roycelandia would find themselves in a penal colony so fast they wouldn't even have time to pack their snowshoes), the Roycelandian Military could be quite formidable once they were mobilised. And whilst the economy wasn't on a war footing (yet), the production of new tanks, aircraft, and even ships was being announced almost daily in the major newspapers and magazines of the Empire.

His Majesty, meanwhile, was trying to assure Britain that it was in their interests to A) Have Roycelandia on-side with the French and B) for Britain to try and reclaim their Empire (with the resulting trade benefits!). Indeed, the Doctrine of Imperialism was explained to the new English Monarch, the edited highlights of which are that Roycelandia has no desire to annex or colonise "Civilised" countries- just those which were "uncivilised" (ie, most of Africa and parts of the Pacific not already claimed by the Major Powers).

Glowing Sands Research Centre, Darfur Province, Roycelandian Sudan

"..3...2...1... FIRE!"

The horizon exploded with a spectacular, fiery brilliance as the most powerfual Thermo-Nuclear Bomb ever tested in history detonated, with a mushroom cloud visible from neighbouring Chad and a shockwave that would knock traders off their camels well over a hundred kilometres away.

The science team clapped and cheered, uncorking a bottle of the finest Bourbon to celebrate.

Commander Blackadder turned to his French and Elian Counterparts. "Now, THAT ought to keep the Commies and the Progressives in line!"

His Majesty has also agreed to ensure Roycelandia does not attempt to annex or invade Papua New Guinea, adding under his breath "There's nothing of value there anyway..."

Still, the detonation of the world's most powerful thermonuclear device will be major news, and will also serve to distract all but the most observant from a lot of other military related things the Roycelandian Empire is up to- including recruiting demobilised British soldiers into the Imperial Foreign Legion...

Tokyo

PM Minase looked up as Foreign Minister Shimizu strolled in.

"Ah, Yuki, I have some news for you. Pack your bags."

Shimizu stopped in his tracks. "Meaning?"

"Oh, yes, of course. The Walmingtonians will receive you at your leisure. Now..."

Minase walked over and tugged the cigarette that Shimizu was preparing to light.

"I don't need to remind you that His Majesty wants this to go well. Walmington and Japan have much in common, so it's your job to remind them of that. This means no sarcasm, no backtalk, no smoking unless there is an authorised break or they start smoking, in which case you ask if you can as well. We're looking for a good working relationship, maybe even an alliance if we can get it. Emperor Shinseiki has hinted that he'll give you the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum if you can pull this off."

Shimizu took back his cigarette and lit it. "Give me a break; I'll just pretend I'm having lunch at Kokyo Palace. I'll rock their world."

"Well, not too much I hope. Emperor Shinseiki would like to have tea with King Godfrey at some point, so try your best to be amiable. We'll probably have Aikoku Toko complaining about you going, but I have something in mind to placate Akira-san."

------------------

Shimizu Yuki was soon on a chartered flight bound for London, with a pile of dossiers to look through on the way. He read about Mainwaring's policies, noting any similarities between the Whig and the Japan Renewal Party governments. He read the profiles of the Walmingtonian leaders to prepare himself for any quirkiness that was known about, and memorised the list of occasions where the two island nations had cooperated. He didn't really care about the Order of the Chrysanthemum (although he'd certainly accept it if offered); this was about strengthening the international position of the nation he loved.

(WoS, I believe that Chaffin's alternative to the Harrier was the CTOL version of the F-35, which was mentioned as already being deployed aboard one of the carriers on the Zimbabwe thread.)

The recent announcements of the new government are deeply troubling to Baghdad. With many Elias firms holding significant stakes in companies privitised by the Chaffin government, considerable efforts are made to force a guarantee that these business interests would be respected and if such companies were to be re-nationalised that the UE corporations recieve renumeration at fair market values.

The large and influential UE based investment bank Zilkha and Zilkha, long established in the City of London also publishes a gloomy forecast for the UK economy, with predictions of a return to tax and spend fiscal policy. These forecasts will doubtless have a considerable negative effect on the FTSE and may lead to a weakening of Sterling.

The prospect of former Cabinet ministers being subject to arrest is also of major concern and although the Elias Embassy is assured that its gifts to various Conservative MPs are unproveable as anything other than legitimate, it makes subtle offers of political asylum to certain officials.

Openly neither the President nor the Foreign Affairs Ministry make any direct criticism of the new Whig government, and will not do so if it can achieve the same cosy relationship that had been established under the Tories, which UE diplomats will argue in Number 10 is mutually beneficial. Not being openly aligned to either the Holy League (with good relations with Roycelandia and poorer relations with France) or the Progressive bloc, UE is a moderate ally that Britain cannot afford to lose.

((Meh! The Super Harrier stats were complete and available in Bull's day, so any interim purchase of ugly Quinntonian business will be considered an expensive stop-gap during, er, pre-production and company trials of Super Harrier, vindicated by the restoration of a pro-industry government.))

The response from most in the involved departments is fairly uncooperative in respect of UE interests in British utilities, since the government's position is that current market values for most were attained by theft and deception, the deliberate under-funding of public companies so as to provoke popular dissatisfaction and force their privatisation. It is stated by one junior minister involved in the large task of renationalisation that, "If anything, they [foreign businessmen] should pay-back the British taxpayer for years of poor treatment that has served ultimately only to enrich these people and allow the likes of Chaffin their fifteen minutes of fame and flash-in-the-pan powertripping, and for having received a stake in the British economy at artificially reduced cost in the first place. Cut your losses before it's too late, and think yourselves lucky!"

Party bigshots say less but also indicate much by a failure to take the sort of drastic action shouted by their underlings. A committee is established to look into large matters of compensation across the board, but there is no telling what sort of progress will be made, or how quickly.

Taking advantage of crisis times in confrontation with France and Russia, the failure of NATO, and the loss of a Roycelandian ally, not to mention a "Balkanisation of the opposition" as the Deputy PM put it, the Whigs have continued their shaking reforms and painful changes. This week a bill tightning regulation on automobiles has appeared, and looks likely to go far. The main thrust of it is towards the reduction of oil consumption while Walmington is still a net exporter, and it also goes some way towards the introduction of new tariffs likely across much of the economy. With new efficiency and pollution standards looming in a domestic automobile industry being dragged back to its feet, the nation is about one step shy of a ban on 'SUVs'.

Needless to say, even with moderate oil and gas reserves of her own at home and in Wendsleybury, and vague plans for investment in Malaysian sources, Walmington does not feel prepared to do without United Elias...

...but then, this week, one mainstream newspaper did run an article on Anarchan oil, while others talked about the ANP in Angola and the plight of enslaved Nigeria.

((Japan and other stuff later, hopefully. A little busy, at the moment.))

((Japan and other stuff later, hopefully. A little busy, at the moment.))

OOC: No worries, gives me more time to decide exactly what to suggest *rubs hands wickedly*

Walmingtonian defense expansion gets two entheusiastic thumbs-up from Mumbai, which is extremely happy to have somebody in Europe who can keep the French, and indeed the entire Holy League, in check. Mainwarning's new domestic program recieves hearty approval from Unioners, who don't privatise as a rule (although, unlike in Beth Gellert, private enterprise won't get you punished).

The Union ambassador, on one of his regular trips to Downing Street, and after taking the unprecedented step of inviting Mainwarning to Mumbai, also mentions the Sea Harrier. With only 15 single-seat Harriers in service, and all those the relatively primitive FRS.51 variant, the MoD would very much like to get its hands on some FA2s. The Merlin has also attracted the MoD's attention as a possible replacement for the Sea King in IN service.

The ambassador also promises to defend Gibraltar and Portugal in the face of a Spanish or French attack, although it looks more and more likely that Britain will be able to take care of itself. While it is more or less customary for the Union to delcare its support for Great Walmington in Gibraltar when Spain threatens it, with the possibility of a Holy League invasion more real than ever, Mumbai hopes that its pledge will be taken more seriously. With the Whigs in power, Great Walmington will find a very ready ally and customer in the Indian National Union.

As Walmingtonian dignitaries prepared to meet the Japanese Foreign Minister in respectful manner, the nation considered Whig policy thus far.

In campaigning, the Whigs shot first. That is to say, they indulged in a luxury that every challenger wants, but no serious contestant dare use in stable times. They told the truth, the whole truth. Britain was feeling serious menace, not the sort existing only when spinning, but the sort felt when going to bed at night, and wondering about the sunrise. It was suddenly possible to take off the gloves and to stick out a neck was a noble thing.

In times of crisis it was easy to pull-in one's head, as was normal practice, but it was also possible to win big on a gamble that nobody else wanted to take. The Whigs explained how government and economy actually worked.

They had nationalised the railway because it was a well-known secret that, in many areas, nationalisation was not the inefficient cousin of privatisation, but in every last measurable regard its very distant superior. Even under the previous administration, the collapse of one private rail company was met by a short-term government management before a Dutch firm took-over. The government's own report on conditions under the old company, the government branch, and the new company, went unpublished because it was undeniable damnation of privatisation in every respect.

Time and again it was proven that private infrastructure costs more and provides less, and so it was done away with. That was a Whig cornerstone. It wasn't about agendas, just stopping what was wrong and replacing it with a measurably superior alternative. If this had been the way from the start, Beddgelen railways wouldn't be smoother, faster, and safer than Britain's, and all the others on earth, so said the minister for transport.

Smoother, faster, and safer were buzzwords in the campaign, but it was only because life in Britain cost less under the Whigs that they now obliterated all comers in local elections as well.

Still, the Party wasn't without its smears. Though the Russians would claim it with everything their lying or stupid hands touched, the Whigs couldn't claim to have magically obliterated corruption just by the leader's resolution that corrupt individuals should be removed. The corrupt systems in place prevented this, as any half-grown child understands, and the Japanese would still find many rich men in Walmington, earning a thousand times what the working man brought home and apparently doing so by smoking Roycelandian cigars and perusing cabinets filled with Norbray Whisky and Newry Whiskey.

Sir Henry Chaspot Wayne stands as the richest man in Walmington, ahead of HM the King, and the Japanese will find his friends in the Lords -the social and economic liberal Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh foremost amongst them- well placed to support the continuation of many prior economic ties between British and Japanese business, despite Party reservations.

More than that, even if economic and political differences remain, London, Whig or not, regards Tokyo as an equal or as suffering from the very narrowest of inferiorities, while Beijing is feared as a too-powerful competator, Sithin is unwiseless dismissed as a minor player in any game, Portmeirion is seen as an enemy in the Asian theatre, and Mumbai admired only as a child to be proud of.



To Mumbai's approaches London remains receptive and almost jolly. While Walmington sees rivals or enemies in the Soviets, the Holy League, maybe even China or Quinntonia, the INU will never be regarded as having out-grown Britannia, who still regards herself as mother, irrespective of any more Asian than Anglo-Saxon bias in the so-called child's development.

Practically speaking, this means that advanced Harrier models will be exported to the Indians without serious worry that they will empower a rival. The last Sea Harriers, which arm Invincibles on their way out of British service (and even on to Indian) and the two new carriers that didn't make temporary use of Quinntonian jets, are ASRAAM and Meteor capable, not to mention fairly evolved in multi-role capacity. In development of Harrier IV/Sea Harrier 4, some of the otherwise traditionally-formed Harriers incorporate experimental shielding on their normally glaring air intakes, to trial the basics of signature reduction that would make the Super Harrier a near true stealth aircraft.

The idea of selling Merlin to India is highly interesting in Walmington, since the cost of the aircraft's development, production, and introduction have been quite taxing. In truth, the MoD was thinking to sell Lynx and Sea King helicopters to the INU (including perhaps early Sea King MASC, now repalced by slightly superior, roomier Merlin versions), but the possibility of the Indians buying Merlin births thoughts of approaches to Strathdonia and Australasia over maritime Lynx and Sea King birds no longer needed by the British.

In general, trade with the INU continues to be important as Walmington seeks tea enough to supply the lion's share of over eighty-five billion yearly brews (the UAR being courted to fill in a few tonnes here and there). Over one hundred thousand tonnes of the stuff are sought from the Indians by a nation expecting to pay something pushing a good billion dollars each year into the INU's economy just for this vital beverage. London also encourages INU advertising of food ingredients and other agricultural goods, and any other specialtis.

The gradual rebirth of British industry leaves the nation hoping that Indian capital generated by Walmy thirst will enable Indians to buy Walmingtonian cars, cutting-edge electronic technologies, and, through tax revenues, further defence equipments* and major industrial help in development of mining and petroleum, in both of which the British have ample experience and capability.

*French involvement in Rajasthan has been blown out of proportion in the Walmingtonian media, seriously improving domestic opinion of the INU as a military partner of good character and potential ability and enabling the export of items that might previously have been restricted by fears of progressive strength. Follow-up on that whole non-alignment thing, keeping Soviet forces from taking over, and the INA might find itself advancing behind Chobham composites in the near future.

(OOC: Walmy, I'll just have him arrive and then you can whisk him off to the meeting room to begin the talking)

Shimizu Yuki stepped off the plane and raised an eyebrow at the welcoming party; so this is Walmington, he thought. The nation described by Emperor Shinseiki as the 'Nippon of Europe'. Both nations were constitutional monarchies, both had a nasty habit of either ignoring their continental neighbours or warring with them, both prided themselves on possessing class and distinction, both drove on the left.....

Shimizu managed a wry smile as he approached his hosts. The current international climate had raised yet another similarity; both nations were seeking to regain lost glories, in one fashion or another.

The INU's perhaps peculiar relationship with its former colonial hegemon, a source of infinite discomfort for many Unioners, and certainly a fair few Bedgellens, is rather easy to explain when one looks at Union history from 1947-1989. Prior to that, Britain had indeed been an oppressor to the Indians, although the present-day Union had avoided the worst of the Raj, as Bengalis will no doubt testify. But thanks to the efforts of, at first, William Gladstone, and then at the very end Viceroy Wavell, the INC was able to leave the British empire with a favorable opinion of, if not the Walmington of the past, the Walmington of today and tomorrow. Thanks to extremely timely aid from Clement Attlee's government, the Indian National Union was able to survive the otherwise devastating Bedgellen invasion, and it was steady military aid flowing from London that kept the INA afloat and successful in the field until the establishment of a domestic defense industry in the early 1980's. In many ways, the Union attachment to Great Walmington is more rooted in history than its attachment to Beth Gellert.

London's endorsement of the Rajasthan operation comes at a good time, and goes further to reassure Unioners of its legitimacy. After all, technically Rajasthan belongs to Mumbai, under the provisions of a 1947 treaty, but many still regard the invasion as underhanded and unfair, as well as unnecessarily costly.

The MoD doesn't show that much interest in the Sea Harrier 4 and Harrier IV, dismissing both those modified types as unnecessarily costly. This is partly true, since the F(J).11 program, conducted jointly with Strathdonia and aimed at designing an affordable 5th generation combat aircraft, is hardly on the cheap side. Eventually, the MoD settles on the acquisition of all the remaining RN Sea Harrier FA2s, or rather as many as Great Walmington is willing to sell, along with as many trainers as can be had as well. Since the IN intends to fly them either as close air support or point air defense platforms, signature reduction isn't considered fully necessary, since the aircraft would rarely if ever be expected to brave the full force of a French or other air defense grid.

Offers of new Lynxes and Sea Kings, even used, cause the MoD to rethink its entire point of view with regards to the Merlin, but with naval Dhruvs in production, the Lynx doesn't actually have much of a following. The MoD would like to buy something now that it won't have to replace for a while, and the Merlin looks, after a short review, like just the thing. A prospective Union order might be for 24 Merlins, six in the ASW configuration to equip the IN's new second carrier, ten as assault transports to replace the slower and more cramped Sea Kings, and the remaining eight optimized for search-and-rescue.

Unioners remain more than happy to supply Great Walmington with Tea, and Tea cultivation is one of the few economic activities experiencing steady growth in the INU. New plantations have even been built in northern Punjab, in the mountainous terrain west of the Indus Valley, with the aim of rivalling Darjeeling's signature variety. With agriculture as stable as ever, thanks both to a steady monsoon cycle and excellent irrigation infrastructure, Union growers are eager to sell Soybeans, Cotton, Rice, Peanuts, and Sugarcane to Great Walmington as well, along with a host of other foods and spices.

Still strangely attached to the Hindustan Ambassador, the INU's few car owners and operators won't be an easy market for British manufacturers, and a very strong public transportation network makes it possible to reach most places by foot or on bicycle after a train or bus ride. But the fact remains that the Ambassador is pushing fifty years old, and whether they like it or not, Unioners will have to consider their next choice for car someday. Electronics stand a much better chance in the market, since the only computers and telephones produced domestically are extremely basic.

Walmington dispatches new wave of diplomats to Europe, Asia

More than three centuries after the capture of Gibraltar and almost as many years since official recognition of the fact in the Treaty of Utrecht, Walmingtonian presence on the Rock remains firmly rooted. Fears of Spanish moves towards the Holy League are answered by a more than 99% conviction across the population that London should not even discuss the possibility of any form of shared sovereignty or administration of the little place, and any assault of the winding and climbing roads will find that probably the twelve score wild monkeys are the least likely of all thirty thousand residents to throw feces at the attackers.

With the Tories gone, British warplanes are once again on station at Gibraltar's airfield, along with Rapier and Starstreak air defence missiles. RAF Typhoon are joined by Harrier IV and even a flight of Tornado IDS, while the Royal Gibraltar Regiment expands to include Home Guard amongst its traditional local volunteer element. The battleship Courageous has visited Gibraltar this week, en route to the east coast of southern Africa, where she will cover the exit of Royal Army forces, and RN nuclear submarines continue to dock on a regular basis.

Still, minor changes in Gibraltar's defences are secondary to wider defence strategy, and lately British diplomats have been arriving in Lisbon for wide-ranging talks. Six hundred and twenty years since the Treaty of Windsor first associated Britain and Portugal on a basis of alliance, Walmington is quite prepared to forget glitches such as de Salazar's dictatorship as consigned to the rubbish bin of an otherwise grand history.

The Whig government in Britain is seeking to replace some lost continental trade by increasing commercial ties to Portugal, and talks are under-way to assure a pact of mutal defence for Portugal and Gibraltar, citing threats from, "Spain, Roycelandia, the Holy League and as well associate and proxy forces there of".

Pen has not yet met paper in this arena, but London's hope is to see Portugal's shores opened to Walmingtonian forces in opposition to any invasion of Gibraltar, with the support of Europe's largest navy granted to the depleted power of Lisbon should Portugal be instead the victim of such aggression.

In related news, recent in other news stories about the government's musing over the prospect of recognising the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic have died-down, apparently not for fear of sparking conflict with Madrid or causing an excess of association with the Soviet bloc, but in a gesture demonstrating lately doubted sincerity in relations with Morocco's key supporter, United Elias. "Conditions in the Western Sahara are doubtless less than ideal" said a party spokesman, "but making lasting affirmations simply to spite personal enemies would not be in the best interest of Walmington nor, really, of the long-term future of the Saharawi people." There is on-going talk of British humanitarian aid missions to the over-populated, under-resourced region, but for all the Whig's radicalism, diplomatic recognition of the Polisario Front seems no less than usually far away.

Elsewhere, in Asia, London's arms are outstretched to the long-suffering and less media-friendly people of Malaya. The population here, eight hundred times larger than Gibraltar's, may not be 99.95% committed-to-the-hilt to any cause embraced by King Godfrey III, but an involved history does tickle Walmingtonian interest. As a wise man once said, a friend in need is a friend indeed, and PM Mainwaring has made clear that the Malaysian people and state will not be neglected in Britain's many contemporary struggles around the globe.

Dormant talks of dominion are back on the cards as Walmington looks to jam an outpost of substance into the middle of recent Asian troubles and future commercial excitement and the Malaysian peoples struggle with a legacy of late C20th conflict and neglect.

Not far away, lately troubled Andaman and Nicobar also tug Walmy heartstrings. Imperial guilt lies ever unspoken below the skin of every true Briton ("...as would be felt too by the French et al had they ever mastered an empire of any serious merit"- Baron Alan Thunder-ten-tronkh, spoken before the House of Lords), and never is it more eye-watering than when in relation to the tortured islands of the Bay of Bengal, where, until not so very long ago, Cellular Gaol bound hundreds of Indian revolutionaries, Geletian and Hindustani, in solitary confinement preventative of reoffence against Britannia's imperial whim.

Today the islands are torn with anti-communist paranoia, Quinntonian military presence, Islamist extremism, decadent capitalism and massive financial crime, native unrest, and Christian secular conflict. London hopes for a relatively non-violent solution to Andamanese and Nicobarese troubles, and wants to see local, Soviet, Walmingtonian, Chinese, and Quinntonian discussion on the future of the islands, leading to a return under British dominion. It is hoped that Walmington will seem a better option to all parties, each fearing domination of the Bay of Bengal by either Chinese, Soviet, Quinntonian, or Holy League forces.

Notable is the fact that London has no interest in engaging with the Catholic monarchists, while being prepared to talk with Beijin, Portmeirion, and Washington as well as Liberation itself.

Shimizu Yuki would be greeted in Walmington, interestingly enough, by Admiral the Lord Hodges, Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle. The Lord Warden's greeting was formal and grandiose, but gave way to the less frequently practiced friendly aspect of Sir William Hodge's person once he and the Japanese Foreign Minister were aboard a train laid on specially in just about the first act of a reestablishing British Rail. "Don't worry, it's cheaper than Virgin." Joked the Warden in reference to the renationalisation of the railways. The coach was extremely well appointed, of course, but moved at something notably less than the speed a Japanese traveller might consider usual.

In the event, the journey was not long, and soon the dignitaries alighted on a platform that until two days previous had been disused, part of the decline of coverage suffered under the privatised railways, and now was back in top condition though as yet not on any public timetables. Near there a small motorcade could be seen, including a large Stockley Defence modified Rolls Royce (containing unseen security personnel) and an armoured Jaguar bearing a pennon in the form of a miniaturisation of the Warden's unusual banner depicting three demi-lions fused with ship's hulls.

Aboard this vehicle the Warden and his guest were transported to Walmer Castle, the official residence of the Admiral of the Cinque Ports. Dating to the reign of Herny VIII and conceived as bastion of defence against cross-channel Catholic enemies, the former coastal artillery fort counts the Duke of Wellington and WH Smith amongst past residents, and though the wartime PM never took up residence here, the Lord Hodges notes Churchill amongst his predecessors.

The Warden's flag was raised over the castle and, after a brief tour of some of the significant historical features, including Wellington's boots, Shimizu Yuki was invited to meet the Prime Minister, who, apparently had arrived during the tour that evidently had been designed to pass the time before Mainwaring turned up.

((Was intending to start the meeting, but I have to get going.))

Shimizu Yuki tried his best to immerse himself in Walmingtonian history during the tour, asking questions and appearing to be genuinely interested. To be fair, the Lord Warden was certainly making him feel welcome, a fact that would not go unreported in Tokyo when the trip was over. When he was finally invited to meet with Prime Minister Mainwaring, Shimizu cleared his throat, patted down any creases in his suit, and reminded himself to pronounce it 'Mannaring'.

It might be important to mention that Roycelandia hasn't paid much attention to Japan not for reasons of malice or a desire to "shut Japan out", but rather because there are very few people in Roycelandia who can fathom much about the country at all... (admittedly this is largely an OOC problem that I have... I just can't get my head around any of the AMW Asian history, so I just avoid it... Ringists, Strainists, I can't work out who's who or how it could affect Roycelandia in any way).

Roycelandia is still less than impressed with Japanese wartime activities, which directly caused the loss of the Roycelandian colony of Port Arthur (which, after WWII, was returned to China and not Roycelandia), but this fact would never be officially voiced... there's just a feeling that Japan is a strange, far off place full of strange people with neon hair, an incomprehensible language, and not a lot of space.

It might be important to mention that Roycelandia hasn't paid much attention to Japan not for reasons of malice or a desire to "shut Japan out", but rather because there are very few people in Roycelandia who can fathom much about the country at all... (admittedly this is largely an OOC problem that I have... I just can't get my head around any of the AMW Asian history, so I just avoid it... Ringists, Strainists, I can't work out who's who or how it could affect Roycelandia in any way).

Roycelandia is still less than impressed with Japanese wartime activities, which directly caused the loss of the Roycelandian colony of Port Arthur (which, after WWII, was returned to China and not Roycelandia), but this fact would never be officially voiced... there's just a feeling that Japan is a strange, far off place full of strange people with neon hair, an incomprehensible language, and not a lot of space.

OOC: Ah, forget the history. Nowadays AMW Japan is almost identical to RL Japan. The only real differences are that there's no constitutional clauses about the military, the nation as a whole is more centre-left in political ideals, and it's slightly less hi-tech. Oh, and our Emperor can tell some cracking stories about his 'past endeavours'.

Pleased for just about the first time in history to be greeted by a major diplomat without having to bite his tongue on being called Main wer ing, the Prime Minister proceeds to bumble the rest of the pleasantries by bowing and extending his hand at the same time, and totally mispronouncing any attempt at a Japanese name or other reference, seeming almost defensive about broadening his accent when doing so. To men like Mainwaring, Japan is far the best that the Orient has to offer... but it's still a bit overly keen on blossom and grooming and such slightly suspect and feminine interests.

Still, key members of the Whig leader's cabinet, such as the Minister for Defence, General Sir Jack Jones, being veterans of World War II, though they may have had time enough to forget the worst of their feelings, certainly haven't gone so far as to consider the Japanese a limp-wristed people, and this will likely help to properly shape government policy, if only by a blending of over-the-top contrasts.

'Helped' by his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mainwaring scrutinised Shimizu Yuki with an overtly curious eye. Baron Alan Thunder-ten-tronckh had assured the PM that his niece was, "...an avid consumer of her work as a cartoonist, I believe."

Still, with some o'erhanging potential for disaster, the Walmingtonian head of government pressed on, happy to let the Japanese know that they were amongst the first to make a proper effort for the British people on their election of a new government. He soon would try to talk of trade, hyping the reopening of any number of Walmingtonian mines next to Japan's infamous scarcity of natural resources, and promoting his nation's heavy defence industry in contrast to promising talk of miniaturisation coming out of Japan*. No doubt the return of British Rail and fanciful talk of improbably fast Japanese rail technology would come-up, too.

In all, though, Mainwaring was a little lacking in agenda. He'd been distracted by changes at home and his nation's massive deployment in Strathdonia.


(*I'm vaguely assuming that DNK's heading on a Japanese road, but a few years back in being recognised for it, thanks to all the wars in Asia and governmental switches in Japan..?)

(OOC: You hit the nail on the head. As much as I'd love to have all the amenities of modern Japan, the previous regime's isolationism means that AMW Japan is still some years behind when it comes to miniaturisation, 'robots' and the like.)

Shimizu Yuki kept his tongue in check as Mainwaring bumbled on; normally various ascerbic comments would have been unleashed, but both Emperor Shinseiki and Prime Minister Minase would exact unholy vengeance on him if he upset the Walmingtonians.

To this end, Shimizu let Mainwaring know that Japan was tired of the current situation in Asia. Although Japan was cooperating with the Progressive Bloc to a certain extent, Shimizu made it clear that it was by no means a perfect situation, having been brought on primarily by the Franco-Roycelandian actions in the Philippines. Despite the mid-century problems, Japan and Walmington had a history of cooperation, a history that Emperor Shinseiki and the JRP government wished to resume.

The mentioning of trade and industry was welcomed, as Japan's own growing industry required resources which the government would prefer to acquire without conquest. Shimizu Yuki also brought up the topic of Malaysia, as Japan had noticed Walmingtonian interest in the beleagured nation. In an act of goodwill, Japan would provide Walmington with the last known whereabouts of Jamil bin Hasan, the former Malaysian head of state who had absconded with most of Malaysia's national treasury. In return, Walmington just had to agree not to ask how high-ranking Japanese officials knew where to find him.

(OOC:The truth, of course, is that Shinseiki kept in touch with Hasan after their respective regimes collapsed and they both fled to South America. Now that Shinseiki is a respectable head of state, Hasan remains a nasty link to the past, so helping to apprehend him solves more than one problem.)

"Of course, quite right." Said Mainwaring, giving a series of very small nods, the Japanese government was on the right track when it talked of restoring proper old relations, and Walmington appreciated Japan's fairly isolated geo-political situation, was even starting to feel something similar herself, with the Roycelandians and potentially the Spanish too becoming such potential problems as they were, but lacking allies-of-convenience closer to home.

Talk of Hasan and Japan's knowledge of his whereabouts set the PM shifting a little in his seat, and he pulled a slightly odd facial expression as he said, "Ah." Then, after a second further shifting, he went on, "I think... I think we can all agree to that as the proper conduct."

((Heh, I... have to give-up trying to make a proper post out of this, distractions of an unusually good sort *runs off*))

Minister Shimizu nodded. "I'm certainly glad that we understand each other. Japan would very much like to see Malaysia enjoying stability and prosperity, and we know that our Walmingtonian friends feel the same way."

He gave a slight smile before continuing. "My government is also interested in the usual diplomatic niceties such as cultural exchanges, trade fairs and the like; we see them as a useful means for educating our citizens about our international friends. I assume that these would be acceptable?"

"Yes, certainly." Mainwaring pulled a chord and somewhere in the fort-cum-home-cum-forum a bell sounded his desire for tea.

"It is of vital importance that we responsible sorts show that equal and equitable trade and scientific... cultural exchange between nations is every bit as profitable as running about conquering left right and centre, and more so, because it costs less into the bargain."

Tea was brought in, lacking ceremony but with a saucer heaped in sugarcubes and others with biscuits and scones and what not, and Mainwaring talked on.

He spoke of the presence in the Indian Ocean of a Walmingtonian battleship, saying that she was bound for Anglo-Elias Diego Garcia and that her next port of call was uncertain: she was sent initially to remind the African socialists that the British army's extraction was not licence to run slipshod over Strathdonian interests, despite trade talks for the acquisition of tea and minerals; and it had been hoped that she may head on to Malaya to reassure the populace there that they weren't forgotten or without options for protection, and to fly the flag in the face of Singapore's administration. But now there seemed every chance that diversion to the Mediterranean to take charge of forces stationed in Walmington's Cypriot bases.

The PM seemed later to suggest that Malaysian recovery was in Japan's best interests from an economic point of view, as development of primary industry in extraction of natural resources seemed like a reasonable place to start any such recovery if the nation were ever to become a dominion or realm of the Walmingtonian Crown.

There was some waffle about interlinked naval histories and Japanese territory in Russian hands -perhaps we ought to lay-down a battleship for Japan, ready to hit the Tsar when his distractions were greatest-, and increasing pauses during which Mainwaring could be more easily interrupted with anything of more direct thrust.

Shimizu perked up at the mention of 'territory in Russian hands', smiling broadly.

"Yes, it's true. Russia not only illegally holds Japanese territories, but every time we attempt to negotiate over the land the talks fail before we get started. To be blunt, we've given up on Russian negotiations; if it were not for their nuclear weaponry, we'd have inflicted another Battle of Tsushima on them by now and retaken those islands.

Oh, and in case the Chinese start making overtures....just keep in mind their continuing military build-up. They don't need it for defence, they are building an offensive army, pure and simple. Once they are ready, we would like to assume that they will go for Russia, but who knows with the Chinese? Say the Russians are humiliated and the Roycelandians driven from the Philippines; will the Chinese scale back their military? Doubtful."

After taking a sip of tea, Shimizu continued. "Malaysia as a Walmingtonian dominion is favourable in Japanese eyes. To be honest..."

Shimizu leant closer to Mainwaring as if to whisper.

"...if Singapore wound up in Walmingtonian hands as well, I don't think our government would lose any sleep. A properly-organised efficient government is exactly what those areas require; the only two nations truly capable of that are ours, but Japan would be accused of plotting war crimes and slavery if we tried it. We find it amusing that Spyr has its Sujavan puppet, while Portmeiron has its fingers in Vietnam and Laos, but if Japan tried to influence anyone in Asia we'd have the past thrown right back in our faces. According to the Progressive Bloc, any nation that doesn't have a monarch is entitled to an empire; were it not for the alliance of convenience against France and Roycelandia, well....."

Shimizu sat back, giving another smile. "Heh, I sound like a member of our nationalist party. However, that is the way some in our nation are talking now. Not that we would tell our neighbours though; we have to bite our tongues so that there isn't a new tide of blame fired our way."