[c]
[/table][c]Interview with Prime Minister Andrew B. Fraser!This past week the BBC's own Edwin T.C. Astor conducted an interview with our newly elected Prime Minister, Andrew B. Fraser.
Edwin: Hello and welcome to the BBC - I'm Edwin Astor. Tonight we'll be interviewing our newly elected Prime Minister, Andrew Fraser. We'll be asking him about the election, his plans for this term, and we'll also put to him any questions submitted by viewers (PM them to Edwin T. C. Astor ).
Now, without further ado, lets give a warm welcome to Andrew Fraser!
Andrew: Hello! Thanks for having me, Edwin.
Edwin: Thank you very much for coming, Prime Minister. You're looking well.
So, a BCP majority on Parliament, a landslide win in the Prime Minister election - you must be feeling pretty good right now?
Andrew: Of course it was! My vision is that by the end of the term we'll be actively voting on the resolutions presented to us, we'll be debating them, and eventually we'll incorporate the WA into our way of life here. I mean, I'm surprised it hasn't been given a major role in the region before now. Sure, back in the day we had a bit to do with it, but in the last few years we have abandoned the idea completely. It's time to get back to our roots.
Edwin: On the topic of getting back to our roots, we've had much discussion recently about an economy returning to the region. What will your government do to facilitate this?
Andrew: Time will tell. We need to know if there is a viable option first.
Edwin: One more thing, Prime Minister, before we finish up. What is your message to people thinking about joining UK?
Andrew: Join. Join and you will be welcomed with open arms. If you are active, our community will help you, befriend you, and encourage you. More importantly, to those who are new here, only you can get yourself places. Don't give up, and don't be impatient.
[c]My UK Story!
This is a new segment in our monthly foreign update that we are going to add. Every month we will spotlight one or two citizens and basically give a good synopsis of their biography in United Kingdom. So this weeks Spotlight Citizen is Tony Benn! Tony is one of our newest citizens but quickly turning out to be one of our brightest! So here's a bit about him.
Spoiler
I joined the United Kingdom on January 17th 2014, in what was to be my first involvement in the vast world of gameplay affairs that is NationStates. I had already held a nation for a few months but this had stayed in one of the Pacifics and I was only interested in responding to the issues that came up for my nation every few days. One day I searched for my home country in the list of regions and saw that there was a region which I could join. As someone who has an interest in British politics and I would say fairly patriotic, I decided that I would move my nation there.
Jacobios must have sat in the region then for a few weeks until I signed up to the forums and began to participate in the regional affairs of the United Kingdom a lot more. I was unsure of what to expect and was rather daunted when on receiving citizenship I was plastered with a large amount of boards and confused with where to read. Of the first people to PM me through the forum was the then Prince of Wales, James who has latterly gone on to become King of the United Kingdom. Although I did not reply to the message it was comforting to know that someone had taken the time out to message me as a new player and this experience has shaped my approach towards what a government policy regarding new players should be.
I had just joined the region at a time when Jacob Stewart was Prime Minister and there was a British Centralist Party stronghold on Parliament; with me wanting to get into regional politics and the BCP adopting a pragmatist approach to policy which I was favourable to, I decided to apply to join to which I was accepted. With any new person I dwindled along offering my comments where I felt they were needed, it was only when there were issues with the root admin on the forums that I began to give my opinions.
In April 2014, Andrew B. Fraser had been elected Prime Minister in what to this day I believe has been the most active and successful government that the United Kingdom has seen, certainly during my time here. Andrew put out a strong campaign which aimed to fix the region after the disaster which had endued during the premiership of Via. One of the main objectives was to move to another forum where we knew that it would be safe and that the region could be placed in the hands of someone who had our complete trust. I was a part of the majority of members who campaigned to move to the new forum and I retain that that was the right decision for us. At the time there was a genuine concern that the forum was going to be pulled from underneath us during this process but luckily that never happened and the region moved safely over to our new home. I was surprised that the process was completed without any hindrance and that the root admin allowed this happen. The region then began what was a painstaking process, for the administration team at least, in transferring all the years worth of material across from the old forums to the new.
I believe it was at this point that Andrew appointed William Bowes-Lyon to be Director-General of the BBC and I was curious to want to join. The transformation which he had made was impressive and the reforms which he had begun to institute made it stand out to me that this was somewhere which I wanted to be. I asked him via PM if I could join and he accepted.
During this time came the abdication of King Edward IX, someone who I had not really know that well but I saw him as being someone who had served the region well offering it stability and his knowledge. This meant that Prince James was ascended to the throne which I was pleased about, with him being one of the first faces that had welcomed me into the region and he regularly joined in discussions on the forums. It was also around this time that there was a General Election, with Lord Haldane competing against BCP candidate Edwin Astor. I stood, unsuccessfully, for the seat of Wales against a veteran of the House. I didn’t expect to win and I ended up not doing so.
One of my first articles for the BBC was on the State Opening of Parliament just after Lord Haldane had been elected Prime Minister. The article was generally well received with me managing to get a ‘Like’ from the new King so that must have meant I did a good job. I continued to write articles for the BBC and was surprised to be promoted to Assistant Director-General soon after. Together, William and I worked on new services for the BBC such as BBC NationStates and a new branch with the British Isles was established.
William resigned in July citing personal reasons and I assumed the role of Director-General. At this point the region was headed for a slow decline in activity which gave the corporation little to report and generally news was slow. In the role I tidied up parts that were required and introduced a guideline for editors which will help keep up the high standards that I would expect from correspondents. I did have an intention to introduce a radio programme into the region called “BBC Radio UK” but as much as the hype was around it, we had to cancel it due to the low activity in the region. I always maintain the possibility that it may return and there is still this possibility.
At the election in August, I would say that I was more confident in standing for the seat of Wales. I was better known in the region now but still I was standing against a candidate who is an incredibly competent parliamentarian who had held the seat continuously over multiple terms. I managed to secure the seat with a 57% majority which is reasonable but shows justice to the comments I just made about my opponent for the seat. Again the Commons was in the hands of the BCP and Andrew B. Fraser was Prime Minister again.
Election for the Speaker came and I was surprised when I was nominated by Andrew for the position, with me having no previous experience in the House of Commons before. I was the only person nominated which I find disappointing as it’s not really an election with just one person. So yes, I was ‘elected’ or confirmed as Speaker and that’s where we are now.
Tony Benn is the Speaker of Parliament, MP for Wales and BBC Director-General
Jacobios must have sat in the region then for a few weeks until I signed up to the forums and began to participate in the regional affairs of the United Kingdom a lot more. I was unsure of what to expect and was rather daunted when on receiving citizenship I was plastered with a large amount of boards and confused with where to read. Of the first people to PM me through the forum was the then Prince of Wales, James who has latterly gone on to become King of the United Kingdom. Although I did not reply to the message it was comforting to know that someone had taken the time out to message me as a new player and this experience has shaped my approach towards what a government policy regarding new players should be.
I had just joined the region at a time when Jacob Stewart was Prime Minister and there was a British Centralist Party stronghold on Parliament; with me wanting to get into regional politics and the BCP adopting a pragmatist approach to policy which I was favourable to, I decided to apply to join to which I was accepted. With any new person I dwindled along offering my comments where I felt they were needed, it was only when there were issues with the root admin on the forums that I began to give my opinions.
In April 2014, Andrew B. Fraser had been elected Prime Minister in what to this day I believe has been the most active and successful government that the United Kingdom has seen, certainly during my time here. Andrew put out a strong campaign which aimed to fix the region after the disaster which had endued during the premiership of Via. One of the main objectives was to move to another forum where we knew that it would be safe and that the region could be placed in the hands of someone who had our complete trust. I was a part of the majority of members who campaigned to move to the new forum and I retain that that was the right decision for us. At the time there was a genuine concern that the forum was going to be pulled from underneath us during this process but luckily that never happened and the region moved safely over to our new home. I was surprised that the process was completed without any hindrance and that the root admin allowed this happen. The region then began what was a painstaking process, for the administration team at least, in transferring all the years worth of material across from the old forums to the new.
I believe it was at this point that Andrew appointed William Bowes-Lyon to be Director-General of the BBC and I was curious to want to join. The transformation which he had made was impressive and the reforms which he had begun to institute made it stand out to me that this was somewhere which I wanted to be. I asked him via PM if I could join and he accepted.
During this time came the abdication of King Edward IX, someone who I had not really know that well but I saw him as being someone who had served the region well offering it stability and his knowledge. This meant that Prince James was ascended to the throne which I was pleased about, with him being one of the first faces that had welcomed me into the region and he regularly joined in discussions on the forums. It was also around this time that there was a General Election, with Lord Haldane competing against BCP candidate Edwin Astor. I stood, unsuccessfully, for the seat of Wales against a veteran of the House. I didn’t expect to win and I ended up not doing so.
One of my first articles for the BBC was on the State Opening of Parliament just after Lord Haldane had been elected Prime Minister. The article was generally well received with me managing to get a ‘Like’ from the new King so that must have meant I did a good job. I continued to write articles for the BBC and was surprised to be promoted to Assistant Director-General soon after. Together, William and I worked on new services for the BBC such as BBC NationStates and a new branch with the British Isles was established.
William resigned in July citing personal reasons and I assumed the role of Director-General. At this point the region was headed for a slow decline in activity which gave the corporation little to report and generally news was slow. In the role I tidied up parts that were required and introduced a guideline for editors which will help keep up the high standards that I would expect from correspondents. I did have an intention to introduce a radio programme into the region called “BBC Radio UK” but as much as the hype was around it, we had to cancel it due to the low activity in the region. I always maintain the possibility that it may return and there is still this possibility.
At the election in August, I would say that I was more confident in standing for the seat of Wales. I was better known in the region now but still I was standing against a candidate who is an incredibly competent parliamentarian who had held the seat continuously over multiple terms. I managed to secure the seat with a 57% majority which is reasonable but shows justice to the comments I just made about my opponent for the seat. Again the Commons was in the hands of the BCP and Andrew B. Fraser was Prime Minister again.
Election for the Speaker came and I was surprised when I was nominated by Andrew for the position, with me having no previous experience in the House of Commons before. I was the only person nominated which I find disappointing as it’s not really an election with just one person. So yes, I was ‘elected’ or confirmed as Speaker and that’s where we are now.
Tony Benn is the Speaker of Parliament, MP for Wales and BBC Director-General
On August 20th, King James III announced a change to the line of succession. Former Princess of Wales Allessandra who had previously served as Queen of United Kingdom decided to step down in order to “pursue other interests”. In her place King James announced that HRH Constance St.James, who has served in the capacity twice before, would be taking her place stating that her incredible legal expertise would make no one her equal in being a steward for the throne should he need to be away. With Her Royal Highnesses promotion to Princess of Wales King James announced that Daniel North, Baron of Oxford, will act as second in line for the throne. He stated that again, with such legal expertise, and a level head, there wouldn’t be anyone who could serve better than Daniel in the capacity.[c]
Diplomacy!
On August 28th, Foreign Secretary Vaculatestar Mikaelson announced that United Kingdom would be playing host to two major powers in the world of NationStates. Pharaoh Cormac Somerset of the Osiris Fraternal Order, and Queen Rachel Somerset of The Realm of Balder will be visiting United Kingdom on an official State Visit on September 13th. He announced that there would be both a party for the general citizenry, visiting delegations, and regional government officials to take part in, as well as a meeting between the visiting delegations, and regional government officials to take place to discuss the future of relations between United Kingdom, and Osiris and Balder.
The Foreign Secretary also announced that on Saturday October 4th, United Kingdom will be hosting the President of Europeia, Kraketopia, in a Head of Government visit where the future of the two old and storied regions diplomatic relations will be discussed. [c]Notice to all of our friends in NS.
We are now instituting a new embassy policy. Any embassy on our forum, with the exception of treaty allies, will be closed after sixty days of inactivity. Once this sixty days has been reached a one week notice will be posted in our embassy on your forum, if nothing is done in your embassy at that point the embassy will be archived and you will have to apply for a new one. Apologies for any inconveniences it causes.[c]Written by: Foreign Secretary Vaculatestar Mikaelson, Deputy Prime Minister Richard North, and Edwin T.C. Astor[/table]
