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AH Run-downs, summaries and general gubbins

monroe said:
'Unicorn Kingdom' sounds like a homophobic slur, or a joke about Scotland, or a b[actually let's not]
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The Unicorn Kingdom was a late 20th century term in the UK for the newly independent Kingdom of Scotland. Independence in the 1970s saw new heraldry to represent Scotland (centred on the unicorn) and the UK (the lion, red dragon, and red hand on shield), and English mags like Private Eye initially called Scotland "Unicorn Kingdom" as a joke, sonetimes as "the Other UK".

It quickly became a derogatory term, as Scottish policy diverged from UK and it benefitted from the North Sea oil boom: "Unicorn Kingdom" meant Scotland was a jumped-up loudmouth nation thinking it was as important as the UK. "Sheep Kingdom" became a similar term to insult Welsh politics, with the Welsh themselves claiming "Dragon Kingdom" in retaliation, and several different terms were used for Northern Ireland depending on who was talking. One that stuck was "Palm Kingdom" (i.e. wankers) for the DUP or Orange Order.

Scottish satirists had several rebukes but the one that went mainstream was "Aslan": that England thought of itself as the noble and Christ-like character from CS Lewis, and of everywhere else as being schoolchildren. This was picked up even  in England by any community or small group feeling patronised by south England/London/white middle classes/Westminster/frontbench MPs. Scotland got the last laugh as "Unicorn Kingdom" fell out of mainstream use in the late 1990s but the government was called "Aslan" just this weekend by environmental protestors.
 
The Dominion War (or Second World War for many nations outside of the Anglosphere) was a two-year military conflict in the late 1930s. Following the damage of 1914-1918, the British Empire had been severely weakened, leading to greater autonomy for the Dominion nations, reduced Royal Navy presence, and two conflicting political developments: Britain would vote successive Labour governments for a "New Century", while the Dominions would turn to fascist movements (though they would not call it that) out of a desire to support their own interests. They were unhappy with the bloody toll of the last war and with London's 'red' demands.

The nations would continually diverge in politics until both sides became paranoid of a conflict with the other; the Dominions started to secretly fund & arm British and Irish fascist movements, and in 1937 made a shock alliance with Italy. The result was a war, with Dominion-Italian forces seizing Cyprus but opening themselves to strikes on Italian bases by Britain and its reluctant enemy, Germany (itself worried about its domestic fascists). Most engagements would be naval affairs, with the Allies split between the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Asian Pacific, and southern Africa, while land forces fought in the African colonies.

After nine months of conflict, MI6 deliberately planted evidence that the Dominions planned to seize Japanese territory next - and killed several naval officials to add to the deception. (This was one of several potential allies, swung by fears that Japan was exploiting the conflict to expand its reach in China) A startled Japan turned its attention to the Pacific Dominions, and this added force made Australia and New Zealand sue for peace; the breathing space allowed the Allies to attack Italy's colony of Libya.

The final two months of the war saw the Dominions convince Egyptian officers to revolt, cutting off the Suez Canal, but also the start of the Italian Revolution by disgruntled officers. As the Mediterranean Theatre became a mess & fascist forces tried to cease the Italian uprisings with mass murders, the Allies pulled their big trump card: months of careful diplomacy had convinced the United States to allow an Allied assault on neighbouring Canada, the centre of the Dominion. The Battle of Hudson Bay was technically a draw as the Canadian Home Fleet held off the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine, but it was clear they couldn't hold off more attacks now the US had okayed them. An armistice was sought, leading to the Treaty of Bermuda that would shape geopolitics for the next decade.
 
Charles EP M. said:
the Dominions started to secretly fund & arm British and Irish fascist movements, and in 1937 made a shock alliance with Italy. The result was a war, with Dominion-Italian forces seizing Cyprus
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Operation Return involved the Greek Orthodox Church blockading the Suez Canal somehow, didn't it?
 
Cat Ra-Cell (white) was an Anglo-Egyptian genetic experiment during the Dominion War, that attempted to create a bioweapon by editing cat DNA to insert a "loyalty gene" and super-powered teeth and claws. Given thr technology of the time, the experiment was a failure, with slightly larger cats, with moderately larger teeth - who showed no more interest in obeying human orders than any other domestic cat, but were for some reason albino. The team behind the project were slaughtered during the Officers' Revolt and the ferral descendants of the cats can still be seen around Giza, where albino cats remain common.
 
Gem Haddar, more properly, the Gems of Al Haddar, were an Arabian amethyst stockpile that mutinous pro Dominion English troops in Aden attempted to look from Saudi Nejd during the Dominion War . The mutineers stole 5 kg of the gems, before they were intercepted by a party led the Anglo-Saudi General, Thomas Lawrence. Three of the mutineers were killed, two surrendered, and one escaped to Egypt where he was killed by a stray bullet during the Officers' Revolt.
 
Benjamin "Dragon" Sisqó was a British captain who secured an important victory in the Battle of Hudson Bay, destroying 27 Dominion tanks. A London-born black Briton, he served as a role model for generations of black British soldiers and sailors, despite receiving very limited recognition from the governments of his lifetime.

He was the father of the poet Jake Alonzo Sisqó, and grandfather of the multi platinum award winner Mark Althavan Sisqó, whose famous song Unleash the Dragon, narrates his grandfather's heroism.
 
Sideways said:
Of course the main events of the election are over. On Saturday men went to the polls to elect their first Labour Parliament in twenty years. On Sunday, the nation's women stuck with a plurality Conservative House, with the Women's Parliamentary Party forming the main opposition. For the first time ever, elections have continued on Monday with an election for the nation's first ever Third House.

The Third House is for anyone who has a diagnosis of Incurable Gender Incongruance from one of the local health boards. The Office for National Statistics estimates the transgender population to be 292,500 and the number of constituencies was decided based on this. Of these, only 55,250 people have come forward to disclose an IGI diagnosis with the Ministry for Electoral Affairs. At the same time, only one in ten polling stations will remain open. For this reason, we're expecting very small numbers of voters in the four constituencies, a situation that will likely be exacerbated by this House's MPs serving as non-voting associate members of the House of Women, rather than full MPs.

All this has already caused calls for reform from the main parties - the Liberal Party and the Labour Party favour abolition of the house and allowing trans people to vote for the men's and women's parliaments, though they take different opinions on who should vote for which House. The Conservative Party has called for transgender people to be barred from voting in the men or women's parliaments so that the transgender parliament will be their only option. The Social Credit Party, WPP, and Transgender Parliamentary Party are, of course, asking for full integration of the parliaments but with varying ideas of how to ensure that women and trans people are represented.

LONDON AND SURREY
Transgender Parliamentary Party: Munroe Bergdorf 3,529 (37.7%)
Labour: Torr Robinson 3,221 (34.4%)
Liberal: Stephanie Hayden 1,292 (13.8%)
Women's Parliamentary Party: Christine Burns 777 (8.3%)
Social Credit: Otter Lieffe 543 (5.8%)

Monroe Bergdorf has been one of the key players in the new TPP, and her victory here probably shouldn't be a surprise. Though the one poll before the election showed a clear Labour lead. However, she failed to win a full majority and that will cost the TPP 1152 votes at the National List stage

Christine Burns is a long-standing member of the WPP and the only one standing for election this year who is not connected with the Sex-Skeptical turn the party has taken in recent years. Which is likely why she has not been able to do better in this election.

SOUTH ENGLAND
Transgender Parliamentary Party: Sabah Choudrey - 2663 (33.5%)
Labour: Sophie Cook - 2583 (32.5%)
Liberal: Paris Lees - 1701 (21.4%)
Social Credit: Tom Pashby - 835 (10.5%)
Ind: Sophie Cook - 87 (1.1%)
Women's Parliamentary Party: Miranda Yardley - 79 (1%)

One of the curiosities of this election is the lack of Conservative candidates, and it's difficult to say how the absence of the nation's usual ruling party has impacted the election. Certainly the Liberal Party was hoping for some breakthroughs in the absense of another major right wing party. A well known figure like Paris Lees coming third may lend weight to the faction in the party wanting to review their LGB&T policy.

Sabah Choudrey is also a reasonably big name in the trans community, particularly with their work with young people. They will be one of only three Muslim MPs. However, a close election here will cost the TPP 1311 votes at the National Stage. This is never significant in the Women's and Mens Parliaments but with turnout as it is here these margins will hurt the TPP.

This region has had the highest number of Sex-Skeptical protests outside of polling stations, which will have also impacted voting. Miranda Yardley made it clear earlier today that these actions were lawful and most trans voters agreed with her on this.

NORTH ENGLAND
Labour: Astrid Walker 4,239 (60.2%)
Transgender Parliamentary Party: Paul/Ethel Thurston 1493 (21.2%)
Liberal: Helen Belcher 542 (7.7%)
Social Credit: Chandler Wilson 366 (5.2%)
Conservative: Nikki Sinclaire 345 (4.9%)
Women's Parliamentary Party: Debbie Hayton 56 (0.8%)

North England contains a majority of the Labour safe seats in England, and these areas correspond with the highest trans populations, so a strong win here is perhaps unsurprising.

Social Credit's vote has held up even here, in a region where it was absolutely not expected. The party has a strange record with trans voters - the Kibbo Kifter wing is known for sometimes extreme transphobia, but the Green Shirt wing of the party has been key trans allies in other ways, spearheading policies like the end of mandatory sterilisation, and even suggesting a form of legal gender transferral certificate.

Astrid Walker won over 50% of the vote there, and this means that 718 excess votes for Labour at the National stage.

WEST ENGLAND, WALES, ULSTER SCOTLAND (WEWUS)
Labour: Heather Herbert 1,716 (23.8%)
Nationalist and Regionalist: Michael Stevens 1,672 (23.2%)
Liberal: James Morton 1,650 (22.9%)
Transgender Parliamentary Party: Anna Louise 1,355 (18.8%)
Social Credit: Ellen Murray 742 (10.3%)

The Natonalists and Regionalists have got together to nominate the organiser of Northern Ireland Trans Festival as a candidate, and it seems to have almost paid off! Sinn Fein made a last minute decision to stand down rather than run an abstentionist candidate.

Labour ending the night with an exceptionally close result, and that will cost them 1,869 votes at the National Level.

NATIONAL SEATS

The votes of all candidates who have not been elected have now been counted and three additional MPs will be elected by PR. Candidates can opt to transfer votes to another party if they wish to, as long as the deal is published before the election night, and the single candidate parties have taken advantage of this.

Liberal (Paris Lees, James Morton, Stephanie Hayden, Helen Belcher) 5185
Labour (Torr Robinson, Sophie Cook) 4,653 (-1151)
Transgender Parliamentary Party: (Paul/Ethel Thurston, Anna Louise) 2144 (-2463)
Nationalist and Regionalist (Michael Stevens) 1,672 Transferred to Transgender Parliamentary Party
Social Credit: (Tom Pashby, Ellen Murray, Otto Lieffe, Chandler Wilson) - 2486
Women's Parliamentary Party: (Christine Burns, Miranda Yardley, Debbie Hayton) 1257
Conservative: Nikki Sinclaire 345 Transferred to Women's Parliamentary Party
Ind: Sophie Cook - 87 Transferred to Transgender Parliamentary Party

Paris Lees elected

Labour (Torr Robinson, Sophie Cook) 4,653 (-1151)
Liberal (James Morton, Stephanie Hayden, Helen Belcher) 2592.5
Social Credit: (Tom Pashby, Ellen Murray, Otto Lieffe, Chandler Wilson) - 2486
Transgender Parliamentary Party: (Paul/Ethel Thurston, Anna Louise) 2144 (-2463)
Women's Parliamentary Party: (Christine Burns, Miranda Yardley, Debbie Hayton) 1257

Torr Robinson elected

Liberal (James Morton, Stephanie Hayden, Helen Belcher) 2592.5
Social Credit: (Tom Pashby, Ellen Murray, Otto Lieffe, Chandler Wilson) - 2486
Labour (Sophie Cook) 2,325.5 (-1151)
Transgender Parliamentary Party: (Paul/Ethel Thurston, Anna Louise) 2144 (-2463)
Women's Parliamentary Party: (Christine Burns, Miranda Yardley, Debbie Hayton) 1257

James Morton elected

So, the final tally of MPs is:

Labour: 3
Transgender Parliamentary Party: 2
Liberal: 2

In terms of gender balance, that is 3 trans women, 2 trans men, and 1 non binary person.

Labour has not quite won a majority, but the party has had a good night and has taken this as an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to trans rights while being non-committal about whether they expect their new trans MPs to serve out a term. Much there will depend on the House of Women.

The Transgender Parliamentary Party will be taking this as an opportunity to get more organised, with their first leadership election likely soon and their two MPs likely to take a lead.

The Liberal Party has welcomed the result and their leader, Dr Joanne Rowling, has suggested that this should be taken as a vindication of the idea the women's rights and trans rights do not have to be at odds

Social Credit is talking up their above average performance and not that they were just 107 votes from electing an MP.

Christine Burns of the Women's Parliamentary Party has been highly critical of their campaign, while the party's leader, Elizabeth Truss, suggests that the election, and the level of turnout "shows how little support transgender activist ideology has within the trans community".

The Conservative Party has denied that they struggled to find candidates, and a spokesman has explained that the party is welcoming, inclusive, and has many transgender members. The spokesman was cisgender.
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Just found this again. this is incredibly you
 
British Coronation Traditions Explained

The honor guard: The golden carriage is flanked on one side by the Yeoman Guard, a now-ceremonial formation to depict the heritage of the monarchy; the other is flanked by "the Common Man", randomly selected Londoners (and several 1948 period reenacters) to represent the People's City that greeted the restoration. The carriage's immediate bodyguards are Canadian marines, in honor of how the country hosted the monarchy-in-exile

The music: "Zadok the Priest", used in coronations since the 1700s; "We'll Meet Again", broadcast by exile pirate radio during the occupation; "Jerusalem" and "Scots Wha Hae", national anthems of the two kingdoms

The Sword of Justice: emblem of the monarch's judicial power and duties, handed over by Speaker of Commons; the costume worn is a replica of the clothes worn by the museum staffer who, having hid various items from the Germans, handed it to Elizabeth II

The Scottish presence: The Scottish Army's honour guard guard escort the monarch back to the palace as a reminder of the other kingdom; this is to make up for how there's only one coronations, and has become tradition since 1994

Sports: Scottish and English players form a "superteam" against the Australian football national team on the day and Jamaican cricket team on the Sunday, in tradition of impromptu games played with foreign soldiers during the Second Restoration
 
A little thing from my British Republics TL

Group Captain Sir John Campbell KBE, DSO (1955-Present) is a North British retired astronaut, former test pilot and officer in the Republican Air Force (RAF). He was the first citizen of the Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (RGB) to go into space when he flew on Discovery-III in 1982.

Early Life:
Campbell was born in Kirkcaldy in the RGB in 1955 to William and Alice Campbell. William was a pilot in the RAF (Royal Airforce) for democratic forces on the British Civil War theatre of the Great European War. His squadron was one of the first units to openly fly against the Royal Air Force (Royalist) when they carried out ground attacks in the battle of Newcastle in 1941. His father was injured in the battle and spent the rest of the war as a liason officer with American Forces from 1942 onwards. His mother Alice was born in Oxford and fled north when the country was divided between the Soviet and American backed republics. John Campbell studied at Gordanstoun school before applying to join the RAF (By then the Republic Airforce) to follow in his fathers footsteps. During his training Campbell showed a great skill in flying interceptor aircraft, notably the Grumman F-12 Tornado which was being introduced into the RAF in the late 70s. Campbell served as a test Pilot on the F-12B “Britannia” the RAF’s British variant. Campbell would also spend time in the USA, Canada and Australia as a test pilot on the joint fighter project (JFP) that eventually lead to the creation of the F-X1 "Firehawk".

Astronaut Career
Campbells career as an astronaut was in immediate reaction to the formation of the Pan-Soviet Space Agency in 1977 and the announcement that the Soviet Union would start training up astronauts from across the Berlin Treaty Organisation. At this point nobody from outside the USA or USSR had gone to space and NASA began searching for astronauts from the Oceanic Alliance. Rather than the ambitious PSSA plan that trained up an entire class of astronauts from outside the USSR, NASA decided to focus on one astronaut candidate who would join the 1979 class of American astronaut candidates. While others were considered such as the Canadian engineer Pierre Levesque and Australian Air Force Pilot Sam Harrison (both of whom would fly later on in the 1980s) John Campbell was picked for his experience as a pilot. Campbell began his training at the Slayton Space Centre in Texas in 1979. While the first of his class (Bill M. Hickenbottam) would fly in 1981 Campbell didn’t fly until the following year.

Discovery III
Campbell was pilot on the four man crew of Discovery III, the third flight of Spaceplane Discovery, NASA’s Second Space Plane in the Odin Program and the fourth flight in the Program overall. The mission was the first to carry more than two crew.

The crew consisted of:
Mission Commander: John W. Young
Pilot: John Campbell
Mission Specialist: Alan L. Peters
Mission Specialist: Joseph “Joe” Mitchell

It was the first flight of all crew members except Young who had flown on Artemis-I and VII.

Discovery III launched on 18th July 1982 from Cape Kennedy and spend seven days and three hours in space before landing back down at Nellis Airforce base in Nevada. It was the first spaceplane mission to launch satellites into space.

Further NASA career and move back to the RAF
Campbell flew to space 3 more times. In 1984 he flew the Spaceplane Freedom on its return to space following its initial flight in 1981 alongside first African American female astronaut Mae Jemison. This flight was notable that due to a technical failure the Spaceplane made its landing outside the USA when it landed at Womera Air Base in the Republic of Australia. His final Flight was back on the Discovery VIII Mission in 1989 when it visited the Japanese Space Station Shiro-2 as part of the thawing of Pan Pacific Relations in the late 80s. Campbell was made a Knight of the Order of British Excellence in 1987 by President Peter Carrington and was referred to as Wing Commander Sir John Campbell in press releases.

Campbell transferred back to full time service in 1990 where he took up an instructor position at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria. His only active service role was when units based as Spadeadam were scrambled when aircraft from the Worker’s Republic of Britain strayed into North British airspace during the attempted coup against Benn in 1995.

John Campbell retired from military service in 2002, stating that the thawing of relations with the South suggested it was time for him to stand down. Since then he has written an autobiography and promotes the study of MES subjects (Maths, Engineering, Sciences) in RGB schools.

Campbell flew with NASA one final time in 2019 as a study on the effects of space travel on older people. He served as a mission specialist on the flight of Spaceplane Grissom and a three month stay at the International Space Station Apollo . After which Campbell fully retired with his wife and grandchildren to Kirkwall, Orkneys.
 
In 1982, NZ Labour MP Mike Moore wrote a proposal for a Pacific Parliament, inspired by the EU and the Nordic Council as a means for promoting a free trade area by getting democratic buy-in from the local populations. In the booklet, Moore describes how many seats each territory would get, but not how they would be elected, so this where Mazda comes in.

Australia (10 MPPs elected by STV on a national constituency): 5 Labor, 3 Liberal, 1 National, 1 Democrat
New Zealand (3 MPPs elected by FPP in 5 constituencies - four geographic, one Maori): 3 National, 2 Labour
Papua New Guinea (5 MPPs elected by FPP in 5 constituencies): 5 Pangu Pati
Fiji (3 MPPs elected by FPP in 3 constituencies - Indo-Fijian, Fijian and General): 2 Alliance, 1 National Federation Party
Solomon Islands (2 MPPs elected by FPP in two constituencies): 1 Solomon Islands United Party, 1 People's Alliance Party
Western Samoa (2 MPPs elected by FPP in two constituencies): 2 Human Rights Protection Party
French Polynesia (2 MPPs elected by two-round vote in two constituencies): 1 Tahoera'a Huiraatira, 1 Here Ai'a
New Caledonia (2 MPPs elected by two-round vote in two constituencies): 2 Rassemblement
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (2 MPPs elected by FPP in two constituencies): 2 Independents
Vanuatu (2 MPPs elected by SNTV in one constituency): 1 Vanua'aku Pati, 1 Union of Moderate Parties
Tonga (1 MPP elected by an electoral college of nobles): 1 Independent
Guam (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Democrat
Kiribati (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
American Samoa (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Cook Islands (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Cook Islands Party
Wallis and Futuna (1 MPP elected by two-round vote): 1 Rassemblement
Tuvalu (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Nauru (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Niue (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Norfolk Island (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Tokelau (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent
Pitcairn Islands (1 MPP elected by FPP): 1 Independent

Total: 17 Liberal Alliance, 17 National and Socialist Axis, 12 non-aligned
 
The Welsh are a tribal nation from the valleys of western England, famous for their status as a "warrior race". Many a story about the Wars of European Control has featured a Welsh soldier with their red dragon symbols charging down a Chinese or Arabic platoon and coming out the other end, or playing the loveable comic relief to the Zimbabwean colonial hero. Popularly, they are one of the major reasons for Zimbabwe taking control of the entirety of the British Islands. Welsh mercenaries are still prized in conflicts today.

Historians try, in vain, to argue that the "warrior race" status was the result of propaganda; the Welsh simply knew the local terrain better than their imperial foes, they received more adequate training and support from Zimbabwe than the Chinese forces or their Pict levies, and Chinese commanders would prefer to see the Welsh as "warriors" and the Picts as "cowards" rather than admit the Picts didn't give a crap about dying far south for a foreigner's gain. It makes as little sense to talk of "warrior races" in this century than it would to continue seeing the Norman tribe as a "scholar race" evolved for civil service. (And little remembered is that China used to see the Gaels of West Britain as the "warrior race" before they 'mutinied' during the Thomond War and suddenly became unreliable primitives.)
 
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