A Great Third Way

[Blackadder mk 2]

"A Compassionate Society"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

13th January, 1980

It is not everyday that a man gets to meet the Prime Minister. Policemen and Bots are placed all over London, preparing for any suspicious character that may try to 'accidentally' leave their bag behind and end more British lives, nevertheless, I brave my way through the tension and reach Number 10 Downing Street, the home of Roy Jenkins. The atmosphere is throat-tightening, I cannot walk along the hallways without worrying that I am being watched by someone and having my every movement recorded by a man who will then place it in a file labelled "Mr Milligan's secrets", though they may need a cabinet for that.

I pass through and find the Prime Minister, looking haggard, while discussing something with an assistant before laying tired eyes upon me and dismissing him so that we may talk more. Roy Jenkins was elected in the 1948 election, being a part of the first "true" Labour government as a humble MP and witnessed its fall as well, leading to twelve years of Conservatism under Anthony Eden and Oliver Stanley.

It would be 1964 that would give Jenkins his first taste of a Cabinet seat as Chancellor in Gaitskell Ministry, having had his trial by fire against Oliver Stanley over the controversial move of Operation ROBOT, he would then be moved to Home by Harold Wilson with only one rule, "Don't rock the boat", a reference to his criticism of the Ministry of Information's actions after the Day of Horror which almost destroyed his career. Jenkins would resist such advice wherever he could, legalising abortion, decriminalising homosexuality, relaxing divorce laws and was a general social reformer until moved back to the Chancellorship by Wilson, whether it was because he was "rocking the boat" or because of Callaghan is debatable.

The second Wilson Ministry was kinder to him, trusting him with the Foreign Secretary position. It was here that British foreign policy was almost changed entirely, where Britain would normally play all the sides off one another while avoiding getting sucked into the business of the Continent outside trade, Jenkins saw it as Britain's future. "It is illogical to think that we can force ourselves onto the imaginary Commonwealth while ignoring the opportunities of Europe" he soon pushed for trade agreements with the European Community but was defeated in Conference when voting for membership came in.

He did not need to resign when Wilson did it for him, the business of Northern Ireland and rumoured Cabinet infighting proved too much and he was able to defeat Michael Foot for the position of Leader of the Labour Party and is now Prime Minister. Only that seems like a poisoned apple with the eruption of problems now facing Britain, Northern Ireland is deteriorating by the day, many far leftist with a grudge now have a hold on the Labour grassroots and even some trade unions and the extreme right of the party talk, and walk, of defection to the Conservatives as Tony Benn's future leadership challenge is gaining more support as does the election in a week and a bit.

I look at him and I see a man lost. Trade unions have begun to talk to coordinated strikes, there isn't a day where a bomb doesn't go off and recent reforms mean that Labour has been tarred with the Whitehallian line again for their attempts to fix the country. That does not mean he is unwilling to show some humour and good nature that many credit him for.

"I don't suppose you're here to start moving my things, are you?" He is referring to the polls which give the advantage to Neave and the Conservatives being likely to form a majority government.

I simply laugh in a good natured manner and reply that I'm just going to ask him about the government and whether people are right in saying it lost the way.

He seems to laugh, not in the happy way but in a cynical kind of laughter, one that has accepted fate. "What way? The Bennite way where we nationalise everything and defend the fellow travellers whenever possible, I remember his days working for Gaitskell as well? The way where we simply bow to the Conservatives and copy their manifesto? We had a way, everyone just had a bit they really did not like."

"The problem is the Ministry of Information. A career in the MoI starts there and you progress into the Civil Service, or vice versa. Some civil servants probably know more about our defences and 'enemies within' then the Minister himself which leaves us unable to stop them from ripping apart any information of use to them in the hopes that they can distract us from our goal." He seems to have regret in his eyes, he has more regrets.

"Labour can win the election. The Tories are just as divided as they were a matter of years ago, the Mosleyites and Edenists still can't agree on economics or the MoI, it's just that they can keep it in better then us this time. Politics is going through a shift, many in our party who were, if you pardon my language, actually just Tories in red have begun to go to the Conservatives, Labour in blue now go to us."

I suggest that a third party may actually help Britain, turns out I said a joke. "The problem with third parties is that they tend to either devour themselves or need the aid of another party and have to take over it before the opposite happens. Look at the People's Party, it was focused around Bottomley's own personal politics and the second he passed away, they soon began to fall apart and went to the Tories. The National Liberal Democratic Party had Macmillan and Grimmond arguing from dusk to dawn until the former quit and went Tory while the former went Labour, another problem is that unless they are vague enough, they tend to damage their own cause more often then not."

"I'd say the problem is that we didn't make enough of an attempt to win over the People's Party voters that were lost, sure they went to us in 1948 but left again when we danced on its corpse, I shall never apologise for removing powers from them but we should have used softer rhetoric, now they are lost to a party that sees them as a reserve engine. They only go to us when the Tories are divided or outstaying their welcome, the next leadership should strive to change this." He can tell what my next question is.

"David must be trusted to stay loyal to the party, these rumours are obviously sent out to divide us during this time and only strengthen the Tories. If we overreact then we create a self-fulfilling prophecy, people shouldn't count us out yet, we have worked to fix the errors made by the Tories and are still working to bring the CHS to every man, woman and child to Britain."

What does he have to say to those in the party who think the party has become too moderate? "We can bring socialism to Britain, but we cannot do this by forcing through whatever we feel like against the wishes of the Party or Country, I know the feeling of losing a battle," The attempt to reform the voting system and Lords. "But we must not allow ourselves to let the Tories win because we were unable to unite as a Party and stand up for the working man."

I leave the building, looking back and seeing one of the more lasting institutions of Britain, Labour has had to deal with many ordeals. Mosleyism took many tenants of modern Labour away from them and now they fight on a platform of maintaining the consensus of Bismarkian welfare, staying on the path of the Scandinavian left. I must wonder though, with the Bennites under Michael in the Lords and Anthony in the Commons, and men such as David Owen who wish to move the party to the right and even to Airey Neave and his support for the radical system of monetarism, can the Mosley/Eden consensus hold, but of course according to all, their own work in reshaping is half done for them.

[AndyC]

Have enjoyed it unfolding and has never seemed implausible.

My thoughts are:

- Would there be such a Continental push towards a European Community without the trauma of a second huge World War?

- Will we hear anything from the Austrian-born German demagogue and politician Adolf Hitler?

- Will anti-Semitism have flourished without the horrors of WWII; it (and racial issues) were blooming through the Twenties and Thirties even in the countries that became Allied countries for WWII

- The 1980 update does seem to have brought politics slightly more back towards alignment with OTL (the EC issues, the liberal Sixties, the lead political actors, the strikes). Is that part of an intentional decision on historic inevitability of these issues?

[Some Bloke]

What about a Cold War with the German military government?

[Blackadder mk 2]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Have enjoyed it unfolding and has never seemed implausible.

My thoughts are:

- Would there be such a Continental push towards a European Community without the trauma of a second huge World War?

- Will we hear anything from the Austrian-born German demagogue and politician Adolf Hitler?

- Will anti-Semitism have flourished without the horrors of WWII; it (and racial issues) were blooming through the Twenties and Thirties even in the countries that became Allied countries for WWII

- The 1980 update does seem to have brought politics slightly more back towards alignment with OTL (the EC issues, the liberal Sixties, the lead political actors, the strikes). Is that part of an intentional decision on historic inevitability of these issues?

It all depends, the European Community started out as a "Screw Germany" alliance which became closer as more countries became Fascist or authoritarian, meaning that they wanted a common defence policy to ensure that none of their enemies would attack them. It evolved over time but discussions are still taking place about where exactly the EC goes from where they are now. The thing is, it's not the only "European alliance" thing sticking around, I'll explain more later.

Adolf died in Munich, the military government tried to use propaganda against the godless Communists and their heretical National Socialist friends and claimed that he was Hungarian and therefore a hypocrite, he was a ev0l gay Jew etc. So unless things get very disturbing ITTL, I'm afraid (not really) that Hitler is currently worm food.

Anti-Semitism is strange, the eventual compromise on the Mandate means that the Jews do have a "home" but that was more because of realities and Britain just being tired in general, in 1980 ITTL, it's not common to see in a sitcom a "greedy landlord who uses Jewish phrases" or some really bad Jewish stereotypes but no one is calling for anything violent, just public school boy racism, although that's not really a good thing.

It's funny, it's like OTL but also not OTL. The issue of the EC is more about whether we should pick a side more then anything, with Communism, Fascism and the EC on different sides in Europe, Britain's strategy was more to tolerate the presence of the first, stay somewhat friendly with the second and work with but not too much with the last. Roy really shook things up when he suggested that not only should Labour advocate working with only the EC but joining them, meaning bad relations with the Danube Pact, which isn't a bad thing per se but you can't feed a man good feelings.

The problems with Britain are a funny thing, the trade union strikes are not shocking because of their size ITTL, this is actually the work of smaller groupings in the trade unions forcing a few to go on strike but it's more that trade unions being more then suggestion-givers and the fact that the strikes are actually doing something. More people in the Labour Party are radicalised then OTL due to a feeling that Labour has neglected "taking the reigns" and that they just bowed to Mosleyism because they wanted to win so much and Benn has taken advantage of that. I'd say one of the problems is that Operation ROBOT (suggested IOTL but dropped for unpopularity) was probably the last thing done before the government went with "welp, everything in Britain is now perfect forever" once the million unemployed subsided and 'never-had-it-so-good" kicked in at a convenient time which led to inefficiency in the industries growing and gradually liberalising trade leading to British products being beaten. And then there's Northern Ireland.

I didn't want to repeat political actors of OTL but Roy sort of fit what I was going for "an internationalist who made a third party in a state that isn't fond of leaving their home and sees third parties as a folly" in the irony of it all. He is right in saying that both parties have such large tents that they tend to overlap and this causes policy to suffer, the Conservatives have Classical Mosleyists, New Mosleyists, Edenists, Radicals etc. which has caused them to have troubles. I do like to play with irony, meaning that some British updates will contain some parts that may raise an eyebrow or gain a laugh.

If there is something about this I would say that the lesson is you can't assume something can be solved forever and have the story end, life doesn't work like that. Britain's problem IOTL was that trade unions were too bold, the industries couldn't cope and inefficiency was abound while ITTL, it's that industries are inefficient and can't cope, the political parties can't agree with each other and the civil service/MoI is out of control.

Originally Posted by Some Bloke

What about a Cold War with the German military government?

Actually, the German Intervention was the overthrowing of the German military government which I will get into more in a later update. The Cold War is more Europe based between Democracy (EC), Fascism (DP) and Communism (SU) although the latter is less into it then the other two and even then it's less "bang-bang" then it is giving other people guns and firing on each other along with economic warfare.

[forget]

Looks forward to the cold war now it has been confirmed.

[AndyC]

Ah. Thanks.

I like the EC evolution - which I'd assume would mean that Germany (the economic powerhouse of OTL EC/EEC/EU) is on the "other" side. This could lead to interesting developments all around.

It's satisfying that Adolf died an unlamented failure, definitely :-)

I eagerly await updates clarifying the evolution of the Cold War and the membership of the Danube Pact. Has the USSR swalowed all or part of Germany? Which elements of Eastern Europe have fallen under their influence and how did they achieve it? How have the multiple poles in the Europe evolved? What are the relations between Fascist and Communist Europe like? Are we building up to a non-nuclear World War?

In fact, have nuclear weapons even been developed (If the Jews haven't been "cleansed" out of the OTL-Nazi areas, would Szilard even have fled West?)? Has a space race occurred, based out of Germany (economic powerhouse, von Braun and his friends still in existence)?

Get writing, man!

[Blackadder mk 2]

Originally Posted by forget

Looks forward to the cold war now it has been confirmed.

It's nothing like OTL Cold War, a lots less "if we press this button then we've wiped out everyone" and more "if we go over this border, we're going to be the pricks that started a second Great War", PR is very important to each side.

Originally Posted by AndyC

Ah. Thanks.

I like the EC evolution - which I'd assume would mean that Germany (the economic powerhouse of OTL EC/EEC/EU) is on the "other" side. This could lead to interesting developments all around.

It's satisfying that Adolf died an unlamented failure, definitely :-)

I eagerly await updates clarifying the evolution of the Cold War and the membership of the Danube Pact. Has the USSR swalowed all or part of Germany? Which elements of Eastern Europe have fallen under their influence and how did they achieve it? How have the multiple poles in the Europe evolved? What are the relations between Fascist and Communist Europe like? Are we building up to a non-nuclear World War?

In fact, have nuclear weapons even been developed (If the Jews haven't been "cleansed" out of the OTL-Nazi areas, would Szilard even have fled West?)? Has a space race occurred, based out of Germany (economic powerhouse, von Braun and his friends still in existence)?

Get writing, man!

Germany's fate will be looked at, I'll just leave you with a bit from TLL's "Yes Minister":-

"Very well then Minister. I'll contact the Germans about this new design you want approved."

"Wait, hold on, Humphrey. Why should good, honest British workers miss out on this opportunity for a bunch of Germans? Surely British engineering is the finest in the world?"

"...."

"Alright, it's a load of tripe but the voters...."

"Use German cars, have electricity from German-built power stations and are protected by German design."

"What do you-Oh dear lord, they build all our nukes?!"

"If we left even one of their creation to British hands, half of the country would be a hostile wasteland of misery and despair and the other half would be a radioactive crater. It's why we have the phone call to Berlin."

[Blackadder mk 2]

"Winds of Change"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

15th January 1980

The Macmillan family mansion contains a strong contrast to the tense atmosphere of Number 10, an air of calm is present and is far more welcoming as there is a lack of guards present on every step and stone, waiting for an attack that will never come about. The IRA probably won the battle of fear if anything else, otherwise why would journalists be banned from entering it? Then again, from what I have heard, it may be for the best if I do not risk the journey.

I am taken to the subject of my interview. Harold Macmillan pushes himself upwards and greets me with a firm handshake, showing that age has not forced him into a weaker state, he offers me a drink and knows why I am here, my series of articles surrounding the Western World and how it has developed since the Great War changed the course of events forever.

Harold Macmillan, like many other politicians of his time, had served in the Great War before entering politics, he lost many friends to the fields of slaughter and had been unable to forget the loss he suffered from. When he returned to Britain, joining the family firm Macmillan Books, he was horrified to hear about Horatio Bottomley and how the Ministry of Information's Security Panels were still taking in many people suspected of being a danger to the country which he described as "sheer ego-boosting for proto-dictators" and may have been the reason that he went for the Liberals.

He even describes the Liberals at the time as "a sinking ship that would break apart from the slightest suggestion", but he says it was one of the moments where he chose principle over power, claiming that "Bottomleyism, the creed of oppression and pig-headedness, was disturbingly present in many Conservative MPs" leading him to join the Free Conservatives when they split. However, while they were mostly concerned about trade, he was more concerned about the direction politics was taking, a 'Project for a New Conservative Century", seemed to be the way that Britain would move and it would not be the type of Conservatism that Macmillan signed up for.

Where others in the party slowly returned to their home party, Macmillan stayed true, he believed that the Conservatives would never change from their original policies unless they realised how important the Centre was. With that, he and a few Free Conservatives merged with Lloyd George's National Liberals to form the actual Liberal Party to fight the 1930 election with. Unfortunately, name changes meant that the party did not do so well and was forced to merge with the Independent Liberals of Herbert Samuel, it was there that Macmillan suggested a name change for the party, where the name Liberal now meant division, it meant a new party name should be created.

Thus, the National Liberal Democratic Party was born, however, divided leadership, a loss of tribal votes and the poor timing where the Conservatives had a large majority meant that the party was unable to reach the heights that it had hoped for. Pacifists argued with interventionists over foreign policy, the economy was either needing radical measures or a continuance of Tory policy and it seemed that the NLDP would also fall apart and collapse. That was when Oswald Mosley became Prime Minister.

Oswald Mosley, as we now know, was influenced by the ideas in the People's Party and believed that when the "Warchest" was full, it was okay to use Keynesian economics to provide for economic recovery in the industrial areas and was also sympathetic to the radical ideas of Lloyd George and Macmillan, leading to the two parties working together to pass a united agenda, harking back to Mosley's days in the Lloyd George Coalition. The agreement with Mosley was supposed to have produced the NLDP a way to stay a presence in government or at least give them a constant presence in British politics.

But it was not meant to be, Mosley fell as far as he rose and the NLDP were left to the slaughter as they went through many elections, slowing cutting down their ranks and funds until it was said that a cab could fit the entire NLDP. The fall of Clement Davies came none too soon and it was Macmillan who gained the title of Leader of the National Liberal Democrats from 1957, leaving him to wait for either Mosley to regain power or for the Conservatives to call back the NLDP about working together, or even to make an agreement about not standing candidates in certain seats, all the while an upstart named Jo Grimmond began to make noises.

"He didn't like our reality so substituted it with his own, it turned out more people liked that." Macmillan, or Lord Stockton, grumbled out. It is not surprising when you get kicked out by said upstart, only to then be blamed when the party collapses. "He used to complain about electoral hardships when he was in a safe seat and I had to campaign constantly to keep my seat. The problem with him is that he didn't hate trying to work with the Conservatives, he hated how we didn't work with Labour, as you can see by his record as Leader. His way involved chasing the fairies instead of working.

Jeremy Thorpe reference? No, Macmillan made it a point to not attack that issue, seeing it as below him. "When Grimmond gained the leadership, he realised what I had to cope with everyday, that was not helped by Thorpe's affairs causing him to be labelled 'The Permissive Liberal', he didn't see the Winds of Change as I did. The fact that Mosleyites were going to gain power, if I was leader I could have taken advantage of it, maybe even gotten him in. Only now we have calls for even more men in Northern Ireland and the entire country has come to a standstill."

I ask him what he would have done if he was Prime Minister. "I would have recognised that reforms are always needed to allow for a strong economy and a strong country to prevent inefficiency from breaking out, then I would have worked with the trade unions to keep many from feeling as if they did not matter, following it up by reforming the voting system to factor in the tents." I ask him what he means.

"Labour and the Conservatives have one simple problem. When I am asked about European elections and how some produce constant coalitions and why it does not happen here, I reply that it does happen, we just name them and support only the coalition. The Conservative and Labour Party would actually benefit from a new voting system as it allows for the arguing men to instead form their own party and agree to work together on a common agenda, I see men work together and compromise in Germany and the Netherlands on issues that would have rebellions in Britain. We must keep changing if we are to keep up with the world."

"I remember when I used to be an MP, it was once rare for a party in Britain to gain over fifty percent of the popular vote, now its expected. Probably the result of no good third parties, only nationalists and even they got some type of bone, the Scottish, Welsh and English Assembly's are a strong testament to that, the Big Two always know when to give a bone to the discontent ever since the Battles To Fight the Battle. Still, it may have just been a scheme to extend their power in case of any emergency. However, Labour's no better in that regard. Maybe a third party is needed to keep the big two parties from merciless opportunism, maybe I'm just too old."

Having seen so much, Macmillan is a name often tossed around when discussing men who could have been Prime Minister but were unable to gain the prized seat, Joseph Chamberlain, Horatio Bottomley, Iain Macleod, Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill and the such but he seems to have accepted that he gave it up for principle, some say he betrayed it while others say he saw reality, but either way he has achieved cross-bench approval, from Alan Clark to Michael Benn, Macmillan is seen as a man of great potential but cheated by history. I ask him how he feels about that.

"Makes sense, I knew he had two pairs when he bluffed." Always finding the bright side, although I do see many emotions in those chuckling eye. Perhaps regret, or just curiosity?

[Blackadder mk 2]

"A New Britain"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

20th January 1980

If Macmillan's family home was welcoming then Jamaica is all but begging me to stay, this being the place where Anthony Eden would go to after times of crisis in order to rest himself and prepare for the next actions of government, he did so after the political damage of Operation ROBOT, he did so after the waves from the Day of Horror subsided and he did so after the Egyptian Intervention.

Some of his political opponents would say that he did this because he was unable to handle the pressures of office and needed constant holidays, unlike the great giants of old. Now he is one of the great political giants that the new breed apparently pale against and even he finds it humorous about how who was once a "lost little boy" is now considered one of the finest Prime Ministers Britain has produced yet as his trips to Jamaica are now unchallenged by anyone in the political spectrum, barring a few critics on the far left.

He has aged, since the time where he had retired from the Commons and taken his seat among the Lords. He even admits this to me. Anthony Eden was one of the bright new stock who entered the government during the 1923 election, having worked tirelessly to secure his election as MP, and was rewarded with the place of PPS under William Hicks, the Home Secretary, until being moved to Austen Chamberlain for his speech in favour of the Import Duties Act.

Eden took part in much of Austen's hard work in hammering out the Locarno Pact and other successes in terms of foreign policy and was rewarded for his hard work in the Foreign Office by being made the Foreign Secretary under Austen Chamberlain many years later during his short-lived Premiership. This continued under Neville Chamberlain as Britain foreign policy of "searching for peace while being ready for war" was continued, it was not until Oswald Mosley became Prime Minister that Anthony Eden was placed into the seat of Chancellor, now known as the bone being thrown in exchange for not upsetting Mosley's coronation.

According to Mosley, Eden instead took this as a slight and worked to try and get back into the seat of Foreign Secretary instead of Leo Amery, but nevertheless, he still carried out Mosley's public works such as the Severn Barrage and the Beveridge Report, being able to gain credit for the fall in unemployment. Oliver Stanley was even recorded as saying "It seems that while Mosley is seen as the man to fight the war, Eden is where the peace is".

Eden was soon made Prime Minister after Mosley was forced to resign and presided over five years of "absolutely nothing happening at all" and the fall of his government, many were quick to blame him but instead of overthrowing him, he simply gave his right wing critics the scraps of Mosley and was able to survive to oversee the fall of the Graham government over extra charges to the CHS, for which the left mutinied over. Now he had a small but firm majority in the Commons after the 1952 election which meant that he was confident enough to launch Operation ROBOT. championed by his Chancellor Oliver Stanley which was designed to allow for surpluses to return in order to pay for the years before and allow for sterling to become convertible again.

It was immensely unpopular, causing unemployment to sky-rocket for years and even threatened the existence of the government with strong opposition from Labour, the NLDP and Mosleyites which was compounded by the need to aid the Egyptian government against the uprising from Colonol Nasser against the democratic government of Naguib. It was only due to the close relationship between US President Reagan and Eden along with the desire of the EC and Danube Pact to bring Britain onto their side that saved Eden from foreign pressure. The Day of Horror allowed for Eden to rally the country together and purge Labour of the radical left's influence for years to come, although he tells me that he would have rather it never happened even if it would cost him the government.

Either way, the economy recovered and Eden's past was forgotten. Now the theme was "You've never gained so much" and a feeling of optimism now rose in the British public, allowing Eden to secure a victory in 1960 and to retire a year later, giving the reigns over to Oliver Stanley, mostly leaving the political field except when offering advice such as when Bloody Wednesday broke out and the Irish Excursion threatened the peace or even when tensions in the Indian subcontinent broke out once more, only now he is here to answer questions.

"The Conservatives have been lost for a while now." He says with a dry tone, having some water before continuing. "Those who claim to be Mosley's heir don't really understand him. Those that do have already become lost."

I ask him what he means by that. "Mosley stood for the idea that public works, Keynesian and the Beveridge Report were all there to draw away the people from Labour, or he used to considering his book, but he also stood for extremely strong powers to be granted to the law and had supported the MoI until his dying breath. While many Mosleyites remember the first, and not even as a bribe, and do their best to forget the latter."

"The problem with Mosley was that he felt as if he needed to run everything. He needed to be Prime Minister, he needed to be the Foreign Secretary, he needed to be the Chancellor, he needed to be Home Secretary, it gets annoying after a while, which led to myself and others deciding that Mosley's style was too much and needed to be controlled. When we gave him Foreign Office, he simply subverted the national interest for his own personal views which led to myself having to take a large stake which may have led to our defeat in 1948."

"He was fine until Neville retired and sadly passed away a few years after." He says, Neville Chamberlain died of cancer in 1942 and had resigned after collapsing in the Commons in 1940, mere months after the election. "Neville could always restrain Mosley's need for complete control but when he left the Commons, it allowed Mosley to go out in the open and almost split the party into two pieces. He was able to invite the People's Party inside our political tent, which is highly appreciated, but we and Labour now suffer for the giant tents we now have."

I chose to ask Eden if he had any last questions to give Neave as it becomes more clear that Britain's next Prime Minister shall be Airey Neave. "Never surrender your principles, if the people of Britain admire anything else, it is a man's ability to hold fast and stay true to what he believes in. I did not abandon my principles when in office and the people of Britain respected that, neither did many Labour politicians and that is why the party has survived to this day, remember that and you will be able to succeed. The pillars of Fascism and Communism have begun to decay, by the end of this decade, most of such nations will have either abandoned their system of punishing the people or simply kept the name and nothing else, this is set to be the most important period of this generation's lives and we must not fail them."

Thanking him for his time, I stand up to leave and look back. There lies one of the last men of the Stagnation Period, it is difficult to imagine Britain without its Eden. As politics shifts and Britons are uncertain about whether the political consensus will last, they have always been able to find solace in Eden's words, but will it last forever? The day when Anthony Eden is no longer with us draws nearer, but I imagine Britain is prepared for such a day, they are known for surviving adversity after all is said and done.

[Blackadder mk 2]

"The Fruits of Hard Work"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

22nd January 1980

Having become unable to reach Britain due to the circumstances that have occurred whilst I was with Anthony Eden, I am now stuck in America and my election special has been ruined, however, my editor has been kind enough to merge my American special with said election special to create a new special, one that looks at the effects of the end of the Stagnation Period and looks into the world in the eyes of old giants, which I had seemed to be doing.

I have asked to meet with former President Ronald Reagan to discuss such topics and he has agreed to do so, having heard about my interview with "good old Tony" and wanted to discuss what he makes of the current political situation in the States. The United States, under Reagan, has been said to "stumbled into becoming a world power" as it went from the backs of European minds to one of the most powerful nations in the world, matching nations such as Britain, France, the Soviet Union and other great powers.

Entering the Reagan household in Macomb, I see a very rustic appearance. It matches the public perception of Reagan being a man of the 'little people' even when he had been a Congressman for fourteen years, when I point this out the former President seems to chuckle in a good natured manner, as if he wasn't bothered by it.

"You only need the memories and the people around you to remember what it's like." Ronald Reagan has barely aged in the two decades since he left the Oval Office, his face is less smooth and his eyes show more wisdom then the boyish charm that he had when entering office but he is still the same as he was on the television screen. "Good, healthy living. That's how you do it, none of this homeopathy malarkey that some kids are using today."

It must have been good living considering the bad luck he had before going home to Illinois. During the 30s, he lost his job and a year-long illness had made him unable to move further in the radio business, forcing him to work odd jobs for different employers until landing a more stable place under a prominent local Republican, Anton J, Johnson, where he would toil the fields of the dairy farm. Politics would come up and Reagan would listen on end to the true agenda of President Roosevelt to heavily increase the power of government.

Reagan went from a Roosevelt Democrat to a Republican, saying that he had been "conned by the promise of a free lunch, distracted from the future bill". He never intended to go into politics so early, he was once a strong support for his political mentor's candidacy but a tragic death caused "Dutch", the nickname given to him by some close sources, to soon win over the succession with excellent oratory skills.

Chosen to be the candidate and doubted due to age, he chose to turn it into a strength and won many people with his charm, gaining a narrow victory over his Democratic opponent, and would go on to "push the agenda that many abandoned". He supported Taft in the race for the 1940 Republican nomination, and reluctantly swapped over to Wilkie, and would continue to support Taft towards the 1944 nomination, before Dewey emerged triumphant but he soon failed against the Kennedy campaign.

It was in 1948 that Reagan would gain his first experience on a national campaign, Dewey wanted another shot and Taft was determined to deny him that shot. The convention had become deadlocked and a last-minute compromise soon gave Reagan a very big shot, the conservatives in the party wanted someone for Vice President and policy concessions which the Dewey camp was forced to surrender. The Dewey/Reagan ticket matched up against Kennedy/Rayburn and lost once more, fast forward to 1952.

Taft had just died of a heart attack and an in-mourning conservative wing now minds solace in one Ronald Reagan to lead them, Reagan won the nomination against all odds and adopted a moderate to be his Vice President, Harold Stassen. Now it was him against the Democrats who adopted Joseph Kennedy for a third time, him being the compromise candidate after a deadlocked convention due to his success in terms of economics, the Progressive Party splintered off and became the home for disgruntled progressives in both parties.

Kennedy/Sparkman, Reagan/Stassen and Wallace/Humphrey all faced against one another, at first it seemed that Reagan's agenda would only harm him but vote-splitting caused the Democrats great harm outside their strongholds due to the liberal wing's discontent which gave Reagan his victory. "I don't deny that Wallace helped more then Stassen." He responds with a chuckle once more, he had campaigned on the Democrats being divided and unable to do "what needs to be done". A booming economy would later give Reagan his second term and the rest, as they say, is history

I chose to use my first question to enquire on relations with Britain during his time in office. "Well, I won the election about a few months after Tony managed to win his second non-consecutive time as Prime Minister. Relations with the British had been recovering under President Kennedy and Tony's predecessor after Roosevelt had made a big mess of things but our two nations were still suspicious of each other."

"I honestly didn't expect to reach such an accord with Tony. When we first met one another, I had no idea what to call him. I just went with Prime Minister and it turns out I got it right, it turns out that I was one of the only fellow leaders of state that was younger then Tony, we both had a laugh about being the young men of the world leaders. We both understood that the world was changing and that things such as my pro-wealth creation agenda and his use of Operation ROBOT, we used to laugh at the silly name, and yielded good long term at the cost of bad short term."

What about for the inside workings of the Administration? "There were so many men who seemed to not understand we were in the days of the Revolution any more, especially during Suez. I chose to support democracy over tyranny and my Secretary of State almost resigned over it," Dulles was only stopped by the political lobbying against his case, meaning he would find little support. "We persevered, though, and Tony and I soon made a strong partnership between our two nations, the American-British Commonwealth Free Trade Agreement did what years of belly-aching never could."

Onto the domestic business, what does he make of the business involving Civil Rights? "To any victor of this election, whether it's Kennedy, Brown, Rumsfeld, Baker or Bush, you must never forget that half measures do not work. My greatest failure was assuming that the Dixiecrats cared about anything less then preserving their creed until the end of time, I thought they were on the same wavelength in that they wanted civil rights but at a peaceful pace. They will abandon their vote-winners kicking and screaming, their loyalty towards their dogma strengthens when their numbers drop. But you must be firm or do nothing, my advice is the former."

I thank him for his time and set out to Washington to meet with another important guest. Reagan says that it was nice having me and that he hoped he would see my article in the future and that he would "ask Tony if he had such a good time with you as I did" and I can't help but smile at the compliment, it has always been Ronald Reagan's strength to charm people and it seems he still has it, with rumours of a deadlocked convention and increasing calls from some Republicans for Reagan to have another go, we may see more of that charm. However, I must stop as I am now on my way to a very lucky interview with the President of the United States.

[Blackadder mk 2]

What do you all think? Is 1980 looking plausible right now?

[Unknown]

What was the Day of Horror?

[Blackadder mk 2]

"The Needs Of The Many"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

23rd January 1980

A sense of paranoia hits me once more as I come closer and closer to the White House. The United States has had to deal with many riots over these past decades, often to do with poverty or living conditions for coloured peoples in the inner cities and South, ever since the Kennedy assassination, Washington DC has always been closely guarded by soldiers of the US military. However, a more viscous war has now become clear, a war that leaves many in its wake and that war is the war to become President of the United States of America, and a strong contender has just entered the field.

I enter the Oval Office and meet with President Robert Kennedy, he looks haggard after four years of being the President and now having a primary fight on his hands but can still give me a firm handshake before we sit down and I chose to cut to the chase in terms of questioning the President, a rare opportunity in itself.

"With the recent challenge made for the Democratic nomination gaining speed, what do you make of criticisms of your Presidency from the-"

"May I interrupt?" I cautiously allow him to. "The majority of the Democratic Party is still strongly behind their President and knows that Governor Brown's attempt to weaken our party for the sake of his ambition will not succeed, he has based his campaign on supporting radical measures that would never pass Congress or the Senate and some of his political allies support even tarnishing decency for deca-"

"I'm going to interrupt you here," He seems surprised, much of the American media and political discourse is more tame then the British media. "Governor Brown seems to contain large amount of support in the West Coast, the youth and many other Democratic donors, are you sure that you can easily face him down?"

The President takes this as a cue to continue. "I believe that many in our party remember what happened the last time some members allowed their ideals to blind them and hope that we can deal with this minor problem during the Primaries. We shouldn't allow the Governor's family and youth blind us to the fact that we will not win an election under Jerry Brown's leadership."

President Kennedy's perception of this rising star betrays his past, his father was Joseph Patrick Kennedy, the 33rd President of the United States, and was rumoured to have gained his job as an Assistant District Attorney for the south of New York. His fame soon came from his activities in taking down Communists and Communist sympathisers under acts passed by his father and upgraded under Presidents Reagan, Kennedy and Smathers.

Nowadays, he is criticised in many left-wing circles for his part in jailing many "innocents" and men who were linked to the Civil Rights movement due to their involvement with the CPUSA, but at the time he was becoming a public favourite for his hard-hitting manner and commitment to justice. By 1956 he was promoted to District Attorney for his work in taking down "subversive elements" and soon moved onto crime and corruption, by 1964 he had become nationally known for his anti-crime stance, his relation to martyred President Joseph Kennedy Jr. and his reputation of having "a clear head".

He ran for Senator for New York in 1964, managing to defeat Kenneth Keating by a landslide for the above reasons and began a career that had him in the forefront of American politics for years on end as he argued for mainstream Democratic values, was a strong opponent for Goldwater/Romney ideology of "small but firm" government and was able to defeat the Rockefeller/Dole ticket in 1976 to become the President of the United States of America.

However, the years have not been easy as was expected, the world at large went through an economic stagflation while in America there were problems between the Old Democrats who were silent on civil rights, supported the security measures and were generally fiscally liberal against what is being called the Brown coalition of the New left, coloured peoples and the young voters who support revamping the Democrats to allow for a more liberal party.

For the crime of his past, Kennedy has now lost the liberal support base that was once somewhat ready to support him, Iowa was expected to have gone to Kennedy but Brown gained a respectable score of 35% considering the policies he is running on. Kennedy is undisturbed, however, and expects that similar results will pop up until Brown drops out and endorses him to ensure that the Democratic Party is unified when it is time for the election.

I get to my question of what he will do if he can win the election. "We plan on working out a compromise with the last few states that still hold Segregation to allow for a peaceful and orderly transition while also working to alter the Security Acts to be more efficient and to work on racial discrimination in the workplace, but the priority should be economic recovery."

Another question would be whether he was prepared for the idea that he may lose this primary and maybe even the ideological way-point of the party. "We stand at the crossroads of the future. Do we want a party that speaks to the American people and can work with all people? Or do we want an ultra-liberal party that only cares for its own agenda and will try and destroy anyone who disagrees with them, the choice is myself or Brown, keep in mind that the latter has made it clear that he is no friend of Keynesian economics."

I stand up and leave, the time almost cutting into an appointment the President has to keep. We both say goodbye and I set off to the hotel I booked to await my return home, the travel restrictions being lifted to allow for a smoother election and to allow more people to vote, by the time I arrive the election will have ended and we will have had a new Conservative government or a continued Labour one.

But as I leave I can overhear the words "we need to get there before Dick gets impatient" and I can hear no more. Perhaps he is referring to FBI Director Richard M. Nixon? It would explain things, but I must not delay. As I exit the building I look back and note at how clean everything is and how the people around me seem to be in suspense, who is the hero of this tale? Is it Robert Kennedy, the man who could have done more if it were not for the bad timing? Would it be Jerry Brown who is trying to modernise the political system and introduce change? Or is it just a matter of finding a solution to the problem that has dogged America for some time?

[Blackadder mk 2]

"The Dream of a British Socialist"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

25th January 1980

It is good to be home again. There is something about Britain that you don't find in other nations, perhaps it is the sense of continuity in this island, in a century which could define itself around the very word 'change'. Maybe it is just myself who enjoys such things, seeing as there are many in the political world who think that massive change is needed.

One such person is Prime Minister Neave, having won a strong majority, he now aims to "modernise the industry, give the IRA a good kick and save Britain from the 'no we can't' attitude" while another such person is Anthony Benn, one of the prospective Labour leadership candidates for when Roy Jenkins resigns. While Neave believes in integrating Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom and rejects the findings of the Committee of Devolution and Local Government, Tony Benn supports the goals of the IRA and believes in the use of devolution to help the people of Britain stay together.

I'm now off to meet with Tony Benn, the evil socialist, the great hope of British socialism, you can see that this man is quite the divisive one. You would not get that impression from the home he lives in or the personality he has when greeting you. His attitude is a mixture of warm greetings and a defensive nature, I am assuming it is from years of defending his ideology from years of attacks via disgruntled conservatives.

Tony Benn first entered Parliament in 1950 after years of poor health forced Stafford Cripps, a Cabinet Minister in the Labour government, to resign and his seat was soon won by Tony Benn with a reduced minority and was held after the 1952 election. Tony Benn admitted to being a Gaitskellite for many years, in contrast to his present politics, but also says that "I was always against Hugh's stance against the left of the party, he seemed eager to be rid of them" and served as what the Americans call a "press wizard", portraying his man as the man to be Prime Minister.

However, the Day of Horror, and the backlash against the radical left caused a split in many sections of the Labour Party, one section was mostly those who were supported by movements such as the National Minority Movement and the far left and was against such prosecutions by the Ministry of Information and the other section supported the Eden government's efforts. Many in the Labour Shadow Cabinet were on the latter's side but Tony Benn found himself on a different side.

"I believed that while tragic, prosecuting hundreds of innocents was not going to bring anyone back." He remembered voicing his opinions to Hugh Gaitskell, not expecting the reaction he was given. "Suddenly, I found myself locked out of the inner workings of many in the party and it took Michael to inform me that Hugh had distanced himself from me to prevent others from using me to overthrow him or use me to harm his image to many."

"It was the first time that I found myself seeing the power of the Establishment, especially when going through such a tragedy. I was as horrified as many other socialists when seeing how someone could so horribly misunderstand socialism as to kill a man but we must not pretend that even talking about it will doom someone." This is the opinion of many in the Labour Party now, do they think the assassin should not have been punished so?

"The death penalty is wrong in all cases. Not even high treason warrants it." So those who betray their country must simply- "Please do not do that. Do not assume that going against the death penalty or thinking that extreme violence would bring the King back. This is the problem with papers such as The Economist, they side with the Establishment and attack any who try to change the status quo."

Moving on, with Benn being locked out of higher Labour politics for over six years, he was invited back into the government as Postmaster General. "I was too important to keep out so they put me here on the expectation that I stay quiet, which I did, for around four years and kept myself from voicing 'controversial' opinions. I managed to become Minister for Technology, although I only got in a few words on Concorde, the space program and I was forbidden to consider dropping nuclear cooperation with the Germans."

Tony Benn was then made the Chairman of the Labour Party, replacing Anthony Crossland, and was soon famous for being the few politicians to praise Jenkins' move to release some of the leftists that had been imprisoned over the years and the move to weaken some powers of the MoI. "He did the right thing and should not have been stonewalled for it for so long." Then Black Wednesday had struck and the Irish Incursion had begun, dooming Maudling's time as Prime Minister.

"Many in Britain soon forgot about the progress we made and only cared for stopping the invasion, which was simply aiding refugees in times of need. I made a speech denouncing such things and found myself blacklisted by many in the right of the party and the country." Tony Benn had received many stains for his acts but has often found solace in recruiting others in the Labour movement to his version of socialism, known as Bennism.

When Wilson led Labour to government, Tony Benn was excluded on account of his remarks on Ireland but eventually returned after a strong showing in the Labour leadership contest after Wilson, coming third before Jenkins defeated Foot, he was made the Secretary of State for Energy but still found himself on the fringes for his far-left views. "We chose to abandon socialism after the Graham government and never looked back, now we need to see why our voters have abandoned us and how we can reconnect with them.

I ask him what exactly Bennism is, the professional views is that it is a mixture of syndicalism, economic planning, large amounts of spending, having the party conference dictate decisions to the leadership and Christian values. "Many like to forget the last part." He says with a smile on his face. "The Bible contains many parts that relate to socialism that I think too many of us are too afraid to point out, letting the right wing take it for their own. Giving to others in times of need, siding with the prophets instead of the kings, working towards peace instead of war are both Christian and socialist values."

It's not surprising that this opinion is held, Tony Benn's brother is Michael Benn, a bishop in the Anglican Church known for his leftist views and is said to be supported by many to succeed the Archbishop of Canterbury against his rival Maurice Cowling, however, this does not change Benn's view that disestablishment is necessary for Britain. "Michael understands my views and we respectfully disagree with one another, either way I believe the Church has much to offer the people of Britain and deserves a firm place in British history but not in our government or policy decision making."

I ask him about rumours of a possible breakaway party if he wins the leadership election. "I sincerely hope that, if I were to win, it would not come to that but I am of the opinion that there are many who support the party that have disgusting views on immigration and would fit in with Bottomley's ilk then any Labour Party that has existed before. It would be a betrayal of the party that built up many of these politicians and it would betray the voters who chose the Labour Party to represent their seat."

With that, my questions are over and I bid Tony Benn farewell, I take my leave and once again look back. Many say that Tony Benn is many things, some of the more eloquent opinions include polite, arrogant, self-justified, principled and divisive. I see many of these things in Tony Benn and wonder, when he takes the Labour Party, judging by the mood of the party grass-roots, whether his more admirable traits will show or whether our new Prime Minister should, to paraphrase Mosley, "get comfortable as a leader of government".

[stevep]

Blackadder mk 2

Well that reference to an 'Irish incursion' makes it sound like at one point there's a military intervention by the Irish republic into Britain! That the problems with the Irish imperial movement is worse than OTL, although possibly given the continued right wing nature of British government it can't be ruled out that there is some justification without more info.

You still haven't answered the question someone asked about what the day of horror was. However I get the feeling its some action that kills the monarch and possibly other members of the royal family and that the left are held responsible with a large scale crack down as a result.

Steve

[AndyC]

Someone assassinated King Edward VIII?
Interesting ...

[Blackadder mk 2]

Originally Posted by Unknown

What was the Day of Horror?

The next few updates will elaborate that particular incident.

Originally Posted by stevep

Blackadder mk 2

Well that reference to an 'Irish incursion' makes it sound like at one point there's a military intervention by the Irish republic into Britain! That the problems with the Irish imperial movement is worse than OTL, although possibly given the continued right wing nature of British government it can't be ruled out that there is some justification without more info.

You still haven't answered the question someone asked about what the day of horror was. However I get the feeling its some action that kills the monarch and possibly other members of the royal family and that the left are held responsible with a large scale crack down as a result.

Steve

With Fine Gael taking a more pro-British line up until the early 50s, where they finally get the boot and Fianna Fail gets in before the Irish politics is mostly swapping the places until Black Wednesday happened, at that point Taoiseach Blaney, already on weak ground on domestic issues, made the call and it backfired tremendously. Britain was mostly concerned with getting rid of Maudling so no one went too far into Ireland but they still trashed the Irish forces and the borders were confirmed while many angry Irishmen now aim to help the IRA, despite what their politicians may say as do many Irish-Americans when they heard.

The Day of Horror will get its own update once this final interview is over.

Originally Posted by AndyC

Someone assassinated King Edward VIII?
Interesting ...

The truth is slightly different from that but the whole thing did cause David a lot of shock. Edward VIII was forced to abdicate the throne due to him not only making private noises about how fantastic Mosley is and then making a public interview about how Mosley was one of Britain's greatest Prime Minister, which is bad on its own, but this was when Mosley's leadership was in doubt and now the sacred duty of political neutrality had been broken and Mosley's hopes of staying on were destroyed as well as David's own reign.

I'm sure TTL's AH.com will have lots of PODs involving David keeping his mouth shut and Mosley staying on as Prime Minister, some of them good and some of them....could be better.

[Blackadder mk 2]

"A True Mosleyite"
By Stephen Milligan
The Economist

26th January 1980

The House of Commons is always a busy place, there's always someone planning out a policy or preparing to defend or attack one and you can always see MPs from all over the political spectrum fraternise with one another and especially after an election with lots of new MPs getting trapped into political alliance this can happen often. One such person is Tony Benn, who has formed many friendships over his time in Parliament who then speaks to many new Labour MPs and another such person is Alan Clark, who I can already see speaking to ex-Foreign Secretary David Owen and another MP who I do not recognise.

Upon seeing me and remembering what he was planning on doing, Clark then politely dismissed the two before inviting me to his office so that we could talk in private. There is an air of mischief around Alan Clark, mostly coming from his split from the mainstream Mosleyite movement in the Conservatives and his comments on many issues involving the country which make him loved in some corners, loathed in others but is accepted to be a very controversial politician.

"I say what I think about the issues, people like to be offended sometimes and will latch onto anyone who gives them that." Clark has always had an attitude which keeps him from apologising for what he believes in, some say this is why he was unable to gain a Cabinet seat until the Amery Premiership, but he remains defiant as always when confronted with such facts. "I am confident that Airey knows and respects my beliefs and principles and how I have stayed loyal to them, unlike the others."

Alan Clark was a military historian before entering Parliament, it was after he released his book The Donkeys in 1961 that he was able to meet his political hero, Oswald Mosley, through a mutual friend. Clark was always a Conservative but his time with 'Tom' (what Mosley was called by close friends) allowed him to realise that he could do more in Parliament for his cause then he could do outside of it.

Clark was one of the few Conservatives who were elected to Parliament in 1964, when Harold Wilson became Prime Minister after twelve years of Conservative rule, and made his mark by supporting the Maudling leadership, assuming it would be 'Classic Mosleyism', however, Clark soon felt betrayed by what was happening. "What was supposed to be Mosleyism just turned out to be Liberals using Tom's beliefs as a disguise for their own."

With that, Clark soon broke from the movement and sided with the Radicals, led by Enoch Powell. "Tom was never fond of Enoch and vice versa. Tom thought Enoch didn't try hard enough on India and didn't deserve the prize while Enoch thought Tom simply buried problems for others to fix. I knew better then to try and fix it but Tom understood when I pointed out that the Radical faction was closer then Heath's abomination."

With the revelation of Maudling's bribery and fraud, Black Wednesday and the Irish Incursion, the Radicals and Edenists united to overthrow Maudling and place in their own candidate, while the Magic Circle would deliberate on who to make leader. In exchange for keeping Macleod in the Chancellorship, Julian Amery would be made leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister, Powell being unacceptable for his part in the Partition of India and the loss of influence among the Mosleyites.

"They were outmanoeuvred in their attempts to bring in proto-socialism, Tom was happy that a 'sound mind' got in and we gave the Irish a good kicking afterwards." The Irish government had ordered forces to aid the removal of Catholics from Northern Ireland in response to the violence coming from Ulster and were attacked heavily in response by the British, causing the collapse of Fianna Fail.

Clark was someone who gained from the incident and subsequent overthrowing of Maudling. "My comments on the news had raised my public profile and my profile inside Parliament meant that I was moving up in the government due to the Radical-Edenist alliance." Clark was made the Secretary of State for Defence in a reshuffle and was present when the government fell from power once more to Wilson's Labour, this time it was due to a belief that the government was losing control of Northern Ireland and that they were failing to deal with unemployment.

"Julian took it all in stride, he knew when we lost and was prepared to resign as leader to allow for someone fresh to start in the Conservatives." Clark was soon thrown into the deliberation of who to make the new leader of the Conservative Party, many names were thrown around such as Powell, Macleod, Heath, Macmillan, Whitelaw, Joseph and even Clark was rumoured to be thought of but one person was chosen.

"Neave had been offering to run the campaign of anyone who ran under the Radical-Edenist alliance and it soon became apparent that only Neave would be tolerated by the fake-Moselyites, we didn't want to risk an open split so we ran him and he was able to beat down both Heath and Whitelaw." Clark was rewarded for his campaigning efforts with a promotion to Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1976, a risk that was made to win over the splintering Mosleyites.

It was there that Clark soon found that he was developing a friendship with David Owen, his counterpart on the government benches and who was in a neighbouring seat to Clark's. "David was one of the Labour members who could actually be called a Mosleyite and had a clear head on politics." Many in the Jenkins Cabinet were worried about Owen's rapport with the Conservatives and when this was mixed with his complaints of Trotskyite infiltration, this led to many worries that David Owen may defect to the Conservatives.

Now he is the Foreign Secretary in the Neave Cabinet and I ask him what he thinks will be the end result of this Conservative government. "We're going to work on making Britain competitive again, Horatio Bottomley got things started when everything was stagnating and Tom was the one who pulled it off, now it's Enoch who got the monetarist revolution going and Neave will be the one who pulls it off."

There are rumours that, contrary to my interview with Macmillan, the recommendations of the Devolution Committee won't be followed, is that true? "We simply believe that a referendum should be followed through before we commit to anything, we should not be demanding that the chains of the union break while building new ones in Northern Ireland and yes that means we are following through with the integrationist strategy."

I, realising that my time is almost up, ask him about who else he was talking to alongside David Owen. "That's Michael Howard. He got elected back in 1974 and has been one of our rising stars, I'm surprised The Economist doesn't know about him." With that, I take my leave and thank him for his time. These interviews have gone well, considering the election special was derailed, but I feel as if I have gained many new perspectives on British politics, with radical socialism against monetarism becoming the next ideological battle in Britain, is there any place for the moderate Labour MP or the Conservative Mosleyite in their parties, should they hope their chance comes soon or will there be another Bottomley to shake up the political world and call for another "great third way"?

Either way, Britain as a nation faces interesting times and there's still a good twenty years until this century and millennium ends, who knows what may happen until then.

[Blackadder mk 2]

BRITAIN: A Nation In Mourning

15th April 1957

As I get off the boat from the New York and enter the streets of London, I am hit with the sense of mourning and despair, even a year after the tragic circumstances that have hit the English people with flowers being left by Memorial Square which is still under construction. However, that has not deterred many from leaving their respects by the site while most soccer, baseball and other sporting games have been cancelled as a sign of respect towards their fallen King.

It is hard to believe that such tragedy to come from an event meant to bring joy to people. King George and his family had been visiting a hospital when, whilst the family was there, they were greeted by a crowd of well-wishers on the outside and patients on the inside and most seemed to be well, a patient even described it as "heart-warming, it was nice to see that people living so high up still cared about us" especially when republicanism had been on the rise in some segments in society.

Alarms where raised when the Graham government amended the 1848 Treason Felony Act to allow for peaceful republican organisations to exist in order to placate the left wing of the party but the groups only seemed to attract support from the radical left so no further thought was given. That was until many years later, one year ago now, where one of the cleaning crew in the hospitals soon got near to the Royal Family and fired five bullets at them with his gun before being held down by guards.

Emergency treatment was given to King George but it proved to be useless as one of the three bullets that made contact had ricocheted around his body and caused too much damage to the body for the doctors to repair and he passed away a few hours after the shooting. The assassin, known as John Cook, had been estranged from his family since 1936 for his Communist views and was a member of the National Minority Movement, a Communist-led movement that moved to force the trade union movement towards the left.

As news of the King's death travelled around the country, sadness and outrage soon flooded the country with Communist Party offices being attacked, most republican organisations also suffering the wrath of an indignant public while both British Prime Minister Anthony Eden and Hugh Gaitskell had agreed to enter new laws which take a very harsh line on the radical leftist groups. However, it was the Conservatives who won the day as Eden secured himself a third term, showing how the people had rallied around, with a majority of a hundred seats over the opposing Labour Party.

With that, the 1956 Home Security Act was created. The National Minority Movement and Communist Party were banned and leading members of both were arrested and jailed for "causing internal damage to the nation" while the Labour Party and NLDP supported the measures, not wanting to be caught up in the public frenzy while the Graham amendments were altered to their original state and the old concepts of Security Panels, "indefinite suspension" and the old powers of Specialised Police Enforcers, also known as Bots for their lack of emotion on the job, were returned.

Other measures were taken as well, the hospital visited is now the King George Memorial Hospital and the Memorial Square is designed to include a spire that is as large as Big Ben Tower. Even then, I see articles of mourning from the London Times and even newspapers from Manchester are in London, showing their mourning and a sign that the nation is coming together. President Reagan has already made an address saying that "the plight of the British people on that day has touched the hearts of many Americans, it is times like this when the worst and best of both countries come out and express a wish to make sure that our children learn from this and we work to create a better future for ourselves".

A name has already been given to this day where Britons remember the death of their King, The Day of Horror, going by an edition of the Daily Telegraph when the news was announced. Many hope that such an event will not happen to Queen Elizabeth II or the previous King, Edward VIII, and many know feel as if that will not happen with the new measures designed to allow for more security in the face of radical ideals and the warped minds of others.

[Blackadder mk 2]

If anyone has any requests on this I'm happy to give it a try i.e. articles between 1936 and 1980 or things such as trying to create PM Bottomley from this TL's perspective and the such.