Hello Sam!
Thank you very much for all the comments. I was basically just adding things up which went through the back of my head and haven't put down yet. Luckily, we are in a timeline where two...or even more sides of an argument can be equally true.
After 10 years of emergency rule it is going to be difficult to unfuck the state. Quite a large number of commonwealth countries have permanently suspected constitutional government. [...]
Interesting supposition. Given that the last electorate was universal with a reformed commons, and given that a majority of the electorate are going to be held in corvee labour, it is unlikely that the original franchise will be restored. Restoring a non-original franchise is pretty much exemplary of Emergency rule. Any franchise is likely to be riddled with rotten boroughs with a limited personal access to franchise.
Yes and no. Britain has, however, one of the longest standing traditions of democratic rule. It is not Iraq. Additionally, the suspension of regular ways of government has not been come from an internal impetus (revolution, putsch, election of non-democratic parties), but forced upon from outside.
Same goes for the "forced" labour. It is not a long-planned plan to enslave the majority of the population. It is a move to keep public order and to keep the remaining population fed through the first winters. It might be the best to act that way in order to achieve this. For recovery beyond that, it is ineffectual. The 1980s administrators of the UK, even its remains, are fully aware of that.
Sticking to that economy, to that way of politics, adds insult to injury. It means that a nuclear strike is followed up by a self-imposed Morgenthau-plan. Britain simply cannot afford this. It is not alone in the world and, long-term, more competently led nations would be far more able to move into the power-vacuums of this world.
However, the last 30 years have shown that un-fucking of Government is not impossible.
Besides, I am not convinced of the idea of limited franchises returning. Even in non-democracies, basically everyone votes (or is even forced to). That's the part of the game every regime accepts. The matter is the choice...
If franchise will be limited, it is in the way of those putting themselves outside of the new order being excluded, but the good people being rewarded with what seems to be political participation.
Rotten boroughs, however, are really probable, virtually a British specialty.
Instituting constitutional change without the assent of parliament is a key example of permanent emergency rule.
That is true, given the circumstances, though, hardly avoidable.
Also, in 1945, UK troops in the field were in mutiny about the unfairness of parliament, and parliament had been held over without election for an exceptionally long period. The results were a landslide away from the government of the day.
In a way a comparable situation. Interesting to note that you mention the army-personell as a guarantuee to rectify non-constitutional practizes. ITTL, they will be ever more powerful with other power-brokers of the age virtually blown apart. The class which has suffered most is the part of the establishment whose wealth is based on industry and finance, and, as well, the established party political machinery.
And, as in the age of the world wars, it will (post-exchange) be rather an army closer to the population, freshly recruited/conscripted than pre-WW3, as the core of the professional army has probably been wiped out in the hell of West-Germany.
The 1945-landslide however, was against the Conservative party positions mainly. It was not only about the last elections having been 10 years prior, but probably more about the welfare state. Labour won....and remained in Government, as it had been part of the cabinet since 1940 just as well.
Orwell's Lion and Unicorn writings ought to help you here.
Funny that you remark it, but the part "England, your England" has run through my thoughts, although I only know basic parts of it, not even the title just that Orwell wrote it.
"The intellectuals who hope to see it Russianised or Germanised will be disappointed. The gentleness, the hypocrisy, the thoughtlessness, the reverence for law and the hatred of uniforms will remain, along with the suet puddings and the misty skies. It needs some very great disaster, such as prolonged subjugation by a foreign enemy, to destroy a national culture. The Stock Exchange will be pulled down, the horse plough will give way to the tractor, the country houses will be turned into children's holiday camps, the Eton and Harrow match will be forgotten, but England will still be England, an everlasting animal stretching into the future and the past, and, like all living things, having the power to change out of recognition and yet remain the same."
That's why I assume (running conclusions contrary to the Socialist Orwell, though) that in the long run, Britain will be a constitutional monarchy again, and its economy market-based, keeping up an appearance of continuity, or even trying to achieve this continuity.
That is an interesting assertion of universality of a socially constructed phenomena. When requisitions happen with worthless IOUs (and commonly "Babies can't work" without) and without a court for redress, to what extent can you claim this is property?
As it is, until it is taken away from you. Then it is someone/something else's property.
I was not saying that property rights would be upheld. Certainly not. But someone saying that "private property would be re-installed in the long run" (or something along these lines) struck me as very odd. It will be a period of first of all utter destruction of trillions of pounds, chaos, and unfairness. But not a kibbuz. If you are not killed, homeless or re-located, the things in your home are yours. Until....
Especially if a handballing Argentinian midget plays in 1986, as per OTL, which would be a good enough excuse for the nuke to Buenos Aires that often gets mentioned in this TL
I agree. But I was NOT suggesting that a world cup was possible in 1986, but a rudimentary English resp. Welsh resp. Scottish cup.
There are however obstacles and these are not small at all:
-Command and control: If this breaks down, then everything else will break down with it. If the flow of information breaks down, then everything will break down with it as well. Whether the right/competent people are in charge locally will also be an issue in itself. The picture will be patchy to say the least, but on the other hand we are now in a "pure meritocracy" if you do well you will be rewarded, if you don't then angry mobs will hang you.
-Communications: Linked to the first one, if semi reliable communication can be reestablished within months then things will be greatly helped. Effective communication will also help in knowing what remains available and where it is.
I am quite sure that Britains relatively moderate size, plus a good network of roads makes it possible to establish a well-enough system of communications sooner than this is possible e.g. in the USA. The situation given my Macragge gives the impression, that at the point of the timeline, this has already been established, and if it were by relatively old-fashioned means.
