"A Very British Transition" - A Post-Junta Britain TL
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Loved the update Clarkson screaming POWER!!! in my head has a far nastier result now and I love it.
Yes the British video game industry is a lot weaker than OTL, whilst video games in the modern sense weren't really around during the Junta years, the general lack of creative talent, coupled with reduced access to computers/the internet have weakened the industry compared to OTL.
Chapter 52: Total Eclipse
The discovery of a mass grave containing disappeared artists, activities and trade unionists in South Yorkshire shocked the nation
“When, in August 1982, the poet Chris Searle was taken to a gully near Sheffield to be killed, he was accompanied to his death by a harmless schoolteacher who was lame in one leg. Add the enlightened poet and there you have a sad and moving picture of the British Junta, soon to be buried as they were. Their bones remained there for nearly 30 years, unidentified. But as their unearthing has finally begun this week, they embody Britain's uneasiness at dealing with its Junta past. Britain is sown with unidentified corpses and dwarfs Chile in the number of missing persons: nearly 200,000 of them. Murdered during the forty-year Junta for being leftists, or pro-democracy, or for no reason at all. Their bones lie scattered under the woods and deep in ravines.” - Waking Britain's Dead, Washington Post (2009)
Whilst the Johnson Government was keen to forgive and forget the attempted coup by reforming the army, it wouldn’t be that easy. Sporadic riots would break out in Northern Ireland’s Catholic community after they watched the military, aided by Protestant militias, take over the province without either the British or Irish Governments intervening. Across the rest of the country, the young people who had taken to the streets in the days following the coup hadn’t gone home, instead occupying their university campuses demanding reduced rents and an end to military presence on universities. Even as the gavel fell on the coup’s plotters, the events of August were not easily forgotten by the British public. Polls showed voters becoming increasingly polarised and activity by organisations such as Civil Assistance reached a four year-high.
Scotland would form the heart of dissent, many separatists were enraged at the SNP for their deal with the SDP, failing to secure even a unified Scottish Legislature. Whilst most Scottish battalions had either remained loyal or were too scared to come out their barracks during the coup, the collective trauma of August weighed heavy on the Scots. As usual, wherever there was trouble Glasgow formed the centre. During the trial documents showed that the coup plotters viewed Glasgow as the “most difficult asset to seize” and in the event of the coup being successful over 30,000 troops would be sent to Glasgow to keep order, in a city of just around half a million, this would be a soldier to every 15 residents. The plans involved “harsh martial law” to keep the “unwashed masses in line”.
Troublesome cities like Glasgow, Liverpool, and certain boroughs of London had been high priority for the coup plotters
Things would further escalate in Glasgow after nearly 50 Glaswegian residents were arrested, accused of being SNLA fighters and planning a mortar attack on Walcheren Barracks. The riots would last for over a week and at their peak all trains going in and out of Glasgow were cancelled after masked gunmen were seen patrolling the streets. Violence wasn’t limited to Glasgow, In Dundee two police officers were killed after a bomb was detonated underneath their car, in Manchester a local office of the Socialist Alternative was burnt down (although no one was hurt) and in Northern Ireland a leading PSNI officer was assassinated via sniper rifle. A succession of bloody events up and down the country made October 2009 one of the most violent months since the fall of the Junta, reminding many of the dark days of political violence in the years directly following the 2005 election, where a terror attack or coup could happen at any moment. For many Scots the peaceful political settlement was failing before their eyes.
“Whilst the number of dissident groups have proliferated, the individuals involved have not grown. There are currently two main dissident Scottish separatist groups: the Continuity SNLA and the Soldiers of Scotland. These groups have sought to target police officers and other members of the security services in particular. Between 2009 and 2010, dissident separatists were responsible for the deaths of nine police officers. The continuity SNLA remains active, and authorities warn that the threat posed by the continuity SNLA is severe. The C-SNLA has carried out over 100 attacks since 2009. Some experts are concerned that dissidents could seek to step up attacks to exploit the divisions due to the attempted coup.” - The Scottish Dissident Threat in the UK, Congressional Research Service (2011)
The SNP had gotten in bed with the SDP, RISE was collapsing, politics wasn't really working out for Scotland's separatist community
Whilst the Johnson administration had built up a huge amount of goodwill after the attempted coup, this was quickly slipping away. The Glasgow riots proved an excellent debut topic for William Hague at Prime Minister’s Questions. National was able to seize the initiative on a topic they knew well - law and order - with Hague arguing the events in Glasgow showed a Government unable to maintain control. Hague certainly proved more capable than Tim Collins at the Punch and Judy politics of Prime Minister’s questions with the ever-cool Alan Johnson seeming rattled for the first time as Prime Minister. Fissures would already begin to form in his fragile majority, his outspoken Finance Minister, Alan Sugar, wasn’t massively familiar with the concept of collective responsibility and would often engage in public attacks against the SDP’s socialist allies.
Hague’s honeymoon would culminate with a positive write up from the Sun. The Sun was the most read newspaper in the United Kingdom. Whilst it usually had a centre to centre left political outlook and had been critical of the Junta, it also strongly valued crime prevention and family values in it’s editorial line. The tabloid had endorsed the SDP at every election since the fall of the Junta and had even been banned for a short time in the 80s. Geoff Webster, the Sun’s political editor, wrote a glowing review of Hague’s performance at PMQs, hailing Hague’s commitments to reform and modernise the National Party. At the end of the piece Webster hinted at a possible endorsement for National at the next election, writing “Whilst the Sun has been a strong supporter of the Social Democrats, if Mr Hague can prove his party has truly changed for the better we may shine on him yet - only time will tell”.
“Like President Obama, who benefits from being too young to have taken sides in the 1960s, William Hague has little firsthand knowledge of Britain’s 60s battles. Hague was 6 when the military seized the country in a coup in 1968. He and Obama were in the right place at the right time. They are the elder statesmen of the part of the population for which the preoccupations of the baby boomers are not very relevant. National are counting on Hague to rescue them from the public contempt that has been their lot since the SDP drove them from power in 2005. National has spent four years mulling over, a version of the problem that now confronts American Republicans. Hague’s rise has led some conservative thinkers in the United States to suggest that Republicans follow his lead.” - Can William Hague Redefine Britain’s National Party?, Christopher Caldwell, New York Times (2009)
Hauge's aides expected the government to collapse within a year, the party had to be ready
funnily enough the next update will be focusing on the far right, stay tuned!
Chapter 53: Waiting in the Wings
Bloom had been a very minor figure during the Junta years, now he was the last true loyalist
“Following the Junta’s disintegration, the New Nationalist Party (NNP) was formed by Godfrey Bloom in 2005. The NNP made a more conscious effort to appear less radical and more respectable as time went on. There is debate over the extent to which this softening was ‘window dressing’. A pamphlet produced by NNP hierarchy supports the window dressing thesis, and that their attempted image change was a PR stunt and not a lot more. The growth of Civil Assistance in the 2000s, who described themselves as a ‘protest group’, led to mass media coverage. Many have compared Civil Assistance with the NNP but, as Civil Assistance has no coherent political programme they should not be compared on the same terms. Moreover, Civil Assistance's leader, Paul Golding, possessed a street credibility that Bloom did not.” - The Radical Right in Transition Britain, Matthew Feldman (2013)
It was a weird time to be a fascist in Britain. These days if you attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government you get arrested and thrown in jail - political correctness gone mad! With Hague trying to distance National from the far-right and many leading members of Civil Assistance in prison, there was a great deal of real estate on the fringe of British politics. Three organisations would dominate on team far-right. The first was the New Nationalist Party, led by Godfrey Bloom. Bloom had been smart enough to stay out of the August coup but several leading members of his party, including his Deputy Gerard Batten had been caught up in the events of August, landing them in jail.
Despite Batten’s arrest, the NNP was polling at an all time high of 2%, in previous elections the NNP had never cracked 1%, and it’s vote was spread across the country. Now Bloom was trying to concentrate the party’s resources in the East London and South Yorkshire where the party was strongest. In the Outer East London provincial elections the party won 8% of the vote, if they could repeat that in a general election they had a chance of winning a seat. There was also Civil Assistance, several members of CA had been sent down, either for directly supporting the coup, or for inciting riots on that August night. To fill the void left by the imprisoned members several younger members of Civil Assistance would rise to leadership positions.
Civil Assistance moved from a "restorationist" counter-revolutionary force to a populist anti-establishment protest group
Many of the new Civil Assistance leaders were women, including Jayda Frasen and Anne Waters. Under their leadership Civil Assistance would remain just as violent but would shift its focus away from democracy activists and instead became a more overtly Islamophobic organisation. As well as it’s usual operations such as starting fights in left-wing neighbourhoods, Civil Assistance members would engage in “patrols” through Muslim and South Asian neighbourhoods and “Mosque invasions” where they would target local mosques on days of prayer. The organisation would now claim to embrace democracy, looking to protect British freedoms from radical leftists and Muslims. Civil Assistance also began to operate openly on social media, with “honeytrap” posts on sites like Facebook receiving thousands of likes and shares.
“Civil Assistance has attempted to paint itself in a more pro-democratic light after it's Leader Paul Golding was charged for taking part in the August coup. A dark-web Civil Assistance website boasts that money is flooding into its campaign headquarters. They organisation claims it received 10,000 new members following the passage of the defence white paper. In emails to supporters acting leader Anne Waters claims almost £300,000 has been stumped up by supporters to help fund the group. It claims the apparent groundswell in support is down to the "British public waking from the long, deep sleep". - The Ugly Face of Civil Assistance, Jamie Doward, The Guardian (2009)
The newest pillar of the British right was the new National Defence Association or NDA. The NDA was a pressure group made up of former military officers who had resigned or been sacked during the reforms to the military. Whilst officially a non-partisan organisation devoted to drumming up support for the military and British defence, the NDA took a strong line against “socialism” and the SDP in particular. NDA leaders, including it’s chairman, Colonel James Cleverly would often take to the airwaves to condemn Johnson’s weakness on national defence and terrorism. Cleverly in particular was seen as having strong connections to the NNP and other far-right political parties.
Cleverly played the party of the patriot, betrayed by his government
The NDA had over 30,000 members and was incredibly well funded, allowing it to run a slick, media savvy operation. Where Civil Assistance was the hammer of the British far-right, the NDA was it’s human face. The NDA would reach the forefront of British politics when Colonel Cleverly was invited onto the BBC’s flagship Question Time programme. Cleverly’s invite sparked outrage among many on the left, in the days following the coup the BBC had committed not to offer a platform to anyone opposed to democracy or the Cardiff Accords political settlement. An interview with the imprisoned Tommy Sheridan had not been broadcast a few weeks prior out of fears it would break this pro-Cardiff pledge. Yet here they were inviting a man who headed an organisation of soldiers who refused to accept democratic military reforms. The invitation stung of hypocrisy, and it was a perfect soapbox for those on the anti-democratic right.
Cleverly’s invitation had to expect result Anti-fascist groups like Searchlight mounted massive protests outside Colchester Town Hall, where the episode was to be filmed, met by counter-protesters from civil assistance, violence flared, spilling out onto the streets. Meanwhile the charismatic Colonel Cleverly put on a show, Cleverly denied he or the NDA were anti democratic, instead seeking to give British service people the respect they deserved. He slammed both the SDP for turning on the military and William Hague’s National Party for “betraying British service people”. Whilst the British far-right had very little political presence, Cleverly’s appearance on Question Time certainly grabbed headlines and showed Mountbattenite sentiments were still very much active in British society, bubbling below the surface.
“Whilst Britain is still a country of net emigration the migration gap is rapidly closing as more people arrive from overseas and the incentive to move abroad is lessening. However, the influx of migrants thus far has not produced any significant xenophobic parties. With the British far-right failing to make any electoral gains, instead operating via extra-parliamentary means. This makes the UK an exception to the norm in many other EU countries The far-right NNP won a mere 0.3% of the vote in the 2009 general election. There are few French style banlieues or US-style ghettos in the UK. Many British families have relatives who emigrated, helping them to view today’s migrants with understanding.” - UK at the Crossroads, Lecture by Nicola Banks, Manchester University (2009)
Despite the far-right's protests, opinion polls showed British attitudes to refugees remained overwhelmingly positive, many of them had been refugees once
I never noted Cleverly was so much reactionary: was he radicalised by the Junta, different political spectrum ecc ecc or was I that miss something about the man?
What a sentence to begin with, I love it! Ugh, this is not a particularly pleasant update, but it was very well written.
He was radicalised by the Junta in this timeline. He does have some fairly socially conservative views in OTL but he is in no way anti-democratic.
Deleted member 169412
I'm genuinely surprised that there are enough Muslims in Britain TTL for Civil Assistance to be able to pick fights with them. I can't see Muslims choosing to emigrate to a very socially conservative Britain and I can't see Mountbatten choosing to let them in.
Perhaps from friendly(ish) Commonwealth countries like Pakistan under a guest worker-style system? Agree it seems a bit of a stretch considering Britain's relative lack of economic development. But, the one thing we know from Islamophobic movements OTL is that is doesn't actually take all that many Muslims to stimulate their emergence...
The majority of immigrants from Pakistan in the UK came before Mountbatten (I'm not counting who came after the 60's in otl) did his thing. I can imagine they would've been left alone since they since mostly worked in the industrial sector and it would be madness to chase away an experienced workforce to replace them with a less experienced one. I can also imagine that Mountbatten would've left them alone as long as they didn't cause any trouble.
Even with such a conservative and repressive government, there are always people willing to come in as long as there is something better wating for them.
Poland, Hungary and many other post-dictatorship countries have almost no Muslim communities and they never had but nevertheless they have very successful Islamophobic parties. Seeing in television ISIS butchers and banlieu riots can give you a very bad idea about Islam, especially if you’re a little-informed strongman-used people. The “A Million of Muslim Immigrants is coming to overwhelm us!” narrative was successful in 2016, it could work well ITTL too,
Did the USA continue to maintain military bases in the UK as per OTL?
If so were they ever tempted to act unilaterally of the British Government or play any sort of role in the UK's internal affairs?
Do these still exist post junta/Cold War?
Also I'm not sure if it's already been covered but what because of a certain grocer's daughter by the name of M Thatcher ITTL?
If so were they ever tempted to act unilaterally of the British Government or play any sort of role in the UK's internal affairs?
Do these still exist post junta/Cold War?
Also I'm not sure if it's already been covered but what because of a certain grocer's daughter by the name of M Thatcher ITTL?
As other commentators have said, a large number of British Muslims emigrated pre-70s, mostly from South Asia, in the pre-Mountbatten era. Whilst the Muslim population of the UK is much lower that the 2.7 million recorded in OTL 2011 Britain, it still stands at almost 1 million British Muslims, making Islam the third most popular religion in the UK.
And as Sandro has pointed out there's several Eastern European post-dictatorship countries with very small Muslim populations where overtly Islamaphobic parties have been successful.
Yes the US continued to maintain bases in the UK and in fact US military presence on British territory was much higher than OTL. They tended not to interfere overtly in internal British politics but the CIA gave support to the Junta behind the scenes.
These bases do exist as Britain has joined NATO, but they are a lot more controversial than OTL and "American Troops Out" protests are a lot more common.
Thatcher was one of the Junta's most enthusiastic backers of existing civilian politicians, she was Secretary for Trade when Mountbatten died and was seen as one of the leading candidates in the power struggle to replace him, she eventually threw her support behind Hill-Norton. In 1984 she would be made Foreign Secretary and Hill-Norton's effective number two.
Her tenure was generally seen as a success, most notably being the first Junta Foreign Secretary to visit the Soviet Union. She would retire peacefully from politics in the mid-90s. She was one of a very few group of politicians who served successfully under both Mountbatten and Hill-Norton, as well as being one of the few politicians to serve so long in the Junta without being arrested or exiled in the various power struggles.
Chapter 54: For the Union Makes us Strong
Boarded up properties dominated many highstreets
“Britain’s economy shrank further in the fourth quarter of last year, leaving it one of the last European economies to pull out of recession. Gross domestic product contracted 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2009 according to the Institute for National Statistics. Britain's recession has been shallower but longer than that of most of its European neighbours. “Our exports continue to do well, the fall of consumption is slowing down” Chancellor Alan Sugar told the BBC. The government is keen to distinguish its economy from that of fellow eurozone member Greece, which is embroiled in a crisis over its deficit. The ECB gave the Government a boost this week by praising it's “clear determination” to restrain state spending through an 70bn euro austerity plan. It also said Britain’s sovereign debt deserved its triple-A credit rating.” - Economy still stalled in recession, BBC News Bulletin (2010)
Entering into 2010 most European countries were on the up, after nearly two years of recession the first shafts of light were visible as Germany, France and Italy all reported decent economic growth. However; statistics released at the start of the year showed Britain’s economy shrinking by 0.1%, making it one of only two EU countries still in recession. The economic figures made for sobering reading, Britain’s economy had shrunk by nearly 4% between 2009/10 and her unemployment rate remained the highest in the eurozone at nearly 20%. Projections showed that if this decline continued Britain's debt to GDP ratio, currently sitting around 50%, could reach as high as 75%. At these levels Britain risked crashing out of the eurozone.
The Johnson Government had promised to grow it’s way out of recession, rejecting the austerity economics imposed by Sarkozy in France or Merkel in Germany. But this had become increasingly untenable. Chancellor Alan Sugar announced the British state would have to undergo around 70bn euros of cuts to prevent it sliding further into recession. Each Government department was required to make at least a 4% cut to its budget compared to 2009 spending levels. The SDP Government insisted that “front-line services” would be ring-fenced from these cuts, with the greatest savings coming from a freeze on civil service recruitment. Some concessions were made to the Alternative and others on the Government’s left. The top rate of tax would be increased by 2%, on top of this social security, education, research and foreign aid spending would all be ring fenced from any cuts.
Public sector workers were the SDP's base
These concessions weren’t enough to prevent public outcry, with some polls showing as many as 84% of Brits opposed Sugar’s harsh austerity. Nearly 200,000 people took to the streets in London with tens of thousands joining similar protests in other cities across the United Kingdom. The protests in London echoed similar protests in Athens, Madrid, Dublin and Lisbon where governments were ordering similar tightening of the public belt. Amicus, Britain’s largest trade union and a loyal ally of the SDP, would encourage it’s 1.2 million members to take part in the strike. Outside Downing Street Jack Dromey, General Secretary of Amicus and an old friend of Johnson, would lead protests calling on him to sack Sugar and maintain a “worker’s budget”.
“While in 2003–2009 Britain had the highest employment growth in Europe, in the crisis it became the fastest job destroyer. After attempts to stimulate the economy in the first years of the crisis were ineffective the government switched to an austerity policy. Wage cuts in the public sector and frozen pensions were supposed to halt the indebtedness of the state budget. On top of that, in March 2010 there was a labour market reform bill that made dismissal easier and promoted private job placement. As a result of this austerity policy the economic crisis was exacerbated. Budget deficit increased due to rising social expenditure and falling revenues. Unemployment rose and interest rates soared on the refinancing of debt.” - Austerity Policy in the UK, Report by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (2013)
Whilst trade union protests had been a common sight in transition Britain, Amicus was generally seen as a moderate union compared to more radical unions like the Railwayman’s Union. Dromey was hardly a firebrand, more at home at a Buckingham Palace garden party than a Downing Street picket line, and his rage was seen as further evidence the SDP was losing it’s touch with the trade unions. The Association of Government Officers, Britain’s second largest union who represented public sector workers announced they would be opening preemptive talks with other major unions on a general strike to protect civil serviceman’s pay. Fury at the cuts wasn’t limited to trade unions, with one poll showing the SDP dropping nine points in a single week. Johnson had promised the country they could get through the recession without cuts, now he had broken that promise and seemingly scorned a whole country.
Johnson's reputation as the honest postie had been shattered
Johnson also faced pressure abroad, the International Monetary Fund called on London to introduce “urgent” reforms to tackle endemic unemployment and revamp its banking system. EU Commission President Viviane Reding warned of “dire consequences” should struggling eurozone states such as Britain and Greece fail to get their houses in order. The Euro had slid by almost 15% against the dollar since the financial crisis and Brussels insiders were increasingly worried that if the Union’s “weakest links”, namely the UK, Greece and Portugal failed, they could bring the whole continent crashing down with them. Whilst Greece and Portugal were worrying it was the United Kingdom that kept Reding up at night, as the EU’s fourth largest economy - Britain was simply too big to fail.
Through meetings with trade unions, as well as it’s confidence and supply partners, the SDP agreed to a final compromise package of 40 billion euros of cuts, nearly half the amount Sugar had already proposed. Whilst both Amicus and the AGO had walked out of talks, all of the SDP’s confidence and supply partners agreed to support the bill in Parliament. Whether they were cowed by a fear of Brussels or genuinely thought they had the best deal possible, even the Alternative agreed to back the bill. After the rebellion of one SDP and three Alternative legislators Sugar’s emergency austerity budget would pass by just the slimmest of margins - a single vote. Arriving fashionably late, the age of austerity that had gripped the continent arrived at Britain's shores.
“The UK Parliament approved emergency measures to cut Britain’s soaring deficit by only one vote Thursday. It's passage saved the SDP government from an embarrassing defeat but revealed the depth of resistance to austerity. The package, which includes a cut in civil servants’ salaries, was approved 240-239 with 18 abstentions in the 497-seat lower chamber. A defeat would have been a serious blow for Prime Minister Alan Johnson and his government, which is trying to show it can handle Britain’s debt crisis. Opposition lawmakers still urged that early elections be held. The austerity measures have been welcomed by the EU and the IMF but much criticized at home as a major U-turn on social policies by the SDP. Europe’s top job creator only two years ago, Britain now has the region’s highest unemployment rate at just under 20 percent.” - Britain joins EU austerity drive, Ciaran Giles, Reuters (2010)
Sugar was an incredibly polarising figure