Putting Up For A Turbot.

2.(a) It could be considered a strange idea for John Major to resign completely from the seat of Prime Minister, even though he had won the leadership election by a large margin of twice Nimoy's vote. However that ignores the fact that Major had a private minimum target of 215 and the vote showed him that nearly a third of his party was willing to get rid of him even if it meant voting for a Thatcherite who was likely to have lost the election like Leonard Nimoy.

The reason why Major was encountering such opposition against his leadership was due to the fact that the Conservative party was spilt on the issue of Europe with Ted Heath being extremely pro-Europe while Thatcher was the opposite. The split in the party was between the eventual winners of the Eurosceptic faction and the Europhillic faction. The Eurosceptic faction were often on the right of the party, believing that Britain's relationship with the E.U should only be in the sense of economic unity and free trade without political integration or joining the Euro, they also thought that further integration should be done only with the consent of the public. Nimoy had tried to make himself their leader in the leadership election but men like Michael Portillo was seen more as the captain of the right.

Meanwhile the Europhile faction was made up of the old, consensus-supporting 'wet' faction of the Tories who wanted more integration into Europe, no matter how the public felt about it and they mostly voted for Major and later they would support Heseltine's failed bid in the second round of voting. After the leadership contest they began to lose their influence on the party and after public opinion began to heavily slant against the E.U and more party-line MP's were elected they would soon become irrelevant with only men like Ken Clarke or Michael Heseltine to continue waving the banner of Europe integration in the Conservative Party while the remaining ones formed the pro-Euro party which later merged with the LibDems rather then face the inevitable collapse in the upcoming elections.


Peer Assessment: C

Did well: Mentioned spilt in the party, pointed out why Major resigned and accurate description of Europhillic and Eurosceptic opinions.

Improve on: Leonard Nimoy was NOT a British politician, John Redwood was called the Vulcan due to similarities to the Star Trek species, failure to point out how Turbot Crisis and Major's inaction caused inflammation of anti-Europe feeling and who won the contest.


Teacher Assessment: B

Did well: Remembered paragraphs and sentences, better at remembering names (most have made the same mistake as you with Redwood) and spelling has improved.

Improve on: Ben seems to be an avid Eurosceptic and while he has great knowledge of History you seem to be taking everything he says on this topic as fact, sentence structure could be improved and remember to include a conclusion everything else can be seen by the Peer Assessment.
 
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE TO TAKE TURBOT CASE (1)

The International Court of Justice has agreed to the appeal from the European Union and will handle the dispute between Canada and Spain over Canada's accusation to Spain that they are overfishing near Canadian waters. The Spanish government has received backing from most of the European Union and sanctions are already being discussed but in Britain, there is controversy inside the Conservatives as John Major refuses to openly condemn the E.U position but has been rumoured to support the Canadians however won't be open as he fears that relations will be troubled. (2) It is assumed that the verdict may decide whether John Major will be open about his support for the Canadians or not while Tony Blair has remained silent on his stance with the issue as well.

Article from 'The Guardian'.


John Major: The verdict decision is taking too long. I'm going to be open about our support for Canada.

Michael Heseltine: Hold on John, what if we strengthen people like Tebbit or Redwood with this? They'll just go on about how Redwood's resignation scared us into this. How will we explain this to fellow E.U leaders?

JM: We'll prepare an official statement about why and to be honest I don't think they can look better with this.

MH: You're not still upset about that speech are you?

JM: No I'm completely happy with being called the reincarnation of Neville Chamberlain! (phone starts to ring)

MH: The phone's ringing.

JM: I can see that.

MH: Yes? ..... Alright then. (puts the phone down)

JM: What is it Michael?

MH: The ICJ. They've decided the Spanish are in the right. (1)

JM: Damn.

MH: Do you still want to publish that statement?

JM: When they have the ICJ's backing? I'll say that we want both sides to come to an agreement and that the Spanish should acknowledge that they are operating dangerously near Canadian waters.

MH: Hopefully that'll appease the right.

JM: When are they ever pleased? They'd rather I put on a damn dress and wear the handbag before they're happy.


JOHN CHAMBERLAIN PULLS A MUNICH ON PLUCKY CANADIANS FOR SNEAKY SPANIARDS!

Headline from 'The Sun'


(1) Main POD. The E.U succeed in getting the ICJ to take the case and they decide that the Canadians were in the wrong which causes...

(2) Our secondary POD of John Major not openly backing the Canadians and deciding to wait for the ICJ decision before making a statement, of course his neutral statement goes down badly with the public.
 
Interesting start. I liked the exam answer style of presenting the TL- hope to see more like this!

You may need to wait a while since I will be on holiday and will have to pay for my in internet for about 10 days.

But I will also be part of the annual invasion force to Minorca where the British and German troops will take charge.
 
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