Malta_1990: A Vision for the Future

Day 500, 13:55 Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom by The Unity Party
Over the last months, I have contributed to the UK as a Minister, and as a congress member. Public office is about a lot of things, but most importantly it is about working together. The following is my manifesto, but I also want it to be your manifesto. The manifesto of every person who struggles to afford food on a low wage, every person who finds their company is struggling to shift stock, who finds themselves lost on the forums or struggling to find a reason to keep clicking ‘work’ and ‘train’.

For those of you who don’t know me, read my previous articles. For those of you who do- you know I am a committed campaigner, a solid presence in congress and a passionate believer in democracy, social rights and living this game to the full. A vote for me is not just a vote for that though. It is a vote for solid, workable policies. It is a vote for a strong hard-working team. A vote for a strong, expansive, Britain.


Domestic Policy



NHS Policy
I believe passionately in a strong and active health service. However we must assess the original regions for the NHS, and whether the current system should be continued, or whether it should be changed entirely. We favour the second option. The public can be divided into three groups as far as healthcare is concerne😛

Those below 45 Wellness and/or below level 5
Add their local clinic. The NHS should do a weekly article advertising the existence of NHS clinics, with links to each clinic. It should tell people to sign up to the clinics to request advice and for gifting. The NHS shall function as normal for this category.

Those over 45 Wellness
Will not be eligible for NHS gifting. They will however be eligible for our wellness fast programme, which shall be available once a month. Citizens will be given two moving tickets and instructions to move to a country currently at war, and a region with a Q5 hospital. They will fight once, and gain forty health. If they wish, they can do so again the following day, provided the war continues, before returning home. This gives our citizens the option to gain 40 wellness instantly, lifting many citizens from 50-60 health to 90-100, which is a sustainable level and has the additional benefit of raising our citizens experience. This programme will be heavily advertised, and will be administered by clinics.

Those who cannot leave the country
Those of high office, as well as those who are performing essential services in the armed forces or other government service, who cannot leave the country because of this, shall be gifted in the same way as normal.

With those three areas in mind, I advocate a three part NHS, to reflect the different needs of citizens in the UK. We estimate that considering the market cost of moving tickets hovers around £10, then this will reduce the cost of the NHS by a third to a half in the first month, and then half it again afterwards.



Entertainment Policy
This game is all about fun, and I know not everyone will be jumping for joy about NHS reform. Therefore, here are a few ideas I want to implement to make the game a more enjoyable experience for those of you who are more fun orientated.

eUK Day

I plan to introduce a new national holiday, on the 22nd of each month, where the government would run a number of competitions with prizes such as holidays with weapons to warzones (for experience and rank), houses (for wellness) and food packages. Competitions would be wide ranging, from artwork submissions, to find-and-seek on the forums (find hidden images), to quizzes about issues ranging from eRepublik to sports.

UK Award Ceremonies
The UK award ceremonies have been unused for some time, and are quite limited. We think there should be more than one winner, the awards should be a mark of respect not just monetary gain. Suggested awards include:
- Minister of the Month
- Most committed government apprentice
- Congress member of the month
- Most committed local councillor of the month
- Best new citizen (prize= a Q1 house)
- Best new citizen contribution to a public discussion debate (prize= a Q1 house)
- Royal Guard soldier of the month (paid war holiday)
- Royal Navy soldier of the month (paid war holiday)
- Paratrooper of the month
These awards would be something new players and old could be proud of. I suggest that the deadline for nominations be the 17th, and that the honours committee be reformed to decide the winners.

Ministry of Home Affairs
The Ministry of Information & Education is my expert area. I think we need a new Ministry, to divide the workload of the MoIE. At the minute, it’s an enormous amount for one Minister, and by dividing it we would share that work around a little.

The role of the Ministry would involve running the National Newspaper Association, Posting Ministerial Reports, managing the eUK Helpline, "aggressive campaigning" articles on NHS, Wellness Fast, Military and recruiting people to Erepublik. This would leave the MoIE to moderate the House of Commons & House of Lords, correctly organise the legislative systems, oversee the education of the eUK's citizens (CORE and ACE examinations), look after eUK laws, Congressional Reports, Freedom of Information and the eUK wiki.

Work Policy
I fully support the Ministry of Work. We believe in an increased level of activity from the MoW however, covering such essentials as the PCP-proposed (back in February) Skilled Workers Scheme, and increased regulation of the market.

Migration Policy
Most new citizens are not aware of the Ministry of Migration and Support, what it does and why it does it. We need to get aggressive with this by posting articles every two days to get people to notice it. London has 1568 citizens and some other regions are quite small. We need to prioritise regions bordering PEACE, mainly East of England, South East and South West, although our final aim should be to have a more equitable distribution of citizen population.


Financial Policy



Taxation Policy

I believe in a strong and sustainable taxation policy. That means we try to find a way to use taxes to stimulate, not curtail, private sector investment. The French war and the rapid growth of the NHS did a lot of damage to our finances, but once our costs are reduced due to the NHS reform above we will be able to reduce taxation.

Income Tax
20% taxes discourage reinvestment in business. Although we needed to fill our coffers initially, the high tax rate stifles investment. It slows the rate of private accumulation of funds, which limits private buying of weapons and moving tickets. It also provides a disincentive for collection of funds from company accounts, which in turn reduces the amount of money business owners have to invest in founding new business. 15% is a sustainable amount, as we predict that the initial loss of money will easily be recouped through taxes in other areas. Remember that companies don't just sit on money, they reinvest it in other areas. A lower tax would help build infrastructure, and with a vastly different NHS system and a new focus on the armed forces a well-developed business infrastructure outside of gifts and food is an essential long term plan. The only area where tax needs to go up is on RM which we don't produce at all, as a disincentive for new players who don't understand.

Value Added Tax
VAT is an unnecessary tax. However, we feel that it isn't necessary to get rid of it across the board. VAT on construction items is pointless, and since the government is the biggest buyer of gifts and weapons taxes on these items is also pointless. However, food is another matter. The cost of food, especially higher Q food, has been rising for some time. By reducing VAT on food by half we will help every member of society, and provide a larger disposable income to spend on other items.

Import Tax
Finally import taxes need to be dropped for raw materials. Although this is a difficult concept for many to understand, a lower rate of tax will encourage foreign investment in the UK. If our taxes are lowered to 25% for wood and oil, then foreign companies would be able to export to the UK and still make a profit. Although at standard prices the UK couldn't compete, due to only having medium resources, with the tax in place foreign business will only be able to contribute to the market, not undercut it. One of the current problems with the UK economy is that it isn't big enough: the marketplace is empty relative to the super-powers. By lowering taxes we don't just encourage foreign investment, we encourage Brits to found companies abroad and sell in the UK. At the minute we have more jobs than people: so unemployment is not a problem. We need to approach this sensibly, and look at what is in the long term interests of the eUK.

So to sum up, we need to cut tax. The current rate of tax stifles investment. However, it needs to be done gradually, and goes hand in hand with public sector reform.

Trade Policy
I recognise the enormous contribution of trade to the UK economy. However we believe that focus needs to be kept on overall strategy, with the ministry being expanded to include two Under-Ministers.

There will be an Under-Minister for domestic trade, whose areas will be Recommended Retail Price, Gold loan negotiation and whatever else the Minister desires, and an Under-Minister for International Trade, who will oversee negotiation of international trade deals. International Trade will also deal with International Development, whereby the country encourages the investment of British Companies money into the economies of new countries, to provide essential services. Both will be under the supervision of the Minister themselves.


Foreign & Military Policy



Foreign Policy
I believe that Atlantis is the only viable option for the eUK at the moment. With a UK team leading the organisation, I have high hopes for reform. I believe in making Atlantis more open, increasing our dialogue with friendly and neutral countries and encouraging our citizens to interact and make friends.

By working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I hope to develop what is at best an alliance of convenience into a true coming together of friends. I propose a new forum, where Atlantis citizens can chat, as well as a more open recruitment of Atlantis citizens to the UK national forums, where the use of English as a lingua franca makes communication easier.

Military Policy
I believe that the current structure of the military works well, although communication and advertising of this structure should be more open to our citizens. I therefore propose that recruitment to the Royal Guard and Royal Navy should be done through "aggressive campaigning" to encourage citizens to join the Armed Forces with newspaper articles. Teaching our citizens the best ways to fight should also be done in this way, working hand-in-hand with the Wellness Fast scheme.

I also believe in helping our citizens gain more military experience through our basket of Mutual Protection Pacts, weighing the possibilities of training wars and forming bases abroad in war-torn countries. These will require careful planning, but I am confident that our citizens are ready for our military to take a step up in terms of quality.

--

Anyway, that’s the short version. I want to implement all of this, and more. I want to make Britain a mighty state once again. But I can only do it with your help.

So this Sunday, vote Malta_1990
For a strong, United Kingdom.