Join the new world

With regime change taking place across the world, The London Inquirer sought out Jhorlin and Frerk, the old and new Prime Ministers, in order to gauge from where we had come, and where we were going. Here are their interviews.

My first interview was with outgoing president Jhorlin, of the UKRP

TLI: Hello Jhorlin
Jhorlin: Hello

TLI: Just to begin with: Did you enjoy being Prime Minister?
Jhorlin: It was incredibly demanding work, and at times I hated it, but I think all in all I did

TLI: What did you hate?
Jhorlin: Somewhat ironically, the politics - a lot of people would file complaints simply because it was me, rather than at the policies. And I hated the things people did to make political statements (Camelot etc.) that caused me extra unnecessary headaches. But that’s all part of the job, right?

TLI: Was their anything you enjoyed paticularly?
Jhorlin: Working with such great people in cabinet - I was lucky to work with some really high tier players, and that’s always very rewarding. Also getting involved in foreign affairs and military matters, which is where my strengths lie. I was also glad at the end, when most people had positive things to say rather than negatives - it’s always nice to have some reinforcement that you weren’t that bad!

TLI: What, in terms of foriegn and military affairs, are you most proud of achieving?
Jhorlin: Wiping Ireland was great, but jamesw did most of the heavy work for that. I’m rather proud to have negotiated a close to our active wars and retake our lost regions fairly quickly, which could well have wiped us. Our special relationship with the French is also a real positive thing.

TLI: Speaking of relationships, what alliances do you see forming in the coming months, based on your experience in office?
Jhorlin: I think that’s for the new wave of CPs to decide - certainly we should see an interesting shift in the balances of power globally.

TLI: Where do you see the future power in the eWorld lying? With PANAM, or back with Poland and Hungary?
Jhorlin: I’d say probably PL/HU, but it entirely depends what happens for them with regard to alliances.

TLI: Is there anywhere in your Premiership you feel you failed?
Jhorlin: Probably my management of the newer ministers - MoRec didn’t really take off under TT, and neither the shadow cabinet nor news management systems worked either. They weren’t directly my fault, but were my responsibility as CP. There were a few minor things where with experience I could have done better - I think I went through it all in my end of term report, where I talked about almost everything

TLI: What have you learnt about the eUK, and the eWorld, from your time as Prime Minister?
Jhorlin: Too much for a short response! I think my greatest learning experience was probably in dealing with foreign affairs - diplomacy really does make the world go around. I’ve been around in the eUK for coming up 2 years now, so little that happens surprises me The admins really are awkward for CPs though, they do things randomly and you have to embrace it or drown.

TLI: Do you have any advice for the incoming administration?
Jhorlin: Plenty, which I passed on in my report, in the secret CP forum, and to Frerk personally

TLI: Where did you feel you succeeded domestically?
Jhorlin: Again, I didn’t really deal with domestics too much - cabinet ran the country. Probably that I got involved with was cutting military wage costs by 1/3

TLI: Would you ever consider running for Prime Minister again?
Jhorlin: Quite possibly - I want to take some time out to help out around the place - military, ministries etc, but I don’t see why when I have some free time again and have the activity required I wouldn’t run again. Depends if people want me I suppose!

TLI: On the subject of diplomacy, which countries did you find it most difficult to deal with?
Jhorlin: I don’t think that it would be right for me to say

TLI: Which countries would you personally hope to see the UK grow closer to? Considering your experience in FA.
Jhorlin: We’ve got a great relationship with France, and I’d love to see that continue. As far as other countries go, with the likely fall of Phoenix and EDEN, these are really interesting times, and I’d love to see former enemies become friends

TLI: Any in particular?
Jhorlin: Again, probably better not say.

TLI: Is there anything you would like to add as a closing remark?
Jhorlin: Good luck to Frerk, we have every confidence in him and I’m sure he’ll do great




Naturally, my next interview was with Frerk, our shiny new Prime Minister.

The London Inquirer: Hello Frerk
Frerk: Hello

TLI: So to begin with, why do you think you won the election?
Frerk: Because I got the most votes.

TLI: Why did you get the most votes, then?
Frerk: Well, I do not know why people voted me as I'm not psychic, but I expect them to have voted me because I am the more experienced candidate and have better ideas. Also, having the support of 3 top 5 parties helps too.

TLI: Indeed. How did you acquire these parties support? Because for members of the public outside of parties, political manoeuvrings often seem quite mysterious.
Frerk: I won the polls which decided who to support. RFA started to vote once my domestics manifesto was out, and BDP when I announced my candidacy.

TLI: What are the big changes we can expect to see in the eUK from Jhorlin's term?
Frerk: We're going to have to research new alliances, as a start, considering our current one has pretty much disbanded, and the ministry of Recruitment will also be a key point. We lost nearly a hundred votes compared to last month. I see the same thing happening here what struck the Netherlands, 2 years ago we had the same size the UK has today. Nobody was too bothered and we started out too late with recruiting, and it's a very small nation now

TLI: The Ministry of Recruitment came under stiff criticism last term. How do you intend to improve this, and what lessons have you learnt from the Netherlands?
Frerk: The most important one: do not let it be done by 1 person. It doesn't work at all, and said person will die under the amount of work required. This is why I have 2 ministers and will attempt to involve a lot of people.

TLI: And what do you expect these ministers to be actually doing? Will be a focus on keeping newly joined players in the game, or finding recruits from off-site?
Frerk: Both. They will be helped by the MoComms to keep them here

TLI: And where will they be recruiting from?
Frerk: That is up to them

TLI: How soon can we expect the pound to be devalued?
Frerk: Well, I have to install my cabinet first and get all accesses done, then I will speak to Thatcher about this and we'll see.

TLI: So as soon as logistics allow?
Frerk: Yes. I will however first have to discuss what the best way to do this is, considering Thatcher has more experience with it than I do.

TLI: So do you have any advice for British businesses, and citizens planning on setting up businesses?
Frerk: Don't do any stupid things and research before you do anything, when in doubt, ask my Minister of Trade Master Hofkens, who will help you in any way he can.

TLI: How often can we expect updates? Will they be found in the media or on the forums?
Frerk: Once every one or two days, depending on the amount of updates I have. They'll be found in the Announcement section on the forums and in-game in my newspaper.

TLI: Moving on to foreign affairs, where would you, personally, like to see the eUK at the end of your term?
Frerk: In a decent alliance, with close allies.

TLI: Which allies would you favour?
Frerk: I would like to keep our closest allies where they are; close to us, which are Germany and France.

TLI: is of greater importance to you, finding a place for the eUK an alliance with strong members, or an alliance with our existing close allies?
Frerk: I would never betray my allies, but we will have to find a strong alliance for the UK if we wish to survive, we will not remain in a peaceful situation forever.

TLI: And what about our old enemies, such as Poland and the USA?
Frerk: We will have to mend our relations with them, most of our problems are ancient.

TLI: Who would you like to reconcile with, if the opportunity arose?
Frerk : Well, we border the US and Canada, so those would be good. Also, consider that our relations with Poland are not as bad as people think, they're just EDEN, that's it.

TLI: Josh Frost, the outgoing US President, has written that "Set alliances are going to be a thing of the past real quick". Your thoughts on that?
Frerk: I suppose he is right

TLI: Can you give us any information on the eUK's prospects for finding new friends in the coming month?
Frerk: Not yet.

TLI: Has the eUK had any offers?
Frerk: I can't say anything about that yet, I'm sorry

TLI: In your manifesto you wrote about acquiring the 25% production bonus on food. How do you intend to go about that?
Frerk: There are multiple solutions, the most obvious one would be conquering Irish/Norse regions, but we can look beyond that. We could rent them too, or exchange them for materials we have multiple regions of

TLI: Would you prefer conquest, or rental?
Frerk: I would prefer whichever option is the best one. Negotiations have not yet begun thus I do not know which one that'll be

TLI: Have you any message to the nation on your inaugaration?
Frerk: Nederlanders zijn gewoon geweldig

TLI: Hah hah, goodbye
Frerk: bye o/

So, in summary, what have we learnt?
...The new Prime Minister would like to reconcile with Poland, the USA, and Canada
...We can expect to find ourselves renting or invading one of our neighbours in the coming weeks
...Currency speculators should prepare for a drop in the value of the pound in a few days.

And the artwork of the day:

The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up, 1838 – JMW Turner