[RP] The Whitehall Chronicles

[Oakster]

Bing!

Prime Minister William James heard the notification on his laptop and opened the new email.

To: James, William (Prime Minister)
From: Wellington, Samuel (Foreign Secretary)

Prime Minister,

Just to keep you informed that the Foreign Ministry has now concluded the endorsement campaign. I haven't got the exact figures but I think we have endorsed around 800 Nations. We have received 142 in return so far. Even if they all were to return the endorsements, which won't happen, we will not be within the 50 of the Vice Delegate as stated in TNP Law. We also followed your directive and no TG's were sent requesting re-endorsement so I am confident we have worked within the law.

Ambassador David Pritchatt has applied for the Diplomatic position in the TNP Foreign Embassy as directed. We hope to hear back soon.

Samuel Wellington
Foreign Secretary

He closed the email and looked through his inbox. There was still no reply regarding the Citizenship application he submitted a few days ago. He scratched his head and took a sip of whisky from his hip flask.

He stretched and yawned. The long day was beginning to get to him and he was feeling tired. He closed the laptop down. Stood up, turned off the desk lamp and walked out of his office. He locked the door behind him and headed out to the car park.

 

[Oakster]

Samuel Wellington, Oakster Foreign Secretary, opens the email he just received from his Regional Ambassador, Richard Pritchatt.

To: Wellington, Samuel (Foreign Secretary)
From: Pritchatt, Richard (Regional Ambassador)

Attached: Letter of Credence, Guide to Writing an..., The North Pacific Co...

Sir,

Good news. I have been accepted as an Ambassador to the Diplomatic Corp and I have already been to the Foreign Ministry and requested an Assignment, in fact, I'm still there now as I write this email. I'll let you know how I get on. I have attached the documents that they use here and I have to say that I am impressed with their organisation.

Richard Pritchatt
Regional Ambassador to Oakster
TNP Diplomatic Corp

He scanned through the documents and forwarded the email to the Prime Minister. A few seconds later his phone rang.

"Foreign Secretary"

"Good morning Prime Minister. How are you?"

"Good, good. Have you read the email from Pritchatt?"

"I thought the same thing Sir. Are there any further orders for him?"

"I'll pass that on. He seems pretty keen and to be fair I was impressed with the organisation too. Is there a cabinet meeting today?"

"That's fine. Count me in"

Ending the call, he turned to the TV on the wall in his office and put the news on. It was going to be a busy day here at the Oakster Foreign Ministry.

 

[Oakster]

Jack Eagle storms into his office and throws himself onto his chair.

He picks up the phone and calls the Prime Minister.

"Prime Minister? It's Jack"

"Yes I've done it but I want to say again that I don't think it was the right way of doing it"

"I know we discussed it but we've been here for a day or two and already you want me to file law reviews. Its preposterous, uncivil and just plain rude"

"No. I don't need to tell the King that, I'm telling you"

"Don't give me that. You may be the Prime Minister but remember that I am the Justice Minister and we've worked hard for what we've achieved so far. I'd hate to see it all ruined by stupid actions. That's all"

"Agreed"

"Probably around 4pm"

"I can't this evening... Oh wait, no I can"

"OK. See you there"

Jack puts the phone down and takes a deep breath. He knew that accepting the role as Justice Secretary wouldn't be easy, even if it's no different to what he has always done, it just has a title now. He flicks through the Oakster Supreme Court Law Reports and awaits to see if clouds start forming over Oakster.

 

[Oakster]

Prime Minister William James opens the letter passed to him by a junior Minister. The envelope had the mark of The North Pacific.

Reading the contents, he smiles and quickly sits at his desk to write a dispatch to all of Whitehall.

Ministers and Whitehall Staff,

I am pleased to update you that Oakster has just received official confirmation that we have achieved Citizenship status in the region.

This is a big step for us and opens up several opportunities within the Region. The first door opened is that Ambassador Pritchatt, who has been accepted as a Regional Ambassador to The North Pacific but was awaiting an assignment, can now be assigned an embassy. We look forward to him raising our profile across the NationStates.

I will keep you informed of any further updated.

William James
Prime Minister

 

[Oakster]

To: James, William (Prime Minister)
Cc: HRH
From: Eagle, Jack (Justice Secretary)

Sirs,

I am currently in the Court of TNP and my review is underway. Their Chief Justice, a Mr SillyString, had originally ruled as we expected - It has been dismissed as I didn't put how it affects us. My concern with this is that he has requested I file the review with the AG. The downside to that is that there is no AG.

There are currently two other people here, one, a Mr YeahJust, who has made a claim that this situation was authorised a few months ago. By whom and how I don't know but I have asked him for the details so that I can look into it. A bizarre state of affairs.

The other fellow, a Mr falapatorious, has pointed out that I can appeal the decision and ask for the court as a whole to review the decision. I have asked the CJ if I should amend, or appeal.

I will keep you updated but I will say that our initial thoughts that the Region was politically stable may not be the case.

Regards,

Jack Eagle
Justice Secretary

 

[Oakster]

William James sat down in the office of the King of Oakster. The King was running late and although William had a lot to do, no one hurries a King.

He looked around at the portraits hung on the wall of all the past leaders of Oakster. He breathed in the history. There were flags of all the old Regions that Oakster had been involved with, some they were just members of, some they had set up and ran themselves. He looked at the old military medals that Oakster had been awarded back when they were more militaristic, working as part of armies to capture and protect weaker Regions. The age of Oakster was not noticed by many. They saw the small population and jumped to conclusions. They didn't know of the years of anarchy when the Nation just swayed in the wind, leaderless and uncontrolled.

The door to the left opened and in walked His Royal Highness Benjamin Oakley making William jump. The King was wearing his normal business suit, having dispensed with the traditional military Regalia a long time ago, and the Prime Minister dreaded to think how many Oaks the suit cost.

"Good afternoon Prime Minister. How are things in Oakster?"

"Everything is good here. Tax is till going down. Civil Rights going up and our economy is improving. The issue we have is here in The North Pacific."

The King frowned, and sat down clasping his hands together on the desk and nodded for the Prime Minister to continue.

"Jack Eagle has filed the Request for Review to the Court of the TNP and as we expected, it has been denied based on us not really being affected by it. However, since then there have been a few developments. Firstly it appears that the entire Government and Judiciary have been aware of the breach of the Constitution and allowed it to continue. Secondly, they have no Attorney General, and the person apparently in running the department is reportedly intent on shutting down Jack in a way that borders on an attack on his civil liberties by suppressing his right to free speech. Thirdly there is clearly an underlying tension running between the departments of the Government."

The King frowned further still.

"This is bad Will" said the King in an uncharacteristic show of friendliness. "We picked this region as it seemed to have everything sorted out. Activity. Legislation. Unity..."

He trailed off into deep thought.

"Leave this with me please Prime Minister. I need to think this through and consider our options"

William stood up and thanked the King for his time as he left the office.

The King watched as he left. The information he had received was troubling. He quickly realised he had two options. Either leave and find a new Region, or, roll his sleeves up, get stuck in and try to work with the Region to sort the mess out.

"Decisions, decisions." he muttered.