Ulstome Referendums

[BritishBayonet]

12th of May 1989
This was the day that the first part of the heavily controversial Acts of Devolved Powers had passed through the Parliament of Ulstome, which caused much uproar and many protests across the nation, both on the Island of Ulstome and in the devolved regions by many who opposed it with many different issues and concerns over the decision being raised by the protesters, which lead to several important cabinet members handing in their resignations over this decision, during its implementation. Many of the most vocal protesters described it as "The start of a long fall for Ulstome!" and "A day that should be erased from the pages of history!". The Acts of Devolved Powers was not one individual act but instead the title used to describe the many different acts of devolution that were passed between 12th of May 1989 and 7th of October 1990. The decision for the Acts of Devolved Powers came about from a rising separatist sentiment across Ulstome which was reflected with the membership of Separatist political parties and their presence in parliament rising rapidly. So to appease the separatists these acts were proposed to and voted on by the representatives from the constituencies of the would be devolved regions.
However as time has moved on so have the protests and the support for separatism in these regions having been declining year on year as separatist parties fell in membership and in their percentage of the vote in the elections since the passing of the acts.

With the last national election in Ulstome the political party know as Nua Nasjonal obtained a majority in the Ulstome parliament with them gathering considerable political support from the devolved regions, and whilst they did not gain a majority in the Haradren Montonget nor in the Northern Frontier Montonget they did acquire a large percentage of the vote in these regions whilst in the Koiledra Montonget they had the largest percentage of the vote.

The Nua Nasjonal had campaigned nationally with a policy of beginning the process of centralisation of the devolved powers that were devolved in the Acts of Devolved Powers to Ulstome's national parliament with them saying their eventual goal is to have "One parliament, one nation". This policy drew them much praise and much criticisms from all across the political spectrum and all across the nation. But now the Nua Nasjonal government has announced that an agreement has been reached with the devolved Montonget's to hold referendums on the revocation of several of the Acts of Devolved powers with the agreement that if the no vote wins a Independence referendum will take place.

A date has been set for the referendum to take place.

 

[BritishBayonet]

The Live Debate

Good day to you, my name is Alan Stone and you are watching "The Live Debate".
The Ríocht Forent of Ulstome and Haradren has decided to have a referendum on the revocation of the devolved powers which were granted to the Montongets of Haradren, Koiledra and Northern Frontier in the Acts of Devolved Powers, each of the separate devolved governments will have a separate referendum from one another on their decision to revoke the Acts. This debate will be focused on the Haradren referendum.

With me now is Erik Larsen who is arguing for the revoking of the acts. With me here aswell is David Moore who is arguing against the revoking of the acts.
So Erik, ill start with you. Why should the Acts of Devolved Powers be revoked?

"Firstly I would like to thank you for having me here Alan. Now to answer your question, we are one nation, same flag, same head of state, same anthem, we are all Ulstome. We are not Haradren first, we are Ulstome first if you would like to get into slogans. But we are all part of the same nation, why should we have a separate UNHS to the other regions of Ulstome, one that is run differently and funded differently and quite frankly as the health statistics show...a more flawed and less effective one. The devolved acts which separated the UNHS have been directly linked to the appalling change in the health of the Haradren region. When our per capita for illness has only risen, when our waiting times have only risen, when life expectancy has stagnated behind the rest of the nation! furthermore the acts must be revoked bec......"

I'll just need to stop you there so David can respond to that.

"Thank you, now to begin I would fully accept that the statistics are appalling and I agree that action should be done to improve that. However it shouldn't be done be some minister across the channel but should be instead done by people who live and are elected from Haradren, for they would understand the issues which the service faces better. But it is not just one act which is being voted on as you seem to have focused on healthcare but it is instead all of them so I would like to touch on them as we continue. I'll begin with the education services, here they are distinct from the rest of the nation, when you go into a classroom you know it is a Haradren classroom, the subject matter taught to the students is of a much wider variety to allow all students to flourish and find their passion. Another part that will be revoked is allowing Haradren to set it's own taxation levels, which is vital to the growth and development of the region and its people."

Thank you for that David, now Erik ill let you get the last word in this short debate as we are stretched for time.

"I find that to be complete nonsense quite frankly, Haradren is ranked 3 out of 4 in almost ever category of education whilst Ulstome which is number one in almost all of them which is due to the more effective planning and staff of the National government. Furthermore in Haradren the history of Ulstome is hardly taught with the focus being on Haradren history exclusively instead which is causing a divide among the youth and is not healthy for the nation. Now quickly you mentioned taxation, if you compared the taxation levels of the national government has resulted in faster long and short term economic growth with Ulstome's economic growth being almost a whole 1% higher than our own and whilst our wages stagnate against rising food and other good prices, Ulstome's are only rising and have been since the Acts were first passed"

Thank you both for your time, we must end it here but more debates shall come in the future.

 

[BritishBayonet]

The referendums in each of the devolved region of Ulstome have been counted. These referendums are on the decision as to whether or not the devolved powers granted to the regions Montongets, in the "Acts of Devolved powers", just under 30 years ago will be returned to the National government. If the results are Yes in the region then the process to merging them with the National government will begin and be put under the National ministries authority and directive instead of the devolved Montongets. However if any region votes a majority no then in that region a independence referendum will be held as per the agreement between the National government and the devolved Montongets for the referendum on repealing the "Acts of Devolved powers" to have taken place.

Now we have the results of the referendum in each region which will be put on screen to show it visually.

In the region of Haradren:

• Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Haradren : 68.34%
• Do not Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Haradren: 31.66%

In the region of Northern Frontier:

• Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Northern Frontier : 18.62%
• Do not Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Northern Frontier: 81.38%

In the Region of Koiledra:

• Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Koiledra : 84.98%
• Do not Repeal the Acts of Devolved powers in Koiledra : 15.02%

The results of these referendums means that the regions of Koiledra and Haradren, as they voted a majority if favour of the repeal, the powers devolved to them by the national government shall be returned.
However Northern Frontier, which has voted a vast majority against the repeal, shall be holding a referendum on independence.

We now go live to hear from the Ceannaire na Mais (Prime minister).

"People of Ulstome, today has marked a new point in our nations history, the people of the devolved regions within our nation had been given a choice, and they have taken it firmly to make their voices heard. On this day the region of Haradren and Koiledra return from their devolved status to the national government, and come back to the nation. I say this now, that i hope that everyone, no matter what side of the referendum you were on, will respect the results of this referendum and move on.
Now I have an important announcement, Northern Frontier voted 81.38% against the repeal, and so in accordance with the agreement made with their Montonget, starting now the process of their referendum on independence begins. More details will be released shortly. Thank you"

 

[BritishBayonet]

The Live Debate

Good day to you, my name is Alan Stone and you are watching "The Live Debate".
Recently the Ríocht Forent of Ulstome and Haradren decided to holda referendum on the revocation of the devolved powers which were granted to the Montongets of Haradren, Koiledra and Northern Frontier in the Acts of Devolved Powers, each of these separate devolved governments had a separate referendum from one another on their decision to revoke the Acts. All apart from Northern Frontier voted in favour of revoking the acts with 81.38% of those who participated in the referendum voting against. For the referendum to take place to begin with an agreement was made that they would have a referendum on independence if a majority voted no, which is the case for Northern Frontier. The debate that currently faces our nation is "Should Northern Frontier become independent from Ulstome?"

With me now is Emma Fay who is arguing in favour of independence. With me here aswell is Jerry Noel who is arguing against Independence.
So Emma, ill start with you. Why should Northern Frontier be independent?

"We'll independence is a case I find quite convincing, Northern Frontier is different from the rest of Ulstome, always has been long before it was conquered and forced into becoming part of its nation. We are different from Ulstome in almost every way, our culture, our traditions, our way of speaking, i can go on and on. If Northern Frontier was not part of Ulstome we would be much better off, our industries would be strong and our people wealthy but by remaining part of Ulstome we will never be strong, we will only be held down and be weak! According to the group "Northern Freedom" we would experience an additional 3% annual economic growth from being able to organise and manage our own affairs to be more effective, I don't see why we should remain if we can have the opportunity to surpass Ulstome qualitatively and make our own path in the world as we should have long ago."

Jerry would you like to respond.

"Yes i would, for that is complete nonsense, if you go to any group outside of Northern Frontier who has looked into the economics of the impacts of leaving with none of them saying our growth will increase but instead they say the opposite. 97% of our trade is either with or through the rest of Ulstome and if we were to become independent any tariffs placed upon us by Ulstome could devastate industries so serverly that the streets would look like a warzone. Furthermore almost all of our imports come through Ulstome, our fuel being the most important of these which could just be cut off if Ulstome so desired. Even if the ideal situation happened for Northern Frontier our economy would still collapse, then all the services such as healthcare, police, military and all the rest which would send our quality of life and life expectancy crashing down and make the 1800's look like heaven, even abroad people such as Preston Milton in Midir are against Northern Frontier becoming independent, and there are many many more internationally let alone in Ulstome who will be extremly opposed if we become independent"