Arransian Political History2. 1949-1965 From 1949 to 1953, Arransia was governed by a Labour-Liberal coalition government under the veteran Labour leader Hector Wolfenden (1880-1956). The Liberal leader Magnus Kerr (1892-1975) was Foreign Minister and the naval hero Patrick Scullion (1898-1995) Minister of Defence. Wolfenden was a somewhat austere chracter with a consistent record of principled scepticism about the war, but he proved a very adept chairman of a cabinet and his quiet, steely determination was well-suited to the difficult circumstances of the time. The main priority was economic reconstruction, and getting industry working again, particularly those that could produce export earnings and mainly use domestic supplies. As the post-war world was eager to buy new capital equipment, this proved very successful, particularly in areas such as shipbuilding, mining machinery and turbine generators, and during this period Arransia recorded an impressive 6% p.a. growth rate. An agreement was concluded with Brunswick for the establishment of a customs union between the two countries, and a large car plant was set up at Petersburgh building Brunswickian designed vehicles under licence. In 1953 a large new power station at Kilburn was the first in Sabrantia to use the merry-go-round train system. The wartime damage to roads and railways was rapidly repaired, although there was little new roadbuilding. Some 400 new steam locomotives of Brunswickian design were built to replace wartime losses and update the ageing pre-war fleet. Following the Higgins Report into the future of transport in Arransia, a start was made on electrifying the main-line railways, which had the benefit of using domestic coal and could be done almost entirely with home-produced equipment. By 1953 the wires stretched from Danby to Petersburgh, and by the end of the decade electrification covered the entire main line from Danby to Hebburn, the cross-border routes towards Ynysforgan and the Tri-Cities, the line from Hebburn to Howick, and the route from Kilburn to Lucker via Holborough. Over 200,000 new houses were built during this period, with a peak of 80,000 being reached in 1952. Lack of funds prevented major advances in social policy, but the school-leaving age was raised from 12 to 14, old-age pensions were increased and access to basic healthcare guaranteed for even the poorest. The fact that Arransia had virtually full employment made it possible to improve unemployment benefits at minimal cost. The highest rate of income tax was cut from the wartime 75% to 66%, but there was an increase in death duties. Wolfenden’s Finance Minister, John Wilkie (1894-1973) was regarded as a prudent guardian of the public finances. 1950 saw an astonishing baby boom, with over twice as many births as in 1949, and although the effect tailed off after two or three years, this large cohort proved a long-running problem for the education system as they moved up through the age range. This generation reached the age of 18 in time for Arransia's "Summer of Love" in 1969. Despite this, Arransia has seen little post-war population growth - the population excluding South Holburn was 12.6 million in 1949 and by 2006 had only risen to 13.0 million. In the defence field, the bold decision was taken to subsume the Army into the Royal Marines, thus effectively making the Arransian Navy a single unified armed service. A large number of war-surplus warships, aircraft and tanks were obtained from Brunswick, but care was always given to look at genuine future requirements rather than simply acquiring equipment for its own sake. In 1950 the famous cruiser HMS Badger was brought back from Orestina and restored to peak fighting condition. The celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Ugglesby Head in 1951 was inevitably somewhat muted, but Patrick Scullion made a memorable speech on the quarterdeck of the Badger which was felt to capture the national mood very well and was a major factor behind his rise to becoming Chancellor. This led Kerr to step down in favour of Scullion as Liberal leader, and Wolfenden, although he continued to the end of his term of office as Chancellor, passed the Labour leadership to Wilkie, as his health was failing and he did not wish to serve again. In the 1953 election campaign, Scullion took the line that Arransia had proved she could rebuild her shattered economy and act as a responsible international citizen, and the time had now come for a bolder and more outward-looking policy. He was rewarded with a narrow victory for the Liberals, and took office as Chancellor, with Kerr continuing as Foreign Minister and Ralph Brereton (1902-1984), who was Scullion’s brother-in-law, becoming Finance Minister. The Liberals in fact did not quite have an overall majority, but the presence of a rump of 7 Conservatives, and 13 mainly conservatively-inclined Independents meant that they were unlikely to be defeated. This was the first Arransian general election to be held on the current two-round system, and there was a noticeable swing from Labour to Liberal between the two rounds as it became clear the Liberals could actually win. Scullion was an articulate and charismatic leader, although his upper-class Marchwood accent grated with many northern Arransians. He was also, despite his military background, a patient and diplomatic man not given to quick-fix, gung-ho solutions. In 1957 he went on to achieve the second greatest electoral triumph in post-war Arransia, with the Liberals winning 160 seats in Parliament and an overall majority of 24. Although there were some minor slowdowns, the favourable economic situation of the early 1950s continued, with Arransia doing well in export markets and also expanding domestic production. The car assembly plant at Petersburgh went from strength to strength and there was also major expansion in the petrochemical industry. This success began to flow more obviously into the pockets of ordinary people, which was obviously reflected in the growing level of car purchases. The diminutive, rounded AMC35 car, which combined robust engineering with, for the time, state-of-the-art design, became an Arransian icon. It was noticeable, however, that virtually all the domestic electrical goods that people were now buying were imported, and the home textile industry was only keeping its head above water behind the protection of high tariffs. The expansion of electrification on the railways continued apace, and by 1960 Arransia had three times the length of main-line electrification compared with Brunswick, and passenger traffic on the railways was 50% above 1941, the last year of peace, and 25% above Arransia’s previous economic peak in 1929. New road construction was also picking up, with the first proper Expressway, the A1 Kirtlebridge bypass, opening in 1957, and a raft of approvals in 1960, including the upgrading of the A6 between Stainton and the Brunswick border at Regina. The national airline, Drummonds, had acquired some of the latest Brunswickian long-distance jet airliners and was flying to over 30 international destinations. Brereton was able to gradually ease income tax rates on the back of rising revenues, which helped put the country into a virtuous circle. Substantial reforms were made to the hospital system, with the county councils taking over the running of some of the less prosperous private trusts, which helped even out the level of provision. School-leaving at 14 was restricted to those entering a recognised training scheme, and the counties were obliged to provide a secondary-level education to the age of 15. A new university was created at Holborough. A major milestone in the cultural life of the country was the establishment of a national television channel in 1956, which over time transformed the way people viewed current events. After the initial burst of the early 1950s, the pace of military re-equipment slowed, but in 1954 Arransia took delivery of the 33,000-ton aircraft carrier Queen Margaret, originally laid down by Brunswick as the Hornet. This ship had been upgraded during construction to operate the latest jet aircraft and at this time, before her two Brunswickian sister ships had been similarly modified, was the world’s most powerful warship. This transfer was heavily criticised in Brunswick at the time, but the older, smaller carriers could not have been successfully adapted to operate jets, and Scullion and Admiral Henderson had dug their heels in in the negotiations to ensure Arransia got hold of the ship. Nobody would have guessed at the time that the Queen Margaret, much altered over the years, would still be the flagship of the Arransian Navy fifty years later. In 1959-60 Arransia acquired 24 of the awesome B-39 Vulture six-engined delta-winged bombers, originally designed by Brunswick as nuclear strike aircraft, but adapted for use in a conventional role. The ability to fly a round trip of 6,000 miles and drop 25 tons of bombs on a target is not to be taken lightly. These also are still (2005) in service. There is a well-known picture of Scullion and Alan Cunningham, the commander of the RNAS, inspecting the first twelve B-39s of 42 Squadron drawn up in line on the runway at RNAS Wickenby which sums up Arransia’s regained military self-confidence. On two separate occasions in the 1950s Scullion asked the Brunswickians to supply Arransia with nuclear weapons, but both times was politely refused. The Brunswickians took the view that their nuclear deterrent also provided protection for Arransia, as the two countries were allied, and it was hard to imagine Arransia using nuclear weapons independently in circumstances that would not be regarded as adventurism. This argument has much to commend it, and in later years other Arransian leaders have made a virtue of the country being a non-nuclear power, but it always somewhat rankled with Scullion who viewed it as a sign that Brunswick at heart still didn’t really trust Arransia. He asked Arransian scientists to come up with an estimate for developing nuclear weapons independently, but the cost was so jaw-droppingly huge that it was never discussed further. In 1961 Arransia did secure the agreement of Brunswick to supply reactors for a pair of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines which entered service in 1966, but these only carried conventional weapons. One of the least successful aspects of Scullion’s term of office was the attempt to regain control of the tropical colony of Lower Mumba. For the last two and a half years of the Great War contact with the home country had virtually ceased and authority had broken down apart from a handful of major towns. In the early 1950s, a Communist-led insurgency developed. Some troops were sent in under Wolfenden, but after Scullion took office the effort was stepped up, with at one time almost 40% of the Marine Corps being committed there. The old battleship Great Bear was used for shore bombardment, and extensive bombing was carried out. Indeed, Arransia dropped a greater tonnage of bombs on Lower Mumba than on Brunswick during the Great War. In the end, mainly because of a reluctance to engage ground troops, the effort failed, and the country was evacuated in 1958. Brunswick had similar problems in some colonial territories and was in no position to criticise. With the benefit of hindsight, Lower Mumba was of little economic value and the entire campaign, in which over 200 Arransians lost their lives, seems somewhat pointless. Arransia has consistently said that she would provide reconstruction aid if the government would sign a peace treaty and introduce democratic reforms, but, while this offer is undoubtedly sincere enough, it does not seem likely to be called upon in the near future. Despite the disagreement over nuclear weapons, Scullion enjoyed a good relationship with the Brunswickian President Gerald King. and the two often worked closely together to build up the tarnished reputation of the League of Nations and to help resolve various international disputes. Ten years after the end of the war, King praised Arransia for having kept both to the letter and spirit of the Treaty of Ynysforgan, and for having been a reliable and capable ally. “If you’re in a difficult situation, the Arransians are people you really want to have on your side,” he said. As the decade turned, it seemed that Arransia had successfully reestablished herself as a country that was respected for her democratic values, economic success and military strength, and whose leader was regarded as an international statesman. The previous economic high water mark of 1929 had been passed in 1955, and individual Arransians had never been so prosperous. Unfortunately the country would never enjoy such calm waters again. The 1950s, when everyone seemed to pull together and Arransia was able to hold her head up again, are still regarded as something of a golden age, and a high proportion of popular TV dramas are set in that era. If Scullion had retired in 1961 he would have been regarded by history as a great leader of Arransia with a virtually unblemished record. In Ralph Brereton he had an able successor with a strong record as Minister of Finance. However, Scullion, who had been at school with Brereton, albeit three years ahead of him, always seemed to somehow doubt his suitability for the top job, even though, or perhaps because of, the fact that Brereton was married to his sister Lucy, and Patrick had been best man at their wedding in 1928. Brereton also had an even more plummy accent than Scullion. Whatever the reason, Scullion, who at 63 was still in robust health, decided to stay on and contest the 1961 General Election. He said later than, having won a third victory, he would have handed over to Brereton, but it is impossible to tell whether that would have happened in reality. John Wilkie had stayed on as Labour leader after 1953, but after Labour’s heavy defeat in 1957 he stood down, and the party leadership passed to the much younger Geoffrey Ingham (1911-68). Ingham, with his shock of black hair and his unmistakeable Stainton accent, seemed to represent a new generation of Arransian politicians. In Labour terms he was a moderate left-winger, with a strong interest in social policy and industrial relations. He was criticised for having served during the war as a civil servant in the Ministry of War Production, but he pointed out that he had for several years been responsible for coal mining and had presided over some still unsurpassed production records, so he could not be said to have failed to contribute to the war effort. Ingham made a strong case that too much of the rising prosperity of the 1950s had gone to a wealthy élite, and that vital social reforms to improve the lot of the ordinary Arransian had been neglected. He also argued that Arransia needed to move on from navel-gazing about the war and to develop more modern and technologically advanced industries. This obviously struck a chord with the Arransian people, and Labour won the 1961 general election with a narrow but still decisive majority of 6. Ingham took office as Chancellor, with Wilkie becoming Foreign Minister and Malcolm McDaid (1905-80) Finance Minister. Margaret Dewar (1908-67) became the first woman to occupy one of the major offices of state as Minister of Home Affairs. Mrs Dewar, although someone of strong religious faith, presided over some notable acts of liberalisation. The divorce law was reformed to allow other causes beyond adultery, cruelty and desertion, and the publication of salacious details of divorce proceedings, which had been a staple for many Arransian newspapers, was prohibited. Abortion was legalised to a limited degree in 1964, for foetuses under 12 weeks where two doctors agreed there was a severe risk to the health of the mother. Also the censorship of books, films and stage plays was relaxed, and a legal test of “offensive or corrupting material” introduced which ultimately proved difficult to define in the courts. The government carried out a thorough reform of social provisions, increasing old age pensions and for the first time providing a comprehensive national system of sickness, invalidity and unemployment benefit. To some degree this was rationalising existing benefits provided by the counties on a piecemeal basis. To a large extent this system still applies today as no subsequent government has had both the funds and the inclination to make major changes. Arransian social benefits are by no means the most generous but the system is recognised as being administered in a fair and efficient manner. The healthcare system was also further reformed to give the county councils a clearly defined lead role in hospital provision and ensure that payments to private trusts were spent in a way that aligned with overall priorities. More controversial were attempts to reform the education system, which for many years has been perhaps the most contententious ongoing political issue in Arransia. The country has a rather confusing, pluralistic education system with a mixture of private, church and council-run schools. Some private schools had sufficient endowments to pay for most or indeed all of their pupils, others were largely fee-paying, and there were widely varying levels of public support to private and church schools. The end result was inevitably somewhat socially divisive, with the middle classes tending by whatever means to get their children into the better schools and the county schools, particularly in the big cities, being seen as very much second best. The aim was the improve the standard of county schools and ensure that subsidies to private and church schools benefited pupils of all ability levels. The effect, however, was to annoy all the major parties in the process and little progress was made. Education has remained a political hot potato ever since with various half-baked attempts to resolve the issues. Less controversial was the establishment of three further new universities, at Kirkby Thore, Petersburgh and Barcaldine. The school leaving age was raised again to 15 for all pupils, where it remains today. The point must be made that, despite all the controversy and the sometimes meagre level of funding, the average Arransian pupil at age 15 has much better literacy and numeracy skills than his or her UK counterpart at 16. The various road projects authorised in the latter years of the Scullion administration came to fruition under Ingham, although there was something of a hiatus in new approvals as the government wanted to avoid a piecemeal, unplanned approach. The completion of the East Cost electrification from Kelthorpe to Barcaldine in 1964, together with the branch to Lemingore and Marske, completed the initial phase of electrification and gave Arransia the most comprehensive electrified main line network in the world. Work began on setting up a computerised marshalling yard system for handling wagonload freight, and diesel railcars and locomotives were being bought to replace steam where the wires did not reach. The end of day-to-day steam traction was forecast for the mid to late 70s. In 1962 the first roll-on, roll-off car ferry started operating between Beadnell and La Hogue in Mayenne. In many ways, in 1965 Arransia gave the impression of having a very modern transport system and nobody would have imagined that in forty years’ time the country would be regarded as a kind of living transport museum. One straw in the wind was that the AMC plant at Petersburgh was still mostly building the same models it had started with in 1953. Relations with Brunswick continued to be good, with Ingham and Wilkie getting on well with King’s replacement Peter Beckett. Indeed many in Brunswick welcomed an Arransian leadership less closely identified with the Great War. However, the deteriorating political situation in Brunswick after 1963 tended to cause the two countries to draw apart a little. The decisions on defence procurement taken under Scullion would leave the country well equipped for some years to come, so no major issues came up on this front, apart from the confirmation of the ordering of the Beadnell class of guided missile destroyers, the first major post-war Arransian surface warships. The first two years of Ingham’s government saw a period of economic boom, with unprecedented levels of cars and consumer goods being sold. This also made it easy for the government to improve social provision without unpalatable tax increases. However, the internal unrest in Brunswick (which ultimately led to the secession of Almeria in 1966) resulted in an economic downturn across Sabrantia, forcing McDaid to raise taxes in 1964 just at the worst moment. This badly-judged move ended up making the Arransian economy effectively fall flat on its face in 1964, with a 2% overall contraction, and spelt out a message to all future Finance ministers that the capacity of the economy to absorb substantial tax increases was very limited. All this led to the social benefit levels having to be scaled back by 5%, just as inflation reached a post-war peak of 4%. 1964 also saw a wave of strikes in various industries, whereas up to now Arransia had enjoyed good industrial relations in the post-war period. The initial enthusiasm for the Ingham government had entirely evaporated, and in the 1965 general election, Scullion romped back into power with an overall majority of 16. He had a new, young team of ministers, including Frank Agnew (1918-76) as Minister of Finance, who had savaged McDaid’s economic record. Ralph Brereton became Foreign Minister, while the post of Home Affairs Minister went to Walter Serpell (1911-72), who had been a Conservative MP between 1942 and 1949 and held distinctly hard-line views on a number of social questions. Another significant appointment was the youthful Martin Fogarty (1926-2002) as Minister of Transport, with a pledge to kick-start Arransia’s roadbuilding programme. Although now nearing his 67th birthday, Scullion was on excellent form during the campaign and the country confidently expected him to get to grips with the the problems confronting it. King Andrew IX, who had been suffering from lung cancer, died at the age of 63 in February 1965, and was succeeded by his eldest son who became Malcolm VII (b 1932). Malcolm was, in royal terms, something of an intellectual who had shown little interest in the traditional equestrian and sailing pursuits of the royal family, and preferred to mix in theatrical and artistic circles. He had enjoyed a number of liaisons, often with eligible upper-class young women who moved in those circles, but had not married yet. There had been a few mutterings that he would not make a suitable king, and that he should be passed over in favour of his younger brother Robert Fraser (1935-2000), who was a Major in the Royal Marines, but that kind of thing was not even contemplated in Arransia. Malcolm was a fluent, witty public speaker and managed to win the public over to his side. He made a number of changes to the Coronation service to make it shorter and more modern, including dispensing with the rituals of the King’s Champion and the Royal Badger. However, the Coronation in September 1965 is best remembered for the protracted flypast of over 150 military aircraft which gave it more of the flavour of an air display, and about which Malcolm later complained bitterly to Scullion.
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