The Red-Greens Headquarters [NSG Senate]

[Beta Test]

The latest from the Vox Populi...

A President of Progress: Hohenzollern Victory Confirmed
(NEWS) -- Following a recount requested by opposing candidate Boris Johnson, the Electoral Commission confirmed today that Friederich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern was the victor of the March 2014 Aurentine Presidential Election by a single vote...

Even though I'm not a Red-Green, I really like this newsletter.

[Haelunor]

Yes, I thoroughly enjoy the newsletter. Keep up the great work!

[Britanno]

It is very entertaining to read.

[Oneracon]

*Unnecessary lights are dimmed or deactivated, and several small signs printed on sustainable paper are posted throughout the building*

Happy Earth Hour, Red-Greens!

On this occasion I wish to announce a new proposed party policy to be voted on following the confirmation of the new Government. I propose that the party headquarters should, by the year 2020, generate at least 20% of its own power with the eventual goal of removing our party headquarters' reliance on the power grid entirely.

Yours in Service,
J. Burchett
Vice Chairman of the Red-Greens

[Mkuki]

Hello, there. As the prospective Minister of Research and Astronomy I released a brief press statement in the ProgCo HQ thread detailing my plans as said minister. I didn't get much of a response there, so I've decided to go to each Progress Coalition party thread and seeing what each of you think of my policy proposals.

Senator Antoine Lumière Press Release (Candidate for Minister of Research and Astronomy)

Noted astrophysicist and host of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, Neil deGrasse Tyson said "I know of no time in human history where ignorance was better than knowledge". We must take these words to heart and as the Minister of Research and Astronomy I pledge to do so.

In the world of today, scientific and technological breakthroughs occur every day. Just last year, astronomers discovered and confirmed the existence of the one thousandth extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, in our vast universe. We live in exciting and innovative times and as such it is up to us, the government of Aurentina, to encourage greater interest and investment in the sciences. To do this, my staff and I have crafted a seven point plan that the ministry will work towards achieving under my leadership.

EARTH II Plan

• Establish a national space agency specifically dedicated to space exploration, astronomy, and research into space-based technologies.
• Augment the supply and accessibility of scientific and research scholarships to Aurentine students.
• Recommend the construction and funding of several new public, research facilities.
• Team up with other space agencies, research universities, and private sector businesses in developing new technologies.
• Hinder any attempts to militarize space.
• Implement a nationwide standard for scientific studies that are to be used in courts of law or referenced in the writing of legislation.
• Install a national WiFi grid.

[Oneracon]

I'm wondering if I should work at developing a nationwide mesh network in case of emergencies and attacks on our main telecom infrastructure.

[Battlion]

Following on from the lead of one of my Ministerial Designate colleagues I shall post the Ministry of Education Prospective Programme here for discussion... (Be warned, it's long!)

Ministry of Education: Proposed Programme
"Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets" - Leonardo da Vinci

Education has often and still is likely considered to be a process that is only relevant up until an individual achieves employment and is contributing to the national economy, this government believes that this is idea of Education is wrong on all levels and recognises that in reality Education is a lifelong process of learning from birth to death through a variety of different social actors and methods of learning.

Education begins during childhood, as does formal education therefore we must ensure that there is a solid foundation for further learning during early years education. However, we must not do this blindly and on the approach of assuming that every child is developing and understanding at the same rate as others therefore we must look ensure that our early years education is not too focused on the accumulation of knowledge and memorization of key terms but as a social process to allow for real development in the character of a child to create a passion for learning and ensure that further study is something to be desired and not something to be lived through despite not wanting to be there.

The Ministry of Education shall look at the socio-cultural perspective of child development and the process of learning championed by Vygotsky which focuses on how children gain the tools that society requires, that looks at the role of adults and peers as mediators of learning and aims to frame the child in their social and cultural context. Therefore we must make it clear that this government supports some clear key concepts of Education that the Ministry of Education shall publish as a code of practice and further development to these key concepts upon taking office however in brief we can outline them here for your viewing...

• We believe that Education in Aurentina must ensure that there is a zone of proximal development for all
• We believe that Education in Aurentina must ensure that interpersonal and intrapersonal development is possible for all
• We believe that Education in Aurentina must ensure that the scaffolding of learning is proportionate and balanced
• We believe that Education in Aurentina must promote language as a key social tool that is crucial for further learning
• We believe that Education in Aurentina must allow children to learn with others to understand rules and self-regulation through play

We all believe that teachers and other adults have an important role to play in providing the conditions to support learning such as providing resources to explore, models to follow, simplifying tasks and explaining key ideas to pupils. However, we must ensure that learning is not too focused on an approach that dictates what someone should know and understand by a certain age but should provide space for teachers to provide these services to our children and therefore to achieve this the Ministry of Education shall, out of it's own budget, create an Education Development Fund that schools can approach for further monetary assistance to provide the most up-to-date resources to ensure that our children are learning from the best resources available on the market.

However, we must not forget those who require special assistance for learning therefore the Ministry of Education shall introduce legislation to bring forward Special Educational Needs Assessments for all those who start education in both primary and secondary school to look for areas of weakness and issues that may harm the learning of the pupil and be able to tackle them earlier rather than later. We believe that by doing this, we can ensure that there is an equal footing for all in Education and provide the support needed by some to allow them to thrive in Education therefore allowing them to contribute to the national economy as an after-result.

The Ministry of Education also makes the commitment to ensure that every pupil leaving Year 6 has a 3R's gurantee (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) and for those falling behind to be provided one-to-one and small group tuition at any stage of their Education and for those in Year 7 to 11 be provided with their own individual personal tutor either provided by schools or the government to provide support and advice when required during Education.

We are also committed to ensuring that learners are provided with the best meals at places of learning and agree with research that suggests that children who skip breakfast are more likely to face negative consequences for academic, cognitive, health and mental health functioning therefore we shall introduce legislation to compel the Ministry of Education to provide funding to schools to be able sustain Breakfast clubs. However, lunch is also increasingly important and we must ensure that all schools are able to provide good meals to students if they desire it however the government also recognises the expense of doing so therefore we must be flexible and responsible in ensuring that schools are able to provide a good lunch. Therefore, the Ministry of Education shall out of it's own budget allocate money aside to the development and upgrading of kitchen facilities in all schools and for those who do not have such facilities to construct such facilities.

The Ministry of Education also recognises that with the huge amounts of interaction between children in schools and by actively encouraging children to interact with others there are likely to be cases where this interaction is not positive but in fact negative through things such as bullying which we believe can be as equally damaging to the success of an pupil's education as not having a good teacher to provide the learning. We shall introduce a free anonymous helpline via telephone and through the internet for all children and/or teenagers experiencing bullying in our schools to provide confidential support whilst also encouraging the individual to provide the name and location of their school to allow a system to raise red flags at schools that are known for high volumes of bullying and for the government to intervene directly in these schools.

To expand further on this aim, the Ministry of Education intends to create an Independent Inspection body to investigate places of learning to ensure that a high standard of Education is being provided and is being delivered by respectable teachers. This Independent Inspection Body shall be modelled of the British equivalent (Ofsted) and further details to it's name, powers and inspection details shall be made public at a further date however it should be noted that to ensure that high standards of learning are taking place and that schools do not 'act' differently during inspections the new Independent Inspection Body shall not be required to inform a school that they are being inspected until three hours before the inspection is formally due to begin.

When coming towards the end of compulsory Education, we need to be able to assure that the education they have received is of high standard and is something that our nation should be proud of. The most independent and impartial way to measure this is via an international scale therefore I propose that Aurentina should apply to partake in the 2018 PISA Data Participation, under this plan we would apply to join this participation and would be able to meet the requirements to partake in PISA. The Ministry of Education shall argue that whilst there are costs to such an international programme, we should not turn down the opportunity to learn what we need to be doing to make our education policies better for the future by looking at the highest performers of PISA whether this be those with the highest scores and/or those who have increased scores in individual subjects significantly.

One area of the unknown in Aurentina is the cost of University, something which was prescribed to be dealt with by further legislation that has never materialised. Therefore, it shall be this government that fills in this gap by meeting our commitment to free Education to be clear there shall be no tuition fees in Aurentina for all domestic students however we shall propose that a tax be levied upon all those who have graduated from University earning above a set income level to pay back the costs of their education at a small level to ensure that the cost is spread evenly across the life of the individual and not one big sum payment. However, we must not forget assistance that should be provided to students to actually live during University therefore we propose a sliding grants scheme with a basic living grant available to all students at the level of £3750 and an additional grant being provided based on the household income of the student to provide a good quality of living for all students during University.

Beyond University we must make sure that Learning is not ignored, we should provide Education to all including Adults therefore the Ministry of Education shall out of it's own budget fund Personal Development Courses to be provided by Universities for all adults who have expressed interest. These courses shall be full or part-time and shall focus on the development of new skills and subjects that an individual may not have been able to experience during their formal education such as foreign languages or more creative skills such as Fine Art or Musical Instruments. We shall aim to consult on the amount of spaces available and course content themselves with all who wish to express opinion regardless of political affiliation.

Overall we must ensure there is a national agreement for Education between the state, teachers, business, academics and parents, this agreement should include the key concepts of Education outlined earlier but could also include a commitment to higher education spending and a clear and formal relationship between all stakeholders in Education that promotes a higher standard of Educational practice and I believe these policies are a first step to this.

List of Policies Announced

• Publish an Information Paper on the Key Concepts of Education outlined in the programme
• Create an Educational Development Fund to ensure that schools can claim further monetary assistance from the Government to provide the most up-to-date and valuable resources for learning
• Introduce Special Educational Need Assessments for all starters at primary and secondary level to ensure any areas of concern are known and can provide the correct level of support to the learner
• Every pupil leaving primary school secure in the basics, with a 3Rs guarantee of one-to-one and small-group tuition for every child falling behind; and in secondary school, every pupil with a personal tutor provided by the school or Government.
• Make Funding Available to all schools to provide and sustain breakfast clubs effectively
• Introduce a scheme to cover costs for upgrading existing kitchen facilities and/or building new kitchen facilities
• Provide a free anonymous Helpline via telephone and Online for Children or Teenagers experiencing Bullying in Schools, to allow the system to raise a red flag at schools that are failing to tackle bullying effectively
• Create a new Independent Inspection Body with sufficient powers to scrutinise schools fairly and rigorously
• Bring Aurentina into the PISA to allow international comparison and policy development
• Clear the grey areas of Higher Education funding (Tuition Fee's etc) via a Grant System and Graduate Tax
• Fund Personal Development Courses for all Adults for free for new skills and development

[R-G Vox Populi]

The latest from the Vox Populi...

Crisis or Contained?: Conflicting Reports on Guinea Ebola Outbreak
(NEWS) -- The World Health Organization has called the ongoing Guinean outbreak of the Ebola virus "limited geographically", stating that it isn't an epimidemic or an unprecedented level of infections...

[French Guyane]

So we're now reporting on international incidents instead of just internal ones? Good.

[Oneracon]

So we're now reporting on international incidents instead of just internal ones? Good.

We always have, the first Vox Populi article was on the Ugandan antigay laws and there were quite a few articles on the Crimea crisis.

[Pesda]

I move for a whip in favour of the confirmation of Glasgia as Prime Minister.

[Oneracon]

I move for a whip in favour of the confirmation of Glasgia as Prime Minister.

Seconded.

[French Guyane]

So we're now reporting on international incidents instead of just internal ones? Good.

We always have, the first Vox Populi article was on the Ugandan antigay laws and there were quite a few articles on the Crimea crisis.

I kinda forget that when I made that comment.

[Mollary]

I see that we're creating a 'rainy day' bit for the budget. What is the party view on this? Because to me, it seems quite pointless.

Also, should we consider deciding to run a deficit in accordance to Keynesian theory to expand public expenditure and investment? And possibly including a constitutional amendment to restrict the size of government surpluses to below a certain point?

And what are the current tax rates? And what is the population of Aurentina? And how many people are in each income bracket?

I'm going to re-phrase this:

My suggestions towards the budget (which have no impact considering that I've been inactive mostly):

[*] Eliminate Budget Surplus, start running a deficit.
[*] Cut tax for first year in office across the board
[*] Create an amendment to restrict the size of surpluses in future
[*] Inquiry into industrial monopolies, introduce acts to either break down monopolies on industry or nationalise them.

[Pesda]

Personally I think we should try to avoid deficits unless we're in a recession, or recovering from one.

[Mollary]

Personally I think we should try to avoid deficits unless we're in a recession, or recovering from one.

The thing is though, large economic growth in the past has come at times when countries have run deficits. It essentially means more money is in the hands of the public sector to be spent than there is locked away in the hand of the government.

Although it depends on our control over our currency and our credit rating, what does that look like currently?

[Pesda]

Personally I think we should try to avoid deficits unless we're in a recession, or recovering from one.

The thing is though, large economic growth in the past has come at times when countries have run deficits. It essentially means more money is in the hands of the public sector to be spent than there is locked away in the hand of the government.

Although it depends on our control over our currency and our credit rating, what does that look like currently?

It would also mean that we'd be in a worse position when recession does happen though, because the deficit we'd need to have would be even bigger.

[Mollary]

The thing is though, large economic growth in the past has come at times when countries have run deficits. It essentially means more money is in the hands of the public sector to be spent than there is locked away in the hand of the government.

Although it depends on our control over our currency and our credit rating, what does that look like currently?

It would also mean that we'd be in a worse position when recession does happen though, because the deficit we'd need to have would be even bigger.

The deficit would be bigger, although, if you look at the arguments presented here, that isn't really an issue, except in regards to inflation. The deficit has basically been made an issue by right-wing politicians when it really isn't one.

[Mollary]

Well that was unexpected, you return here for five minutes and suddenly you're made a deputy minister.

Which is odd considering I was previously here for several months and never achieved anything much.

[New Zepuha]

Anyone who wishes to take part in matters of national security and aide me in keeping my head clear and mission focused, then you may want to take part in my advisory board. The Security Council will be tasked with discussing points and managing their own thread [to be created by the chairman]. Please post intent on the MoI thread and TG chairman intent to me.

[The Nihilistic view]

It would also mean that we'd be in a worse position when recession does happen though, because the deficit we'd need to have would be even bigger.

The deficit would be bigger, although, if you look at the arguments presented here, that isn't really an issue, except in regards to inflation. The deficit has basically been made an issue by right-wing politicians when it really isn't one.

lol, paying billions in interest when without any national debt that money going to interest could be used to actually help people is not an issue. Now I have heard it all.

Just think of all the things we could do with the £20bn currently spent in interest payments. It's a total waste.

[Mollary]

The deficit would be bigger, although, if you look at the arguments presented here, that isn't really an issue, except in regards to inflation. The deficit has basically been made an issue by right-wing politicians when it really isn't one.

lol, paying billions in interest when without any national debt that money going to interest could be used to actually help people is not an issue. Now I have heard it all.

Just think of all the things we could do with the £20bn currently spent in interest payments. It's a total waste.

Dayum, I thought we had control over our own currency. So, yeah, debt is an issue then. I was wrong. However, as we're still in an economic recovery period I would still recommend the government considers running a small, controlled, deficit, to create an economic stimulus without having to raise taxation levels, and then pay off the debts using the extra tax revenue created from the growth.

[Haelunor]

Stimulus is life. Stimulus is love.

[The Nihilistic view]

lol, paying billions in interest when without any national debt that money going to interest could be used to actually help people is not an issue. Now I have heard it all.

Just think of all the things we could do with the £20bn currently spent in interest payments. It's a total waste.

Dayum, I thought we had control over our own currency. So, yeah, debt is an issue then. I was wrong. However, as we're still in an economic recovery period I would still recommend the government considers running a small, controlled, deficit, to create an economic stimulus without having to raise taxation levels, and then pay off the debts using the extra tax revenue created from the growth.

The last two governments have successfully run debt reduction programmes, we don't have a government deficit and it looks to me like the commitment is to keep it that way with the new government for now.

Increasing the size of our interest payments? No thanks. By the time we wipe out government debt we will have spent 300 or 400 billion pounds on interest payments as it is. How anybody can justify such waste is scandalous. No sound finances is to eliminate debt, then save up funds during the boom to then be able to deploy them during a bust without having to borrow any money. That is how to run national finances, in fact that is keynesianism as well actually. But most people ignore the part where he says one should run a nice surplus in good times and instead run either no surpluses and in the case of idiots like Gordon Brown they run a deficit in the good times.

[Oneracon]

I would like to announce (ICly and OOCly) that I will be taking indefinite leave of absence due to a family crisis that is demanding my full attention.

If the Government wishes to appoint an interim Minister of Telecommunications until such time as I return, any nominee would have my full support.