Liberal-Tory Party
| |
| Established | 1996 |
| Address | 1 Uxbridge Plaza, Kingston Bay, Praetonia PB01-D35 |
| Economic ideology | Neo-Liberal |
| Social ideology | Libertarian |
| Party leader | Sir Tiberius Polax |
| Party Chairman | Frederick von Kruger |
| Motto | For King and Commonwealth! |
The Liberal-Tory Party is the governing party in Praetonia. It emerged from a schism within the Liberal Imperialist Party whereby the then Foreign Secretary, Sir Tiberius Polax, split from the party, taking a good deal of its members including the entire Neo-Liberal wing. The party was elected to power within the first year of its existance, following an election called by then Prime Minister, Sir Lucius Agrippa. The Party has experienced a great deal of success in its first term, and many political observers in Praetonia are waiting to see if the Liberal-Tories came take the place of the Liberal Imperialist Party as the natural party of government.
Contents
History
The Liberal-Tory Party is the product of almost a decade of internal struggled within the Liberal Imperialist Party over which economic direction to follow. Most of the party elite, including the party leader and several-times Prime Minister Sir Lucius Agrippa, sat on the left-wing of the economic spectrum and largely dominated party decision making. Under the Liberal Imperialist government, industry remained largely privatised and tax rates soared towards the middle of their reign.
The shift Liberal Imperialist Party's eventual shift away from collectivist economics reflected a wider trend in Praetonian society away from centralisation which many came to see increasingly as illiberal and having induced stagnation in the country. Increasingly, Praetonians were returning to the views held by their ancestors in the Grand Commonwealth - liberalism in the classical sense and laissez faire economics. The idea of a the "Grand New Society" based entirely on mutually accepted interactions between individual subjects proposed in a book by Dr Sir Reginald Fletcher helped to crystalise these views into a coherent programme.
Faced with increasing public disatisfaction, the Liberal Imperialist Party became split as to how to respond. The "conservatives" wanted to press ahead with the Liberal Imperialist project and disregard public opinion, the "reformers" wanted to grant some concessions in order to remain in power, and the "radicals" wanted to see a laissez-faire society reintroduced. Two years into the last Liberal-Imperialist term, the leader of the radicals, Sir Tiberius Polax officially split from the Liberal Imperialists and formed the Liberal-Tory Party.
Sir Lucius Agrippa, his parliamentary majority shattered, quickly called a new election and the King dissolved Parliament. Over the course of a 2 month campaign, the Liberal-Tory Party secured enough votes to gain a Parliamentary majority, albeit it a relatively small one, and secured the support of the Crown Loyalists in the event of a hung Parliament.
Manifesto
Economy
The central policy aspect of the Liberal-Tories, the party promised to introduce a laissez-faire system with break-ups of the historic government-owned industrial giants and mass floatations on the stock market. The Liberal-Tory Party also supports massive reductions in regulation, notably on business, science and environmental concerns which could inhibt the aforementioned. The Party also supported the disbandment of all government services, including unemployment benefit, except for education which would remain government-run but with increased oppurtunities for private individuals and business to set up indepent schools. The Liberal-Tories have cultivated a strong working relationship with the CPI.
Defence
The Party promised significant increases in the defence budget to be funded by the expected (and realised) growth in the economy following economic deregulation. The Party is also thought to have secretly planned to use the armed forces as a king of social welfare system where the unemployed who could not find jobs would be forced by economic need to join the army. This appears to have been the case, and salaries in the military have increased, albeit marginally, but they remain above the average wage for an unskilled labourer and job security is virtually assured. Improvements have also been forthcoming for the navy, with a whole new set of ship classes from Imperial Praetonian Shipyards promised as well as a 10 - 12 ship class of new superdreadnoughts perported to be amongst the most advanced in the world.
Civil Liberties & Justice
The Liberal-Tory Party has promised considerable relaxation of gun laws and laws on 'victimless' crimes and they have reasserted the Liberal-Imperialist promise never to introduce restrictive or authoritarian laws in the name of counter-terrorism. The party has promised support for the existing liberal legislation set out by the previous Liberal-Imperialist government. As the Liberal-Tory Party is virtually identically to the Liberal-Imperialist Party with regards to matters of civil liberties, this section of the manifesto is almost empty.
Commonwealth and Empire
The Liberal-Tory Party has abolitioned the Empire as a meaningful political entity, integrating all of Praetonia's overseas possessions into a political union including Praetonia herself. This has lead to the Democratic Imperium of Praetonia becoming the Crown Commonwealth of Praetonia, and for the first time citizens of the Empire, with the exception of His Majesty's ViZion territories, have been given full subjectcy of Praetonia, including the ability to send MPs to Parliament and to live and work anywhere else in the Crown Commonwealth, including the Praetonian mainland.
Foreign Affairs
Like the Liberal Imperialist Party, the Liberal-Tory Party is highly nationalist with regards to foreign affairs, and has reaffirmed the committment of the previous government to expand the Commonwealth wherever possible. Under the Liberal Tory government, relations with CAD have thawed and trade has begun between the two groups. However, relations with collectivist dictatorships such as Automagfreek have worsened, as have relations with Praetonia's historic ally Sarzonia in response to Sarzonian disapproval of detente with CAD. The government has also stated its support for any Praetonian company attempting to expand abroad into any country that is not embargoed.
