England

The
population of the United Kingdom of England and Wales – or England, as it is
more commonly and simply known – is now 82 million. 95%
of the population is split across eight major urban agglomerations – London
(41%), Greater Birmingham (15%), the Northwest Conurbation (14%), Greater
Newcastle (10%), Bristol (5%), Port City (5%), Greater Cardiff (3%) and
Oxbridge (2%). All other major cities, towns and villages are almost emptied of
people; only 5% of the population lives outside these areas.

While in London, England is still
ruled by elected officials in the Houses of Parliament, no politician has dared
oppose corporate rule for decades. Most of the debate about left or right now
comes down to which minimally funded social programs the corporations will
tolerate existing at a given point in time. Temporary concessions, soon
rescinded, are portrayed in the corporate-controlled media as great advances in
popular rights. Westminster itself sits within a reinforced bubble, an airlock
protecting it from the toxic smog beyond and intensely protected by legions of
drone soldiers. To the extent that it matters, English politics fragmented in
the early 21st Century. The Conservative Party – which has ruled for
more than two thirds of parliaments in the last sixty years – currently has 47%
of MPs, the British Prosperity Party 17%, the Progressives 15%, the Workers
Party 11%, the Liberal Democrats 8% and the Green Party 2%. The current Prime
Minister is Aiden Grosvenor, who won election sixteen months ago on a platform
of decreased funding to the Warrens, increased economic integration with
Scandinavia and the Causeway Project – a bridge system connecting England,
Ireland and France.

In England, the civil service barely
has any functions left. It still runs the Ministry of Justice, with a
theoretically but not actually independent judiciary, the primary function of
which is to fill the jails with inmates to reduce the street population. The
Police, large portions of which are privatised, are almost entirely automated.
The Ministry of Peace runs the Armed Services – England’s Navy, Army and Air
Force – all of which are permanently deployed to protect the coast and urban
borders. The Treasury tracks and dispenses public expenditure, but is primarily
an arm of corporate welfare offices for Universal Basic Income, and a
regulatory organ for the now-privatised Bank of England. Lastly, the Ministry
of Knowledge, incorporating secret intelligence services, monitors educational
curricula and edits the information available on the internet and via Arcadia
to ensure its consistency with corporate preferences.

The
British Monarchy still exists, vested in the continued line of the Windsors.
The current ruler is King George VII, son of William V. The family – living in
a vast bubble within which Buckingham Palace sits – is no longer immensely
wealthy compared to many Captains of Industry and is generally seen as a
figurehead that would be irrelevant but for the value in an apparent tradition
in English political culture.

Outside the cities, England has been left to rack and ruin. Near the coast, the salt air and moisture keeps the country looking somewhat as it did in centuries past, albeit with a Mediterranean rather than temperate climate. Only empty and shattered villages show any sign that people once lived there. Inland, however, the landscape alternates between lowland swamp, where a toxic fungal jungle has taken root, and the drier or hotter uplands, which are barren and desolate. The landscape is strewn with the husks of abandoned towns, shrouded in poisonous smog.

Selected Timeline

2019       Prime Minister May's deal is signed after
Article 50 is postponed.

2025       Scotland votes for independence from the
UK; Prince Charles ascends the throne after the death of Elizabeth II.

2030       The DUP leaves the Northern Ireland assembly;
King Charles III abdicates the throne due to ill health, passing it to King
William V.

2035       UK joins the US in defunding the United
Nations.

2038       UK withdraws from the UNHCR.

2039       The National Health Service is
privatised.

2041       Northern Ireland votes to reunify with
Southern Ireland.

2042       The State Identification Act is passed,
mandating that all citizens be barcoded.

2043       Social Credit is introduced, with credit
given for voluntary work, charity, good corporate or national citizenship,
serving in the military or reporting criminals.

2045       The New Armed Forces Act permits the
like-for-like replacement of military units with private contractors or
automated weapons.

2046       The Licensed Reproduction Act is passed;
the government begins tracking Talents.

2047       Social Credit now used to determine some
levels of payments.

2049       The Public Safety Act withdraws state
funding from non-metropolitan centres.

2051       Social Credit is amended so that
Corporations can nominate and even pay for supplementary social credit.

2052       The British Broadcasting Corporation is
privatised.

2053       An outbreak of the Pitt Virus leads to
the declaration of Martial Law.

2054       The Conurbation Act reduces the number of
approve metropolitans from 300 to 94.

2055       The UK removes the United Nations human
rights legislation from the statute books.

2056       The Monopolies and Demergers Act is
struck down.

2057       Martial Law ends, but the Armed Forces
retains some emergency powers.

2058       The Balanced Social Care Act removes all
social spending from those who do not earn sufficient Social Credit.

2059       Social services and fire services are
privatised; Corporations are given voting rights pro-rated to their GDP
contribution.

2060       The Tower Drones act mandates the
upgrading of all Social Credit Plus housing to be flood and air quality safe.

2061       The Corporate Care act is passed,
allowing corporations to directly sponsor some aspects of society and municipal
provision.

2062       The Police Force is privatised; the
Northwest Conurbation is hit by a bioterrorist attack that kills 320,000.

2065       The Wellbeing Act allows the government
to introduce ambient drugs to improve wellbeing, including lowering stress.

2066       The Urban Improvement Act reduces the
number of approved metropolitans from 94 to 8.

2067       Brain-dead clones grown for organ
harvesting are deemed to legally not be people.

2068       Following riots, lethal force without
limit is legalised for use by the police or in self defence in the Warrens.

2069       The New Suffrage Act removes voting
rights from any citizens housed in communal areas.

2070       The Police Reform Bill replaces all
frontline officers with drones; Talent registration process begins.

2072       The Death Penalty is reintroduced.

2073       The Safe Internet Act permits state
monitoring of all communications without a warrant.

2074       Nerve stapling is legalised for the
incurably mentally ill.

2075       The right to trial by jury is withdrawn
from citizens below a certain Social Credit level.

2076       The Citizens Defence Act is passed,
mandating that all citizens be implanted with a unique subcutaneous chip.

2077       Unlicensed genetic editing is made
illegal; harbouring a Sacculina Hominis host is now a criminal offence.

2078       Socialist and Communist materials are
made illegal; Das Kapital is banned.

2079       Unlicensed physical augmentation is made
illegal.

2080       The Hippocratic Oath is rescinded.
Project Crucible is initiated.