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 Temporary concessions, soon rescinded, are portrayed in the corporate-controlled media as great advances in popular rights.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.