Land of Hope and Glory (Scenario)

One possible future of the United Kingdom.

2021

 * In late November, a Tory party backbencher rebellion occurs over continued COVID-restrictions resulting in Boris Johnson being ousted in a vote of no confidence. Rishi Sunak is elected leader of the Conservative Party and appointed the first Hindu Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Following the successful inoculation of 93% of the British population, COVID restrictions are relaxed and measures are introduced to prepare the country for dealing with COVID-19 in the long-term using the only sustainable measure available: personal responsibility.
 * All "unconscious bias" training and diversity training programmes for civil servants are ended.

2022

 * The United Kingdom negotiates entry into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), renamed the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
 * The England Act (2022) is passed, reforming and standardising English county and local government. The Act reforms all counties into either counties or metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties (such as London and Manchester) are divided into boroughs that act as local government. Conventional counties may be unitary authorities providing all services and local government, or they may share power with incorporated municipal governments.
 * The English Regions Act (2022) is passed as a corollary to the England Act earlier in the year which organises English counties into 12 Regions, an adapts all other "region" designations used in English law to conform to these newly standardised Regions of England with the aim of reducing legal and statistical clutter regarding regional divisions of England.
 * The Act of Union (2022) is passed, revoking all unenumerated powers from all devolved governments but granting them many more enumerated powers. The Act also reaffirms the United Kingdom as a unitary state composed of four countries tied together by history and a shared identity.

2023

 * Following 2 years of research studying higher education tuition fees systems around the world, the Tanner Commission recommends the implementation of an Australia-style deferred payment scheme, where students pay their tuition fees through taxation once they begin work, with loan interest only to account for inflation.
 * The Social Media Neutrality Act (2023) is passed by the British Parliament, mandating that social media companies register as either editorial or non-editorial platforms. Editorial platforms are allowed to edit and/or censor the content that is produced on its platforms, but are held partially liable for what their users say on the platform, not unlike how newspapers can be held liable for what their contributors say that is published. Non-editorial platforms are treated akin to mobile and internet service providers in that they are not allowed to censor their users' content, but they cannot be held liable for what their users say or do on their platforms. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook soon register as non-editorial platforms, and begin de-censoring their platforms. YouTube attempts to continue as an editorial platform but after a few months changes its registration following a tsunami of lawsuits accusing the platform of "failing to properly police content".
 * The Bank of England Act (2023) is passed by the British Parliament. It provides the Bank of England with Parliamentary approval for the full implementation of its central bank digital currency. The Act also prohibits the implementation of a negative interest rate below -0.15% for more than 1 quarter without Parliamentary approval.

2024

 * The Conservative Party is re-elected to power with a diminished majority. The SNP suffers losses to the Labour Party.
 * "Build Beautiful Britain" is launched with the aim of beautifying the country through stricter aesthetic guidelines and investment in "social infrastructure" such as libraries and community centres. This is also partly framed as a mechanism to continue Britain's journey out of post-COVID and post-Brexit economic decline.
 * Cordial relations are established with President-elect Nikki Haley (R) of the United States of America, who received a landslide victory over Kamala Harris (D)
 * Following through on campaign promises, reforms are introduced to the House of Lords, capping the total number of members at 750. As the current number of lords is above 750, no new appointments are to be made until the number of lords has decreased to 750 through natural attrition. New lords may only be appointed in groups of 5. A new lord is to be nominated by the Cabinet as a whole, and appointed by the monarch.

2025

 * Secretly recorded footage of the interrogation and incarceration of Johnny Atkins, a previously small-time pub comedian accused of spreading "hate speech" - namely, joking about the Prophet Muhammad, is leaked to the press. Massive public backlash occurs leading to weeks of back and forth criticism and debate within the media, with many on all sides of the debate engaging in slander and ad hominem attacks. Notably, a Channel 4 show host accuses Johnny Atkins of being a "spiteful creature". This sparks debate within the ruling Conservative Party to repeal hate speech laws in the UK. A few weeks later, while in police custody, Johnny Atkins is murdered with a piece of broken glass by a fellow prisoner who is revealed to have been a jihadist returned from Syria. This is quickly compared to the Charlie Hebdo attacks of 2015 and the beheading of Samuel Paty in 2020. Due to further public anger, Parliament repeals a majority of hate speech laws in the Freedom of Speech Act (2025), and explicitly requires police to remove petty offenders from hate speech watchlists. It also explicitly prohibits the policing of thought. Parliament also passes a resolution reaffirming the United Kingdom's commitment to free speech and condemning violence as a means of "avenging offensiveness". Counterriots occur and are met by counter-counterrioters. Violence breaks out in the streets of Britain and the nation's resolve is tested.
 * Due to a year-long series of scandals involving Channel 4, the government moves to privatise the network, stripping it of all public funding and insurance.
 * In fulfilling a campaign promise, the Conservative government enacts significant reforms to the tertiary education system via the passage of the Universities (Consolidation and Creation) Act (2025) and the Higher Education Act (2025). Many smaller and unsuccessful universities are either closed or conglomerated into regional collegiate universities, significantly reducing bloating and degree inflation while cutting down on administrative costs. Furthermore, many universities are converted to Liberal Arts Colleges or Institutes of Technology, with a system in place to ensure each region of the UK has a healthy balance of LACs, IoT's, and general Universities. General universities are reformed to place more emphasis on multidisciplinary learning, aimed at specifically catering towards the minority of students that pursue multidisciplinary further education. Alongside these reforms, a number of Institutes of Technology and trade schools are built in the North of England and in Scotland such as the Glasgow Institute of Technology, Northumberland School of Technology, Merseyside Trade College, and the Doncaster School of Trades. Based on the work of a Royal Commission into tuition fees and administrative costs, it is found that the commercialisation of tertiary education has led to costs increasing for the government, not decreasing. Hence, such commercialisation is reversed, and tuition fees are significantly reduced across the board. Additionally, institutes of higher education are recommitted to diversity of viewpoint and freedom of speech.
 * The Royal Family Act (2025) is passed, restricting the official definition of the Royal Family to those directly in line to the throne and their nuclear family. Furthermore, it allows for anyone in the Royal Family to resign from the Royal Family, but doing so revokes their right to call themselves royals.

2026

 * A CANZUK free-movement area is negotiated, with VISAs no longer necessary and CANZUK citizens able to enter fellow CANZUK countries via the same immigration checkpoints as citizen arrivals.
 * In preparation for the BBC's Royal Charter expiration next year, the Temporary Commission for Reducing Administrative Bloat (TCRAB) and the Temporary Commission for Consolidating Services and Reducing Redundancy (TCCSRR) are established to investigate their namesakes and publish reports that will be useful in reforming the BBC next year.
 * The Police Act (2026) establishes the National Police Academy to train new recruits for the police departments across the country at a common standard while maintaining separate management, jurisdiction, and oversight of the departments themselves, in line with the British model of policing by consent.

2027

 * The English local government electoral system is reformed with the implementation of an approval voting system. The Turing Commission on Electoral Reform is established to investigate alternate electoral systems for national elections.
 * With the expiry of the BBC's Royal Charter, a great opportunity for reform comes to exist and is taken advantage of by the government. The BBC's governance structure is significantly streamlined, it is placed under Ofcom regulation, the National Audit Office is granted powers to audit the BBC, and the recommendations of the Temporary Commission for Reducing Administrative Bloat (TCRAB) and the Temporary Commission for Consolidating Services and Reducing Redundancy (TCCSRR) are implemented.
 * Queen Elizabeth II passes away in her sleep at age 101, on the 30th of April, 9 days after her birthday. The Commonwealth Realms enter into a 3-month period of mourning, with all British (and Commonwealth Realm) flags around the world flown at half mast. A public funeral is held with dignitaries from all nations on Earth and the leaders of almost all Commonwealth nations (and other nations as well) attending. Observers call it "the end of an era".

2028

 * Prince Charles is crowned King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
 * The Conservative government implements the recommendations of the Turing Commission on Electoral Reform, replacing the United Kingdom's first-past-the-post system with an optional preferential voting (instant runoff) system.
 * As a result of the previous year's parliamentary committee on political diversity in the BBC, new hiring practices are introduced to improve political diversity within the news organisation.

2029

 * The Labour party wins a plurality of seats with a one-seat lead over the Conservative party, ironically in large part thanks to the reforms implemented by the previous year's Turing Commission. The SNP suffers significant losses as do the Lib-Dems. The Greens make moderate gains and a tenuous coalition is formed between Labour, the Lib-Dems, and the Greens. Within months factional in-fighting within the Labour party and Lib-Dems respectively threatens not only to derail the coalition, but the parties themselves, as moderate back-benchers clash with more radical progressives in the front benches.
 * With a Conservative loss ending 20 years of Conservative Party rule, and the necessity of courting more voters, a period of reflection within the Conservative Party begins, with many turning towards philosophy and aestheticism, while economically realigning towards minimal intervention in most aspects of the economy, but committed intervention where technocratically appropriate that is more compassionate and working-class oriented.

2030

 * The leader of the Lib-Dems resigns and, with the beginning of another leadership election, a number of centrist Lib-Dem MPs defect to form their own party: the Liberal-Independents. The Lib-Inds now hold more seats in Parliament than the Lib-Dems. Infighting in the Labour party resumes as party leader Sadiq Khan struggles to unite the party amidst dissent among moderates and threats of rebellion among radical Corbynites.
 * The Labour-Green-Lib-Dem coalition is now a minority government.
 * The Army begins implementing higher-powered microwave (HPM) defence weapons across the country to defend against missiles and other air attacks.

2032

 * Tulsi Gabbard (D) and Adrew Yang (D) are elected POTUS and VPOTUS.

2033

 * Various moderate Labour party-members leave and form their own party, the Social Democratic Party, to identify themselves as social democrats and not socialists. Following further infighting and the resignation of Labour leader Sadiq Khan and the ascension to leadership of Corbynite Rebecca Long Bailey, more moderate Labour members defect to the Social Democratic Party. The Labour-Green-Lib-Dem coalition is left as a caretaker government after it loses a vote-of-confidence and new elections are called as no party or coalition holds any clear majority in Parliament.
 * Ahead of the year end's general election, the Liberal-Independents re-brand themselves as the Liberal Party. The Labour Party re-brands itself as the Progressive Socialist Party, causing further defections to the Social Democratic Party.
 * Thanks to popular endorsements and excellent campaigning by former-Labour moderates, the Social Democrats win a plurality of seats in the House of Commons. It forms a minority government. The Conservatives come in at second place and the Liberals in third. The Progressive Socialists come in fourth and the SNP fifth. The Liberal-Democrats lose all representation and de-register as a party.

2034

 * The Social Democratic party passess the Higher Education Act (2034), negotiating standard prices for university degrees across the country with 85% of universities. 15% of universities do not participate. Additionally, an income-contingent repayment system is implemented for student loans, easing the debt pressure on students significantly.

2038

 * The Social Democratic party wins an outright majority of seats in early national elections. The Conservative Party makes gains as well. The Liberals make moderate gains. The Progressive Socialists are further reduced in seat-count.

2043

 * As part of a continuing trend of the automation of traditionally working class occupations, the labour union movement continues to lose force as politics shifts towards more middle class ideals. The British General Election sees the formation of a Coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberals, with the Social Democrats forming the opposition.

2045

 * As widespread civil unrest in the Arab world turns to civil war, British troops in the region are called back home though some are diverted to protect embassies from the rapidly escalating violence. Comfortingly, the value of British oil and gas exports quadruples as oil shortages due to the situation in the Arab world cause prices to rise sharply.

2046

 * Britain, like the rest of the Western world, is forced to stand largely idly by and watch as casualties in the Pan-Arab Revolution surpass 30,000. British troops see some action in Egypt and Arabia as part of an evacuation of tourists and Western businesspeople.

2047

 * Days after 94 year old Supreme Leader of China Xi Jinping dies in his sleep, the Three Gorges Damn bursts, flooding hundreds of cities and towns downstream. The wave of water and ensuing flooding kills 3 million people within hours, and makes a further 300 million people homeless overnight. Within months, millions more die from starvation as one of China's breadbaskets, the Yangtze River Delta is too inundated to be farmed. Asian stock markets crash and China's economy is projected to fall by 16%. The world's largest ongoing humanitarian disaster ensues. As the death toll climbs and the government attempts cover up after cover up, support for the CCP plummets dramatically. Eventually, a substantial section of the Armed Forces declares a rebellion, claiming that the CCP has lost the Mandate of Heaven. The 2nd Chinese Civil War ensues.
 * Towards the end of the year, the Pan-Arab Revolution comes to a close in North Africa and Southern Arabia with democratic governments installed. War continues in Saudi Arabia as the House of Saud refuses to surrender.

2065

 * The Commonwealth Space WIP