In the Bretonian Parliament

[pbrione]

Lord Canning listened patiently to the objections of the other Lords, and pondered deeply on the matter. That evening, he forwarded a memo to his diplomatic staff at South Shields who were in negotiation with the IMG Council representatives there, with some further requests. An hour or so later, he received back a transmission which was to his satisfaction. Arriving early in Parliament the next day, he was the first to stand to open that morning's debate.

"My Lords. I understand the natural concern that many of you have to the proposal relating to mining rights in the Taus. It is only natural that we should feel a great patriotic objection to anything resembling a surrender of our sovereign space. Yet I feel that many of the right honourable gentlemen present here are labouring under grave delusions. We are not in a position, despite any claims to the contrary, to push the Kusari back from Tau 31 without help or a great change in circumstances. Yes, we have halted the Kusari assault, no, we have not lost the Taus, but by no means are we in a position of victory or near to it. In order to capitalise on the over-extended nature of the Kusari lines, we first need a considerably stronger position in upper Tau. We need bases, supply lines, security of operation, and a potential ally. As Lord Humphrey quite rightly stated, the IMG are in a position to provide all these things, and more. A sacrifice indeed, to give away many of our Tau resources, but a necessary one I feel, if we are to preserve our other holdings there."

"However, acknowledging the opposition to loss of sovereign space, I requested and have managed to successfully negotiate for us a slight amendment to Clause 4. We will retain sovereignty over the space of the asteroid fields and merely concede the resources themselves, as non-territorial property, to the IMG. In addition, in order to try and address the economic fears of stagnation raised by my right honourable friend Lord Grey, I have arranged that IMG will formally agree to allow BMM mining operations to take place in these fields, providing that we pay a monthly fee for the extraction of these IMG resources. There is also a tacit agreement by the IMG Council that any post-war settlement giving us control of Tau 29 would lead to an equitable division of the resources in that system. Whilst you may consider it somewhat galling to have to pay the IMG to mine resources in Tau, I am confident that it will nonetheless leave BMM in a position to make reasonable profits from Tau operations, should safeguard our economy and is, on the whole, a price well worth paying for the kind of help the IMG are most generously offering us. This is a unique opportunity, and one which if we foolishly cast aside is unlikely to be available to us again."

Upon sitting down Canning briefly scanned the hall for signs of people's reactions to his statements. As he had hoped, there were a fair few faces showing expressions of relief or satisfaction following his amendments, though several still remained grim looking, and the Duke of Leeds' front bench supporters were shaking their heads in clear disagreement. Canning tried a quick mental calculation based on his estimates of who he thought he had convinced. Was it enough for a majority? Probably, though a close one. It would take some charismatic speeches from his fellow Ministers to sway the House enough to guarantee a ratification on first vote, and this needed dealing with quickly or else the IMG would grow impatient. Canning sat back and awaited the next move.

Clause 4: The Crown of Bretonia cedes full ownership rights to the IMG of all presently undiscovered resources in Tau and Orkney (excluding additional resources discovered in existing fields currently mined by BMM), providing that BMM is granted permission to mine such IMG resources in exhange for a monthly fee to the IMG, not exceeding 10 million credits per month. In addition, there shall be full official recognition of IMG claims of ownership over all resources in fields currently mined by the IMG. No Agents of the Bretonian Crown shall in any way impede access to IMG resources by members of the IMG, and shall act to defend IMG access to their resources from those who would impede said access.

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Sir Stanley Nelson




<span style="color:#000066">Charles Canning </span><span style="color:#000066"> Foreign Secretary</span>