The Death of the Jersey Way?

Former Senator Frank Walker, who was Chief Minister in 2008

"There is no hiding place in Jersey for anyone who abused children or, who in any way may have colluded with that abuse [my emphasis] and no stone will be left unturned to bring them to justice."

- Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker to the States on Tuesday 26 February 2008

Monday 3rd July 2017 is an important day for Jersey. For those of us who campaigned for the establishment of an independent care inquiry for Jersey, and more generally for abuse victims and survivors, tomorrow's publication of the Jersey Care Inquiry report into Child Abuse represents the culmination of nine years of campaigning.

Despite the words of the Chief Minister at the time, a committee of inquiry was not an inevitability. Indeed, were it not for the dogged determination of care leavers, a small handful of politicians and, crucially, bloggers such as Rico Sorda, Voice for Children to name but two, the inquiry would certainly have never happened.

Former Senator, Terry Le Sueur was Chief Minister from 2008 - 2011

Senator Walker's successor, Terry Le Sueur tried to shelve the inquiry. In an official report to the States, R.8/2011, the Chief Minister concluded:

"It is accepted that not everyone will agree with the Council’s decision and some

individuals may still have questions. It is hoped that those who may not agree will

recognise the seriousness with which the Council has considered the matter. With

the advantage of the passage of time, the Council has reviewed all the issues and

considers that a Committee of Inquiry would not be appropriate."

Thankfully that was not the end of the matter: my colleagues at the time Senator Françis Le Gresley, deputy Bob Hill and Daniel Wimberley tabled a counter-proposal and amendments, asking for an Inquiry into the Child Abuse and subsequent cover-up. Other key proponents were former Deputies Trevor and Shona Pitman, current members like Mike Higgins.

Credit should also go to Senator Ian Gorst, with whom we worked over many iterations to find acceptable and thorough terms of reference for the Inquiry.

The campaigners will be sending a joint press release out shorty, so check the TwitterSpace for #JerseyCareInquiry



The Jersey Trews

Welcome to the first Episode in what I hope may become a more regular feature on Jersey Social Media - "The Jersey Trews".

The Jersey Trews aims to  bring you a more in-depth picture of the local stories of public interest that the local mainstream media are unable or unwilling to cover.

This week's episode focuses on the highly unusual event of the Jersey Assembly agreeing to release an otherwise 'confidential' transcript of a States debate of 2008, where the then-HomeAffairs Minister, Andrew Lewis, informed the Assembly of his decision to suspend the Chief of Police, Graham Power.

At the time, Deputy Lewis claimed to have read a "damning report" of the Metropolitain Police which gave his grounds to suspend the Police Chief. However, since that time, it has been asserted by many, including Napier, former Senators Le Marquand and Senators Syvret, that this could not have been the case.

I will add more to this in due course, but for the time being, do watch the attached video, which I think explains in layperson's terms some of the key points which seem to have by-passed much of the Mainstream Media (MSM) reporting.

Let the Independent Jersey Child Abuse Inquiry do its Job

 

Islanders are invited to the Royal Square tomorrow morning (Sunday) at 11am to mark the 7^th Anniversary of the Time4Change rally which was held on 8^th March 2008 to remember the victims and survivors of Jersey child abuse, past and present.

 

Much has happened since that date, and with the help of campaigners, bloggers and former States Members, we were able to secure a Committee of Inquiry to look independently into these serious matters; to shine a light into one of the darkest chapters in Jersey’s recent history, and to seek to bring redress, justice and healing.

This brief memorial will allow the focus to be put back where it belongs. On the victims and survivors of abuse and there will be a minute's silence as a sign of respect.

 

Recent Events:

I am very concerned at recent developments to sabotage the Committee of Inquiry, made by some elements that have never wanted the Inquiry to happen – individuals who themselves have questions to answer under the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

 

‘The Committee is just about to look at some of its key terms of reference, including [No 13. to] Establish the process by which files were submitted by the States of Jersey Police to the prosecuting authorities for consideration, and establish –

 Whether those responsible for deciding on which cases to prosecute took a professional approach;

 Whether the process was free from political or other interference at any level.'

 

It is to be expected that some people may not want this to happen and will try anything to obstruct the Committee from being able to do its job.

 

But, for my part, I will resolutely oppose any suggestion that the Committee not be allowed to do its job.

Anyone wishing to attend is invite to bring a daffodil as a sign of respect.

Questions without Answers: Jersey's Child Abuse Saga Continues

Jersey's Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst

States Question Time hit a new low last Tuesday, with the Chief Minister, Ian Gorst refusing to give a straight answer to a very simple (and very serious) question:

“Will the Chief Minister explain why the Verita recommendation (agreed by the States in 2011) to ‘review what actions the government took when concerns came to light in 2008 and what, if any, lessons there are to be learned’ has been omitted from the Council of Ministers’ proposition ‘Committee of Inquiry – Historical Child Abuse’ P.118/2012?”

To put this in context, the Verita Report, which was commissioned by the previous Council of Ministers and presented to them in November 2011, said in its preface:

'Operation Rectangle and recent criminal prosecutions involving the physical, mental and sexual abuse of children in residential care in Jersey have raised serious concerns. A total of 533 alleged offences were reported and recorded by the States of Jersey Police Operation Rectangle between September 2007 and December 2010. Of these 315 were reported as being committed at Haut de la Garenne children’s home.'

It seems quite clear to me (and to any reasonable and informed listner) that what the question is referring to is 'how did the Council of Ministers (re)act when they found out about operation rectangle' (the police investigation into 'historic' child abuse)? 

This is an important question, and one that Verita also thought important enough to include in their 27 page report to the Council of Ministers, because in the last 4 years, there has been much speculation as to whether there was any political conspiracy to oust Graham Power (who was suspended) and Lenny Harper (who retired). Former St Martin Deputy, Bob Hill, summarises in his recent blog: 



Former Deputy, Bob Hill

'Given [...] the criticism of the Deputy Police Chief and his Chief who was subsequently suspended and in all reality dismissed by stealth one can understand why Verita included the matter in its recommendations.'

So what was the Chief Minister's response, to why this recommendation had been omitted? You can listen here:

You will note that in his first response, the Chief Minister, rather than admit that Verita's question has been left out and explain why, he says:

'It is considered that the ToR referred to by the Deputy is covered by the other proposed terms.' 

The Chief Minister does not tell me which terms it is covered by, so I use my next question to find out where exactly in the other Terms of Reference he thinks Verita's missing question can be found.

The Chief Minister then refers to ToR 3, 5 and 7.

For reference, readers can see these terms for themsleves:

'3. Examine the political oversight of children’s homes and fostering services by

the various Education Committees between 1960 and 1995, by the various

Health and Social Services Committees between 1996 and 2005, and by

ministerial government from 2006 to the current day.'
---

'5. Take into account the independent investigations and reports conducted in

response to the concerns raised in 2007 and any relevant information that has

come to light during the development and progression of the Redress Scheme.'
---

'7. Identify how and by what means concerns about abuse were raised and how,

and to whom, they were reported. Establish whether systems existed to allow

children and others to raise concerns and safeguard their wellbeing.'
---

The ToR that the Chief Minister refers to can be seen in their entirity here. These represent the Terms of Reference proposed by the Council of Ministers, as they currently stand, before amendment.

As you will see, none of these Terms of Reference refer to the points addressed by Verita:

'review what actions the government took when concerns came to light in 2008 and what, if any, lessons there are to be learned.'

Yet, the Chief Minister continues to avoid the question and mislead listners. So just what is the Chief Minister playing at?

Maybe a clue can be found by looking at the minutes of the States meeting of 2 March 2011, which shows who voted for and agaist having a CoI. It is clear that the Chief Minister (both Terry Le Sueur and Ian Gorst) and the majority of CoM did not even want a Committee of Inquiry. Of the current 10 Ministers, 6 were voted against.

These six are:

1:Senator Gorst  - Chief Minister

2: Senator Ozouf- Treasury Minister

3: Senator Maclean- Economic Development

4: Senator Le Marquand - Home Affairs (!)

5: Deputy Pryke - Health and Social Services (!)

6: Deputy DuHamel - Planning & Environment

This may explain, in part, why it has been such an uphill struggle trying to get a meaningful inquiry.

It should be remembered, that every step closer we have come to finally having a meaningful Committee of Inquiry has been fought for tirelessly, by abuse survivors, care leavers and their supporters,  investigative bloggers and a handful of States Members. These steps have always been met with resistance, whether it was getting the Chief Minister agree to let Verita present their report to States Members (which only happened after it was suggested that Ian Gorst might otherwise face a vote of no confidence), getting him to publish the Verita and Williamson reports in a timely manner (Verita's report was sat on for a year),  basing the ToR on Verita's report, rather than Mr Williamson's, or getting honest answers to oral questions.

We continue to press on. But one has to wonder: why the resistance?

Blog TV - A First for Jersey

Date:    Thursday 26th April 2012.

Time:   7pm.

Place:  http://www.blogtv.com/People/voiceforchildren

Tonight will see a premier for Jersey, as Team Voice broadcasts their first live and interactive interview with Jersey Politician, Montfort Tadier.

Citizen's Journalist, Rico Sorda

Speaking about the new channel, Rico Sorda, co-administrator of the site said:

“The channel has been well received by those who frequent local blog sites and everyone involved is optimistic about the way we can encourage an increased political engagement in the Island,” said Rico Sorda, co-administrator of the channel.

“The live video stream is complimented with a chat forum which allows the public to engage in discussion, providing an opportunity for real-time meaningful debate – a means of interaction not currently offered by local media outfits.” Added Mr Sorda.

"Moreover, we are not a commercial outfit and so we don't have any corporate interference about what we can report on. Nor do we have to answer to an editor.This is important in a place like Jersey, where many people feel they are not given the full facts by conventional media outlets."


‘Team Voice’, also run a conventional blogsite – Voiceforchildren – which has set itself up as an ‘investigative blogsite’ to look into issues of child protection following the Historic Child Abuse investigation.

“We approached Deputy Tadier because he is a proactive user of new media, and also because he is one of the States Members who has consistently fought for a comprehensive Committee of Inquiry into Historic Child Abuse.”

“We will be interviewing him about his amendment which was adopted by the States Assembly last year which added to the terms of reference to investigate whether ‘a consistent and impartial approach was taken when deciding on which cases to prosecute; and whether the process was free from political influence or interference at any level.’


“We are supportive of the need for this particular term of reference, but we are concerned that the Chief Minister may have come under pressure to drop this part, ostensibly on cost grounds.

“We will be asking Deputy Tadier questions about this however there will also be an opportunity for members of the public to ask him questions and to comment online.”

The broadcast takes place tonight at 7pm.