Jersey's Mainstream Media Show Their True Colours -Again

'It's getting silly now. The JEP and Channel Television are not even trying to appear impartial!'

On Monday, I attended the Hustings at St Clement. It was a fairly boring affair, with predictable performances from most candidates. Lord Philip was very fortunate to have drawn a seat which was dead centre of the table and also to be the first one to speak. This fortuitous position was bolstered by being given front page coverage in the JEP, where Lord Philip's photo appeared with the headline 'Time for Better Government' i.e. time for all of you JEP readers to elect Lord Philip. His photo also had the caption 'Former Bailiff (just in case you had forgotten) and Senatorial Candidate ... criticised States Members at last night's hustings.'

Award-winning Channel TV led in a similar vein, on the Tuesday, showing footage from Lord Philip's opening speech. No such privilege was afforded to any of the other 12 candidates. Then again, with the exception of Dr Mark Forskitt and Advocate Rose Colley, the remainder are mere serfs and should feel honoured to even share a platform with such a chivalrous individual. That they were even allowed to speak in his presence was a step too far, according to some. 

During his speech, Lord Bailhache said that there were too many States Members (agreed) and that 'the devil made work for idle hands.' This is coded language for saying that opposition members who asked questions and brought propositions on valid issues, were time wasters. He went on to dismiss calls for a Discrimination Law and Freedom of Information as 'bright ideas' - not appropriate for Jersey. 'How offensive', I thought,  'they are not bright ideas, rather fundamental pieces of legislation that any civilised, 21st international jurisdiction should have enshrined at the centre of their constitution!' 

The problem is that the political elite in Jersey, thoroughly conservative, both economically and culturally, want to have it both ways: they want Jersey to 'punch above its weight' ('péter plus haut que son cul' as the wonderful French expression goes) economically, whilst remaining a legislative backwater, where issues like discrimination (age, sex, race discrimination; unfair dismissal etc, etc) and access to official information are either not addressed at all (as with discrimination), or dealt with by opaque and non-statutory 'codes', as is the case for FOI. The reason they give, is that Jersey is a small island and that we do not need these cumbersome and costly laws, yet when it relates to promoting the interests of finance, we must be fully up to speed. However, the two should not be mutually exclusive.

2011 - List of Hustings

 

The Hustings kick off tonight with the 13 senatorial candidates making speeches and answering questions in the parish of St Clement. Here is a full list of all the hustings for Senator, Deputy and Constable seats:

HUSTINGS DATES - most start at 7.30pm

Parish                     When                     Office                    Where

St Clement               Tuesday, 20 September            (Senator)                   St Clement's Parish Hall

St Peter                     Wednesday, 21 September      (Senator)                   St Peter's Youth and Community Centre

Grouville                 Thursday, 22 September          (Senator)                   Grouville Parish Hall

St Saviour                Thursday, 22 September         (Constable)               St Saviour's Parish hall

St Martin                  Monday, 26 September            (Senator)                   St Martin's Public Hall

St Ouen                    Wednesday, 28 September      (Senator)                   St Ouen's Parish Hall

St Saviour                Thursday, 29 September         (Deputy)                   St Saviour's Parish Hall

St Peter                     Thursday, 29 September          (Deputy)                   St Peter's Youth and Community Centre

St Mary                     Friday, 30 September                (Deputy)                   St Mary's Parish Hall

St Saviour (No 3)   Friday, 30 September                (Deputy)                   Maufant Youth Centre

St Brelade                 Friday, 30 September                (Constable)               Communicare, St Brelade

St Helier (No 3)       Monday 3, October                   (Deputy)                   First Tower School

St John                       Tuesday, 4 October                   (Senator)                   St John's Parish Hall

St Ouen                     Tuesday, 4 October                   (Constable)               St Ouen's Parish Hall

St Saviour (No 2)    Tuesday, 4 October                    (Deputy)                   St Saviour Parish Hall

St Brelade (No 2)    Tuesday, 4 October                (Deputy)                   Communicare, St Brelade

St Helier (No 2)       Tuesday, 4 October                    (Deputy)                   Town Hall

YOUTH HUSTINGS 5th OCTOBER                           (Senators)                YOUTH HUSTINGS
St Lawrence             Wednesday, 5 October             (Constable)               St Lawrence' Parish Hall

Trinity                       Thursday, 6 October                  (Senator)                   Trinity Parish Hall

Grouville                  Thursday, 6 October                  (Deputy)                   Grouville Parish Hall

St Saviour (No 1)   Thursday, 6 October                   (Deputy)                   Georgetown Methodist Church Hall

St Mary                     Friday, 7 October                        (Senator)                   St Mary's Parish Hall

St Brelade                 Friday, 7 October                       (Constable)               St Brelade Parish Hall

Trinity                       Monday, 10 October                 (Senator)                   Countryside Hustings, RJA&HS Trinity

St Lawrence             Tuesday, 11 October                 (Senator)                   St Lawrence' Parish Hall

St Clement                Tuesday, 11 October                 (Deputy)                   St Clement's Parish Hall

St John                       Tuesday, 11 October                 (Deputy)                   St John's Parish Hall

St Brelade (No 1)    Tuesday, 11 October                 (Deputy)                   St Brelade's Parish Hall

St Helier (No 3)       Tuesday, 11 October at 19:45 (Deputy)                   La Pouquelaye Youth Centre

St Helier (No 1)       Wednesday, 12 October           (Deputy)                   Town Hall

St Saviour                 Thursday, 13 October               (Senator)                   St Saviour's Parish Hall

St Martin                   Thursday, 13 October               (Deputy)                   St Martin's Public Hall

St Helier (No 3)       Thursday, 13 October               (Deputy)                   Rouge Boullion School

St Brelade                 Friday, 14 October                     (Senator)                   Communicare, St Brelade

St Brelade (No 2)    Saturday, 15 October *          (Deputy)                   Communicare, St Brelade 

(*NOTE time: 1.30pm-3.30pm)

                               

  

St Helier                   Monday, 17 October                    (Senator)                   Town Hall

Deputy Tadier - A Manifesto in 200 words

Below is a short manifesto which describes a few of the things I have done in the last 3 years as Deputy for St Brelade No. 2 and some of the priorities I hope to address if re-elected. My and other candidates profiles can be seen on the channel 103 site


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Presently, we have a Council of Ministers and a majority of States Members who do not represent the interests of ordinary people. We need an urgent change of direction if we are to address current and future problems such as unaffordable housing, population growth, peak oil, adequate health care and unemployment. In order to do this, we need to elect competent and compassionate States Members who represent the interests of ordinary people, workers and families, and not simply the interests of the very wealthy.

During the last 3 years I have been very active as a Deputy, both in the Parish and in the States. I have been involved on several Panels – including Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny. I have fought for greater equality and fairness in society and pressed for the introduction of a discrimination law. I have consistently opposed GST and its increase.

If re-elected, I want to address the fundamental problems of affordable housing in Jersey. As a young States Member, I am very much aware of the crippling nature of high rents and the difficulty of securing a mortgage. I will also seek for greater priority to be given to mental health issues and youth development.

10 Establishment Candidates Returned Unopposed (Political DNA - part 3)

Deputies Eddie Noel and Anne Pryke were returned unopposed

Deputies Roy Le Hérissier (left) and Bob Hill face contested elections

Apologies for the delay in this final part of this series in my blog; The past two weeks has proved even busier than expected!

The  nominations have now taken place and we are now know who all the candidates are who will be  contesting  the 26 deputies, 4 Constables and 4 Senatorial Seats. One thing that is notable is that of the 11 uncontested seats, 10 can reasonably called Establishment and/or (Jersey) right-wing candidates. Only one - Constable Simon Crowcroft can be said to be part of the loose grouping of 'progressives'.

Meanwhile, all the seats currently held by (mildly) progressive deputies (and the other marginally less reactionary Constable of St Lawrence) are being contested. And they are being contested by official and unofficial candidates of the Black and White Party.

Thus 'old school progressives', in relatively safe seats, such as Deputies Le Hérissier (St Saviour No 3) and Bob Hill, are facing contested elections, whilst deep reactionary types like Deputies Anne Pryke (Trinity) and Eddie Noel (St Lawrence) are given a 'free ride'.

So what does this tell us?  The Establishment are more organised. Their success does not rely on the popularity of their policies (just as well, as they do not have any explicit ones), rather their ability to mobilize and fool those who turn out to vote for them, whilst their unrepresentative power base and policy direction only serves to alienate would be progressive voters further, leading to huge abstentionism which permits the Establishment's to secure a sufficiently large 'minority' of votes, which under the flawed 'first past the post' system, is enough to get them elected.

They put candidates up in 'safe' seats held by progressives (i) because there is nothing to lose and (ii) to 'make them work'. It is time the progressives (or what passes for them) started to do the same. 

Jersey's Secret Party - Going Strong since 1948

Today I was interviewed by BBC radio Jersey as one of several political commentators on the 'various groupings' in the States and those contesting the elections. The interviews are due to be broadcast tomorrow morning. I do not know if the report will be an serious journalistic critique of the Jersey system and the covert parties or if it will be a collection of trite sound bites taken out of context, however, I was keen to impress on reporter Christie Tucker the need for analysis of Jersey's historical political context, especially since 1948.

The Elections of 1948 (put very simply)

The Jersey Elections of 1948 coincided with the biggest constitutional reforms that the States had seen since the foundation of the modern legislature in 1769. The jurats (who also sat in the Royal Court) were booted out of the States and replaced by 12 Senators, elected, then, for 9 year terms. They joined the 12 parish policemen (Constables) and the remainder of deputies. In that election there were two main parties contesting the election under the guise of the Jersey Democratic Movement and the Jersey Progressive Party. The Former was a leftist grouping and the latter representing a mixture of traditional conservatives and businessmen. At those elections, the JPP won an overwhelming majority, but when they seized power, the party was eventually disbanded and they all became 'independents'. 

However, the loyalty - to Capital - remained the unifying force. And it remains so to this day. (For a more in-depth and, no doubt, more accurate study of the elections see Tony's Musings)

How the Establishment Party Operate(d)

Since 1948 to the present day, the ruling elite of the island (commonly called 'the Establishment') have exploited the opaque nature of the Jersey system to their advantage. To the electorate there were two main problems with the system: (i) the fact that that not all seats were up for election at one time meant that a wholesale change of  government was impossible. Unpopular politicians could stay in power and managed to secure the tops jobs for themselves, whilst other candidates were running around fighting elections. This remains a problem still today, where since 2005 both Chief Ministers have been selected from those who have not been up for election. And both were arguably at the ebb of their already questionable popularity when they were selected. This looks set to be the case again for the next elections. (ii) The absence of political parties, and the hostility towards them which was in part manufactured and fueled by a complicit media (who make their revenue from the ads placed by the business community), meant that the public were and remain unable link their vote to any tangible policy direction. This suited the covert Establishment party who did not have to openly peddle their main  policies which revolved around running the island as a cosy club for the wealthy, at the expense of the working class - had they to do so they would never have succeeded. So it was that the Black and White Party were able to retain power for over six decades. 

Electoral Reform - 2010

In absolute terms, the electoral reforms of last year were anything but radical. However, the modest reforms - a single election day (this year for all-but- 6 senatorial seats and for ALL seats in 2014) was highly significant in breaking one of the electoral flaws that the Black and White Party managed to exploit so ruthlessly for decades. A general election was not good news. The counter-assault came by pouncing on the unpopular decision to 'reduce' the number of Senators from 12 to 8. If this happened, Jersey's perfect democratic model would collapse. Of course, the real reason they were so adamantly opposed to the move was that it would enable a real general election for the first time ever! in Jersey politics. However, they could not say this. So these States Members (Horsfall, Farnham, Cohen and Ozouf - to name a few), past and present - all fully signed up Party members - made last ditch attempts to reinstate the Senators (after all, for the poor country dwellers of Trinity and St Ouen, these were the only elections in which they got to vote!) reopening the debate not once, but twice and even petitioning the UK to stop the decision (dangerous territory) - all in the name of democracy. All now cried for the need for an electoral commission (not their idea) which could look at all these issues in a holistic way. What did not go unnoticed was that the same individuals did nothing to promote electoral reform. But the fight for Senators was not driven by a desire for democracy, but by the realisation that a general election would loosen their grip on power and bring the inevitability of formal party politics one step closer.

NEXT TIME - What the Black and White Party will do to 'get their boys in'.

Political DNA -Part 2

Former Deputy Gary Matthews calls for Jersey's working class and 'ordinary people' to mobilise and vote for those who represent their own interest.

Here is the second part of the video filmed last Saturday, with myself and former Les Quennevais Deputy, Gary Matthews.

'Those people who control the island and the finance industry are few in number. And they would not have the electoral ability to keep their majority if we could find the secret to getting the ordinary workers, ordinary people, ordinary families out to vote [for people who represent their interests].' - Gary Matthews

Political DNA

Every day this week, I will be publishing a new blog as part of a series focusing on the idea of political DNA. In order for us to understand what is meant by 'political DNA' in the Jersey context, it is first necessary for us to understand the historical context of Jersey Politics and how it relates and still very much affects the set up (and struggles) we have today. Forthcoming blogs will, thus, look at the immediate post war elections; the creation and subsequent dismantling of political parties. We will also discuss the REAL reason that Ben Shenton is not standing for election and how it relates to his party allegiance, rather than anything else. And also why the Black and White Party have reverted to such desperate tactics as needing the former Bailiff to stand for election. The common theme will be - party politics DOES exist in Jersey - and the Establishment (who also very much exist) are exceptionally skilled at manipulating the Jersey public and the system to put their boys into power and keep them there. This will also involve a posting on why the machine was so against a reduction in Senators - but moreover what it entailed - a single election day, where the Chief Minister would have to face election will all other representatives.

To start the ball rolling, I am pleased to present the first part of a video kindly filmed by Tom Gruchy featuring former St Brelade No. 2 Deputy, Gary Matthews and the current Deputy (me). Gary was elected in 1993 and served one term as a deputy, elected with a small group of others from the 'Green Party.' In his short time in the States, Gary was an articulate and vocal States Member, who campaigned on many issues which were not 'popular' at the time, such as equality, anti-discrimination, women's rights, worker's rights and a whole variety of social and environmental issues, which were on few politicians' agenda at the time. Moreover, he attempted to uncover corruption and alleged malpractice relating to one senior politician who had (should I say allegedly?) used the States Chamber to bring forward unnecessary legislation, of no benefit to Jersey, which financially benefited his Law Firm and the City of London. As a result of speaking out on this an other issues, he was punished by the local media (who owned the JEP at the time?) and labelled an enemy of Jersey. All this happened at the same time that then Senator Stuart Syvret was also kicked out of the Chamber for making comments about Senator Reg Jeune's involvement in the Limited Liability Partnership fiasco . Fortunately for him, Stuart was not up for election at the time and later went on to top the poll when we was eventually kicked out.

So without further ado, I present the first video. I apologize if the quality is not great.  Also have the sun in my eyes and wind in my hair, so not ideal.... Enjoy.