The following is the letter from the Bailiff about the demonstrations in the Royal Square. Click to enlarge.

An excellent letter in the local Rag - yes we do get a few good ones - and it's spot on about the Jersey nationalist Deputy Paul Le Claire.

His ruthless attack on our Polish resident friends reveals him for what he truly is. My hope is that the Poles will register to vote this year, particularly in his district - St Helier Number 1 - and ensure that he is swiftly voted out of office.

The Deputy should apologise

From George Machan.

Les Ronciers, Route des Genêts,
St Brelade.

I WAS of the understanding that the Island had turned its back on days gone by, whereby foreign workers were treated as second-class citizens, and that great efforts had been made to repair what can only be considered at that time to be a tarnished reputation with a certain sector of immigrants who had served the Island over a great number of years.

The comments made by the Deputy Paul Le Claire ( JEP, 30 April) verge on inciting racial hatred and no doubt our learned friends, the judges of Strasbourg, would consider such comments to be a policy of ‘suggested unfair discrimination to one sector of the community’.

In an Island which today finds itself dependent upon the actions and activities of the outside world for its very high standard of living I would have hoped that the treatment of a highly educated workforce would have been that of one of welcome and respect. Further, no doubt the Island’s regulator would welcome a highly qualified finance sector as an aide to their aim of preventing money laundering abuse emanating from these shores.

An unreserved apology is the least one can expect from the Deputy, more preferably his resignation. Will it, however, be a case of the old adage ‘if you don’t like it there is always a boat in the morning’?

Published 8/5/2008

Further details can be found in the Jersey Evening Post, the Island's leading source of news, information and advertising, available from 12.15pm on Mon-Fri and 9am on Saturday.
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[Submitted by kropotkin]

The Bailiff's speech on May 9th was one of the most political ever made by a sitting Bailiff. Up to his ears in the scandal himself, following his reprehensible behaviour during the Roger Holland case, and his closing down of Senator Syvret's Christmas speech, this man has no right to pontificate on a so-called 'media bandwagon'.

It is quite clear so far, and the Police themselves have admitted it, that if it were not for the excellent investigative journalism showed by the world's media, none of this historic child abuse scandal would have been reported - the Jersey media has shown itself to be suppine and merely an appendage of the local state.

It must annoy Phil that exemplary journalists at top UK broadsheets have not only searched into Jersey's secrets and society but have written at length about Phil's own role in some pertinent matters. More recently,for example, one of Britain's foremost crime writers did an excellent summary piece in the Sunday Times - see below here to read.

When some critics argued that the secrecy about collaboration in 1940-45 was instrumental in leading to cover up and concealment regarding child abuse, and indeed the tax haven, we were told that this was inappropriate and far-fetched. Yet, the Bailiff, who like the Bourbons forgets nothing and learns nothing, is allowed to make his frankly stupid provincial remarks in the context of a Liberation Day address. Those of you who want to read Philip's meandering monologue, in all its stark humour, can read below:

BAILIFF’S SPEECH ON LIBERATION DAY 2008
I am sure that many of those who were here in May 1945 will remember the old saying that one of the first casualties of war is the truth. This year we have learnt that even in peacetime, once a media bandwagon starts rolling, it is difficult to distinguish what is true from what is fictitious.

Liberation Day is as good a time as any to take stock and to shake ourselves free of the misinformation to which the child abuse inquiry has given rise. It is extraordinary how quickly it all happened. It all started with the discovery of a fragment of a child’s skull and a sniffer dog who showed interest in six different sites. Within days newspapers and broadcasters had converted that information into stories of finding six or
more bodies of children, and within two weeks those stories had crossed the world feeding a frenzy of righteous indignation and further wild speculation. A cover-up by government was suggested, and there was incredulity that local people had not noticed these sinister events.

Unjustified smears about wholesale collaboration during the occupation led to suggestions that the Island was full of dark secrets and that ours was a community that cared nothing for vulnerable children.

Now we know that the fragment of skull is at least 60 years old and possibly very much older than that. There are as yet no bodies, no evidence of any murder, and no evidence of cover-ups by government.

Hardly any of this has been beamed across the world. Yet many journalists continue to write about the Island’s so called child abuse scandal. All child abuse, wherever it happens, is scandalous, but it is the unjustified and remorseless denigration of Jersey and her people that is the real scandal.

The truth is that we do not yet know what happened at
Haut de la Garenne or in other places. What we do know is that a rigorous investigation is taking place and, in due course, a balanced judgement will be possible. A brave writer in the Guardian earlier this week was the first journalist in a national newspaper, so far as I know, to confront this truth.

Confronting the past, which is one aspect of confronting the truth, is of course not always easy. After all, it took us some time to confront the uncomfortable truths about the occupation; to acknowledge publicly the elements of collaboration and profiteering that took place; and to
remember the suffering of the slave workers and the hardships of the deportees. It also took time to acknowledge the heroism of those who rebelled against the occupiers in ways large and small, and the courage of those who sheltered escaped prisoners at great risk to themselves. It was easier to try to forget the painful memories of enemy occupation. But we
have now confronted the gremlins, and this annual celebration of Liberation Day is a means of remembering the lessons of the past. Of course, it is also the opportunity for those who were in Jersey on 9th May 1945 to recall the jubilation and intoxicating excitement that people felt when the nightmare was over and freedom was restored. This celebration is also the chance for younger people to learn more about the occupation, and its significance in the story of our Island race, and to honour the perseverance and courage of their elders.

Confronting difficult situations is sometimes no easier than confronting the past. I was struck recently by a letter in the Jersey Evening Post from someone who was comparing her own experience in the Island with the appalling report of a man in the north of England who collapsed and was dying by the roadside, and who was ignored by numerous motorists including one who drove over the poor man’s leg and broke it. Our letter writer had also come across an injured man sitting on the side of a country lane and had watched as a driver in front of her carefully negotiated his car around the man and drove off. She stopped and called an ambulance, but was lamenting that such callousness could happen in Jersey. Sadly, such stories are as old as the hills. If only one person drove around the injured man, we are in fact doing rather better than the men in the biblical story where both the priest and the Levite passed by the injured traveller on the other side of the road before the Good Samaritan came along. The letter writer set a fine example. Confronting the situation and showing personal responsibility for one’s actions are qualities to which we can all aspire.

I do not believe that Jersey is an uncaring society. On the contrary, there is a strong political will to protect the poor and vulnerable in the community and to correct any mistakes of the past. Of course Jersey is not Utopia, and there are many problems to resolve. But equally we have much for which to be grateful.

Today our guest of honour is His Excellency Dr Alberto Jardim, the President of Madeira and I extend a very warm welcome to him and to Mrs Jardim. Our own Musical Original singers have just returned from Funchal where they were royally received. I am delighted to say that we have a group of young visiting musicians from Madeira in Liberation Square today. I hope that the President’s visit will lead to many more cultural exchanges of this kind between two Island communities which have more in common than one might think.

I also extend a warm welcome to Colonel Alexey Korkach, Air Attaché from the Russian embassy and to Señor Alveraz Gamido, First Secretary to the Spanish Embassy, who will both be at Westmount this afternoon but who are also in the Square for our celebration this morning. And finally may I thank all the senior citizens from the parishes who have made this annual pilgrimage to Liberation Square. Whether you were one of those in occupied Jersey or one of those evacuated to the UK, you
collectively kept alive the flame of freedom and worked to create out of the ruins of 1945 the vibrant and successful community we now have.

Thank you.

[Submitted by kropotkin]

The focus of the GST-Party and the official media is to discredit the anti-GST movement (whether T4C, Reform, or anyone else) on the basis that GST is a fait accompli and the opposition has to come up with an alternative. This is both a red herring and a trick.

The red herring is that GST is the demand for the opposition to propose another way to unjustly tax Jersey residents. In fact GST is just the most recent form of unfair taxation and the issue of Reform is not GST or another form of tax injustice but a strict principle of just taxation: taxes must enjoy the broad consent of the people and that can only be assured in a truly representative government (which does not exist). Jersey residents are not protesting against income tax (corporations are). There is no reason to believe that Jersey residents (except corporations) are opposed to all taxes when there is no such demonstration against other forms of taxation. The issue is just taxation and GST is not just or representative and therefore must be repealed. It is not the remit of Reform to substitute one unjust tax with another.

The corollary to FAIR TAXATION is FAIR ALLOCATION of the benefits of public sector spending. Here the slogan is "Policies mean money". Reform wants policies which spend tax money for the benefit of all Jersey residents and not just special business interests. Jersey is not just a place to do business but also a place to live, to raise families, to work and be educated and to retire and live a safe and secure old age. Reform wants policies which tax and spend to improve the quality of life for people in Jersey. That is the reason for government in the first place. That is what people have a right to expect from their government. That is what Reform demands from government and what its candidates pledge to the inhabitants of Jersey.

Lieve Hodgetts of Time4Change explains her opposition to GST at the demonstration in the Royal Square on 6th May 2008.

submitted by Time4Change

http://www.franksidebottom.co.uk/
[Submitted by Deputy Le Twot]

The organisers of the GST demonstration gave notice of the event to the Bailiff, the Connetable of St Helier and the Chief of Police, in writing by letters dated 1st May 2008.These were hand delivered. The notice stated the demonstration would be held at lunchtime on 6th May between 12.30 and 1.30pm.

The letter did not seek permission from any authority, it merely gave notice of the occurance of the event. There is a big difference between giving notice and seeking permission. The Bailiff sought to give "permission" for the event as an "ad hoc entertainment licence". Clearly there is a qualitative difference between a public demonstration and a book fair or boys brigade musical parade held in the Royal Square. Civil liberties and politcal expression should not be so lightly restricted.

Following a telephone call from the Bailiff’s office to the organisers, it was indicated that, owing to events occurring in the royal court at or around 12.30pm, the demonstration could not begin until 1pm. This was subsequently reiterated by the Bailiff’s office in a letter dated 2nd May 2008, together with a number of other restrictions. Please see the letter.

The Governor was seen to emerge from the Royal Court building wearing full dress uniforms and plumed cocked hat at around 1pm and drive off in his car, the chauffeur wearing a fine array of medals. It was observed that the Governor did his best not to look to his right on leaving the building in order not to see the GST demonstration occurring at the feet of the statue to King George I.

The demonstration began at 1pm. Leaflets were distributed to the crowd that had assembled in large numbers from 12.30 expecting to listen to the speeches.

Clearly the restrictions imposed by the Bailiff were political. They were a provocation, an attempt to make lawful protestors defy the law in order to exercise their liberty. It was also designed to demoralise the organisers and dissipate the crowd, who on seeing no speakers, would grow bored a leave. The provocation did not work - it backfired. The ordinary people realise now more than ever that there is a vast gulf between the political elite, the government and the people.

The law as to freedom of assembly in Jersey is not clear and is certainly not enshrined in statute. It appears to rest on customary Law and the residual powers of the Bailiff as civic head. Time4Change intends to clarify the right of free assembly in Jersey, and hopefully with the assistance of progressive politicians in the States.

None of the Media, BBC Jersey, Channel Tv and JEP, reported the delayed start and the restrictions imposed by the Bailiff. This was an excellent political story and surely of interest to a quick witted journalist. However the media in Jersey is higly defferential to government and consequently would not carry a criticism of the Bailiff. Vive le Roi!

BBC Radio Jersey in its phone in programme on 7th May, ventured a few observations on the law relating to freedom of assembly and drew parallels with the UK statutes that govern the right to demonstrate around Westminster and in particular in Parliament Square. One hopes that their excellent team of investigative journalists will be able to discover the nature of the law in Jersey and make comparisons with that in the law in the UK and elsewhere in the EU, with a view to enlightening its listeners.

Nick Corbel of UNITE and TGWU Union.

Nick expressed grave concern about the restrictions imposed by the Bailiff on the organisers of the GST demonstrations. He recognised that this had implications for workers and trade unionists to organise demonstrations.

He said:

“Can I firstly comment on the organisation of this rally and the restrictions, is I suppose the word I am looking for, placed on the organisers. When the T&G, when UNITE have organised rallys in the past it is normally organised to coincide with States sittings. I have never seen such restrictions as placed on the organisers of this rally, in order to comply with the Bailiff’s wishes. And I would hope that doesn’t set a precedent. And I would hope that we can rely upon ourselves to speak freely, as is our right."



Emile Collins - 95 year old political activist

Emile Collins, a 95 year old political activist and founder member of the Jersey Democratic Movement, established in 1944, gives his opinions from the point of view of the “ordinary Jerseyman” on civil liberties, the Bailiff and GST.

[Submitted by Time4Change]

To JERSEY EVENING POST

LETTER FOR PUBLICATION

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Dear Sir,

Your report of the Time4Change Conference was, typically, perfunctory and error-strewn. It reads as if the afternoon session (to which you were invited) was merely the Stuart Syvret Show. Whilst we thank Senator Syvret for attending and speaking, it was anything but that. Speakers included Mario Pirozzolo of the Hotel and Guest House Association, who spoke about the imposition of GST on businesses and made the point that Jersey will be the only place in the world that has GST charged on children's school meals. Andre Ferrari described two Jerseys, one rich and the other poor. Reverend Tony Keogh spoke on reform issues. In addition there were Deputies Rob Duhamel and Roy Le Herrisier , whistleblower Simon Bellow , Tony Evans from Facebook fame locally and one of our organisers Time4Change speaker Nick leCornu, and Time4Change activist Lieve Hodgetts who spoke on women's issues. In addition we had top visiting academics in attendance, including Dr Patrick Wilkinson, a political scientist from Germany and Dr Larry O Hara, a UK political commentator. Dr O'Hara concentrated on the Jersey news media in his excellent talk in the morning, explaining that the default position of all the Jersey media was to support the Establishment locally. He gave strong evidence of this during his talk.

We were pleased with the attendance, some 70 odd people, who gave up their Sunday, families and Sunday lunches to listen to political discourse all day, from morning to tea-time. The register was full of people who want to be activists or who will consider being our election candidates. So numbers attending was satisfactory. But we weren't helped by a number of media antics. We offered the JEP an exclusive story on Thursday - a damning UNICEF statement about Jersey's child abuse scandal - we were promised it would be published and agreed to keep it exclusive to the JEP. It would have given great last minute publicity for our conference too but we still haven't seen a report or an explanation as to why you didn't report it. UNICEF Uk still haven't heard from you, the Jersey Evening Post. We wonder now if that significant statement from one of the world's biggest and most influential charities will ever see the light of day locally!

Further, your ridiculous photograph of Montfort Tadier whispering to Stuart Syvret was meant to imply a conspiratorial relationship - hopefully your readers will ignore such stupidity. The report itself states that Time4Change is a 'single issue' campaign. Wrong again. Time4Change already has policies opposing GST, and a whole range of political reform demands, from calling for a General Election, to separation of powers and the removal of the Bailiff from the States. Don't worry though, Mr Editor, your newspaper was not alone. BBC Radio Jersey mentioned the Conference but gave no venue. Channel TV gave the wrong venue for the Conference, stating it was at the Hotel De France rather than the Pomme D'Or. Similarly, before our successful Rally in March, Radio Jersey gave out the wrong time and Spotlight South West gave a totally biased report about which we have had to make an official complaint. It is already clear from only a few weeks existence that getting fair and balanced reporting from the local media is going to be a struggle. Those interested in local media and how difficult it can be to report honestly should visit the website www.isthisjersey.com where a former CTV newsreader has put his fascinating story.

To end, Time4Change has only been in existence for a few weeks. We were formed by abuse survivors and progressives after the horrific child abuse scandal broke. In five days, we organised a successful rally, where community outrage was given voice. In a few weeks, we organised an important Conference, where our group was officially launched. On Tuesday 6th May we will be bringing speakers to an anti GST demonstration at lunchtime between 12.30 and 1.30. We would like the people of Jersey to join with us, from all walks of life, all sectors of opinion, to represent the ordinary people of this Island. The Establishment have held power for too long, ruining our Island. It is indeed Time for Change.

Yours Sincerely

Montfort Tadier and Nicholas Le Cornu,
coordinators of Time4Change

Contact details
66 Don Farm
St Brelade
Jersey
JE3 8GW

[Submitted by Time4Change]

'On behalf of UNICEF-UK, we welcome the efforts now being made to uncover the horrific history of child abuse in child care institutions in Jersey. Evidence from throughout the world demonstrates that without effective legal protection, coupled with safe, confidential and accessible avenuesthrough which to challenge violations of their rights, children in institutions are extremely vulnerable to abuse. Every child has the right to protection from all forms of violence and abuse. The recent UN
Study on Violence against Children documents in graphic detail how far we all have to go to ensure the realisation of this right. Hopefully, the outcome of this tragedy in Jersey will be new legislation, effective regulation and inspection mechanisms, training for all staff on children's rights and the introduction of clear entitlements for children to be heard at all levels in the child care system. Such terrible treatment of children must never be allowed to happen again'.


Gerison Lansdown
Vice Chair
UNICEF UK
--
Gerison Lansdown
30 Ellington Rd
London N10 3DG
UK
Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 8444 3594
Mob: +44 (0) 7793952382
email: -email-



[Submitted by UNICEF UK]