From the Summit of the Moral High Ground

It's that time of year again when I have to fill in the retail sales survey and I'm afraid to say that once again I will be ticking the 'more than 5% increase' box. In a week where we have seen many large retail chains go under, Nigel Farage on Question Time has indicated that a further 140 chains are in financial difficulties, I find myself in the rather strange position of having delivered on the intentions I set forth, which can only mean that my analysis of the situation, the fundamental assumptions upon which I have operated and the decisions I have made have been entirely correct. So what is it that other local businesses have been missing, where have they been going wrong? The JEP offers a solution  but I am afraid, that is no solution at all. The fundamental issue is that Jersey is simply not big enough a market to sustain a business. Think back a few decades and even before the invention of the computer Jersey businesses depended on overseas sales, for...

It would seem eminently sensible if all supporters of Option A were working together and could agree a single argument which could be put to the public as part of the debate. It seems a shame to waste the opportunity that this referendum offers to build a more effective States of Jersey and to restore the Parishes their due honour. If we accept that subsidiarity should be the organising principle of any society; whereby responsibility rests with the lowest competent authority, and wherever possible that is the individual, then de-centralisation should be the watch word for any government. Let us look at all the positives that arise from returning the Constables and with them hopefully a lot of responsibility back to their parishes, as an example of why subsidiarity is the favoured basis of all organisations from the Catholic Church to the European Union. A Constable fully focussed on their Parish is the best possible outcome for all the people of Jersey. ...

In the absence of anyone else stepping up to organise the campaign for OPTION A, I thought I might step up to the plate and organise one. The basis of preparing the campaign would be: 1) To identify people willing to work on it. 2) To agree a positive message about the benefits of this option. 3) To create an ad hoc organisation which the States would be willing to fund. 4) To carry out the campaign. Is there anyone else who is organising one? It's not too early to start so if you are supporting Option A, let me know. The first step is to hold a meeting for those interested to decide an agenda.

The typical human reaction to any infection, vermin, danger, or toxicity is to stand back, to isolate the agent, to trap it, to prevent its further spread or release, then to remove it in a safe secure way if possible using trained professionals. Eventually decisions must be made on the level of acceptable risk on the removal, like what is willing to be lost or damaged or killed in the process. Risk analysis, cost trade-offs, and minimization decisions must be evaluated and executed.  The toxic agent in global trade, global banking, and global bond market is the USDollar.   In 2009, the Jackass began making a certain firm point. Those nations that depart from the entire USDollar system early will be the leading nations in the next chapter, with stronger foundations, richer solvency, emerging economies, healthier financial markets, efficient credit engines, growing wealth, stronger political helm activity, and better functioning systems generally. Imagine a contaminate...

I am struggling with the ongoing coverage of the disciplinary hearings of three police officers, the matter is turning into a farce. The case law (R. v Metropolitan Police Commissioner) is quite clear; a police officer's first and overriding duty is to uphold the law, even if that means disobeying the direct order of a superior. We have only to look back to the Nuremburg trials to remain assured that, 'I was only following orders' is not a defence. Gassing Jews because a Crown Advocate says you can, does not make it right, or Lawful. That the three officers did not take the honourable course and resign immediately is regrettable. Unfortunately in this island too many are too ready to forget that one is innocent until proven guilty. As an innocent who has suffered such a proceeding I am not unaware of the distress it causes but there should be nothing defamatory about being the subject of a proceeding, all police officers make mistakes, despite what the JEP would normall...

I really should update the picture with the new frontage  What effect has recent States of Jersey policy had on business? Recently the Town Centre Manager was reported as stating that we were doing quite well to have only 19 empty shops in town and 3 in Liberty Wharf (does anyone even know where Liberty Wharf is?) and of course since then two more shops have gone on King Street; Barretts and Jessops and Play.com have left the building. I took the liberty of looking round town and finding out what the situation really was. The vast majority of empty shops are in a straight line from the sight of the former Gas Place car park and now they proceed all the way up to West Centre where Riva Menswear has shut it doors. The other dead zone is around the pedestrian area of Colomberie. Now I have no evidence to prove it but on the face of it, it appears that removing 600 car parking spaces and pedestrianising a street appear to have killed business. There are also a num...

Having reviewed the findings of the Electoral Commission it is clear to see the Sir Pip has taken the lead from Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party who likewise on the referendum for Scottish Independence wanted to veer for a simple YES or NO question. Something which Westminster violently stomped on because they knew that adding such complexity would tend to force voters down the centre line and vote for greater autonomy. Sir Pip is now trying the same tactic but we do not have a Westminster to stand up for us. The question then becomes what are we going to do about it, or as it ultimately concludes, what am I going to do about it? The question of whether the Constables should be removed from the States is going to be confused by other issues such as should the Senators be removed from States - a campaign to retain Senators is no doubt going to be headed by the man who set Jersey on its death spiral, Pierre Horsfall and will draw a lot of votes ...

It is with dread that I open the newspaper every night, I live in constant fear that the government will have dreamt up a new hair-brained idea to waste taxpayer money and bring yet further ruin to this once great island. Money that they actually no longer have and so they are now recklessly spending our inheritance from better times when more sensible heads ran an Island we could be proud of. The current crop seem dead set on bringing ever more misery to the daily lives of the people they purport to represent. It could well be a case of rags to rags in three generations if something is not done to stop them. Imagine my horror to discover that the Chief Minister is going to burn my money by having a new 'imagine Jersey' style public consultation exercise, when the cause of mass immigration is blatantly obvious - the unrestricted growth of bureaucracy in Jersey creating ever more jobs which have to be filled from an already usually fully employed population. Government is the...

I am a firm believer in independence, and of course in non-dependence. As a true conservative opposed to change what has happened to the Western world over the course of the last one hundred years (since the Liberal Prime Minister Lloyd George first introduced a form of the Social Security scheme, albeit not one that we would recognise today it being based firmly on the idea that you cannot get out more than you have paid in). Subsidiarity  is the only basis upon which any successful socio-economic system can be based no matter what governments would like you to believe. The latest figures out today show Spanish unemployment standing at 27% and youth unemployment in Spain at 57%, now I simply do not believe this is true, I believe that there is a substantial 'black' economy where people have decided to circumvent the employment laws and taxation systems and simply work cash in hand under the radar without the interference of the State. This is not a 'black economy' b...

The time has come to officially register a political party under the Jersey regulations and I am thinking that in the spirit of revolution the documents should be submitted on Jersey Reform Day this year , which leaves until the 28th September 2013 to formulate everything, ten months may seem a long time, but I am sure that there will still be things not yet completed by that date. I was particularly struck by one comment on the JEP site "You have to feel for the young generation growing up in a world where 50% youth unemployment is now the norm, where the prospect of ever getting a pension is almost zero, where the standard of living is, for the first time since the war, expected to decline over their lifetime. And Jersey just does not look like a good long term bet." Whilst at the same time the site is flooded with unionised adults throwing little tizzies about not getting the same amount of overtime or only getting a 1% pay rise, clearly they believe that non-unio...

I have been looking again at the Jersey Property Market, let's look at what the 'bottom of the market' value of property in Jersey (as supported by the income support scheme) truly is: The Income Support (Jersey) Regulations 2007 currently set the rates for housing component as follows (please note that these are the old rates, the subsidy was increased by around 6% in October 2012 but the website has not been updated so the verifiable rates are utilised): 4      Rates for the housing component (2)    The rates payable under this sub-paragraph are – (a) in the case of a hostel £76.30 (b) in the case of lodgings or a bedsit £109.41 (c) in the case of a flat with 1 bedroom £156.31 (d) in the case of a flat with 2 bedrooms £196.63 (e) in the case of a flat with 3 bedrooms £223.37 (f) in the case of a flat with 4 bedrooms £236.88 (g) in the case of a flat with 5 or more bedro...