From the Summit of the Moral High Ground

Philip Ozouf offered a mea culpa for his recent behaviour.  He promised to be a good boy if  the States let him stay on. CTV said he was just 'misunderstood' provoking a reaction in the Chamber. "The high contacting parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of legislature ." Extract from the European Convention on Human Rights. Freedom of expression of the opinion of the people is inconceivable without  the assistance of a plurality of parties (Yumak & Sadak v Turkey). Clearly the elections gave the public no clear choice in the composition of the legislature, there was no attempt to ask the public who should be in charge of each department, we get what we are given and we have to just lump it. If anyone ever takes a case under Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the Convention to the Court then it is impossible to tell what they will do with our ...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. Having committed myself to writing one post per day, I had been trawling the Jersey blogs for inspiration. So far I had written posts up until Tuesday, so I hoped my prediction about the next Chief Minister would prove correct. This flowchart just about summed up the election. Swap Republican for Le Gresley, Democrat for Bailhache, Libertarian for Pearce and Green for Forskitt. I came across an older post on Crapaudpinion discussing why Jersey's progressives struggled to work together. My own view was that there were simply too many people who wanted to lead and not enough willingness to compromise. Working together means accepting that things will not always go your...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. In the second follow-up to my article on Spartan constitutions, I want to look at what lessons can be learnt from modern Greece. From a free-market perspective, I argued that no bank should have been bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis. Businesses take risks, and bankruptcy is one possible consequence of poor decisions. People would undoubtedly have suffered immediate losses, but those losses would have been recognised and the recovery process begun. Instead, three years later, many people had still lost savings, pensions had declined, homes had been repossessed, and the same banks remained at risk of failure while threatening entire nations. Bankruptcy is part of th...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. As part of my election campaign I conducted a sample survey on three issues. Three questions were asked as part of the 2011 election campaign. This first example question shows how opinions would be surveyed on each States proposition. A link to the full proposition would be provided together with a summary of what the proposition sought to achieve. Proposition One Senator Le Gresley requests an increase to the cold weather payment in light of the increase in GST. Summary: The proposition sought to provide an additional cold weather allowance to people who did not qualify for income support following the increase in GST from 3% to 5%. I personally supported the propos...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. The two great city states of Ancient Greece embody a philosophical battle which is waged in all modern constitutions: the battle between state control and personal freedom. For a brief period these two city states were the superpowers of the world. Today Sparta is a rural village which is home to goat herds and little else, whilst Athens, birthplace of much of what we consider to be civilisation, still flourishes. The battle between these two constitutional philosophies is the libertarian/authoritarian political cleavage, one of the divisions which exists in every society: the individual against the state. Like Sparta, states which are overly restrictive of individual freedo...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. Does the role of the Jersey Evening Post in Jersey prevent free and fair elections? I have previously examined the legal basis for defining a public authority . The Jersey Evening Post may be considered a functional public authority as a result of the following laws: the Jersey Gazette Act 1960 and the Official Publications (Jersey) Law 1960 . These laws enforce the public declaration of certain information in the Jersey Gazette and define the publication in which these pronouncements must be made as the Jersey Evening Post . In a previous post I looked at the concerns raised about the JEP by Senator Cohen and the effect of the media ...