Population 'is the defining moment' for this States

THIS States could well be judged on the extent to which it grasped the nettle on population management, Chief Minister Peter Harwood said in opening debate on the new regime yesterday.

The Policy Council's proposals, based around a system of permits, faces a total of 20 amendments, eight of which have been debated with two being successful.

An attempt to delay a decision until next year failed.

The debate was not about population policy, or how many people should or should not live in Guernsey, Deputy Harwood, pictured, said, but it was focussed on the mechanism to manage the population.

'This set of proposals is presented largely as a package – it's setting out a regime,' said Deputy Harwood.