Fighting for freedom

IT DID not quite have the drama of Braveheart.

No one managed to utter the immortal lines, 'they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom'.

Nevertheless, Guernsey took a brave step towards loosening its ties with the UK last week as more than 400 people at a public meeting called for discussion to begin on the island becoming more autonomous.

For Advocate Roger Perrot, who prefers a pin-striped suit to blue face-paint, it will be vindication of 12 years of work on the issue – he was quite open in admitting that he would sit down and shut up about the issue if the public told him to.

In fact, he was asked to shout louder and rattle more cages.

The turnout alone, and the cross-section of people in the audience, albeit mostly greying, gave him the legitimacy to continue his campaign.

The problem remains, though, that while the beginning of the journey has been clearly identified – an increasingly aggressive Europe and a United Kingdom that has not only lost its voice but shows signs of open hostility to the island – there is no clear path to the end, or any real idea of what that might be.

There is a notion that Guernsey needs to be able to negotiate international treaties on its own and be responsible for its own legislation.

At the moment the UK wields a massive stick in effectively being able to block Guernsey's laws.

Our chief minister cannot negotiate with other nations unless the UK decides to let him and provides so-called letters of entrustment.

When the UK is meant to be talking on our behalf, there can be little doubt it will protect its own interests first – just look at what happened with zero-10.

Advocate Perrot spoke about the perceived conflict of interest of the Law Officers of the Crown – we need our own legal advisers, was the message.

He still wants the Queen as our head of state, but with powers the island vests in her exercised through a governor-general.

'At the present we're a Crown Dependency, what I'm after is rather less dependency and more association,' said Advocate Perrot on Thursday.

He floated the idea of a Crown Association Island. He said he was thinking of something akin to dominion status.

'I'm not quite sure what I want, but I think that's what I want.'

But just because the path is foggy and littered with rocks and holes, it does not mean you do not explore it.

Some of those obstacles are clear.

Would the uncertainty unsettle business in the island? What would the backstop for legislation be? Is our States mature enough to handle the responsibility? What happens to our passports? What about terrestrial TV? Healthcare agreements? Can we afford the many millions of joining all the clubs on the international stage? A litany of acronyms that includes the UN, IMO, WTO, OECD, IMF and so it goes on.

Where would the UK stand on all this? Could it be thinking of actually going the other way – to rid what Labour sees as an embarrassment in the Crown Dependencies? Could it just swallow them up, impose its own tax regime and take the consequential costs in things like unemployment?

Would the Conservatives be a more benign force?

A family analogy ran through proceedings.

Essentially Guernsey's success, especially in finance, was likened to a teenager playing its music too loud and upsetting its grumpy older relatives.

The idea of political maturity must be one of the central planks of discussion now.

Just where are we in our development?

Are we old enough to be given all this responsibility?

Somewhat ironically given the vote, one of the loudest, and unprompted, rounds of applause was when Advocate Perrot hit out at the type of person paying deputies a wage had attracted.

Some were branded dunderheads unable to hold down a job in the real world.

Those deputies present must have started slipping down their seats – the amount of antipathy towards them from a seemingly level-headed, even middle-of-the-road, crowd was startling.

So, were people saying they wanted more power, but did not trust those in charge to wield it?

Now that takes you straight back to the Wales Audit Office report and the failure to meet any of the cornerstones of good corporate governance.

Surely any play for more autonomy can only be made with the strength of meeting all the criteria to say we are well managed.

But the public has spoken – and there were four of the five members of the Policy Council's External relations group, as well as staff, there to listen.

The danger is any move being seen as isolationist.

Turning its back on Europe and access to its markets would leave the island as a financial wasteland.

Guernsey will have to make sure it does not end up as the small child in the playground who no one can be bothered to play with.