Sark needs to see bigger picture
If attempts by Sark to justify its faintly boorish rejection of an olive branch from its neighbours on Brecqhou were aimed at easing the situation, they will have failed.
If attempts by Sark to justify its faintly boorish rejection of an olive branch from its neighbours on Brecqhou were aimed at easing the situation, they will have failed.
Pretending that the island is not at war with the Barclay family does not wash, even if many might have their own views on who initially started the conflict.
Equally, for the Seigneur now to come over all coy and suggest that this is a matter for the democratically elected Chief Pleas to deal with is also a bit rich.
Sark had to be forced to embrace an elected government and if the Seigneur was genuinely troubled by a personal approach from a member of the Barclay family, he could have written back and suggested an alternative route.
More worryingly, however, for all that this was promoted in some quarters as a David and Goliath struggle, it is increasingly clear that there is a cabal in Sark, largely of people who do not need to work, who have little interest in their fellow residents who do. That is why they insist on seeking to thwart inward investment which last year ran at approaching £1m. a month.
That is bad enough. Worse is the assistance they have received from Guernsey's Law Officers in progressing legislation which has every appearance of being anti-Barclay.
Guernsey waits seven years for urgently needed animal welfare laws yet, virtually overnight, Sark gets enactments blocking new moorings, hampering the use of the Brecqhou Warrior and pushing through questionable land reforms.
States of Guernsey departments would die for such sweetheart treatment yet no one – except the much-criticised Sark Newsletter – questions what is happening.
Sark itself ought also to ask why it receives such attentive service. Yes, establishments tend to look after their own but Guernsey's neighbour's independence has also been a source of frustration to this island's attempts to get its own laws approved by the Privy Council.
The Sark Newsletter has warned of the risks of Sark losing its autonomy through the creeping influence of Guernsey's legislators and regulators.
Chief Pleas's desire to hamper Brecqhou blinds it to the fact that there is more than one game being played and it is merely part of a bigger agenda.
