‘We’ll tell you what we want your money for’ – association

The new political group held a meeting last week at which it announced its name, revealed its branding and its fundraising page, where it is asking islanders for donations to help it towards its £150,000 target.

Founder member Deputy Carl Meerveld said that it was always the intention to let people know how the association intended to spend this amount. ‘This week we will be coming out with a breakdown of exactly what is going on,’ he said.

Since the target was announced there has been a lot of criticism on social media of the amount being asked for, with many islanders asking how the money will be used, but the deputy said this release of information was not happening as a direct result of the feedback.

As of yesterday afternoon the group’s GoFundMe page was showing a total contribution of more than £11,000 from 26 contributors.

Deputy Meerveld has said the money will be spent on marketing the association: ‘£150,000 is a considerable target, but if we fall short we will cut our cloth accordingly,’ he said.

There had been many things to sort out and deal with since last week’s public meeting, he added.

The group had gone from a concept to where it is now in 20 days, and he was not going on a family holiday to stay in the island and work on a constitution, which would be discussed at the next meeting of the group in June.

June is also the month when the States is due to be presented with the commencement ordinance of the Electoral System Referendum Law, which will allow for up to five campaign groups to apply to promote each of the options for island-wide voting.

The law will allow each group expenses of up to £10,000 – including a grant of £5,000 from the States – during the referendum period. Outside of these groups, only a maximum of £100 of referendum expenses may be incurred.

Deputy Meerveld and fellow Islanders Association founders Deputies Peter Ferbrache and Joe Mooney back the option for full island-wide voting – all deputies being elected in one go.

Deputy Meerveld said that it will be up to members whether the group seeks to begin a formal campaign for its favoured option, or seeks a coalition with another group which sets out to promote that choice.

Whatever the outcome of the referendum, Deputy Meerveld said the association will look to put candidates forward for the next election.

n The States will be asked in April to approve the appointment of the Campaign Group Assessments Panel, which will approve applications from prospective campaign groups. Sir de Vic Carey, Jurat Stephen Jones and Graham Daldry will be proposed by the States Assembly and Constitution Committee.

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