‘Our link to monarchy is of benefit to Bailiwick’
HER Majesty the Queen is ‘an example of service to country’ and a valuable role model, Guernsey’s lead politician on constitutional affairs has said.
Reflecting on the Platinum Jubilee celebrations being held around the Commonwealth, Jonathan Le Tocq said they provided a good opportunity to think about the benefits of the Bailiwick’s relationship to the monarch.
‘I think it’s really an important time to reflect on our long history of connections to the Crown, as successors to the Dukes of Normandy,’ he said. ‘That long history gives us an incredible heritage.’
The Channel Islands became part of the Dukedom of Normandy in 933 AD, 133 years before England was conquered, and Deputy Le Tocq described the Bailiwicks as the oldest possessions of the Crown.
‘Our connection with the constitutional monarchy is very healthy for us,’ he said. ‘The UK can’t treat us like an overseas territory. The fact that we are able to make our own laws and are largely autonomous in terms of our own place in the world, I think, is something to celebrate and that’s down to our connection to the Crown. If it wasn’t for that, we would be in a very different place.’
Deputy Le Tocq, who is Policy & Resources’ lead member for external relations and constitutional affairs, described himself as neither a royalist nor a republican, but said ‘we have an exemplary head of state’.
‘Her Majesty is an example of service to country and I think we do need those today,’ he said. ‘Role models are few and far between in this very populist culture, in which you can be famous for just being famous.’
Along with representatives from Jersey and the Isle of Man, Deputy Le Tocq has enjoyed greatly increased contact with officers and political representatives in the UK, compared to the opportunities that were available to him when he first took on an external relations role more than a decade ago. He has seen a three-fold increase in the local staff required to deal with the workload in that time.
Speaking on the Guernsey Press Politics Podcast, which is available now, he outlined the effectiveness of this work, the difficulties of ensuring UK representatives understood Guernsey’s relationship with the Crown, and the significant economic possibilities which he believes have opened up as a result of the UK having to address its own external relations in the wake of Brexit.
