Blin reprimanded as he apologises for email error
Deputy Chris Blin, pictured, has been formally reprimanded by his States colleagues after members voted 37-1 to accept the findings of a report by the Pan-Island Commissioner for Standards.
Dr Melissa McCullough had made the recommendation after Deputy Blin forwarded an email to developer Charles McHugh, which relayed information belonging to three other States members – Deputies Andy Taylor, Neil Inder and Heidi Soulsby – without their knowledge or consent.
By doing so, he breached the requirements of the Code of Conduct relating to confidentiality.
Dr McCullough recommended the sanction of a reprimand only, she explained in her report, because the option of recommending he apologise was not open to her, according to the legislation determining the code of conduct process.
States Assembly & Constitution Committee president Carl Meerveld made a seven-second opening speech, simply requesting that members accept the report.
Deputy Blin then gave a short speech in which he apologised to the Assembly and to the three deputies concerned.
‘This was a human, honest error while I was performing my work on planning,’ he said.
‘Those who know me, know – I hope – that I would not have any thought of malicious actions. I do realise that I did breach the code and I therefore accept this reprimand.’
Deputy Peter Ferbrache, who was chief minister at the time of the indiscretion, said he felt Deputy Blin had been ‘harshly treated’.
He believed his inadvertent error had been a minor matter, compared with routine leaks of committee minutes and other details that had been shared with the media by another deputy earlier in this States term.
‘Deputy Blin got it wrong but he got it wrong in good faith,’ he said.
Deputy Ferbrache was also unimpressed by Dr McCullough’s decision to include in her report some speculation regarding members’ collective conduct.
In the report, she said she was ‘concerned that some members are less than attentive to the Code’s confidentiality provisions’ and that she was ‘in no doubt that there are other members responsible for “leaks” to the press and other third parties’.
Deputy Ferbrache said there needed to be a presumption of innocence and that ‘she should keep those comments to herself’.
‘I would be grateful if she wouldn’t seek to lecture me and others about conduct that we’ve not been guilty of,’ he said.
A 38-minute debate featured a 14-minute speech by Deputy Taylor, who went into details about his previous communications with Mr McHugh. His speech was interrupted several times by members who felt he was straying from the matter at hand.
In his closing speech, Deputy Meerveld congratulated Deputy Blin on how he had handled the reprimand process.
