LISTEN: ‘I want our children to live and thrive in their island’
A deputy has pledged to continue to oppose tax rises and a goods and services tax on ordinary islanders in favour of a bid to grow economic prosperity in the island.
Deputy Liam McKenna wants to see a focus on international tax developments and corporate taxes rather than taxing the individual. He said that alongside an increased effort in making savings, this could cover predicted deficits in public spending.
He said his aim was to protect the island and allow islanders to see their children and grandchildren grow up locally.
Deputy McKenna stood successfully for the first time in 2020, having said he was inspired to think of the future for his children and other young islanders, and to boost the economy rather than increase taxes.
Listen to the full interview with Deputy Liam McKenna on our latest Kiosk Politics podcast
‘I felt if we reduced taxes, we would then stimulate the economy where, if we were doing better because our taxes were lower, you’d say, I’m going to change the car, I’m going to get a new kitchen, we’re going to eat out.
‘We would actually end up probably spending more money in the economy and it would all be going around. I was of the mind that if I had a chance, I would reduce taxes, not put them up. So when GST came along, I was no to GST, and thankfully, so were 6,000 others who marched along the front.
‘People say it’ll never work, but let’s try it. Surely it’s better to try it than just say I’ve got to put your taxes up?’
He said that intergenerational concerns still bothered him, and he had heard the same from many islanders. He remains concerned about how the island plans to fund long-term care for the elderly, whether a contribution from the value of the person’s home will be required, and the equality and iniquity in working that out.
‘What stirred me to get involved in politics was when I thought what does the future hold for my children? To me, they are staring at becoming generation rent, everything is becoming unaffordable, and where is it going to stop?’ he said in the latest edition of Kiosk Politics, the Guernsey Press politics podcast summer series.
‘As we all do, I want our children to live in the island they were born in. We don’t want them living off fumes, we don’t want them surviving. We want them thriving.
‘We want to be able to enjoy our grandchildren living here. Because my fear is if my children leave Guernsey, I’m going to say when they have a family, knowing how I am, I’ll want to be with the grandchildren.
‘But I don’t want to leave Guernsey, so I must, if possible, be part of some movement to make it possible for our children to live in the island where they were born.’
While the States continues to struggle to make savings, Deputy McKenna maintains an approach towards cuts and government waste which has been largely discredited by his political peers.
‘I have said, and this has always been unpopular, I have said before in the States Assembly that to me a lot of States departments are like a colander and the money is like water.
‘You throw the water into the colander and it flows out the sides and so what do they say is get me more water, get me more money, put the taxes up, we need more.’
He also opposed a recent requete to secure greater priority for the States Assembly in the Royal Court building.
