Simon Vermeulen accused P&R of failing to listen carefully enough to members of the public who had spoken at public meetings against a proposed goods and services tax.
He claimed to have come away from three or four such meetings with that impression.
‘Anybody who was challenging their findings, it came out that they were being spoken down to, which was a bit shameful really.
‘There were some very intelligent people there and it was worth hearing their point of view. That’s what we are – people’s deputies,’ said Deputy Vermeulen.
He held up a poster saying ‘listen to the people, don’t dictate’, which he said had been handed to him by an experienced businessman at a demonstration against P&R’s proposed tax plan held outside the Royal Court as deputies entered to resume their marathon debate yesterday.
‘I couldn’t agree more with him. I have listened to the people and to the businesses who say they are going to close because this is just too much,’ said Deputy Vermeulen.
‘How will the public feel about certain elements of this Assembly pushing to get GST done quickly, now knowing the [Pillar Two] windfall tax money that is coming in and knowing the size of the gap in income tax collections?’
He claimed the tax debate had to be influenced by P&R’s announcement, minutes before the debate resumed, that Pillar Two company tax receipts were now estimated at £250m. rather than £120m. over a three-year period. He urged deputies to back Liam McKenna’s amendment, which he was seconding, for a referendum to be held on P&R’s proposed tax plan, warning that ‘you cannot put a price on democracy’.
P&R vice-president Yvonne Burford argued that tax reform was not a suitable issue to put to a referendum, an idea which she pointed out had already been rejected by the Assembly when it started its tax debate in July.
‘Members were elected to this Assembly to make decisions on behalf of the electorate in the best interests of this island,’ said Deputy Burford.
‘While there are perhaps legitimate occasions when we should ask the people to make a decision instead, those are few and far between, and they are often matters of conscience, such as abortion or assisted death or on such matters as the electoral system.
‘But matters of taxation should not be decided by referendum. However difficult this decision is, it is up to each member here to weigh the overall benefit to this island of future-proofing the tax base by reform.’
The amendment proposing a referendum was defeated by 10 votes to 27.
How they voted
For (10): Deputies Camp, Collins, Curgenven, Gollop, Goy, Matthews, McKenna, Ozanne, Van Katwyk and Vermeulen.
Against (27): Deputies Burford, Bury, Cameron, de Sausmarez, Dorrity, Falla, Gabriel, Hansmann Rouxel, Helyar, Humphreys, Inder, Kay-Mouat, Kazantseva-Miller, Laine, Le Brun, Leadbeater, Malik, Montague, Niles, Oswald, Parkinson, Rochester, Rylatt, Sloan, St Pier, Strachan and Williams.
Abstained (3): Deputy Blin and Alderney Representatives Hill and Snowdon.
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