Guernsey Press

‘Financial mess’ has to be sorted quickly

WE ARE in a financial mess, according to our elected leaders. One must ask how and why we are in this position in the first place. There is a States meeting going on as I type this and whatever decision is made regarding taxation, it will be some time before it is implemented.

Published

This is ridiculous, the 3% so called ‘health tax’ should be introduced as from 1 January 2022. Any sales tax should be rejected – just because other jurisdictions have gone down that route does not make it right. Everyone knows it is regressive and will hit the poorest. Everyone knows there will be a raft of additional civil servants, I reckon about 30 at a guesstimate of a £1m. per annum in salaries alone, plus administration costs and pension expenses.

Then we get to the ‘blame game’ of pensioners. I am 68, still doing a 60 hour week and I guess we will be paying around £13,000 in income tax next year, so although I am drawing my £228 per week I am also still putting back in to the system.

There has been some nasty talk about the cost of Nice approved drugs, where politicians are saying that if they knew the true cost of these drugs they may not have approved their use. That is incredibly bad, why should any Guernsey resident not be able to access the same drugs as an Englishman or Jerseyman? Would they be casting doubts about the cost if a partner, friend or family member needed them? Of course they would not, and again, I would not begrudge an additional two pence on the ‘health tax’ to fund the drugs people need for a decent quality of life.

So, what are we going to do about it? Firstly, give the planning department a right good kick up the backside. Down at La Grande Mare we have an incredibly wealthy man – you know, the type we strive so hard to attract to our island. He wants to invest perhaps tens of millions into the local economy and give the island a first class golf facility. That in turn would attract wealthy visitors to Guernsey who would spend their money in our community.

So what is happening? It seems planners are dragging their feet when they should be making this project their number one priority.

The politicians should be putting pressure on the planners to make sure they do – and let’s put to bed this ‘You can’t get involved because it is operational’ fiasco.

Sadly missed former deputy Dave Jones would not have stood for this nonsense.

I have no connection with La Grande Mare and to be honest, if Mr Lansdown said ‘Blow it, I have had enough, I am taking my money somewhere else’, I really wouldn’t blame him.

TREVOR HOCKEY

Trev’s Motorcycles