I was delighted to see a whole page of the Guernsey Press devoted to something I have been talking about over coffee with other ladies for some time, because it seems that we are not alone. Indeed I am beginning to see that there may be lots of us out there who have been wringing our hands and bemoaning the fact that we don’t know what to do about the awful situation in which we find ourselves.
What situation?
According to the article in the Press last week, Guernsey is apparently at a crossroads. I have read the piece which I know was written by a specific group of men, all of who have a vested interest in Guernsey business, but their views can be applied to all of us who live and work here. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor. All of us.
I could not disagree with any of what they said, except that perhaps they were being kind, because I think we are standing at the edge of Pleinmont, and if we don’t do something soon we are going to fall right off the cliff to disaster.
What has gone wrong?
Quite simply our system of government has not been working for us for the last 15 years.
Why?
We are still clinging to the old form of ‘consensus government’ that we have had forever. It sounds good, but we are still electing 38 very different individuals, each of who think that their policies have the answers to our problems, but who, when the chips are down, are reluctant to agree to compromises for the good of the whole.
Why?
The sitting deputies cannot put aside their differences and vote together for the good of the island. There is not one deputy, not even the chief minister, who has the power to take difficult decisions. When met with a stalemate in voting, there is no committee which has an over-riding power. The result is that nothing ever gets decided and so nothing ever gets done. Someone has to take the difficult decisions that none of us are going to like.
Explain please...
The fact that it took four years for the States to agree to the addition of GST-plus to our tax system means that they delayed the time from which those funds would have been be available to offset our debts. The result is that we are no further forward and the debt is bigger, so the rate of GST when it is implemented in 2027 may well have to be 10% and not the 5% if it had been proposed it in 2021.
Such an increase will be the fault of our elected representatives, who were apparently unable to accept the harsh advice that had been given by the experts, so they delayed and delayed. Our good old system is no longer fit for the purpose of running a successful island in these modern fast-moving times.
What is the result of this behaviour from our elected representatives?
The result is that our economy has stagnated, infrastructure has deteriorated and we are told by independent advisers that our government will run out of money very, very soon. No money for new houses, no money for the health services, and as for education – who knows?
Where is this extra money going to come from?
From all of us. There is no money tree or good fairy. If we want first-world services, we have to pay the costs of providing them.
What can you do?
We know that many people in Guernsey are thinking what’s the point in voting? Well, it’s you who have the power to change the States, to make it more dynamic and fit for a modern, fast-moving, ever-changing world. A lot of people think the answer has been out there for 25 years, pushed out of sight. It is called ‘executive government’.
What is executive government?
It is whereby our elected representatives choose a leader, who in turn is given the power to choose a number of other deputies to work together to form the executive. This smaller group are tasked to manage the administration of the island together with, and alongside, the civil service, all of whom will be held accountable for their actions or inactions.
Why would it be better?
Only by having a small manageable number of ministers, say 10 or 12, all of who agree to vote with the chief minister, can decisions be taken and acted upon quickly. Obviously it is important that those we choose to be our deputies can show that they can be trusted, are competent and capable of running a successful business, because in essence that is what they will be doing. We need to feel able to trust our representatives. Your job is to make sure that those candidates you vote for have the necessary ability and expertise to carry out their responsibilities.
So what do we need?
Just remember that whatever brilliant ideas are being thought up at the moment by our new deputies, they can only be a wish-list, available only to a government with power to bring them to pass, and have the funds to pay for them.
Can we be sure that there will be sufficient funds to pay for not only these new ideas, but also the projects that are unfinished at the present time, like the hospital and the schools and the sewers?
Not really. We still don’t have enough money to pay for them and it is likely that we won’t have any unless we change the style of government.
So what can you do?
Please register to vote. And then please vote for any candidate who promises to pursue as a matter of priority a policy of implementing executive government for Guernsey.
