People find a voice through their feet
2019 was, in many ways, a year of waiting for something that never happened.
As with the rest of the British Isles, the Bailiwick of Guernsey was on full Brexit alert for 12 months. Deadline after deadline ramped up the tension and made the threat of a no-deal Brexit loom oppressively large.
It was an exhausting process and meant that much of what was most important for the islands – including attacks on our beneficial ownership register – took place in a Westminster debating chamber where we have no voice.
Islanders made up for that sense of powerlessness by getting to their feet. For 2019 was a year of marches and the year in which climate change went from being an international problem to one drawing passion and protest from islanders demanding that the Bailiwick does its bit.
A march along the east coast in June calling for action was followed in August by the protests of hundreds of school pupils making sure the voices of the most-affected generation are heard loud and clear by island politicians.
Whatever else may be ahead in the 2020s, it is sadly certain that seas warming, plastic pollution and species decline will continue to dominate the news headlines for the decade and beyond.
The final march of the year was in support of nurses and their pay claim. Thousands gathered in the Salerie car park before setting off to show deputies where their loyalty lies.
All were powerful demonstrations of the strength of communal and peaceful action. Far from always dividing people, social media gives islanders the ability to quickly coalesce around an issue, get organised and try to make a difference.
With an election in June and the one-school-two colleges project coming to the bricks and mortar stage, a willingness to get directly involved in island politics could become a powerful political force in the months to come.
Regardless, the biggest issue for the islands in 2020 remains Brexit.
Until a deal is struck and the ‘British family’ can each see precisely what the UK’s exit from the EU means, the sense of uncertainty that has dogged the last three years will continue to dominate.