Offering a platform for all

We can reveal that it was all his own work – for good or for bad, there was no interception or involvement from any ‘spin doctor’.

The motivation seems clear. The chief minister has had enough of the drip, drip, drip of criticism of him, but perhaps more particularly, his committee and ‘his’ States and its achievements, or lack of them.

He wanted to have a go back, rebalance the discussion, slay a few demons maybe, before looking to move on.

One of his demons, distant relative and columnist Horace Camp, thinks the chief minister would be better served by taking to social media. The chief minister would do well to think twice on that one. Frankly, anyone in authority who has ever posted on social media better be prepared to at least invest in a tin hat, if not a full suit of armour.

Although he didn’t perhaps show it in the columns, Peter Ferbrache seems largely comfortable in his own skin. On political issues, he always fronts up to reporters, and generally tells it as it is.

Most of the public wished him and his government well in 2020, but, largely by their own actions, that goodwill has ebbed away, whatever the perceived successes of the government, outlined yesterday.

Whatever, we have been pleased to offer Deputy Ferbrache the chance to put his side to the public. Our comment pages should be a source of reputable debate in our community, and it’s true the public, whether they agree or not, are often more than interested in what their elected representatives have to say. So we shall continue to encourage politicians, and all our readers, to contribute their views to our pages, and offer a voice to all sides.