Inter-island, we're really on our own
IT WAS almost written in the stars.
The final day of a turbulent year for inter-island relations ends with the Government of Jersey making an announcement that it had concluded its tender agreement for ferry services with DFDS for the next 20 years.
Now the Guernsey authorities can say that they have a five-year extension opportunity on the hook with Brittany Ferries so the idea that both islands can never get back around the negotiating table is not correct.
But frankly, we all recognise that is irrelevant.
Our islanders will take this as, if not a declaration of non-cooperation, an indication that Jersey is fed up of trying to do anything with us. And ultimately, that the idea of any significant progress on anything meaningful, which might make island life easier – or indeed cheaper – is not going to happen.
We could do so much together for the benefit of thousands of us, but we haven’t so far, and frankly, we never will.
Whatever the outcome of Brittany Ferries legal challenge, the ferry tender process turned into a joke, and an unfunny one at that. All the months of diligent work, leading to a disagreement on who should be ruled in or out, and Jersey suddenly repeating the whole process within a month.
Both islands could say, who’d want to work with people like these? The answer is, decisively, we’re on our own.