Making progress

In my last column I reflected on the 40 years since I was first elected to the States and said that next time around I would highlight how much both politics and society in Guernsey had changed over that time. As L P Hartley said, ‘the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’.

Where to start? What about smoking?

It was everywhere and completely unquestioned. Not only in society but in places of government too. To be fair it was never permitted (in my time) in the States chamber but that was about the only refuge for those wanting to breathe unpolluted air.

Everywhere else, from douzaine meetings to States committee meetings, saw members lighting up without a thought. For example, back in the ’80s I served on the Ancient Monuments Committee when Blanche Dorey was a member and Rona Cole was the director of museums. Talk about a foggy atmosphere – Aurigny’s new ‘clear vision’ equipment wouldn’t have stood a chance.

And it wasn’t just a States issue. When I worked at Radio Guernsey it was commonplace for several people, including the presenter, to be smoking in the studio. As for restaurants, clubs and bars – well smoking seemed to be the norm.

I was the Health minister who persuaded the States to ban smoking in public/work places ahead of anywhere in the British Isles, with the noble exception of the Republic of Ireland. I still shudder to recall the naked hatred which came my way at the time. Yet strangely no politician has ever tried to reverse that move.

Another bellwether for the societal changes that Guernsey has been going through over the last four decades has been the evolving laws concerning homosexuality.

When I first entered the States, homosexual acts were strictly illegal and the law carried significant periods of imprisonment. In fact the archaic legislation also referred to ‘hard labour’.

Then we legalised gay sex, in private, between consenting adults, who were not members of the armed forces or the merchant navy, and who were over the age of 21. That was one of the most unpleasant debates I have ever known and I won’t repeat some of the ignorant and hurtful things which were said.

After that big first step, subsequent reforms became incremental. Firstly, the age of gay consent was reduced to 18, then to 16. Then civil partnerships were introduced and finally gay marriage was legalised.

I am sure there is still some way to go before all discrimination and homophobia becomes a bad memory but I am really proud of the progress Guernsey has made in this important area of social policy.

Next there were Sundays.

What about them? Well, you were not allowed to do much on them back in 1982. It was illegal (almost regarded as immoral) to buy petrol for your lawnmower. Or a bottle of wine to go with your dinner. Even purchasing groceries like potatoes or eggs was verboten unless it was from a tiny little shop.

We were told that if any of this changed then Sundays would no longer be special. I don’t know about you, but the Guernsey Sunday still feels very different to the rest of the week to me, even without all of the control-freakery.

Another feature of 1982 was that abortion was strictly illegal. When the UK first legalised terminations, the political leader of that initiative, David Steele, argued that the alternative was back-street abortions. Here that wasn’t quite true but it was almost as bad.

A steady flow of desperate women from Guernsey travelled to the UK to make use of clinics over there. I am sure that journey was a trauma for all of the women involved but the poorer you were, the worse it got.

The well-heeled could afford to travel with their spouse or partner or a supportive friend or family member. And they stayed in decent accommodation. The less well-off took that lonely journey alone and had to have their termination away from all of their usual support systems. And they often had to stay in grotty accommodation. In one case I became aware of, someone was forced to sleep on a park bench.

I know there may still be thousands of islanders who deeply regret the legalisation of abortion in Guernsey, but I can only speak from my own perspective. Of course every termination is a tragedy but the law was a big step forward and made Guernsey a more civilised place. Hats off to the likes of Sue Plant, Pat Mellor, Jean Pritchard and Wendy Morgan, who had the guts to take this divisive and emotional issue on.

Next I have to mention borrowing. One of the biggest changes in local politics over the last 40 years has been the attitude to funding capital spending.

For most of that time the received wisdom was that the prudent approach was to save to spend.

Now the attitude is that future islanders will benefit from the investment concerned so it’s OK to borrow and expect the next generation to pay it back.

A change for the better? I am not convinced – but that genie is now well and truly out of the bottle.

But the biggest change between the Guernsey politics of 1982 and those of 2022? It has to be that many people seem to be angry all of the time. That includes the public but, sadly, also one or two of my colleagues.