Private Eye approached me about the Tubby Report

It is, however, not true to state as you did in 4 March that I 'tipped off Private Eye' – not that I see much wrong with whistle-blowing in the modern age of cover-ups and secrecy; the truth can be painful, but is generally beneficial in the long term.

Ever since Ian Hislop's treatment on the BBC of the Daily Mail's expose on Common Purpose, I have viewed Private Eye with a degree of suspicion. It is not somewhere I would choose to run to with a 'scoop'.

I am happy to be contacted by anyone seeking further details of what happened, but the key point is that Private Eye were already working on the story before they contacted me. They had viewed several articles relating to the CISX from different journalists and media sources. These included The Independent, The Guernsey Press, the Community Press Group (which is the online news network I work for) and quite probably the Jersey Evening Post, Island FM, BBC and Channel TV. They had a particular interest because of their prior coverage of the Clerkenwell case, which the Tubby Report highlights. That is why they asked me where they could obtain a copy of the report and I said I would send them one of mine. Even had I wanted to, refusing the request would have been futile – it was never a classified document and was easily obtainable.

Being a States critic is relevant but it shouldn't be, because the GFSC, CISX and States of Guernsey are supposed to be independent of each other. That the three entities are apparently not independent is of course the crux of the problem. Some, if not all, of the main reasons they are not independent revolve around the career choices of the likes of Peter Harwood.

It is true that I am pleased to see the end of Peter Harwood's tenure as chief minister because of the shabby and controversial way in which he was appointed. Even by his own admission, delegates from other jurisdictions at international conferences have been 'astonished' when he has informed them of what occurred in the spring of 2012. It is hardly a great advert for Guernsey.

I am surprised that he resigned so quickly, though. If we are going to attend international conferences, boast about being big players on the international stage and adopt international diktat because we want to be part of the global community (which we did regarding health claims on food supplements in the same week as Deputy Harwood tendered his resignation), then we have to accept publicity – good, bad, fair and unfair – from outside of these shores. Prior to his resignation, Private Eye didn't report anything new and the article was on page 33 of a magazine, not splashed all over the front of the tabloids as Big Pharma's unproven health benefit claims often are.

Finally, what does it tell us about our democracy that within two years of becoming a politician, Peter Harwood appears to have considerably less power and influence over the running of the island than he did beforehand?

MATT WATERMAN.