Society is heading the wrong way
I REFER to the recent [Thursday 23 June] article by Peter Roffey entitled ‘Do islanders need protection from their own government?’
One paragraph states: ‘But it is not just the very occasional involvement of the justices in Strasbourg which allows the convention to protect Guernsey citizens from the actions of their own government. It has that influence day in and day out. Often, as States committees discuss possible policy developments, they are warned, “I don’t think you can do that as it might infringe our convention obligations”. But of course the public never see that process.’
It’s more than a shame that the public never gets to see such important business of government. How can we reliably choose which deputies to select when the meaty stuff is going on behind closed doors? It’s like a football manager selecting a player for a match without having seen him play, isn’t it?
But anyway I am pleased to see that Deputy Roffey is of the mindset to focus on what is happening to our ability to exercise our basic human rights in practice without (threat of) punishment. In my view, with or without the European Convention on Human Rights, we are rapidly moving from a society where everything is allowed unless it is expressly forbidden to one in which everything is forbidden unless it is expressly allowed.
MATT WATERMAN
Flat 2
3, Burnt Lane
St Peter Port