Deciding to reject GST was a huge mistake
WHERE do we go from here?
GST was rejected by the people of Guernsey, and for the benefit of their political future, the States members also rejected it. Big mistake.
The States P&R has less money coming in than it is paying out, hence a deficit of £135m. If you look at the demography of Guernsey, you will see that there is a gradual increase in the average lifespan. This means that year by year the costs to the Health Department are increasing, inflation is pushing up costs yearly. This means that all departments of the States are paying more to provide services to all of us every day of our lives. So it is a balancing act meaning that there has to be enough income to pay for these services. So we need to do something to reduce our deficit and secure our services for the future. The way to increase our income, like it or not, is to introduce taxes for the higher earners, introduce GST at the lower level, bring back corporation tax, introduce paid parking and, in my opinion, tax all internet goods coming into Guernsey. This will help the retail sector. Mr Bezos is putting a lot of people out of business unchallenged. So that is what we need to accept if we expect our services to always be there for us. Also generating wind and tidal energy and exporting this energy would bring in a lot of revenue.
L J GALLIENNE