The Celestial Sisters

One from the back catalogue today. This is a celebration of the sun and moon, unlike other cultures, both feminine to the Celts, in contrast to the Roman and Greek depictions of male sun and female moon. Written 8th June 2005.


The Celestial Sisters

The sisters dancing in the sky
Sun and moon, so graceful fly
The moon follows sister bright
The sun, so golden in her sight
And if they come to talk in day
Watch and wonder at their play
If earth should mask the moon
Glowing ember, good fortune
If moon should hide the sun
Darkness shadows everyone
Moon by night, sun by day
Sisters dance in harmony
Such is ancient Celtic lore
Celestial sisters so adore.

John Terry Limited - Gleanings from Unseen Jersey

I saw this, and asked for more information on Unseen Jersey, as it looked as if it might have an interesting history. I also came across this online from part of a letter on the States website by Mick Millar:

John Terry Limited, one of Jersey's oldest family companies (John Terry was my great-great grandfather) traded as Agricultural merchants in the island for 100 years until 1975 when the demise of the "bridge" system in the 1960s finally rendered its activities obsolete. Since then, the company has rented out its remaining property at 8, 9 Esplanade - 8, 10, 12 Commercial Street.

Here are some of the gleanings from Unseen Jersey.

John Terry Limited, one of Jersey's oldest family companies traded as Agricultural merchants in the island for 100 years until 1975...

They used to deliver supplies to farmers - well-known merchants on The Esplanade, and handled export crops.

The largest export merchants, Mick Millar is the grandson ran his office furniture upstairs, now Dandara, they John Terry had other stores.

This company was an agent/distributor buying produce from farmers, which was then shipped to places like Covent Garden market in London.

My uncle Dennis Blackmore worked there years ago.

My father worked there with Roy Horsefall, as the clerk, his office had a window facing the street. At one time his assistant was going out with Englebert Humperdinck.....as my father was fluent in Jersey French he was very important in the firm.

At that time dealing with Jersey farmers in Jersey French was no doubt an asset. Still in the nineties I remember speaking French to farmers and traffic wardens. The accent was very close to their Norman cousins 15 miles away to the East. On se comprenaient très bien. Il est grand temps de revenir au bilinguisme. C'est l'âme de Jersey. (We understood each other very well. It's high time to return to bilingualism. It's the soul of Jersey.)

It’s a listed building, so hopefully it will be refurbished when the rest of the site is developed

Midsummer War

We have recently passed the longest day of the year (June 20), but another day this year also commemorates a different kind of "the longest day", as the title of the film about D-Day, 80 years ago. By midsummer that year, the Normandy beaches were taken but there was fierce fighting to take and liberate Cherbourg by the Americans. This poem combines both stories, and also a myth that mid-summer, young women would gather rose petals as a means of seeking love. The saying goes as follows:

Rose leaves, rose leaves, rose leaves I strew;
He that will love me, come after me now.

Alas, in 1944, many flowers would end on gravestones.

Midsummer War

The longest day, and yet also the name
Given to war time memory’s early claim,
When in June the landing craft arrived,
And German soldiers were surprised;
Stormy weather made invasion poor:
But break in the weather opened door,
And the landings came, freedom began:
Liberty to captives said the newsman
By mid-June Cherbourg was the prize,
The battleground where the cries,
Of the wounded, the dying, heard;
Nature fell silent, no song of bird,
As fighting began upon the street,
As German and Americans meet;
And fierce fighting goes on all day:
This also the longest day, they say,
Midsummer and sun shines bright:
Good against evil: endless fight;
While the sun shines long above,
Myths tell of rose petals of love,
Reflecting saying I love you:
Midsummer legends sad and true;
Soldier’s sweethearts left behind,
Remember legends so enshrined:
Where have all the flowers gone,
Gone to soldiers who passed on:
All to graveyards, everyone one,
Under shining Midsummer sun.

Jersey Zoo 25 Years - Timeline

Historical highlights


1958 November 7, Les Augres lease signed.


1959 March 14, Jersey Zoological Park Ltd. formed.
March 26, Jersey Zoo opens (adult admission 10p).
Gorilla female N'Pongo arrives.
Tapir Claudius arrives.
Common marmosets arrive and breed.

1960 Second female gorilla, Nandi, arrives.
Second female tapir, Claudette, arrives.

1962 Female cheetah Paula arrives to join Peter.
Servals arrive.

1963 July 6, Inauguration of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.
Bornean orangutans Oscar and Bali arrive.

1964 Construction of great ape cages complete.
Ring-tailed lemurs arrive.

1965 First South American tapir and chimpanzee bred.
Ursine colobus and two leopards arrive.
Baboon and monkey cages rebuilt

1956 Leopard cage complete.
Two pairs of white—eared pheasants arrive.
First serval kittens bred.

1967 Scientific Advisory Committee formed.
First two ursine colobus born.
First cereopsis geese bred.

1968 First pair of Parma wallabies arrives.
First colobus cage completed.

1969 Lemur range completed.
First 13 white-eared pheasants reared.
Second colobus cage completed.
Zoo garden committee formed.
White-eared pheasant aviaries completed.

1970 First Parma wallabies bred.
Tapir and cheetah complex completed.
Spectacled bear enclosure completed.

1971 Les Augres Manor purchased.
Owl aviaries complete.
Congo peacock house complete.
Eight Rothschild’s mynahs arrive.
First Bornean orang-utan bred.
Swinford aviaries complete. ~

1972 August 21, Princess Anne accepts patronage.
Brian Park gorilla complex opened by David Niven.
First Jamaican hutias arrive.
Jambo, male lowland gorilla arrives.
Gir lions arrive. ,
Petrona, female spectacled bear arrives to join Pedro.
Mayotte brown lemurs arrive. '
First Sumatran orang-utan bred.
First conference on breeding endangered species in Jersey.

1973 Howard aviaries completed.
First two gorillas, Assumbo and Mamfe bred.
SAFE International launched, later renamed
Wildlife Preservation Trust International.

1974 Marmoset House opened.
Third gorilla, Zaire bred.
First Mayotte brown lemur bred.
Nutritional research laboratory opened.
Nocturnal Hutia house opened by James Stewart.
Waldrapp ibis cage completed.
Fourth and fifth gorillas bred.
St Lucia and St Vincent parrots arrive.
Three pairs of Goeldi’s monkey arrive and breed.
First two spectacled bear cubs bred.
First seven Waldrapp ibis hatched.

1976 October 27, Gaherty Reptile Breeding Centre opened by HRH Princess Anne.
Cafe Dodo opened.
‘ Keller Aviaries complete.
Eric Young marmoset building opened.
Rodrigues fruit bats arrive and breed.
Jamaican boas arrive.
Radiated tortoises arrive.
Round Island reptiles arrive—first 11 skinks bred.

1977 Five pink pigeons arrive.
Two pairs of Meller’s ducks arrive.
First 58 Jamaican boas bred.
Appeal for new gorilla accommodation launched.
Education officer appointed.

1978 June 4, Veterinary centre opened by US Ambassador to London.
Pink pigeon aviaries completed.
Rodrigues fruit bat accommodation completed.
First training scholarship awarded to a Mauritian.
First four pink pigeons bred.
First 12 Meller’s ducks bred.
Four golden lion tamarins arrive.
Rodrigues fodies arrive.

1979 Student training scheme launched.
SAFE (Save Animals From Extinction) relaunched as a fund-raising campaign.
Les Noyers purchased as training centre.
Volcano rabbits arrive.
Research assistant appointed.

1980 First two golden lion tamarins bred.
Gorilla complex completed.
Rodrigues fody range opened.
First summer school run.

1981 First annual vote for field studies.
Opening of gorilla centre.
Launch of the Dodo Club.

1982 First captive breeding of St Lucia parrot.
Volunteer guides introduced.
Corporate membership launched.

1983 Zoo visitors top 250,000.

Cyclists and Motor Cars - the Good and the Bad.

A recent Bailiwick Express article highlighted the issue of social media critics of bicycles, and they have a point, but it is not the complete picture. Look online and there are plenty of examples of bicycle riders who appear to be so ignorant of the Highway Code that they probably think it is a book by Dan Brown. I myself have seen:

• Cyclists going down towards St Aubin in the 20 mph zone at around 30 mph
• Cyclists swerving from road to zebra crossing
• Cyclists going the wrong way down a one way street
• Cyclists going through red lights at First Tower (sometimes on road / pavement / road)
• Cyclists swerving across road to turn without hand signals
• Cyclists with one hand on handlebars and one on smart phone (looking at while cycling)
• Cyclists with headphones on while cycling (and can't hear any vehicles)

So there is a case - a rational case - for some negativity.

But there are also some cyclists who have seen cars behind and pulled in briefly to let me and other drivers through, cyclists who are polite when asking pedestrians on the railway walk to let them through (I'm very deaf so can't easily hear bells behind me), cyclists who signal in plenty of time before turning. And the vast majority of cyclists belong here.

So what is happening here. Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky has studied what he called “the frequency illusion:

"The Frequency Illusion is a result of two well-known psychological processes, selective attention (noticing things that are salient to us, disregarding the rest) and confirmation bias (looking for things that support our hypotheses, disregarding potential counterevidence), which also contribute to the two group illusions, through the mediation of various social divisions between Us and Them (which make certain features salient to us)."

When it comes to bad behaviour on the road (cyclists / car drivers) or in shared spaces (pedestrians / cyclists), we are primed to remember the worst cases, and not the many cases which do not draw themselves to our attention.

So cyclists are pouncing on the cases of bad car driving close to them, ignoring the many good drivers out there. Pedestrians - as a recent forum on the Railway walk showed - remember cyclists coming at speed, perhaps ringing bells, but not slowing down and whizzing close by them.

It's the worst behaviour which gets highlighted, much as the Jersey Evening Post puts a headline on the drunk driver without a licence, or the driver going at 50 mph in a 30 mph zone. It doesn't run stories on all the good drivers on the road, and given the number of cars on the road, it is extraordinary how statistically few accidents happen. 

Sometimes the bad behaviour of car drivers when overtaking cyclists seems to be highlighted so much that it seems there is almost a vendetta against car users. And the language there can be quite forceful and discriminatory social media too. There's a pro-cycling lobby which sometimes forgets that not everyone is close to a bus stop, some people because of health and/or age can't walk long distances to catch a bus - and some people (like myself and several friends) have balance issues and can't cycle. 

Of course if a car collides with a cyclist, the cyclist will often come off worst (as has happened), and if a cyclist collides with a pedestrian (as has happened), the pedestrian will often come off worse. While the recent statistics show cyclist / car accidents have risen over the years, it is salutory to note that More pedestrians were injured by cyclists in the UK last year than ever before, according to new figures. It happens here too, but luckily not as badly - but unlike car drivers, cyclists are not insured. 

As a States of Jersey police missive noticed, some of these risks are due to poor behaviour:

"Cycling in the pedestrian areas of town (and other parishes) is a persistent issue that potentially puts pedestrians in danger. Over the coming days officers will be focusing on this problem. Please respect the rules and WALK YOUR WHEELS."

We shouldn't stop calling out bad driving of cars close to cyclists, but bad cycling also is not good as an example to others, especially younger people. To use a cliché, we need a "grown up" dialogue, where the aim is to educate and improve. Perhaps car drivers learning to drive need more instruction about passing cyclists, and perhaps cyclists need some kind of simplified Highway code test to ensure they do know it. It is to the benefit of everyone to improve standards on roads and shared spaces.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham's Chamber of Commerce Speech

Good afternoon.

It is a pleasure to be here, and to give my first Chamber Lunch speech as Chief Minister.

At Christmas, I had no idea that I would be speaking to you today.

That is the random nature of politics – my aim is to make it slightly less random because we need stability.

Can I start by saying that it is both an honour and a privilege to do this job.

I know it’s only been five months but I am thoroughly enjoying it!

I work with a group of very able and engaged Ministers and am supported by dedicated, hard-working public servants.

We now have a government that is more representative of the States Assembly and provides a much-improved political balance which I believe will help to deliver in areas that benefit the whole community.

We came into office amidst a period of local economic upheaval and political unsteadiness.

And it quickly became clear that we needed a period of calm and stability and perhaps even some political unity.

We needed to get back to basics.

To re-focus on the essential services and tackle the most immediate challenges facing Islanders.

That means addressing the cost-of-living crisis, providing more affordable new homes, re focusing on the health service and getting on with delivering the new hospital.

We also needed to get things moving again in relation to States business and have addressed a number of outstanding items.

In the first five months this Council of Ministers have resolved the long-running pay dispute with teachers and agreed a three year pay deal with the rest of the public sector ensuring continuity and stability in the provision of public services.

We have purchased Grève De Lecq and passed it on to the National Trust, who will ensure it is utilised in the best interests of the area and of the Island.

Provided a million pounds to charities from the dormant bank accounts fund – with more to follow, and we have leased part of St Ewold’s from the Parish of St Helier as a rehabilitation centre – replacing Samares Ward with an even better facility.

We have had a robust, and respectful, debate on Assisted Dying, allowing us to bring formal legislation to the States Assembly.

We have reduced GP fees by a further £10.

We have provided 13 weeks of financial support for domestic abuse violence victims, introduced electronic prescriptions across Health Care Services, and had the Nursery Education Fund approved for the next four years.

We also launched the £10m “First Step” assisted home ownership scheme, where we are giving Islanders a lending hand to get their first step on the property ladder.

In May our Common Strategic Policy – our plan for the next two years – was approved by the States Assembly.

We are suffering from overreach. It has become clear that sometimes we try to do too much and end up achieving very little. The new government will be looking closely at where we are spending money and reprioritising to make sure we are delivering the best outcomes for Islanders.

We will curb the growth in the public sector and will redirect monies saved to those areas to where it is needed most.

To that end we have identified 13 key priorities where we can deliver measurable progress over the next two years. 

1. Extend free nursery and childcare provision
2. Provide a nutritious school meal for every child in all States primary schools
3. Increase the provision of lifelong learning and skills development
4. Start building a new hospital at Overdale
5. Reduce GP fees
6. Implement the recommendations from the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce report
7. Carefully manage the transition to a living wage or new minimum wage
8. Provide more affordable homes for Islanders to buy and rent
9. Keep Government fees, duties, and charges as low as possible to help Islanders with the cost of living in 2025 and beyond
10. Reform the planning service
11. Reduce red tape, unnecessary regulation, enhance opportunities for business and strengthen Jersey’s international reputation
12. Deliver a plan to revitalise Town
13. And playing our part to reduce the impacts of climate change

But today I wanted to focus on the measures that will impact you specifically as business and community leaders; initiatives to reduce red tape, increase productivity, provide more skilled workers, and to transition to a living wage.

The Minister for Social Security lodged a Proposition last week that sets out the process and timeline for that final piece of work.

This will allow us to set specific rates over the coming two years, raising the minimum wage to about two-thirds of average median earnings – as agreed by the States Assembly – by the end of our term in office in 2026.

I know this will not be an easy transition for everyone, but it is a change which will give help to those in our community who are struggling the most.

And where it is needed, support will be provided to employers and employees during the transition period.

Up to £20 million in support will be made available across 2025 and 2026 and beyond if necessary.

Rather than a direct subsidy this will be in the form of support schemes to promote productivity and skills development, with targeted support across sectors, including for retail, agriculture, and the visitor economy.

We have also committed to keep government fees, duties, and charges as low as possible and we’ll provide full details on that in the Government Plan later this summer.

I’m certain that local businesses will also welcome the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy and improvements in the ways they are required to deal with Government.

Last month the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Morel, published his response to Barriers to Business Report.

That work answers the 38 recommendations made by Jersey Business to streamline processes and break down the obstacles that have been created.

I’m encouraged that over 80% of the recommendations are either completed, underway, or part of ongoing collaboration between Government and industry but there is still a lot to do if we are going win back your confidence.

The CSP will also see us prioritise the delivery of skills development in Jersey.

This will include promoting apprenticeships, a series of targeted skills development schemes, and implementing sustainable Higher Education Student Finance – helping to provide the future workforce for businesses.

Outside of the CSP, we will continue to prioritise support for our Island economy in the day-to-day work of government.

Only by improving productivity and developing a strong, diverse economy can we ensure the tax revenues necessary to support the quality public services that Islanders need.

Our financial services industry remains critical to our economic wellbeing.

In May, after years of significant effort, the work to assess Jersey’s ability to combat financial crime came to its conclusion.

A delegation from Jersey travelled to Strasbourg for the MONEYVAL Plenary for the adoption of the Mutual Evaluation Report of Jersey.

The publication of that Report is still to come in July, with an event soon to be announced to fully outline the findings and next steps.

I would like to extend thanks to the brilliant efforts to the government and industry teams who have worked together on this.

Our hospitality industry has already benefitted from a relaxation in spatial standards in the Tourism Law, allowing new types of accommodation to be introduced for the first time.

We will be publishing our Retail Strategy later this year, which will support enhancing the sector with a focus on the future of the Town Centre and how we can manage our shopping areas to better engage Islanders.

Last week we announced that the Government CEO, Andrew McLaughlin will continue in his role from 1 July.

Since starting with the Government last September, Andrew has provided clear leadership, ensuring good governance, sound financial control and a collaborative approach to management.

Retaining Andrew as our Chief Executive Officer will provide much-needed stability and continuity across the Government.

Both Andrew and I are attuned to the need to have a right sized public sector, that focuses on service delivery without the need for continued growth in staff numbers and costs.

Shaping the future of the central functions of government has already begun, and we are on schedule to deliver savings in 2024 through vacancy management, reducing the use of consultants and decreasing non-staff spending.

An employee consultation on resizing has already begun, and that work will continue throughout the coming weeks.

Equally, in line with our CSP commitment, expenditure on consultancy is being curbed across Government departments.

Measures have been taken to ensure that the Council of Ministers have full transparency of spending under consultancy headings and where and how monies are currently being spent.

Don’t get me wrong, specialist consultancy can be essential as it is impossible to carry all of the skills and expertise we need on the payroll but we have become a little too reliant on it!

Where additional expertise is needed, I would like us to focus on developing our own, local, talent across the civil service and public sector.

We are also turning our focus to issues that have been without resolution for far too long.

We are absolutely committed to starting construction of the Hospital at Overdale as soon as possible, delivering the health facilities we need most urgently by 2028.

The New Healthcare Facilities team have just completed a full public consultation on concept designs of the Hospital, to an overwhelmingly positive response from residents, campaign groups and Islanders.

The clearing of the Overdale site continues at pace, and demolition will reach its final stages in September.

The next step is the development of the detailed design of the hospital, in consultation with clinicians, ahead of submitting a planning application later this summer.

The most frequent message has been ‘Just get on with it’. That is exactly what we are doing.

Another significant piece of work underway is to improve how we manage our important social and cultural infrastructure.

I know Islanders have long been frustrated by continued decline of our sporting and leisure facilities, and in some of our public spaces.

Fort Regent cannot be allowed to continue in its managed decline, and work is advanced on a plan to fund and rejuvenate the Fort alongside many other public amenities – more details on this project will follow soon.

As a government, and as an Island, we also have some significant challenges to face, not only over the coming two years but into the next political cycle and beyond.

The biggest long-term challenge relates to the forecasted reduction in working age population. And potential changes to our workforce through the acceleration of advanced technology and AI.

These are important issues that require the serious attention of politicians, policy officers and Jersey’s business and community leaders.

We need to begin working on this now to provide practical solutions and not allow ourselves to be overtaken by events.

We are not going to allow population changes to be unmanaged or unplanned.

We will need more workers.

For example – potentially as many as 4,000 additional care workers by the 2040s.

This will need careful planning to ensure we provide a balanced workforce for the whole economy.

The forthcoming annual Population Report will include a roadmap for how the Government will coordinate activity to prepare for these challenges.

In closing I want to talk briefly about the importance of confidence.

Confidence in ourselves, in each other and in our Island.

I am very aware that if we are to succeed in our endeavours as a government we will need to rebuild public confidence in our political processes.

We also realise that building, and maintaining, confidence will be an ongoing effort that will require the participation of just about everyone.

For our part we will be open and transparent, work harder to engage, discuss and consult. Be more responsive and consistent in our endeavours to address the evolving needs and aspirations of Islanders.

The new government, and States Assembly, is beginning to work more collegiately with more courtesy, respect and professionalism.

We are alive to the fact that it is OK to disagree with unnecessary disruption because without disagreement there is no debate and without debate we do not drive out the best solutions.

I would ask you all not to look back but to look forward.

The challenges we face are great but if we can work together, help each other, and have confidence in the future of our island then our potential is even greater!

Thank you.​

Comments:

Gerard Voisin quizzed him over improving economy and increases in minimum wage. The idea is to increase the minimum wage but have targeted support to businesses (e.g. hospitality based) who are most effected by it.

This makes sense to me, as at present, a large number of people on minimum wage rely on income support (across all businesses) to help them, which means, in effect, the government is helping businesses with a subsidy. 

Increases in minimum wage towards living wage would take more of those out of that net, reducing funding from government via income support to make up the shortfall, and then appropriate targeting of businesses most affected (on a case by case basis) with extra funding will help balance the books on those businesses, while those who can easily take up the shortfall will help reduce public income support funding.

Reform Act

One from the back catalogue today, written on 04 April 2005, this looks at the idea of politics and reform, of political xenophobia, and Disraeli's ideal of  a "One Nation Tory". 

We have travelled far from this time - but labelling the "other" (and antisemitism) is still rife today, along with xenophobic attitudes to outsiders, and the UK political system seems broken, with party leaders elected by a diminishing number of members, many of which with the Conservative party, are over 65s and occupy rural Nimby enclaves. 

Meanwhile Nigel Farage's "Reform party" aims not at reform, but societal division, just as it did horrendously when it was the Brexit party. 

I think this poem is still very relevant today, just over 9 years after it was written.

Reform Act

In 1832, the first greatest of reforms
Took place to avert the greater storms
Of revolution, and all was quite at last
For a while, Palmerstone sounded blast
At all foreigners, so nothing new there
And then Gladstone came, all sincere
While subtly rousing kinds of prejudice
His opposer, making some horrendous
Comments, underlying these he knew
That Disraeli, was after all, just a Jew
And not properly British, in the club
Like the moneylenders who did grub
But Disraeli won through, all despite
The slurs, and reached the very height
Of Prime Minister, seeing One Nation
A clear vision of unity, not division
Is there a moral there today, I wonder
Perhaps the reader may well ponder.

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 2

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 2

16.——Violence, hooliganism and vandalism again erupted in Jersey over the weekend Between Friday night and last night, 42 people were detained in the cells at Police Headquarters, mainly for drunkenness, brawling and fighting in St. Helier.

17.—A woman in her seventies, Mrs. Edith Rachel Le Liévre, died in a fire in her bedroom at 5 Newgate Street opposite the prison, at about 11.45 am. The facts have been reported at the Bailiff’s Chambers and an inquest will be held. The Elfin Hotel, Gorey Pier. one of the most popular bars in Jersey, had its liquor Licence taken away until the end of the year, The hotel’s licence—a First Category (Taverners) was revoked- after the Bench had considered complaints about noise from the bar and disorderly behaviour outside by customers.

18.—Farmers in St. Clement are getting annoyed at the damage being done to their crops and their property by young vandals from they say the nearby housing estates.

19.-—.Jersey’s new Medical Ofiioer of Health, who will be taking up his duties from September 30 is Dr. Anthony John Essex-Cater. LRCEP, MROS, DPH, at present MOH with the Monmouthshire County Council.

20. An oil slick 80 ft. wide by 100 ft. long was reported to Jersey Harbour Radio at 8.30 this morning by the departing mailboat, Sarnia. It was sighted some 200 yards west of the end of Elizabeth Castle breakwater. The States fast launch, Duchess of Normandy, investigated the report and found the slick to be made of a very thin medium oil almost like petrol, and already dispersing by itself.

21.——Two policemen were injured in brawls which occurred in the town this evening, and one of them, PC Terrence Underwood, was detained in the General Hospital. A 19-year-old youth will appear at the Police Court on Monday charged with assaulting the police officer and causing him grievous bodily harm. Another man was charged with causing a breach of the peace by fighting.

22.——The police are investigating the death of a young man which occurred in the early hours of this morning at the Quennevais camp site, St. Brelade. It is understood that the man, in his early 20s, had been out with some friends staying at the camp. Returning there he was apparently violently ill. When seen by a doctor, he was dead. It is likely that a post mortem will be ordered and that this will be followed by an inquest.

24.——X-Ray staff at Jersey’s General Hospital are almost certain to take some sort of disruptive action in support of a wage claim unless an acceptable offer is made to them before July 4. After the Thursday week deadline, radiographers will refuse to handle anything but emergency cases. More petty thieving is reported from St. Brelade, and the police again request house-holders and shopkeepers to ensure that their homes and establishments are secure with all the Windows closed and doors locked, particularly at night.

26.-—Four men are in prison to appear in Court tomorrow charged with assaults on taxi-drivers—two in connection with the Rozel incident reported yesterday and the other two following a disturbance at the Broad Street cab rank shortly after closing time last night.

27.—-Holidaymakers Mr. and Mrs. John Scholze. from Hilversum, Holland, won the £6,000 top prize in the States of Jersey Lottery.

28.—A 15 per cent surcharge on all telephone charges is to be imposed by the Telecommunications Board from Monday, July 1, to the end of the year. It will apply to everything—rentals, call charges, including trunk calls, connection fees and all other installation costs.

29.—Hughie Green, star of the top TV programme “ Opportunity Knocks”, will be the visiting personality at the Battle of Flowers on Thursday, August 1.

Landings

Obviously, this week, the poem takes up the theme of D-Day, 80 years after the momentous landings.

Landings

The weather: wind, waves, raging sea
Then calmer, a lull, weather broke
A decision made, an order to agree
A momentous day as dawn awoke

The beaches: blood, terror and fire
And golden sands are running red
Victory for some, but some expire
Now to fight, not mourn the dead

The graves: stretching out in lines
Time to mourn, to weep salt tears
Quiet reflections, freedom’s signs
An end to the Nazi terror years

Landings and endings: their day
The Last Post on the trumpet play

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 1

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 1

1. An associated company of Slater, Walker (Jersey) Ltd., Saiga Holdings Ltd., who last year acquired the former Frederick Baker and G. D. Laurens properties in Queen Street, have now purchased an Smam adjoining property in Hilgrove Street, formerly known as Librairie Francais, which has been vacant since January of this year. The property has been acquired to facilitate the work to be carried out on the adjoining properties.

2.—-A pedestrian, thought. to be M. Norbert Souliman, a 41-year-old farm worker from France, was knocked down. by a car on the Faldouet Main Road shortly after 11.15 pm. and died soon afterwards. .

3.——Publicans in the west of the Island. facing a, resurgence of violence and vandalism by weekend- gangs of young people, have met the Island’s Constables and called for harsher Police Court penalties for offenders including the deportation of non-residents.

4.-—A small syndicate from a St. Helier pub won the top prize of £4,000 in the Guernsey Lottery. They did not wish their names, or that of the pub, to be disclosed.

5.-—The Island’s already critical water shortage is being aggravated by wastage by irresponsible consumers. This is the view of Mr. Rodney Clarke, engineer/manager of the New Waterworks Company, who called on the people of Jersey to cut down on their demands on the Island’s dwindling resources.

6.—The organizers or the Battle of Flowers are loo-king for volunteers to work for nothing on the afternoon of the Battle on August 1. They are allso still looking for suitable places to build floats. Some Jersey housewives this morning received their milk in a. new type of Tetrapak.

7.—St. Heller’s new Centenier is Mr. John Philip de Carteret formerly a Constables Officer. He was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Centenier Bob Eaton.

8.—Withn 48 hours of a small classified advertisement appearing in the “ Jersey Evening Post ” Property Guide, 143 people wrote to the advertiser through a box number. A further batch of letters 
arrived in this morning’s mail. The advertised item?—A bungalow on the outskirt or St. Helier—The price—£12,000, States loan available.

10.--An Islandwide search has been going on since early yesterday for Michael Patrick Murphy, a 24-4year old prisoner on remand who escaped from HM Prison in Newgate Street by digging a. hole in the outside wall of his cell. He then got away from the jail by dropping about 18 ft. from a wall; He was being held awaiting trial at the Assizes on a charge of attempted rape.

11.——The 24 year old prisoner who dug his way out of his cell in HM Prison in Newgate Street and escaped from there in the early hours of Sunday morning, is still at large, and the assistance of the general public is urgently needed for his recapture, police say. Shortly after 9 p.m. Murphy made an emergency “999” call to Police HQ from a telephone kiosk in the Parade. A police car was sent from HQ and Murphy was sitting on a bench near the phone box.

12.-—Members of the Committee of Agriculture and senior officials of the Department of Agriculture are at present making a three-day visit to United Kingdom potato markerts. The six-man delegation is accompanied by Mr. Roy Mourant, chairman of the Jersey Agricultural Marketing Federation.

13—Jersey's Hospital Administrator Mr. Oscar Mourant, retires on November 30 and is to be succeeded by Mr. Peter Lambert, a senior administrative assistant with the States Education Department since 1970.

14.—The Public Works announced that New Street between Union Street and King Street will become one-way from Monday. This follows the establishment of the King Street precinct on a 24 hour basis, and the consequent virtual absence of any north-bound traffic along this section of New Street

15.--Several people from Jersey are included in the List of the Queen’s Birthday Honours published this morning. Mr. Charles M. Le Quesne, CMG, British High Commissioner in Nigeria, whose home is at Beau Desert, St. Saviour, is promoted to Knight; of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KJGMG); Mr. J. H, (Jack) Herbert, Bronson Villa. Rue des Landes, St. Peter, is made an MBE; Miss Joyce E. Luce a Superintending Sister in Queen Alexandria’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, is made an Associate (2nd Class) of the Royal Red Gross; Mr. F. D. Hughes, of La Villaize, St. Ouen. becomes CBE and Capt. John Tessler-Yandell, son of Mr. F. C. Yandll, OBE.

The Burden

Jersey has just passed approval to draw up assisted dying legislation for the terminally ill at end of life, rejecting the second part of the proposal for unbearable suffering as a cause. Yet there were a fair number of States members in favour of that option. 19 for it, 27 against.

I was much struck by Matthew Parris recent article in the Times, where he argues that assisted dying being legalised is a good thing, that it is something that society needs, and many people are crying out for. He also argues that this will normalise the idea of assisted death, which again he thinks is a good thing. It will be beneficial, in the long run to society, and as he says: “Life itself has its price. As costs rise, there will be a point at which our culture (and any culture) will begin to call for a restraining hand. I believe that when it comes to the cost of keeping very enfeebled people alive when life has become wretched for them, we’re close to that point.”

Isaac Asimov’s “Pebble in the Sky” looks at a future society, where the means to deal with overpopulation, and the burden of the old or infirm, is a scheme of legalised euthanasia. In this story Earth in the future is a backwater, where citizens must die on their sixtieth birthday. This is referred to euphemistically only as "The Sixty". Anyone who is unable to work is also euthanized. People who try to cheat the system are almost universally reviled. To be a good citizen is to take "The Sixty", and Asimov shows people enjoying a sunset holiday, the trip of a lifetime, before taking that step, going out on a high!

Asimov was writing in the 1950s and set old age as sixty years old – “The Sixty”. Given the change in demographics, and that people are fitter longer, I have assumed in this poem “the Eighty” rather than sixty years old.

This poem, then, is a reflection on the idea of Matthew Parris that assisted dying will become a normalised form of society, and also a look back as Asimov’s picture of such a future society. This is a society in which assisted dying is welcomed, not feared. Avoidance is the exception, not the rule.

I offer no moral judgement in the poem, just a glimpse of what a future might look like - and also feel like to those who live and die there. It is for the reader to decide if they like that vision.

The Burden

It’s time, the eighty, as they call it:
Time to lay aside life, to commit;
Not or be a burden to self or others:
To follow your fathers and mothers,
In choosing the path enshrined in law;
A fastidious peoples came to draw
A line in the sand, but we saw the light:
Growing infirmity of age is a blight,
And the old suffer so, once such pain,
Had to be endured, a prison chain;
And where was compassion there:
Old age became a time of fear?
Grow old along with me, it was said,
But such a burden on society ahead:
Not to be selfish, to think of the rest,
The younger generation, full of zest;
Unencumbered by cost and expense
Of such taboos, we now dispense
Of shallow values with better rules,
And even teach it in our schools;
Old age is fading into the limelight:
Better to go into that good night;
So where there is despair, hope,
When one can no longer cope;
Where there is sadness, joy:
And unbearable suffering alloy;
This is now the kindest way to go
From this life, this we surely know,
Full of compassion, love and care,
Bringing hope where was despair;
Make me an instrument of peace:
That my choice is now to cease;
So to crown a noble end of life,
And not end in misery and strife;
We have moved passed lament:
Death is now a great moment,
Time of solemn commitment,
With all passion finally spent:
Time for good wishes, a feast,
To celebrate a joy released;
A weary thanks, I nod my head,
As the doctor comes to my bed;
I will do my duty, burden to none,
And soon will all ending be done;
Time now to make a good death,
Into darkness, take a final breath:
We make heaven here on earth:
Make a life now so much worth;
Deliver us from evil pain, again
This is our kingdom now. Amen.