The Borderlands of Sark

What is happening to Sark?

The BBC news report notes that

“All the hotels in Sark owned by the Barclay brothers will be closed in 2015. The four hotels, Dixcart Bay, Petit Champ, La Moinerie and Aval du Creux, are no longer accepting bookings. No-one from the management company, Sark Island Hotels, has yet commented on the closures.” (1)

It also notes that “Two of the four hotels, Aval de Creux and Petit Champ, did not open this summer.”.

Now that gives a slightly different complexion on the story from that reported elsewhere, as a number of reports give the impression that all the hotels have closed. In fact, two were already closed for this year, so it is just the remaining two which will be closed. Another report from the BBC gives this impression:

“The closure of most of the hotels in Sark could affect tourism in the rest of the Bailiwick, VisitGuernsey has warned. The closure of the four hotels run by Sark Island Hotels was revealed on Thursday” (2)

But it is not the closure of four hotels, it is two hotels last year – which does not seem to have caused much notice, and the closure of the other two this year, Elsewhere on Sark, of course, there are two more hotels, 10 guest houses, and 16 6 self-catering properties and two campsites. It is by no means devoid of beds for tourists. In fact 160 of the 500 beds for visitors will be lost.

So why is there so much notice this time, and not earlier when two of the hotels did not open in 2015? The answer has surely to be the press release in the Sark News by Kevin Delaney. The paper is the organ of news produced by Mr Delaney and very much reflecting the views of the Barclays brothers, although they rarely make pronouncements, and appear to prefer to let Mr Delaney, as their lackey, do so.

The Sark News reports as follows:

“The CEO of Sark Island Hotels, Kevin Delaney, has announced that he will not open any of the hotels in the group for the 2015 season. Whilst acknowledging that this was a difficult decision to take, Mr Delaney made it clear that he was not prepared to request further investment to develop these iconic Sark businesses. Furthermore, had the establishments opened next year he would have been left with no option but to resign his position as CEO of Sark Island Hotels.”(3)

And the key issue to which this all relates is not having a customs post:

“Mr Delaney pointed to the continual refusal of Michael Beaumont and the members of his one ruling party government to consent to a Customs post which would allow Sark direct access to the vast tourist markets of the West coast of France and beyond as the principal reasoning behind his entirely commercial decision.” (3)

Now this is a bone of contention which has been rumbling on for many years. In 2010, the Guernsey Press carried this story:

“Direct service to and from a Normandy port is being pursued by Sark Estate Management. Writing in the latest edition of his Sark Newsletter, SEM’s Kevin Delaney said that during 2011 the company will be working towards establishing a daily passenger route between the island and one of the small coastal ports of north-west France.” (4)

The obstacle was, of course, the lack of a customs post, which meant that anyone travelling to Sark had to first pass through the customs post of St Peter Port or that of St Helier (or even possibly that of Braye in Alderney)

In May 2011, this again was the subject of a news story:

“Officials in Sark are in talks with the Guernsey Border Agency about establishing a formal customs area for the island. Currently anyone entering or bringing goods from outside the British Isles to Sark must register with the agency. It currently has three offices - in St Peter Port and St Sampson in Guernsey and Braye Harbour in Alderney. “

“Conseillier Jan Guy said if they introduced a port of entry "the practicalities would be huge". She said: "In many ways we would have to replicate everything that is available at all the other ports of entry. "It's a very good thing for Sark to look into, but when you talk about practicalities you also have to consider the cost." (5)

But in a report issued in November 2012, the ideas were very much shelved. The Harbours and Pilotage Committee asked about approved ports into the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and Chief Officer Rob Prow of The Guernsey Border Agency responded.

He noted that in the first instance, Sark would need to introduce legislation

“Sark has no Import & Export legislation so it has no protection should goods (all manner of restrictions inc. firearms, explosives, offensive weapons, dual use goods, WMD, CITES, counterfeit goods, trade sanctions et al) be allowed to enter directly without first being cleared though an approved port.”

But even if the legislative problems could be resolved, other issued remained, such as passport controls, and custom and immigration resources:

“The Bailiwick of Guernsey is part of the Common Travel Area. All passengers who arrive directly from outside of the CTA must be examined by an accredited Officer, passports electronically scrutinised and Home Office warning index checks initiated. The UK has the power to remove the Bailiwick from the CTA if the controls do not match those in place in the UK.”

“In a modern and sometimes dangerous world, trained and accredited Officers are required to discharge these statutory based regimes. Drug trafficking, financial crime and immigration legislation is extremely complex and criminals ever more sophisticated. In addition Human Rights based legislation provides a demanding framework of compliance”.

And he concludes by looking at the resources needed:

“For a port to become Customs approved there are requirements that would need to be resourced. Passenger examination requires passport control facilities, search benches, search equipment and private interview rooms, commensurate to the services envisaged. The Port would also require fully appointed, trained and accredited Officers to man those control points. By way of example Braye Harbour in Alderney is an approved Port and is so resourced. Such resources, facilities, Officer training and accreditation, come at a considerable cost and the GBA is not currently resourced to meet those costs and neither does Sark’s harbour have any customs or passport examination infrastructure.”

Braye Harbour in Alderney, of course, falls within the jurisdiction of Guernsey, and Alderney has representation in the Guernsey States of Deliberation. Sark being independent could not expect Guernsey to bear costs, and would have to incur those itself. This would almost certainly require full time paid officers and suitable training.

The present situation is that a Constable and Vingtenier (junior officer) are elected by Chief Pleas, and these are part-time voluntary roles. The volunteer officers are at times supported by full-time officers from Guernsey Police.

In July 2014, the issue came back again, as the BBC reported:

“Visitors to Sark may be able to travel directly to the Channel Island if the roles of police and immigration officers are combined. Currently, people have to go via another Channel Islands customs post - either Guernsey, Jersey or Alderney - to meet immigration and customs laws. The suggestion of a joint role has been made in a review of policing in Sark. The island currently has two voluntary part-time officers for the 600-strong population. Supt Nigel Taylor, from Guernsey Police, is assisting the Sark authorities with the review. He said: "There are opportunities for a dual-warranted individual... to carry out the functions of customs and policing providing the necessary training is in place. "[We're] exploring all the options to make sure it's cost effective policing in Sark, but it's also fit for a modern day society."

“The Guernsey Border Agency and the island's police force have been united under a head of law enforcement, but no plans to merge the two organisations have been released.” (6)

The review considered the following options:

1) Keep policing as now – to weigh up the pros & cons – hear comments from the Sark Constables, from the Guernsey Police and take questions from the floor.

2) Employ a retired Police Officer to be stationed permanently on Sark. The Island could advertise this position, but the questions arise of housing, pay and under whose responsibility such a position should operate. Specialist Units of the Guernsey Police may still have to be called in if a situation warrants it.

3) For the Guernsey Police to take overall responsibility for policing in Sark.

And the review noted that:

“If Options 2 or 3 are adopted there will be an additional cost element and that would lead to an increase in taxation. Weighing up the pros & cons of these options would lead to the question as to whether Sark needs that level of policing and whether it would be cost effective to change from the status-quo. It all hinges on the willingness of local people to come forward and be prepared to volunteer as Vingtenier and then Constable – a two year period of commitment of service to their Island.”

In this respect, it is worth considering this news story:

“Direct taxation on the island of Sark will rise by 11% in 2015 because about 10 islanders are predicted to leave in the next year. Sark's finance committee chairman Robert Cottle said the move was necessary to meet a 1.8% increase in the islands £1.3m budget. A 15% increase in alcohol and tobacco taxes was also passed at the meeting of Sark's government, the Chief Pleas. Direct tax is a levy on income on Sark, which is home to about 600 residents.”

Clearly the cost of running Sark’s infrastructure is easily affected by small changes in the population, because it has a relatively small total number of inhabitants. So a customs post, properly manned by trained and fully paid professional staff, of which two would seem to be a minimum, would impact upon the economy, and Sark’s levels of taxation.

It is notable that while pressing for a customs post, neither the Barclay brothers nor Mr Delaney have made any offer to fund such a position. If it is so much to their economic advantage for their business in Sark to do so, why don’t they offer a contract to pay for the post for, say, the next ten years, subject to review after that time.

Instead, for the putative but unproven advantages to some tourism businesses – theirs – of a fully operational customs post, they would like the burden for that to fall upon everyone in Sark in terms of increases in taxation.

As with the elections a few years ago, when they closed businesses when their preferred slate of candidates failed to be elected, the modus operandi of failing to get their own way has repeated itself, To an outsider, like myself, it appears like a temper tantrum, a stamping of feet loudly, a throwing of toys out of the playpen because they have not got their own way on a customs post.

The problem, of course, is that because they own a considerable proportion of Sark, they can apply economic pressure where political pressure is not an available route. It appears to be an ill-judged attempt to bully the government of Sark into submission. It may certainly damage the Sark economy to some degree, though not perhaps as badly as might be feared. But it is about time they learned the lesson, so hard for millionaires, that money simply cannot buy everything. Not everything has a price.

References
(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-30035969
(2) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-30055088
(3) http://www.sarknewspaper.com/
(4) http://guernseypress.com/news/2010/05/08/pursuit-of-french-passenger-route-a-target-for-sem/
(5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-13470636
(6) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-28106147
(7) http://www.gov.sark.gg/Downloads/Press_Releases/2014_Press_Releases/140612_Policing_Review_Public_Meeting_210514_Notes.pdf

Economic Warfare on Sark

More news on Sark, and the millionaire thugs who penalised the inhabitants when they didn't get their own way.

On the BBC website, it is noted that "Sir David had warned before the election that he and his brother were "tempted to walk away from Sark . if the establishment gets re-elected". If that was not a veiled threat, I don't know what was. The New York times notes that "have bought up more than one-fifth of Sark in the last few years and feel its future should include paved roads, cars and a helicopter landing pad."

This would, of course, mean that the Barclays could hop over on their helicopter, and drive around if they felt like it, as could their estate manager. Pavements would be needed for safety once you have moved to a traffic culture. On an island that is, in fact, green, it is a remarkably counter-environmental step.

With the elections, their newspaper arm, the Sark News, went into overdrive:

Some of the attacks are very personal. It describes Edric Baker, who was born and bred on Sark and admits to still possessing a musket to defend the island if called upon, as a "feudal fundamentalist". Another, Andy Cook, is dismissed as a "man of leisure". The newsletter highlights that another, Peter Cole, wants to look at introducing tax systems that "more readily reflect a person's ability to pay". It goes on: "Are you proposing to introduce income tax, Mr Cole? Don't vote for Sark's would-be Napoleon." Sark News calls the proposal of another candidate, Charles Maitland, to introduce employment legislation "the beginning of the slippery slope". Of candidate Jan Guy, the bulletin says: "There is a socialist streak to this candidate's politics which is completely at odds with Sark's best interests. Another would-be tax reformer ... she would have done well under Old Labour and Dennis Healey. Don't let her make the pips squeak."

The New York Times notes that "the Barclays' strong-arm election tactics - including a negative ad that denounced one opponent of their plans, Edric Baker, as a "feudal talibanist" - rubbed many Sarkees the wrong way. 'We're in danger of going from feudalism to dictatorship,' said Diane Baker, a member of Chief Pleas who is running in Wednesday's election. Speaking of the literature put out by the pro-Barclay camp, she added, "They called my husband a feudal Taliban, just because he was on the committee that refused permission to let them build a helipad"

The Barclays defended their press coverage, saying that

"We are fierce supporters of press freedom and the right to free expression. It is in that context that Sark News publishes the complete list of candidates and then identifies 12 who we say ... are wholly unworthy of your vote," the newsletter states.

Is this freedom of expression? Or is it more akin to some tin-pot dictator in the Third World, telling the people how they should vote - or else? It is hardly surprising that most people took it as the threat of a bully, and didn't like what they saw.

On the provisional results only two of nine people the Barclays had identified in a newsletter before the election as a "safe pair of hands" got in. Most humiliatingly, their man on Sark, estate manager Kevin Delaney, failed to win a seat. . The newsletter also identified 12 "establishment" candidates it said would "destroy" the future of island. But on the provisional result, nine of those got in. They included people such as Edric Baker.

As the Guernsey press notes:

"The thing about Channel Islanders is if you tell them what to do, they will go and do the opposite. No one likes to be told what to do and they especially don't like to be told who they should and shouldn't vote for. I think that antagonised a lot of people,' said conseiller-elect Paul Armorgie (pictured), who owns Stock's Hotel. 'Sark News was an alarming piece of propaganda that rubbished a lot of well-known people. My name was in it as one of the people who should be voted in. I wasn't asked if they could use it and I wouldn't be surprised if that had lost me some votes.'"

The island has no libel laws, so the Sark News can pretty well run amok when it comes to vilifying those it does  not like.

The Telegraph - owned by the Barclays - notes that:

"Mr Dawes said of the Barclays, proprietors of Telegraph Media Group: "They do not want to control Sark but they do expect some sort of cooperation - in the way that any major investor would - to facilitate and not obstruct their plans for the island, if that investment is wanted."

It is notable that this article does not mention the planned introduction of cars and a helipad under their "plans for the island". It also notes:

Sark is a tax haven. It has attracted criticism over the years for allowing the so-called 'Sark lark' - where wealthy individuals have been able to pay its inhabitants fees and become nominal company directors, enabling them to operate beyond the power of regulators. The Barclays have campaigned to clamp down on the practice.

This is an amazing piece of spin! The "Sark Lark" was closed down in the wake of the Edwards report, an investigation into the Channel Islands conducted by Anthony Edwards commissioned by Home Secretary Jack Straw back in Tony's Blair's first term of office. This had nothing to do with the Barclays.

It should be noted that Sark is not the only tax haven where the Barclays live, so that calls for tax havens such as Sark to be closed would not effect them unduly. As the Guardian notes:

Despite investing huge sums in their Channel Island retreat, David and Frederick don't live in Brecqhou all year, partly because it is often freezing in winter. David, who suffers from ME, spends time in Switzerland because the fresh air in the Alps helps alleviate his condition. They also have a home in Monaco, where residents have tax-free status. The brother's super-yacht, Lady Beatrice,, is moored in the principality.


Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/guernsey/7782198.stm
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/sarkees-vote-annoying-their-identical-twin-billionaire-neighbors/?hp
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/09/telegraphmediagroup-pressandpublishing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/14/barclay-brothers-sark-telegraph-media-group
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/12/15/shock-and-awe-blew-election-in-sark/

Behaving Badly in Sark

When I was young, I used to read boys comics, and then when I'd read all those (anyone remember TV Comic, Countdown, Century 21, Look and Learn, or Look-In? (and any books I had), desperate for the printed page, I used to read my sister's comics as well!

One of the recurring stories in her comics concerned a girl who had lost her parents (in different versions of the story, there were a variety of reasons, but the same basic plot), and who ended up being placed with a cheerful smiley family. As soon as the care worker had left, the benevolent smiles disappeared, and the foster parents turned into slave-driving sadists, but whenever this was threatened with exposure, the mask was put back on, and the beaming smiles were once more in evidence. Until, one day, the mask slipped, and the real people behind the mask appeared for others to see. They were found out!

I was thinking about this plot line when I was reading this (of many) stories about Sark, and what has just happened in the wake of the elections.

http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/12/12/the-man-who-pulled-the-plug-on-sark/

SARK Estate manager Kevin Delaney took the decision to end the Barclay brothers' multi-million pound investment in the island and lay off more than 100 workers. The decision plunged the island into chaos last night. Mr Delaney's move to make them redundant with immediate effect followed yesterday's historic election result, which did not go the way the billionaire Brecqhou backers had hoped. Only two of their nine preferred candidates were successful. The man who represented the brothers' involvement in the island slammed the poll as 'a cartel'. 'Deals were done behind closed doors that were executed with military precision. It was block voting on a breathtaking scale of which I have never seen in my life.' He added: 'I strongly suspect that the establishment did not expect to give us the bloody nose they did. I think they wanted to keep the money coming in but to have a strong element of control over us.' Despite attempting to salvage something from the 'debacle' by meeting with the island's main policymakers on the General Purpose and Advisory Committee, Mr Delaney said no reasonable offer had been made.

I've been reading various stories about Sark in the news, and what strikes me is that the Barclay brothers behaved, in my opinion, like spoilt children who couldn't get their own way. Why else suddenly - after the result of an election - pull out of Island business and close down their investments? It seems clear, to paraphrase Mr Delaney, that they wanted to keep a strong element of control over Sark, and thought that they could buy votes with their investments.

I think their intentions to "modernise" Sark were certainly in part benevolent, but it was the benevolence of the aristocratic landlord, the philanthropic despot, bringing a culture of dependency, where the workers would be expected to doff their caps at the lord of the manor, who is always so good to them.

The sheer capriciousness of their action is staggering. Suddenly, at a whim, closing down their businesses overnight, with no thought for those people turned out of work just before Christmas. It was not that the businesses in Sark were failing, it was simply that the Barclays decided to pull out and go. It was an action of selfishness, of thoughtlessness, of the bullies who cannot bear to be thwarted. The smiling masks slipped, and the real faces were not pleasant. The phrase "the unacceptable face of capitalism" certainly springs to mind.

I was reading some of Bishop Tom Wright on the need for good government, and he notes that Paul, in Romans, argues for government as a force for keeping order in society, because without that, there will be "the tyranny of the unofficially powerful, the bullies and the rich". Without that, and allowing for the fact that government may have its own failings, "the bullies and the burglars have it all their own way, and the weak and helpless suffer most". This seem most apposite as a comment on what has been happening in Sark; despite the span of millennia, the bullies are still around today, and will do all they can to take a mean spirited revenge if they don't get their own way.

Let us hope that Sark can rebuild its economy, and other people will come into Sark with their business, those not wanting to play "Mr Big" in the same manner, and the Barclays return to being recluses, having inflicted considerable damage and deprivation on those who would not let them win their game.

Links:
God and Caesar: Then and Now
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_God_Caesar.pdf

Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Caesar_Romans.htm

Separation of Powers

Just back from Guernsey, and I noticed from the Sark coverage that the Barclays are arguing for separation of powers, that the Seneschal should not be both Chief Pleas president and Island Judge. Rather like the role of the Bailiff in Jersey, methinks! The Barclays have asked Jack Straw for a judicial review of the situation. If changes have to be made, will it set a precedent for both Jersey and Guernsey?

I have heard the counter-argument that in a small community - and it was Jersey in this case - there has to be some doubling up of roles. But Sark is an even smaller community, so if that does not apply there, so much stronger would be the case in Jersey.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3671993.ece

In London last week the Privy Council finally approved a Bill that will see a Chief Pleas of landowners replaced by a 28-member assembly elected by universal suffrage in December. The Barclays were still not happy, however. They immediately requested a judicial review because the Seigneur and the unelected Seneschal – the Chief Pleas president who doubles as the island's judge – will retain considerable powers.