Gladness

It's coming up to one year since Annie's death, and I wrote this in memory of her...


Gladness
(in memory of Annie)
 
Such joy, such wonder, sweetest sound,
That every day, for me,
I wake again, alive, self found,
With gratitude, I see;
My failing heart taught me - not fear,
And seldom have I grieved;
How precious did my life appear,
And how much I perceived!
 
Through poor esteem, a pattern snares,
I nearly did succumb,
Yet gratitude comes when hope seems far,
And beats a different drum
 
My love is good, each day for me,
Although there are no cures,
I seek no more than just to be,
As long as life endures.
 
Yet when my beating heart shall fail,
And  light of life shall cease,
I know that to my best, I did prevail,
And gently rest in peace
 
What is there now that death can show?
But that joy came to shine,
Despite a breathlessness made low,
Before I drank dark wine
 
When I've been gone ten thousand years,
And memories are there none,
My ashes still the winds will raise,
Beneath the shining sun.

Turning Over Napier's Bones

20 October - Wendy Kinnard resigns as Home Affairs Minister; Andrew Lewis takes over, with effect from 22 October.

11 November - David Warcup provides Bill Ogley with letter containing his report written at the request of Bill Ogley and referring to Interim Report received from the Metropolitan Police

Mr Lewis' statement made to Wiltshire Police as part of their inquiry, to the effect that he had no reason to believe before reading the letter sent by Mr David Warcup (the Deputy Chief Officer of Police) to Mr Ogley (the Chief Executive) that the police were not managing the investigation well was not wholly accurate.

Along with "economical with the truth", the phrase "not wholly accurate" should go down as one of the most weasel phrases of our times. Andrew Lewis made a statement, and either it was true, or it was false. Only in the weird logic of Edward De Bono, or Brian Napier, does a statement of fact have the odd attribute of being neither true nor false, rather like Schrödinger's cat. Actually, as it turns out, it is clear that David Warcup was briefing Andrew Lewis well before that letter came out. As Brian Napier's own report states:

The resignation of Senator Kinnard from her position of Minister for Home Affairs took place on 20 October 2008, and her replacement was Deputy Andrew Lewis. That was a significant development, as Senator Kinnard had been resolute in her defence not only of the police generally, but in particular in her endorsement of the actions of DCO Harper in conducting the investigation. Mr Lewis, who took over, was a man of different views. He was not inclined, in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary, to accept that there was a conspiracy against justice in high places within Jersey. Mr Lewis had moreover been in receipt of constant briefing from Mr Warcup during the latter's time on the island. As previously mentioned, these briefings had contained not only criticisms of how the inquiry had been managed when DCO Harper had been in operational charge of it, but also criticisms of Mr Power's failure to engage with the attempts that were being made (by Mr Warcup) to put right mistakes that had been made.

"In receipt of constant briefing" suggest not only that Andrew Lewis, was briefed that "the police were not managing the investigation well", but also - as it stems from the advent of Mr Warcup - these briefings clearly took place when he was still an assistant minister. It doesn't seem to me that Andrew Lewis's statement is "not wholly accurate"; from reading Napier's own report, it appears very much as if it was wholly inaccurate!

It certainly seems that Brian Napier is trying to give Andrew Lewis the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence of his own report does not stack up against that.

Turning now to the idea of a conspiracy, the notion that there was no evidence of any conspiracy is stated in his conclusion:

I have seen no evidence to support the claims (which, if substantiated, would certainly point to a need for further investigation) that these were part of some plot or conspiracy within the public service to frustrate police investigation in Jersey.

I have found no evidence of a "conspiracy" to oust Mr Power for some improper reason.

But look at the words carefully - "to frustrate police investigation in Jersey" and "some improper reason". What does Brian Napier understand by "conspiracy", in these phrases? He clearly means some kind of cover up of dark secrets, a kind of murky world not unlike that described in a recent play on Radio 4, "The Conspiracy of the Illuminati". There was some kind of devilish plot to get at Mr Power, and destroy the child abuse enquiry. I know some suggestions have been made of that.

But there are conspiracies of many sorts, and there is clear evidence that certain individuals were conferring together, behind Mr Power's back (and hence in secret) , and while this may have been from the highest motives, they were definitely intending to remove him from office, and were preparing the ground for this. This emerges again in the Napier report:

As early as 28 October there was in existence a document created by Mr Crich setting out a possible scenario for "Possible disciplinary proceedings against the Chief of Police". By this time Mr Lewis had taken over as Minister from Senator Kinnard. Yet no steps were taken Mr Lewis to try to resolve the differences that were seen as emerging, not only by him but by his senior advisers. My view is that an opportunity to attempt to resolve the issues relating to competence and capability that eventually lead to Mr Power's suspension on 12 November 2008 was missed when Deputy Lewis took over from Senator Kinnard.

The confrontation with Mr Power was seen coming by officials weeks in advance of 12 November, and I do not know why the opportunity to head it off (or at least attempt to do so) was not taken. I am inclined to think that the answer is that there was, at the highest level of the administration, a belief that the suspension and the taking of disciplinary action against the Chief Officer was not only what was likely to occur (by reason of the decision of the Minister, after the changeover from Senator Kinnard to Mr Lewis), but also what should happen. Efforts were accordingly concentrated on preparing for that scenario, to the exclusion of other possible mechanisms for resolving perceived failures in performance.

It would be interesting to know exactly what "the highest level of the administration" refers to in the report. It seems to be a fudge which avoids naming names. Bill Ogley? Frank Walker? One individual? Several? Note that the preparation for the scenario of suspension, because they thought that was what "should happen". Is that "planning" or "conspiracy"? There may have been no clear directives, but just because directives are not given directly doesn't mean to say that intentions were not clear, or else why else concentrate efforts on one objective.

Could this be described as engineering Mr Power's suspension? Obviously no one came together in a cabal, in secret, and put on a blackboard the words "get rid of him". Outside of fiction, no one really behaves much like that. But pre-planning one particular outcome - that of suspension - because it was believed that it "should happen", would certainly come close. One of the characteristic features of a short story is that if a shotgun is casually mentioned, hanging on a wall, the reader knows that the writer indents to make use of it later on in the tale - why else mention it? The pre-planning can be seen as akin to loading a shotgun, and why one earth would all that effort be given to something that was not intended?

Brian Napier exonerates Andrew Lewis from this pre-planning, assuming, of course, that Andrew Lewis' statement in this respect is more accurate than the one he gave the Wiltshire inquiry:

I do not say that Mr Lewis shared that view. He has confirmed to me that he was not at any stage planning with others to bring down the Chief Officer and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of that statement.

But what was the motivation? I certainly think there were "legitimate and reasonable concerns about Mr Power's performance", and I accept Napier's point that was part of the motivation. But another part was clearly motivated by personal reasons. There was already a clash of personalities, as is clear from the description of the meeting on May 2008:

Mr Power also refers to a meeting he attended around May 2008, together with Senator Kinnard, the Chief Minister (Mr Frank Walker) and the Chief Executive (Mr Bill Ogley). He narrates how, at that meeting, there was a strong difference of views between the Chief Minister and Senator Kinnard with regard to the conduct of the ongoing Historic Abuse Enquiry. Mr Power's recollection of that meeting was that the then Chief Minister berated the enquiry and complained of the damage it was causing because of the bad publicity it was generating. Senator Kinnard defended the enquiry but was, according to Mr Power, subjected to verbal bullying by the Chief Minister who stated that he was "under pressure to suspend both the Chief and the Deputy Chief." In recounting this event in the course of being interviewed, Mr Power made no secret of his dislike of Mr Walker, nor what he saw as his bullying tendencies.

The recollections which both the Chief Minister and the Chief Executive have of these meetings are quite different, both with regard to the content of the meetings and how they were carried out. Neither accepts that there was any improper conduct on their part. I am not in a position, having heard the competing accounts, to decide which version of events is accurate, or even which versions are more accurate than others. I mention these matters simply to draw attention to the existence of differences between Mr Power and two senior colleagues within the political and administrative spheres public sector of the States of Jersey (Chief Minister Walker and Chief Executive Ogley).

I'm not sure why the "content of the meetings" is debatable; I'd assume that minutes were taken, and if they had been signed off by all those present, this would surely provide some objective record. Of course, minutes are a précis, and in any compaction of data, there is bound to be a selection process on what is of importance, and how to present a disagreement.

But if there was any addition reason to take just suspension as one of several options, it is likely that personal reasons, even if unconscious to the participants, would have played a part. If they were aware of their dislike, they should have been self-critical of any actions, especially ones they wanted to take, but according to Brian Napier, these fed into the events which followed:

Key decision makers and advisers were, long before the events of 12 November, inclined to be critical of Mr Power. Perhaps because of that, officials were too ready to accept relatively weak evidence as sufficient to warrant the Minister taking the drastic step of imposing suspension on 12 November 2008.

It is not at all surprising that there were serious concerns on the part of Mr Ogley (and others) about Mr Power's role in the management and oversight of the historic abuse enquiry in the light of information that was becoming available in the autumn of 2008. In my view, however, these legitimate and reasonable concerns about Mr Power's performance led to the making of decisions which were, from a procedural point of view, unfair to Mr Power.

What is also interesting is the curious omission from Napier. You might expect he would have interviewed Wendy Kinnard, or stated if he was unable to do so.

In the course of my investigation, I held recorded meetings with Mr Andrew Lewis, Mr Bill Ogley, Mr Ian Crich, Mr David Warcup, Mr Graham Power and Mr Frank Walker.

As one of the people present at the meeting mentioned above who would have certainly been able to state whether she felt herself subject to "verbal bullying", it is strange that Wendy Kinnard was not interviewed. The rapidity with which Mr Power became exposed after her resignation makes me wonder if she was "out of the loop", or getting the same behind the scenes briefings from David Warcup that Andrew Lewis was. Now there could be quite legitimate and personal reasons why she declined to be interviewed, but it seems strange that she doesn't even seem to have been asked. The balance between legitimate concerns and a personal dislike of Mr Power is surely germane to any inquiry, and she could have thrown valuable light on that.

And finally, just as a codicil, Brian Napier seems unaware of the landmark decision concerning suspensions. He writes:

While suspension is of itself a "neutral" act, in terms of not imputing guilt of any putative offence, it was appreciated by all concerned that, in the context of Mr Power and the office he held, it was a step of considerable significance.

In fact, Mezey v South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, in 2007 (before Graham Power's suspension) dismissed the Trust's argument that suspension was "a neutral act preserving the employment relationship". Their decision was as follows:

"The Court of Appeal rejected that argument, at least in relation to the employment of a qualified professional in a function which is as much a vocation as a job. Suspension changes the status quo from work to no work, and it inevitably casts a shadow over the employee's competence. Of course this does not mean it cannot be done, but it is not a neutral act."

Pretty well all the sites on employment law and suspensions mention this; is it too much to ask that Jersey's personnel officers read up on it as part of their Continuing Professional Education?

On Lines in the Sands

Over a year ago now, I remember going down to St Ouen's Bay. I parked at the far end of the day, in the car park with the toilets, and made my way down the slipway on to the beach with my eldest son. It was a cloudy day but the cloud was fairly high and the temperature was pleasant. We walked down across the sand until we reached the markers, posts and ribbons stretching into the distance towards the other end of the bay. I could see in the distance that at Braye slip, a small line was slowly forming. It looked as though there would be a moderate turnout and people were walking beside me, but at that point it seemed I would have to walk some distance to catch up with the small line in the sand.

But by the time I got to El Tico, the line ahead had grown considerably so I decided to stop and wait for it to join my position. I looked back across the beach and now there was quite a multitude, some deciding like me to stop where they were, and others coming forward to fill in the gaps. Within about half an hour or perhaps slightly more, there was a definite line of people stretching across the length of the bay from Braye slip to as far as I could see the slipway at L'Etacq.

It was like one of those join the dots puzzles when a picture appears fuzzy and then sharpens into focus and a whole becomes clear. There was now a solid line of people, a great crowd who had all come encouraged Mike Stentiford, to present a protest against the creeping development which threatened to erode the natural landscape of the coast. It took time and a little stamina but I think above all else it was the fact that it was Mike Stentiford who had made this clarion call that brought so many people to take their places and draw the line in the sand. Perhaps only the late Gerald Durrell could have also commanded such widespread respect and such affection that people would give up their time and come here.

I remember having a nesting box in the garden which was empty for many years until suddenly some blue tits took residence in it. We knew they were breeding and had heard the young and seen the parents going to and fro bringing food to the nest within the box. But we didn't know how many young there were likely to be this was the day before the Internet made all kinds of information readily available. We rang up Mike Stentiford to ask for a little brief advice and he gave us not a few minutes but a good 20 minutes to tell us what to look out for. Such generosity to complete strangers.

And now over a year has gone by, and I wondered precisely what lessons have been learnt. Ignorant of the indigenous and migrating wildlife, such as the Brent geese, and ignorant too of the natural beauty of the small harbour and its village, the developer has now turned a greedy eye towards St Aubin, and once more it is Mike Stentiford who is leading the protest. One can do absolute wonders with computer software and the mockup which has appeared in the press makes the development as attractive as it could possibly be, even if one might well quibble over the singularly small buildings which it shows. It is easy to forget that these artistic renderings are as real as the virtual world of James Cameron's Avatar. It is a neat, clean world, a Disneyland fantasy, into which we must avoid being sucked, because all fantasies like this are presented in the most seductive fashion possible.

Developers of course are out to sell something, in this case an idea, a utopia. We can do this, they say, and it will not cost you a penny. Such altruism! And the reclamation of the land, we are told by Guy de Faye, will be landfill, so we can guarantee that it won't happen overnight - because I do not believe there is enough rubbish of suitable quality to dump there right now. In the meantime, we can expect many years in which St Aubin would be an unsightly mess with the new sea wall (probably not in granite but the same sort of blocks that attract decaying seaweed at the other end of the bay) and a large hole gradually being filled in, lots of heavy duty vehicles and machinery, noise and dust. We will then be told that you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs -- an apposite description for the smell of rotting seaweed. The smell of rotten eggs.

But why do it in the first place? Why is there this insatiable itch to take a picturesque little village and turn it into some kind of Ocean Park? I can understand the money motive but what is alarming is that there are developers out there who seem to think that this kind of thing is progress. It reminds me of the passage in C.S. Lewis's work "That Hideous Strength", where the developers want to introduce their bright progressive future, and - of course - wipe out any inconveniences along the way.

"It's about the village of Cure Hardy," said Cosser when they were seated. "You see, all that land at Bragdon Wood is going to be little better than a swamp once they get to work. Why the hell we wanted to go there I don't know. Anyway, the latest plan is to divert the Wynd: block up the old channel through Edgestow altogether. Look. Here's Shillingbridge, ten miles north of the town. It's to be diverted there and brought down an artificial channel - here, to the east, where the blue line is - and rejoin the old bed down here." "The university will hardly agree to that," said Mark. "What would Edgestow be without the river?"

"We've got the university by the short hairs," said Cosser. "You needn't worry about that. Anyway it's not our job. The point is that the new Wynd must come right through Cure Hardy. Now look at your contours. Cure Hardy is in this. narrow little valley. Eh? Oh, you've been there, have you? That makes it all the easier. I don't know these parts myself. Well, the idea is to dam the valley at the southern end and make a big reservoir. You'll need a new water supply for Edgestow now that it's to be the second city in the country."

"But what happens to Cure Hardy?"

"That's another advantage. We build a new model village (it's to be called Jules Hardy or Wither Hardy) four miles away. Over here, on the railway."

"I say, you know, there'll be the devil of a stink about this. Cure Hardy is famous. It's a beauty spot. There are the sixteenth-century almshouses, and a Norman church, and all that."

"Exactly. That's where you and I come in. We've got to make a report on Cure Hardy. We'll run out and have a look round tomorrow, but we can write most of the report today. It ought to be pretty easy. If it's a beauty spot, you can bet it's insanitary. - That's the first point to stress. Then we've got to get out some facts about the population."

Climbing Mount Improbable

Voice For Children (despite the carping of one blog in particular), has pulled off a remarkable coup, not only in following the continual delay of the Napier report, but also in bringing out the reply from Terry Le Sueur, which confirms to Deputy Hill that "the Napier Report will be published in a full and unredacted form", unlike the Wiltshire report.

Dear colleague,
As you may be aware, I have now received the Report into the suspension on 12th November 2008 of the (former) Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police ("the Napier Report").
Having read this Report carefully, I am of the view that there could possibly be grounds for disciplinary action arising out of the report. I am taking advice on this and considering it as a matter of urgency and anticipate making a decision on this shortly.
I have also sought appropriate advice about the publication of the Napier Report prior to any disciplinary proceedings which may, after consideration, take place and I am advised that publication might prejudice any disciplinary process which may be required.
Although I have shared the Napier Report in confidence with the Deputy of St. Martin, he has acknowledged that it is important for any disciplinary process that may be required to be conducted properly so that there can be no question of any impropriety. The Deputy of St. Martin has therefore agreed to continue to hold the Report in confidence.
I am grateful to the Deputy for his understanding in this matter and I hope that all States members will similarly respect the need to conclude any disciplinary issues prior to publication.
I confirm that on the conclusion of any disciplinary issues, the Napier Report will be published in a full and unredacted form.
Yours sincerely,
Terry Le Sueur
Chief Minister

What is obviously the key matter for speculation is who would be subject to any disciplinary proceedings. Clearly, as Graham Power is no longer an employee of the States of Jersey, he is certainly out of the frame, and Deputy Andrew Lewis is no longer in the States, so no action by PPC can be taken against him. This means, of necessity, that if there are "grounds for disciplinary action" - and let's note that this is not absolutely clear-cut, it must be a civil servant. I'm not going to speculate on this, suffice it to say that those present at the first disciplinary meeting, or those giving poor advice, are obvious candidates.

Of course, the good Senator has yet to make up his mind about what to do - whether to proceed with disciplinary action; he's only had the report since 13th September, which is only just over three weeks, so at the snails pace at which he seems to dither along, it would be quite remarkable if he acted with any speed. Given the speed of disciplinary processes in Jersey, the phrase "it will all be over by Christmas", which was used in 1914 by hopeless optimists at the start of the Great War, seems horribly appropriate.

Meanwhile, despite Senator Le Marquand stating on the eviscerated Wiltshire that "The versions now on the States website are in pdf and if downloaded as a document will be searchable", whoever updates the website has not done so, nor have they appeared in less redacted form, as was also promised back in July. Tardiness appears to be a disease of Government, spreading out to afflict its many departments.

The bulk of the missing pages are now being redacted. This is a big task and the departments involved have many other things to do. I think that the rest of what I can properly put out should be available by early September 2010. There are sections of the Blast report which will not be redacted because that would reveal the identities of the officers involved.

I can fully understand that time and pressure of the States Business Plan and the Comprehensive Spending Review, along with general departmental business can consume available, and cause delays. That is entirely understandable. But surely it is not beyond the bounds of simple courtesy and politeness to the voting public to say as much, and apologise for the delay, and just not be like one of those annoying people whom you ring up - if they owe you money - they say "they'll get back to you", and they never do, hoping that you'll forget all about it. It seems that the less redacted Wiltshire Report, like the cheque in the post, is still to arrive. It's a pity there's not a Government Report chasing agency.

Links
(1) http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/2010/10/napier-imminent-3put-upor-i-will.html

The Industrial Struggle

Here is another extract from Norman Le Brocq's history of the working class in Jersey. It is the post-war era, and the workers were not prepared to lose sight of the "land fit for heroes" that had been the promise of politicians during the war time struggle. Working islanders who had fought in the trenches were no longer prepared to be so readily cowed by their employers.

The Franchise Act had increased the vote, but 20% still had no vote. As a rough guide, with the figures below, the weekly wage of 36 shillings translates to £61.30 (on the basis of RPI), and that of 50 shillings to £85.20.

It is interesting to note that the police were banned from joining a union. This was very much in like with the times. In the UK, there had been police strikes in 1918 and 1919 which resulted in the British government under Lloyd George putting before Parliament its proposals for a Police Act, which established the "Police Federation of England and Wales" as the representative body for the police, rather than any Union formed from the police themselves. The Act also barred police from belonging to a trade union or affiliating with any other trade union body. Part of the fear was that if the police belonged to a union, their loyalties might be divided in any strikes between supporting the authorities or the workers.

It is clear that the same fears were present in Jersey, and a compromise was reached, with the police who had been summarily dismissed being reinstated, but only on the grounds that, as in the UK, the police stayed out of the Union.

---

The Industrial Struggle

Leaving the Union's political activities for the moment, we turn to the industrial struggle.
 
At the second quarterly meeting of the Union, held on March 28, 1919, a report was heard giving details of that quarter's work. The report recorded victory after victory, commencing: "Our first encounter and victory of this quarter was with Bashfords Ltd. The Union has secured from there an average rise of 8/- per- head per - week. The Storemen, Coopers and Carters employed by the Potato Merchants Association have had their  wages increased, in some cases by 7/-, in others 5/- per week.
 
"The cranemen, a rise of 7/6 per week, and their overtime paid at the rate of 1/3 per hour. All Sunday and holiday time in future is to be paid at the rate of 1/6 per hour.
 
"Several coal merchants have agreed to pay the same wages as the P.M.A. The Veneer Basket Co. has also agreed to pay the same wages as other stores.
 
"Jobbing ship carpenters in the employ of Watton, South Pier, have had a substantial increase of pay through the efforts of our Union, their rates now ranging from 36/- to 50/- per week.
 
"Then we come to those members of our Union who are employed by the Local Government. We have approached the States Committee of Piers and Harbours as regards to carpenters, storemen, pier-head watchmen, the crew of the tug " Duke," and also the pier sweepers, and have succeeded in each case in obtaining a satisfactory rise in wages.
 
"We have also approached the Mayor of St. Helier on behalf of the destructor firemen and the quarrymen employed by the Parish. These men have also benefited by our Union, and we have by our efforts raised the wages of the firemen by 6/- and the quarrymen by 5/- per week.
 
" I might also mention here that our Union has been successful with regard to the plumbers in getting their wages raised by 1d per hour.
 
"In concluding the above list, we must not forget that in addition to a substantial rise in wages, your Union has obtained in every case a weekly half-holiday, which we regard as very important to all workers.
 
" We are proud to state that our total membership to date is 2,203, which is an increase on last quarter of 997."
 
Not a bad record for three months' work! Apart from all this, too, it must be remembered that organisational work had been heavy, dealing with the large influx of new members. Branches had been set up for: Dockers and General Workers,. Masons and Plasterers, Carpenters, Painters, Plumbers; Coopers, Carters, Cranemen, Gasworkers, Coachbuilders, Shop Assistants, Women Workers, and Agricultural Workers. The activities of the branches were co-ordinated in a District Committee comprising the Chairman of each branch and the District Chairman and Secretary.
 
At this time there were still no paid officials; though soon after the need was felt for a full-time paid secretary.
 
The next time that the Union hit the headlines was in May. On Monday, May 19, it having come to the ears of the Constable of St. Helier that a number of policemen had joined the D.W.R. & G.W.U., a parade was called and P.C. Osmond, who was a known Unionist, was dismissed and two others, Walters and Poingdestre, were suspended pending inquiries.
 
On the Tuesday morning a lightning strike of dockers and pier carters was called. This was effective by 9 o'clock, pickets being placed on the quays and the men discussing the situation. It was felt by most that the Police should have formed a branch of the English Police Union, but in any case the dismissals would be fought by the Union. At noon a meeting was held between Union officials and the Police and Pier authorities. This meeting came to an end at 1.30 p.m., Moignard going direct to the pier and addressing the strikers. He told them to resume work for one day pending an inquiry. This was done.
 
At the inquiry on the following day it was decided to reinstate the policemen on the understanding that the Police Force remained outside the Union. This was accepted by all concerned.
 
The popularity of the Union at this time can be judged by the number present at the West Park Pavilion on May 23. Over 2,000 people were present at this mass meeting held under Union auspices. It was noted that there were then 3,000-odd Union members.
 
Thus did Jersey fall in line with the feeling of revolt that swept the workers of Europe. And more was to follow.

Field 148

I wish to lodge a complaint against Ms Labey in regard to these " corruption " allegations which have apparently taken place over the rezoning of Field 148 in Grouville and any other land rezoning or otherwise in the Island. (Email, Senator Terry Le Main)

What is the background of Field 148? All I am doing is this posting is collating some of the background information; I am not commenting on any allegations made by Deputy Labey, but just putting in the public domain the background details about Field 148. There may well be enough circumstantial evidence to raise legitimate questions about various individuals involvement, and certainly if there is, then an enquiry is entirely proper, not as an allegation of corruption, but simply to demonstrate that everything was above board; I'd agree with Senator Cohen on that.

It should also be noted that Senator Le Main's complaint was on the basis of JEP reporting of Carolyn Labey's statement in Court, and that was only a précis, and may well have lacked qualifications and nuances. Going on past form, I would be very careful about taking JEP reports at face value. Senator Le Main's email has appeared on a local blog, and in the comments following it, are various comments about Deputy Labey's personal lifestyle that are insulting, if not slanderous. If he wants to be associated with that kind of blog, that is his affair, but I would question the wisdom of his placing his email in a context where he is associated with those kind of individuals.

Part of this comes a States Hansard report when Dan Murphy commented on it some time ago when replying to various questions asked by Senator Stuart Syvret:

"Would you please explain to me in writing exactly what business or other beneficial relationships exist between yourself, Senator Terry Le Main and Mr. Geoff Noel?" I will explain this in a moment. Let me just finish these questions first, okay? Senator Le Main and I have had a business relationship. It was in about 1988 when we had a guesthouse and we were hiring cars from him for our guests. That was it.

"Would you explain to me what discussions have taken place between the Attorney or Solicitor Generals, Bailiff or Deputy Bailiff, in connection with the subject matter of questions 1 to 6?" Now, this refers to a story that is being pushed around by the Senator [Stuart Syvret] about the purchase of the land field 148 at Gorey which is a deal that is being done between a benefactor, Mr. Kirsch, and Mr. Noel who owns that field. I have no part of it, I have absolutely nothing to do with it at all except that I pushed for the Parish to get a share of the houses that are to be built there for our older people and that is it. Senator Le Main is a big boy. He can speak for himself but there has been absolutely nothing at all between the rest of us.

The Grouville Gazette (Autumn 2008) gives some more of this background, again from Constable Murphy:

Now that the rezoning of Field 148 has been passed by the States I would like to offer parishioners an insight as to how this application came to pass. In the three elections since 2003 I have made the provision of more homes for the elderly one of my priorities as we only have 12 units, which are in great demand with a waiting list of 18. The opportunity arose when I was talking to David Kirch about the excellent developments his Trust had carried out in Gorey and he told me that he was actively looking for a further site to provide extra facilities. This coincided with the Housing and Planning Ministers asking the Connétables to assist by identifying sites for just this type of development and bringing them forward for consideration. We had looked at many sites in the Parish, which were unsuitable and also some glasshouse sites which were either unsuitable or not for sale At this time a developer had approached Mr Kirch with a proposal for Field 148 and he called me in to discuss it with him. Having spoken to the Procureurs it was decided that we would support him in exchange for nomination rights on 12 of the 20 proposed units for parishioners. We consider this to be an extremely generous gesture, one that would save the Parish from borrowing millions of pounds if we had to provide the units ourselves.

The amendment to the Island Plan was, in fact, lodged by the Minister for Planning:

PROVISION OF LAND FOR LIFELONG DWELLINGS (FOR PEOPLE OVER 55) AND FIRST-TIME BUYERS: AMENDMENT TO ISLAND PLAN (2002): Lodged au Greffe on 22nd May 2008 by the Minister for Planning and Environment

and in this we read:

(17) Field 148, Rue des Maltières, Grouville: The site is an infill development of land between Clos des Maltières and residential properties fronting Rue des Maltières and Rue Horman. It comprises approximately 4 vergées. The south east part of the site is adjacent to Grouville marsh and should be retained in its natural state. It benefits from a field access to Rue Horman, which could enable a direct pedestrian route to Gorey village. The site could accommodate approximately 20 lifelong dwellings for the Parish of Grouville, the development of which would be undertaken by the Gouray Lodge Charitable Trust.

The site is an infill development of land between Clos des Maltières and residential properties fronting Rue des Maltières and Rue Horman. It is designated as Countryside Zone in the 2002 Island Plan, and comprises approximately 4 vergées. The south-east part of the site is adjacent to Grouville Marsh and should be retained in its natural state. It benefits from a field access to Rue Horman, which could enable a direct pedestrian route to Gorey Village. The site could accommodate approximately 20 lifelong dwellings for the Parish of Grouville, the development of which would be undertaken by the Gouray Lodge Charitable Trust and appropriate protection measures for the marsh will be required during construction and once the dwellings are occupied.

The Rural Economy Strategy Group has advised that the top ¾ of the field produces a crop of early potatoes and should be retained in agriculture. Health Protection reported no issues with the development of this site. Transport and Technical Services support the site and advise that improvements for pedestrians should be investigated. The site can be connected to mains services.

Some of the following site-specific comments were received from the public consultation:

- Many other land owners were willing to make land available why weren't they consulted? (Other sites were mentioned by the Connétable, however this site best met the Connétable's requirement.)
- Island Plan Policy C6 makes a presumption against development therefore this site should not be considered. (The comment is noted, hence the Minister's decision to take a report and proposition to the States to rezone the land.)
- The Jersey Pottery site should be used instead or build homes on the green area next to Jersey Pottery. (The comment is noted; however permission has already been given for open market housing on the JP site. The adjacent green area is an essential part of the village flood relief scheme and cannot be built on.)
- Eco-impact to the marsh. (The comment is noted and the Environment Department will be consulted on any necessary measures.)
- Need for Parish rental houses not proven. (The comment is not accepted. The Connétable has confirmed the Parish need for elderly housing.)
- Benefactor's generosity is over-riding planning policy. (Notwithstanding the benefactor's generosity, the site meets the requirements for elderly housing.)
- The site floods. (The comment is noted. It is understood that the lower section of the field is wet and this area could not be built on and would be retained as a buffer zone.)
- The site is too steep for elderly people. (The comment is not accepted; the existing Parish homes at Hilgrove work well and are on a much steeper site.)
- Reduce speed limit in Rue Horman to 20 m.p.h. (The comment is noted and will be referred to the Parish.)
- Site is 600 m. from village which is too remote for elderly people. (The comment is not accepted. The site is in reasonable walking distance to the village centre and the shops.)
- The field is a wildlife corridor. (The comment is noted and the Environment Department will be consulted on any necessary measures.)
- Development will result in light pollution. (The comment is noted and the issue of light pollution will be addressed at the application stage.)
- Design and materials should blend in with the surrounding landscape. (The comment is accepted.)
- Build a 1.8 m. wall around the site to safeguard neighbour privacy. (The comment is not accepted; however boundary treatment will need to be carefully designed to ensure it does not have an unreasonable impact on the area.)
- Soft landscaping needs to be carefully designed to avoid impact to neighbours (The comment is accepted.)
- Footpath link necessary for easy access to the village. (The comment is accepted.)

The Planning Application appeared as follows:

Site Collection: Application Number: P/2010/0126
Site Address: Field 148, Le Chemin des Maltières, Grouville.
Applicant: B & N Developments Ltd.
Description: Construct 20 No. life-long homes. (Model Available). AMENDED PLANS RECEIVED.
Date Validated: 08/02/2010
Site to be Zoned Cat A Housing

T&TS Drainage in their letter dated 16.2.10 states "There is no public foul sewer readily available, the nearest being in La Rue Horman to the north-east. Connection to the existing foul sewer that drains Parcq des Maltières to the public foul sewer in La Rue a Don will not be permitted without extensive modifications to the existing pumping station adjacent to Links Estate. Full drainage details will need to be agreed. There is no public surface water sewer available and the use of soakaways and permeable paving is noted and recommended."

Environment (Agriculture) in their letter dated 24.1.10 confirm that the land has a history of agriculture use and are opposed to the application due to the loss of agricultural land.

Environment (Natural Environment) in their letter dated 4.3.10 confirm that they would be happy to offer advice on planting as well as options for grassland management to the south-east of the site.

Further details are required in respect of the effects on the surrounding ecology and how mitigation measures will be provided. Further details are also required to demonstrate how the provision of the mains services will be provided and any potential effect on the land to the south and east

The application was been advertised in the JEP and on site. A total of 6 letters of objection were been received. The grounds of objection were as follows:

. There are issues of boundary planting arrangements and correct boundary arrangements for access rights for repair and maintenance;
. The levels of the field may be changed and create problems of natural drainage and flooding;
. There will be an increase in traffic using La Rue Horman;
. This is an isolated site and not appropriate for housing;
. Why cannot the development be located on a more appropriate site elsewhere;
. The development will result in a lack of privacy for both existing and proposed occupants;
. There is no footpath link indicated between the site and the village;
. What arrangements have been made for drainage;
. The development does not blend in with the landscape;
. The plans do not address the issue of light pollution, and
. The submitted plans indicate inaccurate boundary/land ownership details.

Interestingly, no responses were received from applicants' agents.

Size, Scale & Siting
The proposed dwellings comprise modest 2 bed single storey dwellings in height.
The layout comprises two blocks of 3no. dwellings to the road frontage, with the remaining 16no. units grouped around a central landscaped/parking area.
The lower section of the field has a high water table and is prone to flooding. This area has been left as open space and provides a buffer between the development and Grouville Marsh.

Foul Sewage Disposal: The site has been the subject of a number of suggested drainage arrangements. The recently submitted drainage scheme is currently being assessed by officers from T&TS Drainage for its suitability and an update will be available at the meeting.

Officer Recommendation: APPROVAL subject to Conditions and the satisfactory completion of a Planning Obligation Agreement to ensure an appropriate mix of dwelling tenures on this site and the site at St. John.

It seems to me very odd, although not untypical of Planning Applications, that the sewage problem simply is assumed to be negligible, something that will just evaporate once the planning application is granted. In a like manner, the Hopkins Masterplan for the Waterfront was passed, even though the plan noted the risk of flooding near Gloucester Street and simply recommended that T&TS would do something about it, no doubt getting some good advice from King Canute.

The matter was debated in the States on 16 July 2008, and the proposition was passed.

P75/2008/ Provision of land for lifelong dwellings (for people over 55) and first-time buyers - amendment to Island Plan (2002) paragraph (d) Site 17 - Field 148, Rue des Maltières Grouville

There were a number of comments, but very few relating to either the paucity of the statistics behind that, or precisely what the condition of the agricultural land was. Members seemed mostly keen to take the percentage at face value, although John le Fondré demonstrated the deeply flawed nature of the response which formed a major plank in the argument - namely, that a small sample of 86 can hardly be taken as representative of the whole. He did not state another deficit, in that the sample was self-selecting, rather than randomised, which is another deep flaw in the bedrock of the data.

John Le Fondré: Members may well recall a rather well known advert for cat food, which used to claim that 7 out of 10 cats preferred that particular brand, this later changed to 7 out of 10 owners that expressed a preference and even more recently the rather pertinent statistic of 7 out of 10 cats said their owners preferred it. The reason I mention it, Sir, is in the summary of responses the department set out, it is to really demonstrate my slight concern at how statistics are presented. The reason I state that is on page 4 of that response it says: "Support for rezoning land: 82 per cent thought that land should be rezoned to help meet the needs of first-time buyer housing; 64 per cent thought that land should be rezoned for over-55s social rented; and 69 per cent thought that land should be rezoned for over-55s enabling existing homeowners to downsize." That is almost certainly true and would sound extremely impressive except for the fact it is based, as I understand it from reading the report, on written responses of 86.

Deputy Judy Martin asked a question about the Gorey Lodge Charitable Trust, and Constable Dan Murphy gave some details, without mentioning that he fully supported the rezoning of all the neighbouring Netherlee plot to Built-up Area (according to Mr Steven Harris), and also demonstrated his knowledge of agriculture. I'm not quite sure where he acquired it from, I may be mistaken, but I am pretty sure his background is in the finance industry, going back to the time when he worked at a local merchant bank in the 1960s ,and then he moved into the hotel industry. I'm not aware of any great agricultural knowledge on his part.

Deputy J.A. Martin: I have a direct question on Field 148 in Grouville. "The site could accommodate approximately 20 lifelong dwellings for the Parish of Grouville. The development would be undertaken by the Gorey Lodge Charitable Trust." I do not need to know who they are, I would like an explanation of what is this trust? Does it rule under the codes, because there is no law? Please remember there is no law for housing trusts that has ever come through this House, there is a code and I would like to know if they are new, if they are established, if they are - I presume - a not-for-profit organisation? But I would really like a recommendation because other than that I am not supporting that.

Constable Dan Murphy: If I can address mainly, Sir, obviously, Field 148, which is the field in Grouville which is up for rezoning. The site is basically an infill site and it is marginal agricultural land, which is very wet at the bottom. The trust who have undertaken to build have undertaken to hand over management of the bottom 7 metres to the National Trust who have land bordering on there and bordering on the Grouville Marsh. In fact the land is rent-free at the moment in exchange for branchage, et cetera. I have researched the whole area and we have not found any other suitable site. Everybody has got a field they want to build on, of course they have. We tried 2 sites around the Gorey village area which is the site we were aiming for. There is one site with glasshouses on and they would not sell and the other site was already part of the Potteries development, or the proposed Potteries redevelopment and that is part of the drainage system for the whole of Gorey village so it cannot be built on anyway - the village would flood without it. The application that is going in is on behalf of the Gorey Lodge Trust - and this is especially for Deputy Martin. It is very highly regarded within the Island community, obviously not in St. Helier. The main man behind the trust is David Kirsch who lives in Grouville I am delighted to say and the trust is the trust that provides £100 a year for senior citizens over the age of 70, which I believe comes to about £800,000 a year which they give away to the community.

However, Deputy Carolyn Labey, along with the comments noted by Environment (Agriculture) above, gave quite a different perspective on the matter, and note that there is a direct contradiction between what Constable Murphy has related about the field being lent out rent free in exchange for branchage - they can't both be right:

Carolyn Labey: I notice too this proposition suggests that the whole area around field 148 abutting the marsh and S.S.I. (Site of Special Interest) is to be considered as built-up zone if passed, and I am afraid I do not share my Constable's agricultural analysis of this field. I do not believe the land is poor, marginal and just let for rough grazing as long as the tenant does the branchage. The field was bought by a property developer a few years ago, who only would let the land to the farmer on a year-by-year basis, and then eventually gave him notice to quit last December. They have not used it for rough grazing this year but have, as a gesture of goodwill, mowed the weeds and done the minimum of branchage after their last crop last year. The land is productive early, reasonably light, and can successfully produce any crop that you would expect to grow in Jersey. The predominant crop that has been grown is potatoes, but the field has grown courgettes and lettuce as well as the grazing of cattle on rye grass grown after the potato crop. The majority of the field, as the Rural Strategy Advisory Group have said, is good quality land that will be a loss to the agricultural industry

On the vote, it was interesting to note that the House divided with the Council of Ministers acting without dissent, and Constables swinging in with a clear "block vote" (the exception being St Helier) but Senator Perchard and Deputy John le Fondré being resolutely against (in the latter case, probably because he was not persuaded by the abysmally small sample size of the statistics.)

POUR
Senator Frank Harrison Walker
Senator Terence Augustine Le Sueur
Senator Paul Francis Routier
Senator Michael Edward Vibert
Senator Philip Francis Cyril Ozouf
Senator Terence John Le Main
Senator Frederick Ellyer Cohen
Connétable Leonard Norman
Connétable Kenneth Priaulx Vibert
Connétable Kenneth Alan Le Brun
Connétable Derek Frederick Gray
Connétable John Le Sueur Gallichan
Connétable Daniel Joseph Murphy
Connétable Michael Keith Jackson
Connétable Silvanus Arthur Yates
Connétable Graeme Frank Butcher
Connétable Peter Frederick Maurice Hanning
Connétable Juliette Gallichan
Deputy Gerard Clifford Lemmens Baudains
Deputy Celia Joyce Scott Warren
Deputy Roy George Le Hérissier
Deputy John Benjamin Fox
Deputy James Gordon Reed
Deputy Jacqueline Ann Hilton
Deputy Paul Vincent Francis Le Claire
Deputy Anne Enid Pryke
Deputy Sean Power
Senator Alan John Henry Maclean
Deputy Kevin Charles Lewis
Deputy Andrew David Lewis
Deputy Ian Joseph Gorst

CONTRE
Senator Stuart Syvret
Senator Wendy Kinnard
Senator Ben Edward Shenton
Senator James Leslie Perchard
Connétable Alan Simon Crowcroft
Deputy Robert Charles Duhamel
Senator Alan Breckon
Deputy Jacqueline Jeannette Huet
Deputy Frederick John Hill, B.E.M.
Deputy Judith Ann Martin
Deputy Geoffrey Peter Southern
Senator Sarah Craig Ferguson
Deputy Patrick John Dennis Ryan
Deputy Carolyn Fiona Labey
Deputy Guy William John de Faye
Deputy John Alexander Nicholas Le Fondré
Connétable Deidre Wendy Mezbourian
Deputy Shona Pitman

EXCUSED ATTENDANCE
Connétable Thomas John du Feu

EN DEFAUT
Connétable Geoffrey William Fisher

DECLARED AN INTEREST
Deputy Peter Nicholas Troy

NOT PRESENT
Deputy Collin Hedley Egré

Links
(1) http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/hansard/19126-11063.htm#_Toc229998164
(2) http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/hansard/14630-8145-2972008.htm
(3) http://myfj.je/downloads/Grouville_Gazette/Grouville_Gazette_Issue3.pdf
(4) http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/propositions/28711-34653-2252008.htm
(5) http://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Planning%20and%20building/A%20PAP%20Part%202%2015.07.2010.pdf
(6) statesofjersey-consult.limehouse.co.uk/file/1329815

Revelations Ancient and Modern

As the so-called Mayan Prediction of the end of the world approaches in 2012, according to the current calculations (which I am sure will be suitable revised when it doesn't happen), here from the 1986 Mensa Magazine, "Thinks!", is an article I wrote on the subject. I was sceptical then, and am sceptical now. That doesn't mean that global warming or some other natural or man-made catastrophe cannot occur - I just don't believe the various people who predict calamity on the basis of their working of the Mayan Calendar, the prophecies of Nostradamus, the book of Revelation, or any other similar method.

Incidentally, Lance Lambert (whom I mentioned in the article) has vanished from public view - in 1986, he made a splash on the British newspapers - but he has a website and is still cheerfully delivering messages about the end of the world, although these always tell us what is going to happen "very soon", and no precise timetable is given. The one given in April 2010 this year says "I will cause their economies to fail, and their financial system to break down, and even the climate to fail them!", which suggests he is employing the same tactic as modern weather forecasters, getting people's confidence by telling them (with 100% accuracy) about the weather for the day that has just passed.

Revelations Ancient and Modern

In one of the famous "Beyond the Fringe" sketches, a motley collection of characters are gathered upon a mountain to wait for the end of the world. When the time comes, nothing happens. They are disappointed, then one of them says: "Oh well, same time tomorrow again, lads. We must get a winner one day!"

That short comedy routine comes very close to the truth about all the actual predictions of the world. A reading of history will reveal a great many occasions on which it was said "The end of the world is coming." On all of these, the deadline was passed, but the world sedately continued to spin around the solar system. To give some examples, I will make a brief selection of those who have predicted the end of the world, and got it wrong.

In the fourth century, Lactantius (tutor of the son of Emperor Constantine) said: "The current situation indicates that the collapse and ruin of everything will soon take place." The proof of this he found in prophecy and scripture, and he firmly believed that in under two hundred years this would be fulfilled. He did not live to see the falsity of his prophecy.

In the twelfth century, there is the Abbot Joachim of Fiore, who was encouraged to write down his theories by Pope Lucius III. "Now is the time," he writes, "for the elect to weep over the imminent destruction of that youngest Babylon lest perchance we share in her sins and be forced to partake of her punishments." The good abbot thought that Saladin's triumph in taking Jerusalem from Christians in 1187 was a sign that "the tribulation" had begun. He was signally wrong.

In the nineteenth century, William Miller worked out a detailed chronology from the Bible to show that Christ would return to Judge the world in 1843. When this was wrong, he discovered a flaw in his calculation and the date was shifted to autumn 1844. The promised date passed without incident, but after a vision, Hiram Edson, a follower of Miller, said that Miller had been right about the time, but wrong about the place. Christ had materialised "in the heavenly sanctuary" and so could not be seen on earth. Blind faith can always see what isn't there!

This survey has, of necessity been brief, and I will not bore you with Bishop Victorinus of Pettau, Angelo of Clareno " Peter John Olivi, Adso of Montier-en-der. Like Lanctantius and Joachim, these were noted men of their time, who all represented a stream of thought that preached the imminent end of the world, and were mistaken.

I am therefore somewhat sceptical about a recent prophecy given by Lance Lambert at Jerusalem: "It will not be long before there will come upon the world a time of unparalleled upheaval.." Of course we will be told that his prediction is different, but that has always been the case, For some reason, those who predict calamity are strangely blind to the failure of their predecessors. It often seems as if it is felt sufficient to re-iterate the message of doom all the more strongly.

Of course there is always a modern form of Pascal's wager - to believe in the chance that sooner or later they will turn out correct. But surely such a gamble would be based on desparation rather than rational assessment? I refuse to believe anything out of a cringing fear that it might turn out to be true, when all the evidence of history is weighted against the likelihood.

One Year This Day

written for October 1st, Annie's birthday...
 
One Year This Day
 
Another rainy day
And your life seems so far away
Now sadness comes, with tears to stay
And I am lost along the way
 
Suddenly,
Rain is falling, and I can barely see
There's a shadow, darkening me
And pain is growing by degree
 
Why you
Had to go, so swiftly, no parting words to say
I said
No words, I long for you now and yesterday
 
Birthday
Love seemed so easy, like a sunny day
Now clouds dim the sun, take away
And I can only weep and pray
 

Cider Days

Where would Autumn be without the cider making at Hamptonne...

Cider Days

Sing we a song of the harvest home
Of maidens fair, and lads who roam
Sing of dalliance, should they meet.
Quaff of our cider, the finest, sweet.
 
This is the time of our cider making
Cabbage loaf, Wonders, all for baking
Sing in the farmyard, take the apple
While lad and maiden in lusty grapple.
 
The farm horse turns the cider crusher
Apples crunched, no fair smell sweeter
Sing now of the old farm days of clover
While lad and maiden, now rollover.
 
More apples to fetch from orchard now
Heave carts and barrows past the cow
Pick the apples, some to eat and savour
This year, the maiden is now in labour.
 
With some for bake, and some for crumble
This is our Jersey apple, so very humble
But best of all, drink upon cider days
While nearby mother with baby plays.

Britain's Abandoned Homes

An empty dwelling that is left unoccupied is a wasted asset for the owner and for someone in need of housing. If it is not maintained, it will, over time, begin to impact on its surroundings and is at risk from being broken into by vandals and squatters. The only effective way to reduce the negative impact of an empty dwelling is to occupy it. (Basingstoke Council Website)

Jolyon Jenkins investigates the scandal of the million houses standing empty. With five million people on housing waiting lists the government is keen to get them back into use. This is not about second homes, or holiday homes. This is about the empty houses to be found in almost every neighbourhood - the run-down or derelict house that sticks out like a sore thumb. These buildings blight communities, attract crime and devalue neighbouring property. Potential family homes are standing empty despite the chronic housing shortage, which has got dramatically worse since the recession. House building rates have virtually collapsed and unoccupied houses are becoming a political hot potato. We investigate the reasons for the empty homes crisis in this country, focusing on properties in Bristol. Jolyon Jenkins talks to the owners, both developers and private individuals, to ask why it is that so many have been standing empty for years, and what it would take to get them lived in again. (1)

This was a fascinating Radio 4 program which interviewed various people to show the very widely different reasons for why homes are left abandoned to rack and ruin. It began with the case of the widower who had moved in and out of his home and had been very happy there with his wife. Since she died and he had become ill, and was no longer living there, the place had had squatters and fallen into decay with electrics pulled out and the roof leaking. It was a heartbreaking story because it was clear both to the interviewer and to the widower himself that the reason he had clung on to the property for so long was because of all the happy years he had spent there with his wife and which only now could he think of letting go. He had put the property up for auction as he had insufficient funds to make it habitable and had taken the advice of the agents as to the reserved price. However of 10 properties including his that were up in this particular auction, only two were sold. He was loath to reduce the price as he felt that he had to take the professional opinion of the agent.

Another empty property had been bought by a small to middling developer, where the customary practice had been to invest 30% of the funding for buying the site and renovating the property and in this case putting extra flats in the large garden area. The remainder of the funding would come from loans from the bank. The developers explained that there was a two-year cycle between buying the site and starting work and having a finished property for sale. During that period, both themselves and the banks would be putting money in and it would not be repaid in full with profits to the developer until after the two or three years had elapsed. The credit crunch had hit the developer badly and finance from the bank was no longer forthcoming. So the property lay empty, half gutted, with just the foundation of the new building in the garden and the developer had over £1 million debt to the bank and simply could not afford to pay for any more work to be done. The developer didn't ask for sympathy but just a chance to explain what had happened to them and to thousands of other developers all across Britain.

Another property in Bristol had an overgrown garden and when the interviewer looked through the letterbox the hallway was choked with junk mail. It turned out that the owner had bought the property as an investment but had trouble with tenants and had decided to leave the property empty until they could decide what to do with it. Several years had passed, and they still had not come to a decision.

These properties are empty in a land which is facing a huge housing shortage but the matter is being addressed by the charity Empty Homes which highlights those properties which have been left empty for a long period of time and which are either privately owned or government-owned. For the government as well has been known to leave property empty:

Empty Homes was established in 1992 as "The Empty Homes Agency" a campaigning voice for those who needed homes, and for those who were dismayed at the thousands of homes left empty and abandoned. Those principles have remained with us ever since. In the past few years we have successfully challenged government over the thousands of publicly-owned empty properties. We successfully campaigned for tax-breaks for owners of empty homes who wish to bring them back into use. We have given a voice to individuals, enabling them to secure action on empty homes that affect them, and have helped many successful local campaigns to bring empty homes back into use. As a result of our campaigns, today every council has a named person who seeks to get empty homes back into use, with the powers and resources to do so. (2)

When I was helping distribute leaflets in St Helier, around six years ago, I came across a number of flats which were obviously left derelict, glass doors boarded up, grimy door handles, and where one could see through a letterbox, the tell-tale sign of masses of junk mail. Back in the 1980s, my friend Ken Webb was helping with the census, and he was quite angered at the number of properties, flats and houses, which had been left empty in Jersey. He reckoned that had they been in use could have reduced the housing demand for social housing by at least 20%. That might be optimistic, but how many houses or flats are just left empty because the owners want a particular rent and are not prepared to reduce their prices? The census doesn't give us that sort of information because it counts people, not the absence of people.

In England, the law was enacted to enable councils to bring empty homes back into use for a fixed period without the use of compulsory purchase. I was not aware of this and it came as quite a surprise when the programme mentioned that councils had statutory powers to do this. Whether this would help the housing situation in Jersey is another matter, because in the first instance we need a methodology for accurate counting of empty properties. It would probably be resisted as an infringement of the owner's right to do what they want with their own property. However, it should be noted that the legislation in England is only used for long-term abandoned properties where they had been left empty for some years and it is not applied lightly before persuasion has been used:

All councils in England and Wales have powers to bring empty homes back into use. Many are very good at it, some are not. Most councils seek to persuade and help the owner to bring their property back into use; they only use legal powers such as Empty Dwelling Management Orders when help and persuasion have failed. Most empty homes are brought back into use eventually by their owner. But in many cases this takes years. Empty homes often decline fast - they become overrun with weeds and attacked by the weather. They are often used by squatters, fly tippers, vandals and are sometimes subject to arson. The whole neighbourhood suffers waiting for the owner to deal with their property.(3)

Of course one aspect of leaving properties derelict, simply to fall apart, has to do with planning laws in Jersey. If the owner cannot get permission to demolish a property so that they may build something in its place, they may simply leave it to fall apart or until it is so unsafe that it has to be knocked down. Even in St Brelade's Bay, which one might consider a prosperous neighbourhood, I remember one property owner who was not able to develop his property to his liking and simply built another property further back from the road and left the original standing empty for a good 20 years until finally he obtained planning permission for a massive development of flats on the whole site and promptly sold it and moved out. The empty property, windows boarded up, which could have been used to house a family and had been a family home in the past was quite rightly highlighted in the mid-1980s by the Warden of Communicare, Captain John Le Page, himself no stranger to the need for social housing in the London district where he had been based before coming to Jersey.

How do the Empty Dwelling Management Orders work? Effectively as a programme explained, it is rather like the council stepping in like an individual who has leased the property and under the terms of the lease is able to make repairs and let it out for income. The difference of course, is that the individual pays the owner, whereas the Council does not. But the council uses the rental income to reimburse itself for the costs of any refurbishment of the property and at the end of the period which can be no longer than seven years, a habitable property in good condition reverts to the owner. So it is not quite as Draconian as may appear at first sight and is a good deal better than the only option which was available before and which is available in Jersey of compulsory purchase:

On 6 April 2006, The Housing Act 2004 introduced Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs). The intention of EDMOs is to bridge the gap between voluntary measures proposed by the property owners and the existing enforcement procedures, such as compulsory purchase.
There are two types of EDMO; an interim EDMO and a final EDMO. An interim EDMO lasts for a maximum period of 12 months. During this period the housing authority cannot arrange occupation of the property without seeking the consent of the owner. In effect, this means the owner has a final opportunity to reach an agreed solution. Where such agreements cannot be reached, an interim EDMO can be revoked and replaced with a final EDMO. A final EDMO lasts for a fixed period of no more than 7 years. The Council does not require the consent of the owner to grant occupation rights under a final EDMO.(4)

Councils must fund any works needed to make a property habitable and must normally recoup their costs from rental income.(5)

Once a final EDMO is made, the council has the right to possession of the property for a fixed period of time up to seven years. It must take whatever steps it considers appropriate to get the property occupied or to keep it occupied and ensure that it is properly managed. Importantly, it can put a tenant in the property without seeking your consent.(5)

When I walk through St Helier, the visible signs of commercial property that has been left empty often for a longish period is all too evident -- empty shop fronts or in attempts to conceal the fact that the shop has been empty for some time, a recent innovation, has been to place artwork in the windows or on any hoardings. But one can go round St Helier, or any other part of the island, and fairly easily count the number of empty commercial premises. Offices are more difficult although signs to let (like the one that has been there for the better part of a decade on the office development near Green Street car park) can provide some indication and they are usually on the market provided that the landlord can agree suitable terms so they will appear on the books of property agents. But it is considerably more difficult to quantify the number of empty dwellings in Jersey and even when that is done, to decide if the numbers are sufficiently large to warrant Empty Dwelling Management Orders.

When I was reflecting on the programme, and also researching the background of items like EDMOs, I try to find if there was anything online about Jersey and empty properties. There is, but the properties are not in Jersey, and yet there is a clear Jersey link. I don't think it does Jersey's image particularly good as an offshore centre and one has to remember that whatever glowing reports come in from outside scrutiny (and I think it is fair for Jersey to sing the praises of those reports) the average member of the public in the UK will read the report on empty housing and not unnaturally blame the vagaries of offshore companies which also, as the article points out, means they can avoid any capital gains tax when the properties were sold:

Take the Park Lane townhouses, which Palmer estimates are worth £10m apiece. The key leaseholds on each are held by Konzeo Ltd and Weleta Ltd, two companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a tax haven in the Caribbean. Both firms ignored multiple letters from Palmer asking them to explain why the buildings were unoccupied and threatening to issue a compulsory purchase order - until a gang of squatters, plus their dogs, moved in and were pictured on the front page of the Sun in January. Within a five-minute walk of Park Lane are 21 of the grandest properties on Palmer's list, worth between £6m and £50m each by his estimation. Of these, seven are registered to BVI companies, with others owned by firms incorporated in Jersey, Guernsey and Switzerland.

John Samson, a property law expert at Taylor Wessing, says offshore-registered firms buy expensive London property as an investment, just like art or any other commodity. "One of the reasons that people buy property in London, and in particular Mayfair, is that there is almost always a demand for it," says Samson. "Investors believe the value will not only be maintained but will go up, regardless of whether it is lived in or not."

Upper Grosvenor Street in Mayfair ought to be one of the most desirable addresses in London. Yet four grand properties on the street have remained empty for up to eight years, abandoned and left to ruin by their offshore owners. No 21, registered to Boss Holdings in Jersey and worth around £15m, has been vacant for at least eight years. Down the street, the handsome twin townhouses at Nos 41 and 42 have both been empty for around five years. The leaseholds on both belong to BVI firms.

Links
(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00txgs9
(2) http://www.emptyhomes.com/index.html
(3) http://reportemptyhomes.com/faq
(4) http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/housing/emptyhomes/edmo.htm
(5) http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/152870.pdf
(6) http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/16/empty-houses-london-wealthy-owners

William Hague on Climate Security

Foreign Secretary William Hague has recently delivered a speech titled 'The Diplomacy of Climate Change' to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. There has been a lot of problems with addressing climate change, because a good many people simply refuse to look at any evidence, or find various alternative explanations.

The debate is often, as in Jersey, conducted between environmentalists such as Mark Forskitt and Nick Palmer, and deniers such as Senator Sarah Ferguson, in such a way that it seems removed from the public arena. Indeed, a few politicians whom I spoke to recently thought that part of the debate on the Island Plan had been subjected to an attempted hijack by environmentalists, who were taking up valuable time, and distracting from the main issues. Of course, they are sure, we don't really need to do anything with redundant greenhouses, but knock them down for housing. And no one can really believe Jersey should look at become that bit more more sustainable in producing its own food, because that's not commercially viable.

But when a politician of William Hague's stature throws down the gauntlet, perhaps it is time to listen. Hague began by setting out the importance of climate change; it is not a trivial issue, because as resources become scarcer, if the issue is not addressed, competition and conflict over who gets those resources will become increasingly important:

Climate change is perhaps the twenty-first century's biggest foreign policy challenge along with such challenges as preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. A world which is failing to respond to climate change is one in which the values embodied in the UN will not be met. It is a world in which competition and conflict will win over collaboration.(1)

The keynote phrase in his speech is "climate security". As the climate changes, and as non-renewable energy resources become scarcer (so that biofuels, rather than food) becomes more viable, the connectedness of the modern world means that any problems ripple through the system, impacting on a global scale. No one can bury their heads in the sand. It is irresponsible to do so:

You cannot have food, water, or energy security without climate security. They are interconnected and inseparable. They form four resource pillars on which global security, prosperity and equity stand. Each depends on the others. Plentiful, affordable food requires reliable and affordable access to water and energy. Increasing dependence on coal, oil, and gas threatens climate security, increasing the severity of floods and droughts, damaging food production, exacerbating the loss of biodiversity and, in countries that rely on hydropower, undermining energy security through the impact on water availability. As the world becomes more networked, the impacts of climate change in one country or region will affect the prosperity and security of others around the world.

He notes that the time to start thinking about low carbon business is necessary now, not "business as usual", because otherwise it is future generations that will pay the price for our delay, our willful refusal to take any form of action. Locally, this means looking at food production, about the standards of houses being built to be energy efficient, about transport, power etc. Part of that can be done by private citizens taking action - as is the case locally with the move to buying organic products (not dependent on oil-based fertilizers), increased recycling by dropping off newspapers, plastic bottles at recycling banks, less use of plastic bags. Small things can bring about surprisingly significant changes. But part has also to be the responsibility of governments in empowering the citizen towards a lower carbon, less wasteful, lifestyle.

We need to shift investment urgently from high carbon business as usual to the low carbon economy - this means building an essentially decarbonised global economy by mid century. At the same time we must ensure development is climate resilient: otherwise the changes in climate that are already unavoidable will block the path for hundreds of millions of people from poverty to prosperity

Rather than decrying wind power and other renewable sources of energy, the UK, under what Hague describes as probably the greenest coalition government in its history, is committed to improving production from those sources. A new wind farm has just opened offshore in Kent. Instead of blocking such strategies, and talking them down, Jersey should show how innovative it can be. Guernsey recently financed a seabed survey, to give public data as a springboard and incentive to commercial wave power companies. We too can do more, and we need to start thinking about targets. Denmark generates more than 15% of its electricity from the wind, which is not insignificant.

The UK is already the world leader in offshore wind with more projects installed, in planning and in construction than any other country in the world. We are undertaking the most radical transformation of our electricity sector ever. We aim to provide over 30% of our domestic electricity from renewables by 2020. We have committed to build no new coal-fired power stations without carbon capture and storage technology - CCS - and we have announced our intention to continue with four CCS demonstration projects.

The other matter of importance highlighted by William Hague is to not just let matters rest with environmentalists but also to look at business engagement. Is anyone in the States of Jersey talking with any commercial groups who provide renewable energy? And are builders sufficient aware of environmental specifications? What of older "Masterplans"? Did they factor in environmental and climate issues?

And we must also reach out beyond, to NGOs, faith groups and business. Of all these, perhaps business engagement is key to making a difference. It is business that will lead the low-carbon transition. It is business which best understands the incentives needed to help us all prosper.

The Parish of St Helier has been very pro-active in looking at recycling. In August they published a report which noted that:

In April this year the Parish sought expressions of interest for a Recycling Partner capable of finding environmentally sound and cost effective end uses on or off Island for the recycled materials the Parish is producing; the recycling partner would also be responsible for the transport of the recyclables from the depot to the end-users. This generated considerable interest with 11 initial applications from French and Jersey companies, some of which put forward very detailed proposals.

And they are looking in particular at ROMI Recyclage, which has been established since 1866 and has a number of sites across France.

The business operates over a broad range of recyclables to ensure stability for the company during fluctuations in the waste commodities market, which will in turn provide stability for the Parish's income streams from the sale of recyclables

With regard to building, it is worth noting that one office has been built recently to BREEAM specifications. What is BEEAM?

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance.(2)

And Ogiers new premises, recently mentioned in the Green Building Press, has recently been completed; it is the first office building on Jersey to be built to BREEAM specifications

Ogier, providers of offshore legal and fiduciary services, have moved into their new premises, Jersey's largest and greenest single occupancy office. The the partnership between the company, developer JCN and local building firm Camerons as the main contractor has resulted in a new landmark for St Helier. Ogier House has achieved a "very good" BREEAM....Additional to the atria, solar shading has been used to reduce the need for air-conditioning and movement sensors avoid electricity being wasted by lighting rooms with no-one in them. Seasonal Commissioning ensures the building is operating at optimum efficiency all year round, with thermal zoning of different rooms. Space has been allocated for storage of recyclable waste, promoting green management strategies within the building.(3)

Hague makes the point that it is not "an idealists pipe dream" to look at strategies for moving to a low carbon economy, and the sooner we do so, the better we will be prepared for the future:

A global low-carbon economy is not an idealist's pipe-dream but a 21st century realist's imperative. Countries that adapt quickly to a carbon constrained world will be better able to deliver lasting prosperity for their citizens.

Describing the weather catastrophes of the past year - in Russia, Pakistan, China - Hague comments that:

While no one weather event can ever be linked with certainty to climate change, the broad patterns of abnormality seen this year are consistent with climate change models. They provide a vivid illustration of the events we will be encountering increasingly in the future. The clock is ticking. The time to act is now.

And he concludes with a message to take action now:

This is not a hard choice. We have to get this right. If we do, we can still shape our world. If we do not, our world will determine our destiny.

Links
(1) http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2270476/william-hague-climate-change
(2) http://www.breeam.org/
(3) http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/article.php?category_id=1&article_id=681
(4) http://www.recycle-more.co.uk/nav/page726.aspx

1769 and all that!

St Helier Constable has asked for the 1769 storming of the Royal Court on matter regarding "fair taxes on wheat, an end to cattle and provision exports, and for Constables to consult Parishioners before passing laws and regulations"(1)

But what was unfair about taxes on wheat? The JEP, reporting on the matter, doesn't say.

It was not to do with the price of bread, which is due to go up very soon because of rising wheat prices, but to do with "wheat rents". This is well explained by the Reverend Alban E Ragg, in his "Popular History of Jersey":

From very early times up to this period these had always been paid "in kind," i.e., in actual wheat, a mode allowable and useful in a small community and when very little money was in circulation, but which had become oppressive and obsolete in its working ; the fact of the matter being that the quantity of wheat then grown upon the Island was not sufficient to pay one twentieth part of the rents that had been created. Under these circumstances, as can very easily be conceived, a man might have to pay, for instance, 50 per cent. more for the purchase of the actual grain than would have sufficed for the payment of his rents in cash. This matter in the first instance was modified by paying in coin on an average value of wheat; though here again stepped in the difficulty that the holders of wheat rents, having an interest in the matter, naturally did their best to keep the average value at a high price ; those that had to pay as naturally trying to lower its average value.

The whole difficulty was, however, at last solved by an Act of the States, confirmed on April 26th, 1797, and to come into force the following Michaelmas, to the effect that such rents were to be estimated at a fixed rate, which law-the only effective measure that resulted from all the agitation of 1790 and that period -is still followed. (2)

In fact, there was also a wheat shortage driving prices up, and while today this effects bread, in 1769 it was also effecting the wheat rent. Hence it was that on 28 September 1769 up to 500 islanders marched on St. Helier from country parishes and halted the proceedings at the Royal Court house in the Royal Square as a mark of protest for change.

What was notable after that was the intervention of the UK government, which stepped in and made sure further regulations for reform were

the Imperial Government, without, as it would appear, either the co-operation or sanction of the States, and for the prevention in future of much useless work of the like kind stepped in and enacted sundry regulations on its own account. For instance) it was at this period the Order was enacted that the meeting of the States was not to be adjourned without the consent of the President, and that when so adjourned it was to complete the matter under discussion before proceeding to other things; that the Bailiff was and should thereafter be bound to convene a meeting of the States when called on to do so by the Lieutenant-Governor and the Jurats. On June 2nd, 1786, came a Order allowing the States to fine absent members, and on the same date came one declaring that the States could not pass Acts for raising money without the previous assent of the Crown, at the same time authorising them to raise money by Rate to defray the expenses of any Agent or Deputy who represented their common concerns ; whilst on February 1st 1797, the fees of the Greffier were raised; and an Order was given on April 26th, 1797, extending the free exportation of cider to that made of "tithe fruit." It was ordered also, towards the end of last century, that neither the late Constable of any parish nor the senior Centenier should sit in the States pending an appeal relative to a contested election in the parish in question.

That these came down from "on high", rather than being generated by the States is clear when one looks at the documents themselves which were produced in English, with a French translation - for example:

1786 An order of the King and Council, concerning the political disputes between the States and the Royal Court, of the island of Jersey. Issued on the 2nd June 1786, Southampton

1786 Traduction d'un ordre du Roi et des Seigneurs du Conseil, au sujet des disputes politiques des etats & de la Cour Royale de l'ile de Jersey. Avec des notes sur les differens points s'y trouvent decides Imprime a Southampton, French translation of above (3)

Clearly Jersey was not as independent in these matters as later and more recent writing of its history suggests (such as that of the former Bailiff, Sir Philip Bailhache) . Most probably, the Order in Council would have been registered and published in the customary manner by the Royal Court, but that would have been basically "rubber stamping" a direct intervention by the UK authorities; the Jersey authorities were in no position to reject it. The States, of course, were to shortly receive another blow to their independence, when in 1799, attempts to imprison Methodists who would not drill led to an Act, passed by the States, being declared "to be void and of none effect" when it reached the Privy Council.

An interesting codicil to the movement of Reform comes with its leader, John Dumaresq, Esq., who had been but who very rapidly changed sides once he had been made part of the Judicial establishment:

Towards the close of the century the excitement for reform gradually died out, or rather it seems to, have received its death blow at the hands of its greatest advocate, for an astonishing change came over the mind of its leader, J. Dumaresq, Esq., who was afterwards elevated to the office of Lieut.-Bailiff and was knighted. As a member of the States he seems to have tried his best to extend the powers of the people, as Lieut.-Bailiff to deprive the people of a portion of their powers; and as a member of the States, too, he seems to have been the popular leader of all friends of liberal views, whilst as Lieut.-Bailiff he turned into the strongest opponent. (2)

But whatever became of the order of 1786, allowing the States to fine absent members? I wish I knew, but I haven't been able to find out.

Links
(1) JEP, 28.09.2010, p7
(2) Reverend Alban E Ragg, "Popular History of Jersey":
(3) http://jerseyfamilyhistory.co.uk/?page_id=10

Shenton, Newman and the Idea of a University

And now the question is asked me, What is the use of it? (John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University)

Philosophy, like sociology and psychology, is one of those degrees that people do when they're not quite sure what vocation they want to follow. It's a fun-time 4 years, open to stoners, egocentrics and those that love the sound of their own voice, who will finish the course even more confused at what they want to do in life and probably end up working at a convenience store. (Senator Ben Shenton) (1)

While Senator Shenton may have an argument in respect of media studies, and even in respect of sociology and philosophy (although I would dispute that, and return to it later), his knowledge of psychology is abysmal. He seems to assume (and I fear this is a widespread assumption), that it is on the same level as all those self-help guides one finds in such proliferation in the book shops.

Let me correct him with regard to psychology. A psychology course involves detailed knowledge of biology, cognitive neuropsychology, statistics, linguistics, language pathology, cognitive development etc. It's not exactly a medical course, but a psychologist needs a working knowledge of neurology.

A clinical psychologist, for example, would be expected to be able to carry out neuropsychological assessments using a standardised test battery (including research and understanding of the assessment, organising the subtests, scoring, analysing and initial preparation of a formal report) as part of a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment of clients in the memory clinic. A working knowledge of pharmacology is also needed for any medicinal interventions.

It's worth noting that psychology degrees throughout the United Kingdom are fairly similar in their course content, because the British Psychological Society requires that certain areas must be covered if a degree is to be accredited. So what is typical of one is typical of all - there are no Universities offering an easier option.

Indicative degree structure:
Year 1: Basic psychology, research methods and statistics and key skills.
Year 2: Core areas including research methods and statistics.
Year 3: Empirical project in psychology (not a literature review) and options particular
to a department.

Core areas include:

Cognitive Psychology Perception, attention, learning, memory and language
Psychobiology Basic neurochemistry, neurophysiology of nerve transmission, hormones and behaviour, biological bases of behaviour
Social Psychology Attitudes, attributions, prejudice, social identification, conformity, obedience
Developmental Psychology Perceptual, motor and cognitive development during infancy
Individual Differences Genetic, environmental and cultural influences, psychological testing
Conceptual and Historical Issues Scientific method, social and cultural construction of knowledge, history and
philosophy of science
Research Methods and Statistics Research design, quantitative methods including statistical tests

Some of the statistics involves:

Descriptive Statistics
Samples, populations and the normal distribution.
Making Inferences: Confidence Limits and Statistical Significance
Analysing Data from Repeated Measures Experiments
Analysing data from independent groups: Continuous and Ordinal Measures
Analysing Data from Independent Groups: Categorical Measures
Relationships between Variables: Correlation and Regression
Introducing Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Analysing questionnaires and measurement instruments
Correcting Spearman correlation for ties.
Exact significance of a correlation in Excel.
Calculating Kendall's Tau-a Correlation
Report writing

There is a worked example here of the chi-square test (which is one of the easier statistical methods), which anyone who still has not been disabused of Senator Shenton's idea may care to look through - "fun time" it is probably not, except to a mathematician (I enjoyed it).

http://www.celiagreen.com/charlesmccreery/statistics/chisquare.pdf

I know at least two people who went for a psychology course thinking it would be some kind of soft soap Freudian, talking shop option - and after quite a shock to the system - the amount of mathematics and neurological information involved is not trivial - they gave up after a few weeks. And nearly all undergraduate degree courses in Psychology are now BSc as opposed to BA, reflecting the scientific weight of the subject. Incidentally, neither of them now work in convenience stores.

I hope this corrects the misleading impression given by Senator Shenton - I am intrigued to know the exact source of his information as it is clearly not trustworthy - as this is clearly not a course for "stoners, egocentrics and those that love the sound of their own voice"! However, to date, he has not seen fit to return my email; perhaps because his opinion on the matter is so easily refuted, or perhaps because he prefers the sound of his own voice to listening to arguments.

But let's now also look at philosophy, which is not itself perhaps capable of practical ends. I would still argue that it is not a "simple" course, and I would challenge Senator Shenton to dispute that with any of the notable philosophers such as Simon Blackburn, Mary Midgeley, Michael Ruse etc. They would certainly eat him alive! One facet of philosophy which is extremely useful is in helping to uncover assumptions and critically examine them, and often people believe something is true (such as the idea that psychology is a pop-science) simply because they have not examined their own assumptions, and don't want to.

Another argument comes with Newman who argued in his seminal work, "The Idea of a University", that "Knowledge is capable of being its own end. Such is the constitution of the human mind, that any kind of knowledge, if it be really such, is its own reward." Against this, Newman saw what we might term the Shenton approach to knowledge, which is nothing new, because he heard it sounded in Cato: "The fit representative of a practical people, Cato estimated every thing by what it produced; whereas the Pursuit of Knowledge promised nothing beyond Knowledge itself. He despised that refinement or enlargement of mind of which he had no experience.".

Newman expands on this in some length, explaining the criticism he is finding on the subject of education, and University Education in particular; and when one considers that he was writing in 1852, it is notable that the same kind of criticism which Senator Shenton is bringing is nothing new.

Now this is what some great men are very slow to allow; they insist that Education should be confined to some particular and narrow end, and should issue in some definite work, which can be weighed and measured. They argue as if every thing, as well as every person, had its price; and that where there has been a great outlay, they have a right to expect a return in kind. This they call making Education and Instruction "useful," and "Utility" becomes their watchword. With a fundamental principle of this nature, they very naturally go on to ask, what there is to show for the expense of a University; what is the real worth in the market of the article called "a Liberal Education," on the supposition that it does not teach us definitely how to advance our manufactures, or to improve our lands, or to better our civil economy; or again, if it does not at once make this man a lawyer, that an engineer, and that a surgeon; or at least if it does not lead to discoveries in chemistry, astronomy, geology, magnetism, and science of every kind.

He find this first stated in Locke, in which we find an enlightenment idea of education. It is interesting that what began as a philosophical argument has now become part of the mainstream thinking, at least as far as University Education is concerned, and even with some people, as far as more general education is concerned.

The author to whom I allude is no other than Locke. That celebrated philosopher has preceded the Edinburgh Reviewers in condemning the ordinary subjects in which boys are instructed at school, on the ground that they are not needed by them in after life; and before quoting what his disciples have said in the present century, I will refer to a few passages of the master. "'Tis matter {159} of astonishment," he says in his work on Education, "that men of quality and parts should suffer themselves to be so far misled by custom and implicit faith. Reason, if consulted with, would advise, that their children's time should be spent in acquiring what might be useful to them, when they come to be men, rather than that their heads should be stuffed with a deal of trash, a great part whereof they usually never do ('tis certain they never need to) think on again as long as they live; and so much of it as does stick by them they are only the worse for."

And we can see this is in the idea of vocational education, which is certainly good, but which is not the whole of education. There have been moves in the past, of varying success, to take those pupils who were deemed not to be capable of academic education, and move them to more vocational education - the 1944 distinction between Secondary Modern Schools and Grammar Schools was one example, although the selection process was wedded to a flawed testing procedure (using so-called IQ tests).

But if we take the principle that utility is the final end of education, why try to make this distinction. Isn't is, as Locke, argues, a waste of time? The question to which anyone wedded to utility in education needs to ask is - why stop at University? What not make the whole of education and the curriculum purely designed for practical ends? For the average school leaver, is it going to damage their career if they cannot solve a differential equation, or determine the cosine of an angle, or be able to determine the ratio of chemical compounds by titration? Most of modern mathematics and science within the school curriculum is evidently not of practical use - should it therefore be discarded?

Now one ground which is argued is that it teaches the ability to work in practical and abstract ways, and that effort can be transferred to other subjects. Someone who applies his or her self to school work may equally be able to apply these disciplines to other professions which are quite remote from that. Newman returns to this with the health of the body - a healthy body, he argues, is capable of many things, so that health is good in itself, in that it prepares the body for many activities. In this respect, he argues, subjects like philosophy and theology sharpen the mind.

Again, as health ought to precede labour of the body, and as a man in health can do what an unhealthy man cannot do, and as of this health the properties are strength, energy, agility, graceful carriage and action, manual dexterity, and endurance of fatigue, so in like manner general culture of mind is the best aid to professional and scientific study, and educated men can do what illiterate cannot; and the man who has learned to think and to reason and to compare and to discriminate and to analyze, who has refined his taste, and formed his judgment, and sharpened his mental vision, will not indeed at once be a lawyer, or a pleader, or an orator, or a statesman, or a physician, or a good landlord, or a man of business, or a soldier, or an engineer, or a chemist, or a geologist, or an antiquarian, but he will be placed in that state of intellect in which he can take up any one of the sciences or callings I have referred to, or any other for which he has a taste or special talent, with an ease, a grace, a versatility, and a success, to which another is a stranger. In this sense then, and as yet I have said but a very few words on a large subject, mental culture is emphatically useful.

And in fact, as a letter in the JEP from Benjamin Smart, notes:

The vast majority of philosophy graduates find graduate jobs within six months of graduation (See the Guardian 20 November 2007); many in the finance sector so crucial to the Island. Why? Because reading philosophy develops an individual's ability to critically analyse arguments, to question assumptions, to formulate clear and developed arguments, and to be careful to analyse even the smallest details in literature. These are qualities essential to success in many careers.

Of course, in the appendix to his proposition, along with the opening remarks on philosophy, Senator Shenton cites all kind of whacky University subjects:

David Beckham studies - Staffordshire University, UK
Doctorate of Philosophy in Ufology - Melbourne University
Surfing Studies - Plymouth/Melbourne
Star Trek - Georgetown University in Washington

- what he fails to take into account, however, is that before any financial support is given to University courses, the applicant must say what course they are going on. He has no evidence of any Jersey students doing any courses like these, because of course there have been none. The Education Department would not provide funding. It is the classic example of the "straw man" fallacy - to present the worse possible scenario, and take it as the norm. Trained in assessing various logical fallacies of all kinds, I suspect most students of philosophy would have spotted it a light year away.

The Philosophy of Utility, you will say, Gentlemen, has at least done its work; and I grant it,-it aimed low, but it has fulfilled its aim. (John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University)

Links
http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/propositions/10960-23063-2482010.pdf
http://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/index.html