States of Jersey Development Company: Review of Accounts

I've been perusing the accounts of the States of Jersey Development Company, and some interesting figures emerge.
 
The executive directors, Lee Henry and Simon Neal each got a bonus, respectively of £29,000 and £13,000. Lee Henry's base salary is not insignificant - it is £155,000 with £1,427 extra in benefits.
 
Of the non-executive Directors, Mark Boleat gets the lion's share of £40,000 per annum, while the other four get £15,000 each. The proposition appointing them and it reveals that:
 
Chairman - £40,000 for 24 days' commitment per annum - that is £1,666 per day.
Non-Executive Directors - £15,000 for 15 days' commitment per annum - that is £1,000 per day.
 
I am sure they give good value for money, but it would be good to have a few more details about what they actually do. The actual proposition re-appointing them tells us nothing much at all:
 
"The Minister is advised that the Non-Executive Directors continue to provide relevant experience and strong leadership and oversight of the company, in order to ensure it operates within the agreed policies of the States and delivers projects aligned with the needs of the Island."

Perhaps if the Minutes of their meetings could be made public at some time, this would be useful. Obviously, there may be commercially sensitive information in that, but I would have thought that a moratorium of five years would be sufficient. After all, this is a company acting on behalf of the public.
 
However, we do have this information in the notes:
 
"Risk management is carried out by the Executive Directors under policies approved by the Board of Directors"
 
This involves Credit Risk: "Credit risk is the risk that one party to a financial instrument wiull cause a financial loss for the other party by failing to discharge an obligation""
 
That makes it all the more surprising that Harcourt Developments situation is covered in a note called "Legal Action" which states that the Company will defend the action, and moreover "The Directors do not consider any liability will arise from this action". Indeed! If nothing else, there may well be considerable legal costs. Given the Court case with Harcourt, is it good "oversight" and advice by these well-paid non-Executive Directors to suggest that no provision be made for legal costs?
 
A dividend has been returned to the States of £816,400 for the past two years, an improvement on the Waterfront Enterprise Board, which returned none at all during its lifespan.
 
But this is not the whole picture. As the notes tell us, the SOJDC receives rental income from the States of Jersey for Liberation Station of £78,889, which is money flowing from the States back to the company at market rates. And for a licence to operate the Esplanade Car Park, they receive £759,000 from the States of Jersey. That totals £837,889 making a net flow from the States to the SOJDC of £21,489.  It is a crazy looking glass world!
 
Perhaps they might consider smaller bonuses for the directors, and more dividends remitted to the States of Jersey, so that the net flow would at least break even!
 
Certainly the statement by Lee Henry - 'It remains the position today based on independent professional advice that the JIFC scheme will generate a net return in the order of £50 million for the public.' - begs the question - when?
 
Based on current and past returns, money tends to be swallowed up by the Jersey Development Company, and I, for one, have little optimism about any returns even if the scheme does prove successful.

W H Auden: 1907-1973 Part 1

I've been trawling through the archives at the library again, and in particular for Sundays, "The Pilot" which was the monthly magazine for the Church of England in Jersey for many years. Every month, there would be pieces from the minister of each church, along with various other articles of interest.

In 1995, the Reverend Tony Keogh began a series of articles in "The Pilot" under the umbrella title "God and the Poets", and here is the part of his three part series on W.H. Auden. I thought it was a shame that it should be buried in the past, so I've transcribed it for my blog.

God and the Poets: W H Auden: 1907-1973 Part 1
By Tony Keogh

W.H. Auden was a man who "inspired" love. Everyone who met him spoke of his kindness, generosity and humility. He was not only a poet but a writer of plays and prose. His literary criticism and his lectures reveal one of the finest Christian minds of his generation, yet in him was the enigma of the human condition. How can such heavenly gifts be-found in so earthy and human a body, for one cannot avoid the more sordid aspects of his life.

The Protestant work ethic was at the heart of the man; he had a fetish for punctuality and the ordered day, his output was prodigious - to quote Stephen Spender, he was "untidy, untied up, short-sighted. He drank too much for many years and at the last; crawled around in carpet slippers (he suffered from corns) and ragged clothes, never without a cigarette between his lips, his once fair and pallid face rugged.

Henry Moore described his face thus, "... its deep furrows like: plough marks, crossing a field:" Spender again, "He was more unrecognisably different when old from when young than most people." He was homosexual and knew agonies of love which are perhaps especially acute for that orientation, though for the: last thirty-four years of his life, he had a permanent relationship with Chester Kallman who, among other things, taught-him to love opera, and became his collaborator as librettist and one of the two men - Christopher Isherwood was the other - who could criticise his work without causing pain.. Whatever else the relationship gave him, it certainly gave him security.

In. his inaugural lecture .as Professor of Poetry at Oxford, in 1956, Auden maintained that. "knowledge of an. artist's life, temperament and opinions is unimportant to an. understanding of his work". This may be disputed, though it is possible for an understanding of the work to be perverted by too prurient an interest in the private life.

Many of the artistically inclined live simultaneously in higher and lower worlds and although the latter may take over: and lay a trail of wastage and destruction, it is not always so, although it does seem to be a constant theme of recent biographers. We have discovered in recent years that Einstein was a wife beater, Churchill a racist, Larkin a porn enthusiast and, recently, Grahame Greene: has been shown to have been a somewhat bizarre adulterer. At the end of it all, though, it does seem almost sinful to allow the glory of a batsman's innings, full of wondrous strokes, to be marred in our minds: by the awareness; painful to the moralist as this may be, that he maybe a womaniser or over addicted to whisky; and we should not always be looking for an author's autobiography in his work.

In the next two articles, we will look at Auden's writing and the Christian Faith which suffused the last half of his life... We may heed lines from the final stanza of Auden's poem, "At the Grave of Henry James" with which Humphrey Carpenter concludes his biography:

"There are many whose works
Are in better taste than their lives. "

Daydreams

Today's poem is an experimental poem which I have written along the style of William Carlos Williams (1883 - 1963), and in particular, his poem "A Goodnight".

Daydreams
 
Wave pieced, the surfer falls
hark, the seagull calls! calls!
the undercurrents flow fast
deep below the tallest mast
rotting wood, ancient wreck
the boy stood on the burning deck
recite in school, teacher frowns
mortar boards, academic gowns
to tell the tale of the sea, the shore
Hollywood mood music, a score
of notes to lift the tale, add mood
the semi-naked mermaid, rude
some would say, puritans, bad
bowdlerised verse is so, so sad
and I like the salty tang, the spice
tropical lands, rum laced with ice
treasure island, island in the sun
memories stream forth in fun

Footprints in the Sand Blessing

I've been asked to mention an event happening this afternoon, and am very pleased to do so.
 
On Friday 16th May at 2.00 p.m. the Reverend Mark Bond and Connétable Steve Pallet will lead the ceremony to bless 'the footprints in the sand', which have been imprinted on the granite as part of the work undertaken in St. Aubin.
 
The footprints have been imprinted in gold, and with sand from St. Aubin's beach. They 'walk' to the Caring Hands charity post box and are there as a symbol and reminder that nobody has to be alone, as well as serving as testament to the Parish of St. Brelade and the People of Jersey.
 
Refreshments will be served at Murray's after the blessing and all are welcome.
 
Footprints in the Sand
 
One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Scenes from his life flashed across the sky
and he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
 
When the last scene of his life had flashed before him,
he recalled that at the lowest and saddest times of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
 
Dismayed, he asked, "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
I don't understand why, when I needed you most,
you would leave me."
 
The Lord replied, "My precious child.
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering
when you saw only one set of footprints...
That was when I carried you."
 
(anonymous, authorship disputed)
 
 
References
On the original source of the poem, see:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/180239
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2008/06/who-wrote-footprints-in-the-sand/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053101998.html

Doctor Who: Assessing the Pertwee Era

When Doctor Who was grounded
 
The "Horror Channel" has been showing repeats of old Dr Who episodes, mainly at the moment from Jon Pertwee's tenure as Doctor Who. These are:
 
Terror of the Autons
The Daemons
The Sea Devils
The Three Doctors
Planet of the Daleks
The Green Death
 
With the exception of "Planet of the Daleks", they all are grounded on earth, even when the Doctor gets his freedom to travel.
 
One of the most notable features of that are the opening shots, which are invariably a location shoot of some kind. Hence we have a circus, a village church, a boat crossing the sea, a weather balloon by a reservoir, and a disused mine shaft.
 
"A little man in a bowler hat watches the customers enter the big top of the International Circus. He walks round the back, past the lion's cage and finds a quiet spot to light up a small cigar. We hear the sound of the Tardis materialising and a motor horse box suddenly appears in the open ground before him. Agog, the man walks over and looks round it while a trim man in black suit and gloves, and with a neat beard gets out." (Terror of the Autons)
 
"It is a dark and stormy night. The quiet village of Aldbourne in Wiltshire pretends to be Devil's End, with an appropriate eerie howling wind and thunderstorm. Lightning briefly the church illuminates the over the green as the public house, the Cloven Hoof, turns out its last customers, a man and his dog into the storm." (The Daemons)
 
The Doctor and Jo are being ferried to a small island in a small boat.
ROBBINS: That's it over there.
(The Doctor looks through a pair of binoculars at what is really Norris Castle on the Isle of Wight.)
DOCTOR: There you are, Jo. That's the Master's permanent residence from now on.
JO: Well, let's hope he's still there.
(The Sea Devils)
 
"A long, silver weather balloon has brought its payload to earth by the edge of a lake, and a man carrying a shotgun finds it. Meanwhile, a Land Rover comes over the bridge at the entrance to the Minsbridge Wild Life Sanctuary and heads for the warden's lodge. A woman comes out to meet it" (The Three Doctors)
 
"Llanfairfach colliery has been closed, says the notice on the gate, but underground a scared man is making his way along one of the worked out roadways. Welcome to post industrial Glamorgan, everyone." (The Green Death)
 
Even if some of the story plays out on studio sets, the location element is important for grounding the narrative in the world we are all familiar with. An alien jungle in Planet of the Daleks is not as convincing as a village and church for making the viewer suspend belief.
 
It is when the narrative is framed in the everyday, the ordinary, the commonplace, that the science fiction element becomes a greater menace. Jon Pertwee famously talked how aliens on an alien planet were not as scary as a yeti in "Tooting Bec", but he hit the nail on the head.
 
C.S. Lewis said that Alice must be an ordinary little girl, or the impact of the extraordinary world she finds herself in would not carry the same dramatic power. With Doctor Who, this is reversed. The alien intrusion is extraordinary, but it is grounded in an ordinary world.
 
Morality and the Daleks
 
"Planet of the Daleks" contains quite a few of Terry Nation's mini-sermons about war and peace. It is this, as much as the plot itself, which gives Pertwee's Doctor some depth of character. He is not just a man of action, he is also a man of wisdom, dispensing words of advice when needed. Here are a few of the best vignettes, which I really like.
 
The Dalek is held up as ruthless, not prone to human weakness. Nation evidently was drawing on the Second World War, and the Nazis in their creation. There is no place in the Nazi war machine for human frailty.
 
DOCTOR: The load getting a little heavy?
TARON: I don't think I'm equipped to handle all this any more.
DOCTOR: Oh, why? Just because you've found out that you're not made of stone?
TARON: This job doesn't allow for human weakness.
DOCTOR: Then they should have sent a machine, shouldn't they.
TARON: I thought they had. I was wrong.
DOCTOR: Good, because the business of command is not for a machine, is it? The moment that we forget that we're dealing with people, then we're no better off than the machines that we came here to destroy. When we start acting and thinking like the Daleks, Taron, the battle is lost.
 
And on the same lines, when the Doctor speaks out bravery and courage, this is not a question of discipline and skill, although they can help. But that are nothing to do with courage. The really brave person is the one who is terrified, but still does what has to be done.
 
CODAL: Bravery? I've been terrified ever since I landed on this planet. It's different for Taron and Vaber, they're professionals. They've seen action before.
DOCTOR: And do you think they're any the less brave because of that?
CODAL: They know how to deal with fear. They're used to living close to death. I'm not. I'm a scientist, not an adventurer.
DOCTOR: Well, forgive me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a volunteer?
CODAL: Yes.
DOCTOR: Then you must have known what you were getting into?
CODAL: No. None of us did. We're not a warlike people, Doctor. We've only just developed space flight. No one had attempted a voyage of this length before, but every man and woman from my division volunteered. Over six hundred of them. You see, I didn't even have the courage to be the odd man out. What are you laughing at?
DOCTOR: Ah, you, my friend. You may be a very brilliant scientist but you have very little understanding of people, particularly yourself. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know.
CODAL: What is it, then?
DOCTOR: It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway, just as you did.
 
And finally, when the Thals have succeeding, and are about the leave the planet, the Doctor reminds them that they should also remember the cost of war. In a way, it is a rejoinder to those who criticise commemoration of the war dead. Remembrance Day is thinking of the fallen, and the cost of warfare; it is not a glorification of war.
 
TARON: Doctor, we'd never have succeeded without all your help. I wish there was some way of thanking you.
DOCTOR: As a matter of fact, there is.
REBEC: Yes, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Throughout history, you Thals have always been known as one of the most peace loving peoples in the galaxy.
TARON: I hope we always will be.
DOCTOR: Yes, well that's what I mean. When you get back to Skaro, you'll all be national heroes. Everybody will want to hear about your adventures.
TARON: Of course.
DOCTOR: So be careful how you tell that story, will you? Don't glamorise it. Don't make war sound like an exciting and thrilling game.
TARON: I understand.
DOCTOR: Tell them about the members of your mission that will not be returning, like Maro and Vaber and Marat. Tell them about the fear, otherwise your people might relish the idea of war. We don't want that.
REBEC: You can depend on us.
 
The Doctor's moralising may seem to be recycling "home truths" about life, but if no one ever mentions those, how are we to hear them? Certainly, as a teenager, growing up with the Pertwee era, I imbibed that and took it very much to heart. It lays bare the moral case for a fight of good against evil, and the way in which the battle must be fought to be just.
 
Peace Maker, but not a Pacifist
 
While the Doctor fights evil, where peace is possible, and it is an honourable course of action, he seeks to find a peaceful solution first. In the Sea Devils, a race of intelligent lizards from the distant past have been revived from millions of years hibernation, and want to reclaim what they regard as their world.
 
SEA DEVIL: There are many thousands of our people in hibernation in this base. We have other colonies hidden all round the world. We shall be the victors in the war against mankind.
DOCTOR: But there's no need for a war. Why can't you share the planet?
SEA DEVIL: That would be impossible.
DOCTOR: The depths of the sea and those areas on Earth where man cannot live can be yours.
SEA DEVIL: And man would agree to that?
DOCTOR: There's a chance. Wouldn't it be better to try for a peace, than to launch yourself into a war that you cannot possibly win?
SEA DEVIL: I will consider what you have said.
DOCTOR: Let me return to the humans, and I will endeavour to make a peace for you.
SEA DEVIL: Perhaps it would be possible.
 
And he is very much the "honest broker", seeking peace between reptiles and humans:
 
WALKER: Oh, come, come, Doctor. You speak as if these creatures are human. We're not going to hand over the world to a lot of lizards, you know.
DOCTOR: You can share it with them, surely?
WALKER: Oh, come. Really, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Look, let me make one final attempt to negotiate.
WALKER: Well, you didn't get very far last time, did you?
DOCTOR: Just you think of it, sir. Think of it. Wouldn't you like to be the man behind a peaceful settlement? Walker the peacemaker, they'd call you. Or would you prefer to be known as the man responsible for launching a full scale war!
 
In the end he fails, but it is not because he has not tried. Peace is the first solution, but events may dictate otherwise:
 
HART: Well then, Doctor, what happened?
DOCTOR: I managed to destroy their base for you.
HART: Thank goodness. Well done.
DOCTOR: Well, I did what I had to to prevent a war.
 
But when he does have to destroy, he is never pleased about the outcome. It is a failure of the attempt to get peace, not a victory to rejoice in. The same downbeat mood is found in "The Three Doctors", after the Doctors defeat Omega and destroy him:
 
JO: What's the matter, Doctor? Everything worked out all right, didn't it?
DOCTOR: Yes, for us.
JO: I know what it is. It's because you had to trick Omega.
DOCTOR: I didn't exactly trick him. I promised him his freedom and I gave it to him. The only freedom he could ever have.
JO: What else could you do? It was either him or everything
 
The strength of John Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor comes with the grounding of the narrative in the realism of location, the moral values of the Doctor himself, and the regrets he has when he defeats some of his adversaries. That is why the best of his stories are still very watchable today, and still hold up very well.

 

The States in Tweets

Playing Truant during Lessons

As usual, many of the States members were outside the States Chamber!

LucyStevoJSY I'm in the States Assembly today. However, not many politicians are by the looks of things!

SamMezec @LucyStevoJSY they're all in the computer room. Just struggled to get on one to print off my speech!

LucyStevoJSY @SamMezec What are they all doing?! A meeting of minds?

SamMezec @LucyStevoJSY hopefully all putting the final touches to their speeches in support of my elected Chief Minister proposition!

I don't think the cost would be excessive to set up an internet streaming feed, so that members of the public could see how many of their elected representatives are actually in the Chamber during important debates, and how many just make a speech and vanish, only to re-appear when it is time for the vote. All that is needed is vision. There are already sound channels for the broadcasting via microphones in use.

Not that the UK is much better. There is a division bell when MPs must tear themselves away from the Strangers Bar, and rush back to vote. But at least we can see how much activity there is there, and in a smaller jurisdiction that is even more important.

Waterfront Developments

Meanwhile, there was a mini-debate which former Senator Jim Perchard was Tweeting about on the States of Jersey Development Company pressing ahead with the Waterfront Masterplan, or at any rate, a loose approximation of the original. Jim wondered why a commercial enterprise should need the States to be involved. It's less free market economy, and more like Eastern Soviet style social engineering for business.

JLPerchard Why oh why are the states involving themselves in speculative development on the Waterfront SOJDC is digging itself deeper into the muck

JLPerchard I was under the impression that @philipozouf as minister would represent the interests of the people of Jersey, not the interests of SOJDC

JLPerchard The SOJDC is a liability that will almost certainly cost the people of Jersey millions. Why do the states think they R property developers?

philipozouf @JLPerchard the treasury minister's primary duty is tax payers and the public, as you well know.

politicsjersey Up to 7 Jersey based finance companies in talks with SOJDC over Esplanade Quarter after RBC went with rival site. But car park delayed

There's a degree of vagueness about the whole project that makes me wary. Just how many pre-lets will be put in place before it is considered "viable"? I fear, rather like Jim, that the political motivation will press on regardless, on assumptions that if some pre-lets are there, others will come along once the project begins. It feels like a gamble to me.

So a message to Jim Perchard about the Waterfront (with a nod to Star Trek): "It's development, Jim, but not as we know it"

Population

Meanwhile, Philip Ozouf and James Baker had something of a political "love fest" over immigration policy. I suspect that "pragmatic and sensible" in this context means treating the target limits on immigration per year as something to wave at the electorate to keep them happy, and "sensible controls" mean the same laissez faire policy, but dressed up to look as if action is being taken.

philipozouf @JBakerJersey agreed with much of recent excellent speech in population debate. We need sensible controls that boost economic & jobs.

philipozouf @JBakerJersey need to strongly guard against sending out message controls designed 2reduce unemployment send message we're closed4 business!

philipozouf @JBakerJersey need2send strong message Jersey wants eco-growth, values inward migration. The policy needs pragmatic & sensible application

Given a choice between trusting Senator Ozouf and Deputy Baker over immigration, or Senator Paul Routier, I'd sooner opt for Senator Routier. His stance is not filled with euphemisms which really mean something different.

Statement: "sensible controls"
Translation: no controls for finance sector big players

Statement: "pragmatic and sensible"
Translation: say one thing, do another

Statement: "closed for business"
Translation: open for the finance centre.

The China Syndrome

JEPnews News - Green law 'threat to house prices' ow.ly/2GF5dM

Alan Maclean, in the meantime, having firmly placed speculative property development  against the Island Plan and laissez faire Sunday trading (give the consumer a vote) on his election agenda, has vanished off to China.

AlanMacleanJsy 1/2 Full schedule of meetings today in Shenzhen, China to promote Jersey and inward investment. Met culture, sport & tourism administration

AlanMacleanJsy 2/2..great opportunities for developing high value tourism by target marketing Chinese visitors to London

I am sure that some good comes of these visits abroad, but I can't help wondering that one problem is a lack of tools to measure how successful a venture is with "inward investment" or tourism.

Taxing Times
St_Ouennais @philipozouf @JLPerchard You said in States today: companies don't pay taxes, people do. Therefore follows you have no duty to business?

SamMezec Treasury Minister says he doesn't want to talk about morality and taxation. Surely tax is all about morality?

SamMezec @GaelMezec who we ask to pay and what we spend it on is a moral issue.
Tue, May 13 12:11:44 from Twitter for Android in reply to GaelMezec

JBakerJersey Want 2 ask @philipozouf ?falling tax, rising costs, wrong immigration policy. Diminishing returns. Higher costs. Less receipts =danger ahead

philipozouf @St_Ouennais @JLPerchard economists remind us ultimately people pay tax. My responsibility to the people of Jersey, business owners or not.

politicsjersey Treasury Minister says future taxation choices will be an election issue. Publishing spending and taxation plans this summer

GaelMezec @SamMezec I thought it was about raising finance to pay for government spending?

There is supposed to be a proposition from PPC imposing a moratorium on using Ministerial positions once nominations have been made, but that doesn't prevent Senator Ozouf from pre-empting it by publishing plans this summer. Expect an election "feel good" budget.

Odds and Ends

SamMezec Over 70% of Constable elections since 1999 were uncontested. Unacceptable for a national parliament. They should not be in the States

There is nothing to stop an election being contested. By the same logic, one should do away with the Deputy of Trinity because that was an unopposed election. Why doesn't Reform field candidates for Constables then, if elected, they could vote themselves out of the States?

Nigel Farage declined to stand in a bi-election for the UK parliament, and despite his words, it is pretty clear he didn't stand because he thought he would bomb out. An MEP is a much safer choice. I can't help thinking that the inability of the JDA to field many candidates in the Constables election indicated a similar failure of nerve.

Has Reform got the confidence to try? That is the real solution to uncontested elections - ensure they are contested, rather than complaining about it.

seanpowerjersey It is important that the Channel Islands maintain a strong and robust LO-LO service between CI and the UK, and develop a French link soon

I spy with my little eye something for the election manifesto.

politicsjersey No date yet for Steel report on safeguarding in the Church in Jersey. Bishop of Winchester considering its contents & what to publish

Procrastination is the order of the day, but thanks to Peter Ould, at least the agreement signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, and the two Deans has been made public. That's good, not least because there seems to have been little or no effort on behalf of any of the signatories to make it known to the average man or woman in the pew. It's been for their eyes only.

jerseyisland Gay rights group is urging the Chief Ministers of Guernsey and Jersey to allow same sex couples to get married.channelonline.tv/channelonline_.

It is ridiculous that Jersey should remain out of step with the UK on this matter. As things stand, if gay couples want to get married, they will have to travel to the UK to do it. And then on their return to Jersey, their status over here will be no more than that of Civil Partnership. Apart from the word "marriage", I don't see that there is any real legal difference between those statuses. So what is the problem? 

And finally, the dangers of brevity in tweets

itvchanneltv Gsy - Islanders urged to plan for death: rssa.at/4585400

The linked article says that Guernsey authorities are encouraging Islanders towards "making a will, planning your future care and even registering as an organ donor." But the brief tweet itself sounds like a promotion of euthanasia!

Coming up in the States

DRAFT PASSPORTS (FALSE STATEMENTS AND FORGERY) (JERSEY) LAW

 "The Panel has established that this draft legislation was intended to fill a narrow gap, which had been identified when there had been a false application for a passport in 1994. The then Attorney General decided not to proceed with a prosecution but suggested that, although not a priority and when the opportunity arose, a Law similar to Guernsey's legislation should be introduced."

Currently, a false application would come under more general law of fraud, so there was not a gap in the law, but this will make prosecutions simpler as a specific Statutory offense has occurred.Incidentally, Guernsey has had the offense since the 1970s.

After Scrutiny met with Senator Le Marquand, an amendment was also lodged by the Minister to the law.

In particular, the term "police officer" was narrowly defined to mean a member of the States of Jersey Police alone, and has now been adjusted to include members of the Honorary Police. This is quite a significant change, because as it stood, the law would have also been changing the definition of "police officer" to exclude the honorary police. One cannot help wondering if the law had in fact been modelled closely on the Guernsey model - where there are no honorary police - and rather too slavishly followed that. I don't cite conspiracy, though some may!

The words  "or recklessly" have also been removed, so that someone who knew a person for the requisite amount of time, and was asked to be a counter-signatory for a passport application would not also be guilty of making a false statement by taking the applicant's statements at face value. So it increases the protection of third parties, who may be innocent dupes.

GROUVILLE SCHOOL: PARKING FACILITIES

This, lodged by the Constable of Grouville, John le Maistre, asks for "the Ministers for Education, Sport and Culture, Transport and Technical Services, Planning and Environment and Treasury and Resources to take the necessary steps together -

(a) to provide 'drop-off' and 'pick-up' facilities at Grouville School and to provide parking for at least 60 cars for parents and guardians of children who attend the School, in addition to any parking provision that currently exists; and

(b) to make every effort to complete this work within 9 months from the date this proposition is adopted.
Current plans by TTS to provide an extra  23 spaces, and as the Constable points out - "This provides nowhere near enough extra spaces to make any real difference"

This has long been a problem, and accidents are waiting to happen. This proposition is a fine extension of what can be done to what would make a significant difference, and it is also good that a timetable has been set in the second part of the proposition, to ensure that it takes place on time.

Lack of a clear timetable can cause delays, and I wish that more States propositions gave a timetable for work to be completed. Even if it is amended, the success of the project can be judged on how much it has been delayed.

CHIEF MINISTER ELECTION: ISLAND-WIDE VOTE

This is Deputy Sam Mezec's proposition:

"to agree, in principle, that the Chief Minister should no longer be elected by members of the States, but should instead be selected through an Island-wide vote of registered electors from candidates proposed by members of the States after each general election"

The Islandwide election of Chief Minister has always been problematic insofar as a Chief Minister could be elected who would not command the assent of the House. Sam Mezec's proposition counters this by the following procedures and caveats:

1. The general election to the States of Jersey occurs as normal.
2. Once members are elected, their first job at a specially convened States Sitting will be to formally nominate their preferred candidates for Chief Minister.
3. An Island-wide campaign commences, culminating in a public vote 4 weeks after the general election.

He notes that:

"The number of nominations required to get on the ballot should be significant, so that only candidates are put forward that can command the confidence of the States Assembly. States Members should also be able to nominate more than once, so that there is less chance of there being only one nominated candidate who wins by default."

This would, in many ways, be a "presidential style" election, and the reason it is being brought at this time is because Senator Gorst's proposition, also coming up, gives the Chief Minister very wide ranging, and some would say, "Presidential" powers.

This would enable the Chief Minister  to hire, fire, reshuffle, create Ministries if desired, and reallocate Ministerial responsibilities, with little or no need to consult the States Assembly over those changes.

Deputy Mezec's proposition seeks to balance that by having the Chief Minister not only command the support of his or her colleagues, but also command Island wide support.

It is a good counterbalance, but I personally would prefer it if the Chief Minister did not have such draconian powers. In a small jurisdiction, shifts increasing the power and patronage of the executive are always dangerous, and if there is a balance to be struck between greater efficiency, and consensus, I would prefer the edge to be given to consensus politics.

It may seem plodding at times, and frustrating, but consensus politics is not mediocre, except in the sense of the "aurea mediocritas", the golden mean of Horace. Ministerial government has created an executive and a class of political outsiders, I believe that anything which widens that gap, and makes it a yawning chasm is bad for Jersey.

Rise Like a Phoenix

Rise like a phoenix
Out of the ashes
Seeking rather than vengeance
Retribution
You were warned
Once I'm transformed
Once I'm reborn
You know I will rise like a phoenix
But you're my flame
 
Europe at Play
 
 "An annual competition that pits three dozen or so European nations against one another in a glitter-spangled maelstrom of wind machines, detachable clothing and the cheesiest tunes in pop music, the Eurovision Song Contest is exactly what it says." (Time)
 
The Eurovision Song Contest is the last legacy of EU style frivolity - the other was "It's a Knock Out" - a typically British loose translation of the much more formal French "Jeux Sans Frontières" (games without frontiers). The French words on captured the European ideal. The British words captured the actuality. And that's pretty much what we still have with Eurovision. Every commentator treats it with deadly seriousness, except the British where we have Graham Norton, and before him Terry Wogan, making acerbic put downs on the acts.
 
The UK pretty well always gets a poor showing because the commercial successes in the UK pop world go to the commercial areas - the pop charts, the domestic UK market, and even the American market. Why send good songs for potential oblivion, when there are more lucrative avenues to explore?
 
What is left for the UK once those are removed are second hand songs, or second hand singers past their prime (e.g. Engelbert Humperdinck), or song writers penning something that will probably make some sales in the local market, but is really music by numbers; they don't really need to try to get it in the UK pop charts, being the Eurovision contender almost guarantees that, so they can be lazy.
 
Winning Songs
 
I thought if you didn't watch it, but heard it, the winning song by Conchita Wurst was very good - very James Bond theme (I could imagine Shirley Bassey belting it out!) - and of course, songs are for the most part to be heard not seen.
 
There was some criticism along the way of Russia, which was booed, but the lyrics of their entry were ominously political in overtones:
 
Living on the edge
closer to the crime
cross the line a step at a time
 
Now maybe there's a place
maybe there's a time
maybe there's a day you'll be mine
 
Sound and Spectacle
 
What happened with the old Top of the Pops, when it existed, was the rise of the pop video - now a lot of that is done using the outlets of social media. TOTP used to have live acts, and videos, and as time went on, the videos grew to dominate. That's not to say that the songs were bad - Abba almost always did videos rather than live - but it did lead to a culture in which songs sold as an audio-visual experience, which is actually quite strange.
 
Think of Michael Jackson's Thriller. It's actually not particularly spectacular as a song, but as a video, it is sheer spectacle. The studio with all its glitzy lighting and smoke and camera angles, and teen audience bopping away, could never really compete.
 
Most of the 20th century popular music was broadcast on radio, and was heard not seen; the singer if seen would just be performing, perhaps with a backing band, and a microphone. People came to watch the singer singing, not see some kind of stage show. That's very much still the case with festivals like Glastonbury. At that distance from the stage, spectacle is diminished, however much the singer gyrates about the stage.
 
A different strand came with the movie musicals, often taken from stage musicals, where clearly the visual was important - but it was not enough to save very poor shows. Remember some of Cliff Richard's musicals in the West End, which bombed. But spectacle could save what was musically very mediocre - for example, Starlight Express.

Eurovision is closer to those strands of spectacle and music than anything else, but it is not serious, so very rarely does any winner then go on to international fame. But it is clear they are aiming for it.
 
A Classic Division
 
In the classic tradition, there is the same split between sound and audio-visual spectacle, in orchestra and opera. Orchestral pieces  and operatic shows are two very different beasts.
 
In an orchestral piece, the emphasis is on music. With opera, it is spectacle and music, so that it can get popularity (as it did in the 18th century) despite it being largely incomprehensible because it was in a foreign language.
 
Language Games
 
And that's the other thing which is not so obvious - language. 29 of the winning entries are English, 14 in French, and then it drops to 3 and below. Apart from Serbia in 2007, since 1999, all the winners are English. From 1999, a free choice of language was allowed, and in 2013, only 12 countries had songs in their national language. Mostly they opt for English. So English is a crowded market, and that probably also is a problem for the UK entry.
 
Prior to 1999, with a few exceptions by special dispensation (Germany, Belgium), matters were different. From 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1999, only official languages of the participating country could be used. This meant that the UK entry was not swamped with other English entries, as it is today.
 
As it stands, many of the people voting are voting for English language songs, and given the world dominance of English, that probably means more people judging can understand the songs. National language restrictions meant most countries probably didn't understand many of the other countries songs. The widening of participating countries, with Eastern Europeans has meant more other language entries, but in terms of results, most non-English songs have been far less successful than those in English.
 
Incidentally, Abba took advantage of the dropping of the rule in 1974 to win with an English language entry, Waterloo.

Christianity and the Arts

I've been trawling through the archives at the library again, and in particular for Sundays, "The Pilot" which was the monthly magazine for the Church of England in Jersey for many years. Every month, there would be pieces from the minister of each church, along with various other articles of interest.
 
In 1993, the Reverend Tony Keogh began a series of articles in "The Pilot" under the umbrella title "Christianity and the Arts"I thought it was a shame that it should be buried in the past, so I've transcribed it for my blog.

Christianity and the Arts
By Tony Keogh
 
The soul of Man must quicken to creation.
Out of the firmless stone, when the artist united himself with stone,
Spring always new forms of life, from the soul of man that is joined to the soul of stone;
Out of the meaningless practical shapes of all that is living or lifeless
Joined with the artist's eye, new life, new form, new colour.
(TS Eliot, "The Rock")
 
"Momentarily to every man comes the crossing of the wires with reality. It may be the Caliban moment -
 
"This isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs - lost in a flash; or held a little while in utter bliss. Remembered and sometimes written down: Saints in contemplation . . Bach working at a keyboard ... Fra Angelico working on the San Marco frescoes .. . Einstein working at the notion of relativity ..,. they all knew it. This is a kind of spiritual nuclear fission." (Lawrence Lee).
 
These two men, trying to describe their experiences as creative artists, see those experiences in terms of religious activities. This is not surprising when we remember that the opening chapter of the Bible is a poem about creation, the creation of a universe which God saw as good.
 
Indeed, both the Old and the New Testaments begin with a description of the two greatest acts of God - the Creation and the Incarnation. The earth is given to man for his enjoyment, delight and stewardship; form and content are perfectly fused in the Word made flesh.
 
Degas' statement that "everything, everything in this world has a sacred meaning" reminds us of the Bible's assertion that in Creation, God saw all that He had made was good, and it is from this creation that the artist selects his raw material, his subject matter, and transforms it by bestowing on it what the poet Vatery called "harmonious and unforgettable shape," the relationship between Christian belief, the artist and his work intricate and complex.
 
Generalisations are dangerous, but I think we need to make a general distinction, with respect to Christian art, along the following lines:
 
Christian art can be regarded as an historical category. It simply applies only to those works whose themes are overtly Christian -paintings of Biblical scenes, music settings of religious texts, literature dealing with the main themes of Christian belief.
 
The term can also be used in a wider sense as indicating some connection between a work of art and a Christian vision and understanding of the world. Some novels, plays and paintings, may be said to share in the Christian vision even if they have no explicit Christian reference.
 
Lastly, we can use the term "Christian art". as a re-enactment of creation. It could be said that all works of art are reminders that man reflects God in his own image and to create.
 
I hope in these series of articles to show how God has made himself known through the gift of the artists, and if you accept the three fold way of considering "Christian art," you may not be surprised at some of the artists, through whom we can experience the Creator and Incarnate God.

 

And also today.

Today's poem has a Liberation Day theme.

And also today.
 
Crowds cheering, as the soldiers came
Screaming with joy, as flag was raised
Freedom after five years to proclaim
And in thankfulness, God they praised
 
Dark were the years under German rule
The jackboot stamping across the land
Russian slave workers, their fate so cruel
Bunkers on the coast, and mines in sand
 
We celebrate that day, every year still
An end to hunger, and a time of hope
And we remember, we always will
How we hung on, made do, did cope
 
And also today our dear Channel Islands will be free
Winston Churchill spoke, to you and me

Occupation Address by Canon Kenneth Preston

This is from "The Pilot" of 1985, when the liberation services were not held by the Liberation sculpture, but in the Howard Davis Park. While I like the amphitheatre effect of Liberation square, and the sculpture, I can't help feeling that the Howard Davis Park probably meant a more directly accessible commemoration for everyone.

By the way, if anyone remembers Canon Preston, I would very much like to hear your memories of him. Born 11 May 1916, in 1940, he was a 24 year old living at  Ronceville, St Clement's Road, St Saviour. His full name is  Percival Kenneth Preston.

Wishing all my readers a very peaceful and joyful Liberation day.
 
Occupation Address by Canon Kenneth Preston
 
Canon Kenneth Preston was in Jersey as a Curate during the Occupation, returned to give the Address at the Liberation Service in Howard Davis Park on Thursday, May 9th, 1985.
 
First I must borrow some words from Shakespeare to express what I am feeling at this moment: "I can no other answer make but thanks and thanks and ever thanks" to those responsible for inviting my wife and myself to come and share in this Festival of liberation: "Mercie bein des.fais de nous ave invite a chulte celebration": I hope that has said something similar in good Jersey Norman French, the Jersey language. If it hasn't then my friends, Dr Osmont and Mr Frank Le Maitre have conspired to have me on!
 
Liberated
 
On May 9th, 1945 we were 'liberated, and I think it is worth recalling for a moment, some of the things we were liberated from: from hunger certainly. We were very hungry, weren't we? Although by the time of the liberation that hunger had been a little alleviated by the arrival of the Red Cross ship Vega. I remember that arrival so well. I remember, too, baptising in the Town Church a baby called Vega. I've often wondered what happened to Vega. I don't suppose by any chance Vega is in the Park this afternoon, is she? If she is will she wave a hand? Is that Vega? Someone waved a hand. Is that Vega? If that's Vega I would very much like to meet you afterwards, if for no other reason than to apologise for letting everyone in the Island know exactly how old you are!
 
We were liberated from hunger. We were also liberated from the cruel pain of separation and no communication with those we loved outside the Island. - nothing at all for the first year and_ afterwards twenty-five words, I believe, including name and address, in a. Red Cross Message once every three months.
 
We were liberated from all the restrictions imposed by the Occupying Power - having to be in at Curfew - was that eight o'clock in the winter? We were liberated from the misery of living with the distrust of neighbour for neighbour. But above all we were liberated from the fear, from the terror of the Gestapo. Those were the days when you didn't know which of your friends would be picked up next or whether it would be yourself.
 
Those were the days when to listen to the radio - wireless in those days - to pass on views, the penalty for that was death in a concentration camp. I know that Harold Le Druillenec came back, but his sister, Mrs Gould didn't. That very brave woman who also sheltered an escaped prisoner of war and saved his life at the cost of her own in the gas chambers of Ravensbruck. Not did Canon Cohn come back and those arrested with him at St Saviour. Nor, I believe, did any of the others. But enough! I began with a quotation from Twelfth Night. Now one from the Tempest: "Let us not burden our remembrances with a heaviness that's gone".
 
And now I think, it is time for me to take a text. I suppose you are thinking Oh Dear! Is he really only just beginning? I was taught in Jersey always to choose a good text, because if the rest of what I had to say was rubbish people would have at least one thing worth remembering. So here is the text, from Ephesians:
 
In Christ our Release is Secured
 
When I look back at our liberation one thing strikes me above all, apart from the relief of it, and that is that we were unable to liberate ourselves. Yes, I know that some brave and adventurous young men did liberate themselves by escaping by boat, but that was only possible because the French coast had already been liberated. No, if we were to be freed, that had to be achieved from the outside.
 
That seems to me to figure exactly the human condition. To begin to know ourselves at all is to realise that we are in bondage within, in bondage to all kinds of evils: to fears, anxieties, envies, hatreds, jealousies, self importance, obsessions, the dread of dying - I think the modem word for all this is "hang-ups". Our island within is occupied by tormentors and we cannot free ourselves. We are powerless of ourselves to help ourselves. If we are to be liberated it can only be by the grace of Christ reaching right down to the bottom of our souls and setting us free. Thank God, that the experience of Christians throughout the ages and today is that the Spirit of Christ descends to the deepest parts within us and liberates us from the bondage within.
 
Our liberation on May 9th, 1945 was a one-off, once-for-all event. But like many one-off events, getting married, for example, it. is just the beginning of a continual process. For many of us, for all of us, I expect, there has been the need and maybe still. is, to be liberated from the effects of the Occupation on our minds: memories that are very painful, anger, resentment, bitterness, wounds that just will not heal, inability to forgive and to be reconciled- it is in Christ that our release is secured. He will, if we will but let him, descend into any hell inside which the Occupation has left and there heal the memories, calm the anger, bind the wounds and free us to forgive and to be reconciled.
 
Blessed is that man who is so liberated within that he can give and accept forgiveness and be truly reconciled. If today we are released into true forgiveness and reconciliation, our joy in this Festival of Liberation will be of a wholly different order.
 
We who now rejoice and give thanks for our liberation forty years ago, surely can see clearly one thing, that we have the responsibility to do whatever we can in our turn to liberate others. What others? Now I don't know anything about Jersey nowadays.
 
But unless Jersey is quite different from, I suppose, every other part of the world, there will be even here some who need to be liberated from poverty, from loneliness and isolation, from a sense of failure and rejection, from social injustice.
 
And there are those millions in all parts of the world who are waiting to be liberated from terrifying hunger or from an iron tyranny. They are as likely to be as powerless to help themselves and to liberate themselves as we were. If they are to be liberated, their liberations must be effected by others. Those who effected our liberation did not do so without cost to themselves, and a very high cost too. And it is right that we should remember that on this day. But that means that if we are, in our turn, to do anything towards the liberation of others, be it by regular prayer, by regular giving, by any act that is right and possible for us, then we must be ready for it to cost us dear too.
 
I would like to end -- No, don't yet heave a sigh of relief; I haven't quite got there but I'm coming on - I would like to end by speaking about the Occupation quite differently. I quoted from Shakespeare "Let us not burden our remembrances with a heaviness that's gone". But it wasn't all heaviness, was it? There were good things in it too: the heroism of those who listened to the radio and kept our spirits up by letting us know what was going on; the support people gave to one another; the warmth in the community; the closeness; the friendship; the sharing of things that were scarce; and all the trust -yes, I know that earlier I spoke of distrust, but there was a great deal of trust too, and in the circumstances that trust was little short of miraculous. Sometimes I find myself saying "If only things could be like that now!"
 
And now may I for a brief moment use this opportunity to express a personal note of gratitude. I came here as a young curate - a pale young curate? - but I was imbued with. the high ideal of ministering to others. I assure you that the ministering was all in the other direction. So many Jersey people - I thank God for them - so many Jersey people ministered to me with their support,. their friend-ship, their loving care and they shared with me the little they had. Without such ministering I doubt if I should have survived in body, I probably shouldn't have survived in mind, and God alone knows whether I should have survived in spirit. I should like to take this opportunity not only of expressing publicly my gratitude to so many in Jersey but also to set on record the kind of ministering one to another that was so evident during the time of the Occupation.
 
Yes, there were many good things in living in those days and in the end the good things outweigh the bad. For the things of which I have spoken, befriending, neighbourliness, support, loving care, they are more important than anything else in life. So I thank God for all the good things in the Occupation; I thank God for our liberation; and I thank God that there is still some time left to us to do what we can towards the liberation of others.

Deconstructing A Comment

"THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion to request the Minister for Transport and Technical Services to take the necessary steps to cease the provision of free car parking for States Members, Jurats and Law Officers at Snow Hill car park with immediate effect so that, upon completion of the Transport and Technical Services North of St. Helier Flood alleviation scheme in the car park, the 11 spaces currently reserved for States Members, Jurats and Law Officers can be amalgamated with the 84 public spaces currently provided at Snow Hill subject to the continued provision of adequate parking for Jurats at an alternative location as required."

Eddie Noel's proposition seems eminently reasonable. The States still have free parking at Pier Road - they don't lose free parking. They have been used to not being able to park at Snow Hill for over a year. Why not keep the status quo, and let shoppers use Snow Hill?

But PPC decided to make a number of critical comments on that proposition. I've deconstructed these below, by giving a somewhat cynical translation of what they mean, in plain English:

PPC Comments and Translation:

Under the provisions of Standing Order 128(d) and (e), the Committee is required to review the services, facilities and remuneration packages provided to elected members.

Translation: this is part of our remit, and we will have our say. We haven't done anything, but that's not the point.

The Committee is of the view that the current car parking provisions afforded to States Members should be reviewed and proposals brought forward in relation to alternative areas that could be utilised instead of Snow Hill.

Translation: We haven't done anything yet. So we are calling for a review. A classic delaying stratagem.

Any such review should take into account all parking provision extended to States Members, including the spaces provided for Ministers and Assistant Ministers at Cyril Le Marquand House and elsewhere.

Translation: If we say the review needs to be very wide ranging, and list one or two other parking areas, it looks as if we have been thinking about it.

Any proposals for change should provide for members who may have a permanent or temporary disability and therefore need spaces located near the States Building.

Translation: ... and for good measure, let's state the obvious.

The Committee accepts that the public need for accessible and convenient spaces in St. Helier overrides that of States members' needs; however, it also acknowledges that States Members have a civic duty to perform and should not be hindered in doing so.

Translation: States members need perks. They are important people, you know.

The Committee considers this to be a peripheral matter and is disappointed that Deputy E.J. Noel of St. Lawrence has seen fit to raise it by way of a proposition, when it could be resolved without the need for a States debate.

Translation: We could have simply done nothing, and fobbed him off with talk of a review needed until it was too late, and Snow Hill was free for States members parking again. No need for a debate!

The Committee would also be interested to know whether Deputy Noel consulted with any of the users of Snow Hill car park before lodging this proposition.

Translation: Aha! We spotted a weakness in his case. Of course, we didn't consult with any of the users of Snow Hill before preparing this comment either. But let's hope no one notices that.

Flying Bishops: A Correction

Archbishop: a Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Christ.
H. L. Mencken, A Little Book in C Major ch. 4 (1916)

Yesterday, I used the example of "Flying Bishops" as an example of where churches had pastoral oversight not from the Bishop of their own diocese, but of that of another.
 
This was intended as a very rough and ready analogy to show how being part of a diocese differed from oversight of a Bishop of that diocese, which is the position Jersey now finds its way in.
 
I cited as a local example Dr Gavin Ashenden of Gouray Church, as it appears he has stated that he does not accept the validity of the ordination of women, and would have probably pastoral oversight from a "flying bishop", which is usually the case in such circumstances. Flying Bishops are for those who see it as their task "to divide that which is defective in the Church of England from that which is orthodox."
 
It is the Church of England's way of "having your cake and eating it"! It allows the ordination of women, but it allows some priests to be able to refuse to accept that ordination as valid. To some people,  women priests are actually women just "dressing up" as priests who cannot really celebrate communion. It is all "decadent liberalism".
 
(It is ironic that I have heard a Catholic priest state exactly that about Anglican clergy!).
 
But the situation about "flying bishops" is actually a little more complicated, as my correspondent James tells me.
 
I should have realised that nothing in the Church of England is every quite simple!
 
"The governance of churches in England is done on the basis that the task is shared between the minister and the Parochial Church Council which is elected by church members. The PCC and the minister (who chairs it) both have to request alternative oversight; this used to be done by passing three resolutions known as resolutions A, B and C. Only when churches passed Resolution C did they come under alternative oversight (quite a lot passed Resolutions A and B, but not C), and even then (the key point) the existence of alternative oversight was only for specific pastoral reasons. In all other respects the so-called "C Churches" were as much part of the local diocese as anywhere else."
 
"PCCs are strange beasts: some are very compliant with the wishes of the minister, but others are quite willing to say to the minister, in this case you are wrong and we will not back you. This explains why there were never that many C churches."
 
"I have no idea whether Gouray actually has a PCC, nor how such legislation would be applied in Jersey (whose model of church governance makes the English one look a model of clarity). I also do not think that the small congregation at Gouray would wear Gavin or anyone else pushing them that way - remember that his is only a part-time appointment. "
 
So this is quite unlike the situation with the current agreement for oversight of the Channel Islands from Canterbury, which has definitely been imposed from above, with little or no consultation with congregations.

Byzantine Interim Episcopal Oversight?

Byzantine: excessively complicated, typically involving a great deal of administrative detail.

On BBC Radio Jersey, The Archbishop of Canterbury, meantime, reiterated that the Bishop of Winchester, who he knows, was "a jolly good fellow", while the Dean of Jersey, who he didn't know, was "probably a very nice man". This will form the basis for the terms of reference for a new commission.

That is not exactly the case, but what has been going on has left most people in the dark. Here is the press release from the Archbishop of Canterbury, under the heading "Channel Island Deaneries: Interim Episcopal Oversight":

"The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Dover and each of the Deans of Jersey and Guernsey have today signed an agreement to give effect to the interim oversight arrangements announced in January."

The Archbishop said: "I am delighted that we have found a way forward which engages the full support of everyone concerned, and which will enable the ministry and mission of the Church of England to flourish in the Channel Islands while acknowledging their distinct history.

"It is an important part of the agreement that I am to appoint a Commission to enquire and report to me in detail on the long and complex history of the Islands' relationship to the Church on the mainland, and I look forward to doing so from the secure understanding we have now reached."

But the detailed wording of the agreement, it seems, is not available to the general public, even to churchgoers in the Channel Islands. We do not know precisely what was signed, and if past precedent is anything to go by, we probably will not. This is strange, because I have been told that any agreements would need to be ratified in Jersey's Ecclesiastical Court, which should be open to the public - apparently not!

As Bob Hill remarks on his blog: "We heard that it was a result of discussions between the Bishop and Archbishop but we heard nothing of any consultation with the rank and file members of the Islands' congregation."

The reports also commissioned by Bishop Gladwin and by Dame Heather Steel have not yet been published either. The Church hierarchy seems to be adopting the classic civil service devices of "Yes Minister" of commissioning reports only to bury them later.

It is hardly a model of being open and honest with people. 

And the Canterbury Times has this to say:

"This new announcement will effectively mean each parish in the islands will pay their shares to Canterbury, which will use them to fund the islands' clergy, training, general upkeep, and other costs. A spokesperson for the Diocese said "This will not change how the money is used."

"The Canterbury diocese, a collection of churches overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently has just over 260 parishes, and around 16,000 people regularly attend church services there. The approximately 26 parishes in the islands will nominally remain within the Winchester diocese."

Now what precisely is the difference between Jersey being placed under the "oversight" of Canterbury but "nominally" remaining within Winchester?

My friend James, who is considerably more knowledgeable about these rather esoteric church matters, explained it to me as follows:

"It means exactly what it says. Transferring any area from one diocese to another is not a simple matter: it requires the approval of the full General Synod (and possibly Parliament at Westminster as well), and that is not a fast process (the abolition of three dioceses in Yorkshire and the creation of a single new diocese stretching from Sheffield to County Durham is in progress; it started in 2010-11 and although the Diocese now exists various other tasks will not be completed until 2016). "

"So in this case the Church has said that there has been no transfer, but that oversight has been transferred. Transferring oversight is much easier: there is a raft of legal precedent, mainly following on from the provisions made for flying bishops to act as pastors to those parishes who were not happy to have women in leadership. It does also mean that oversight can be returned to Winchester at a suitable point, and that we would have fair warning of any attempt to make a permanent change."

To explain what is meant by "oversight" then means understanding the model of "flying bishops". These are not bishops who travel a lot by air, but the situation arose from the introduction of women priests into the Church of England.

As Wikipedia explains:

"A Provincial Episcopal Visitor (PEV) (popularly known as a flying bishop) is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who do not in conscience accept the ministry of women priests."

I would presume then that Gavin Ashenden, who is a Gouray, and who has stated that he does not accept the validity of the ordination of women priests, comes under Episcopal oversight of a flying Bishop rather than the Bishop of Winchester, who does. So while Gavin's Bishop was nominally the Bishop of Winchester, oversight (and who he would speak to) would be transferred a flying Bishop. He would still be within a diocese, but oversight might well come from a bishop outside that diocese.

That seems to be the situation here, although it is not about women priests but about other matters. It is not in fact breaking a long term relationship with Winchester since 11th March 1569, because that would require legal complexities which could not easily be resolved by four signatories on a piece of paper. It is only oversight that is transferred.

We can see this clearly if we look at the case of Gouray. There oversight is transferred to a flying bishop because of Dr Gavin Ashenden's views on women priests. But if he goes, and a new Vicar of Gouray is appointed who has no problems with accepting women priests, oversight will revert to the same basis as other Anglican churches.

That is, I think a good example, because despite the origins of the conflict arising from a failure of safeguarding, it has developed largely into clashes between personalities with the Church of England in Jersey and the Bishop of Winchester, Tim Dakin. If Tim Dakin moved to another Diocese or retired, for example, oversight could return to Winchester. The "casus belli" would have gone.

Incidentally, the Archbishop of Canterbury, while being asked some questions about his endorsement of Bishop Tim Dakin, was not asked a question about the letter leaked from the Bishop to the Dean of Jersey:

"in any case in which you take the view that you are required by local law to disobey me, or defy my requests, you may not elect to follow the local law rather than fulfil your duty of obedience to me."

"Whatever the local law may seek to impose on you, you may not agree to follow it where my lawful requirements require you to do otherwise."

This - from a leaked letter, which hid the Bishop's instructions from the public - was not perhaps the actions of a man so "outstanding and wonderful" as the Archbishop made out!

And in the meantime, I look forward to the publication of this agreement, but without much hope.

See also what Bob Hill has to say at:

http://bobhilljersey.blogspot.com/2014/05/jerseys-dean-archbishop-of-canterbury.html

The Occupation: The Rev. Raymond Hornby remembers

As we approach Liberation Day in Jersey, this coming Friday, here is a piece I found when digging into "The Pilot Magazine" for 1995.
 
The Jersey Archive catalogue has most of the registration cards for Islanders, and I found:
 
Registration Card of Raymond Sefton Hornby, of The Rectory, St John, born 11/05/1898
 
That means that the Rector of St John would have been 42 in 1940, when the occupation began.
 
The Occupation: The Rev. Raymond Hornby remembers
(From The Pilot, 1995)
 
Five years of occupation by enemy forces was a very hard and difficult time, but thank God we came through all safe and sound.
 
I can remember that day in June 1940 when my wife and myself were in the garden at the Rectory of St John as I was then Rector of the parish. In those days the Rectors were still members of the. States; it was not till after the war that both the Rectors and Jurats came out of the states and were replaced by what are now known as Senators.
 
The German commander said that we were to continue meeting at the States but we were very careful not to discuss matters which we felt were not a concern of the occupying forces. We used to meet regularly as a small committee appointed by the states consisting of the late Deputy Le Masurier who was chairman, the managers of the Electricity Company, Waterworks Company and Gas Company, and myself.
 
We were able by making false statements of the accounts of the Gasworks, Electricity Company and waterworks, to keep things going for longer than they would have been if the Germans had got to know the financial position of these companies.
 
We always had in our minds that the Occupation would not last long and that we would be freed by the British, so it helped us to live through those difficult years.
 
We were allowed to hold services in our churches, but one had to be very careful in what we said in our sermons as there was always a German soldier hiding behind one of the pillars of the church: listening to every word. Members of the congregation would give one a sign that there was a German present in the congregation.
 
The woman folk had a very difficult time trying to keep us men fed and I feel that they need to be highly mentioned. Those who were able would collect corn in the country, although this was forbidden by the Germans, and they used to take it to be ground into flour at a mill in the parish, I think it was St Ouen, to take to the elderly and needy.
 
When one looks back one realises how much we depended upon our faith in God and in all His goodness to us. Anyway we came through after five long years when we had no news of our families and friends who were in England.
 
Little did we realize at that time that it would be so long, and always lived day by day thinking that the end was near.
 
It seems long ago that one has forgotten many of the things that happened. The Rev Cohu, who was acting Rector of St Saviour's, used to ride around the town on his bicycle shouting "Good news, it all will soon be over", he was trying to cheer people up, but unfortunately the Germans arrested him and sent him to a concentration camp. We never heard of him again but we understood that he had died.
 
There are of course many things one could relate if one's memory went back that far. It is sufficient to say that we came through it all and remain to tell of some of our experiences and are thankful that we are here still.
 
I must end this as I am sure that there are others who could give: a better account and be able to relate instances which I have forgotten. May I end by saying that these happenings in one's life make one realize how much we need a strong faith in God at all times and especially through such experiences of being imprisoned on an Island by an enemy.
 
Those indeed were grin days but with God's help we came through it to tell the tale.

Dotty Defnitions

Some amusing religious definitions from the Church of England Magazine in Jersey - "The Pilot" of 1985.

The one about "peculiar" is rather prophetic!

DOTTY DEFINITIONS

From. the "Church-English" Dictionary

BEARD: a useful sign (among the ordained) to the congregation which says "I see myself as an Old Testament. prophet."

PECULIAR:  A place exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which it is situated, e.g. Jersey

If however it is only partially exempt, it is only "a bit peculiar"

ORIGINAL SIN: It is extremely hard these days to commit sins with any degree of originality. But that doesn't stop us trying.

JOYFUL NOISE: The sound of musicians who can't play; or the sound of the church organ beginning the last verse of the last hymn at Sunday service

COUNSELLOR: Mmmmmmm. Pronounced "Mmmmmmm" (from the Hebrew "Hmmmmmm")_

MITRE: An enormous gold crown-like creation worn by a bishop to indicate deep humility.

VERGER: One who looks after church cleaning, day-to-day running (its a bit of a duff job and not very well paid so often given to someone on the verge of the grave).

TITHE: Conclusive proof that.the average churchgoer earns around £10 a week.

STIPEND: Denotes something small, inadequate. First used to describe clergy pay in 1753 and the name has stuck.

(From the Latin "Stipius Pendere" - you cannot be serious!).

HOLY: In communion with God.

HUMBLE: In right relationship with your neighbour.

HUMAN: Someone who finds "humble" and "Holy" difficult.

GARGOYLE: Sound emanating from choir vestry before any sung service-

NICENE CREED: The only 4th century invention we are still using.

Beltane

As we have had just had May Day, a poem to celebrate that event. The Celtic pagan tradition is a fire festival called Beltane, also found in the Celtic Christian tradition where the Carmina Gadelica includes two Beltane blessings on lambs, while the Anglo-Saxon festival involves the May Pole and fertility dances. I thought it would be nice to marry the two together in this poem.

The poetic form is a "Rondel", a French form, which has the following structure:

1. Rhyme scheme: ABba/abAB/abbaA (uppercase letters are refrains)
2. Poem consists of 13 lines in 3 stanzas

Beltane

Light the flame, the sacred fire
Beltane comes, burning bright
By the breaking of dawn's light
Sweetest music plays on lyre

The sun is rising, ever higher
Here is time of Mayday rite
Light the flame, the sacred fire
Beltane comes, burning bright

Morris dancing, to inspire
And Mayday revels now excite
Maiden dances, dressed in white
Round the Maypole brings desire
Light the flame, the sacred fire

Out and About the Jersey Blogs

Bob Hill has a new posting on the dual role of the Bailiff
 
http://bobhilljersey.blogspot.com/2014/05/jerseys-bailiff-times-are-changing.html  
 
He makes a good point here:
 
"I listened to parts of the debate and it became evident that sentiment over logic became the order of the day. I heard one Connétable state that if it's not broke why fix it and parishioners were asking why the Bailiff was being kicked out of the States. The comment was certainly an own goal because one the reasons why Connetables claim their role in the States is so important is because they are the direct Parish link to the States. If that is so, how many Connetables arranged Parish meetings to discuss the proposition or other propositions for the matter? I stand to be corrected but I doubt whether any parish meetings were held to discuss the matter."
 
Part of Sir Philip Bailhache's argument for a Referendum was that the people should be consulted. It is amazing that this comes retrospectively, and that no Parish meetings have been called - either by Constables or by Deputies or Senators, for that matter, to discuss the dual role. Senator Bailhache, while winning his amendment for a referendum, has not, as far as I know, actively taken steps himself to address the public in a meeting.
 
In fact, the main activity has been online, where the excellent Change.je website has provided arguments both for and against the role of the Bailiff in the States and as head of the Judiciary. Senator Bailhache's aim was evidently a "spoiler" as his lack of organising public meetings to gauge support demonstrates.
 
It is also notable that while the remit of the Electoral Commission chaired by the Senator was in fact all members of the States, they chose to focus on elected members, and failed to ask for submissions regarding the Bailiff or the Dean. In so doing, they narrowed their focus contrary to their remit, and avoided tackling that within the public forum.
 
My own position, which I have made very clear, is that I have no objection to the Bailiff as Speaker, as long as the pernicious power to block propositions from even being placed before the Assembly is removed. As submissions to Carswell demonstrated, there have been a number of occasions where the a past Bailiff has exercised that undemocratic prerogative. It is high time a proposition removed it, and indeed James Rondel, who argues in favour of retaining the Bailiff, also agrees that it must be rescinded. But no politicians of left or right have tackled that!
 
L'Office Du Jerriais has a brief blog about business cards.
 
http://officedujerriais.blogspot.com/  
 
Apparently, the new Chief Minister of Guernsey has his business cards in the three languages - English, French, and Guernsey French. Something for Senator Gorst to ponder! Although what it does not address is when you use the Guernsey-French cards!
 
The Jersey Way has a few more sound clips from States sittings:
 
http://thejerseyway.blogspot.com/2014/05/questions-without-answers-290414.html  
 
Sam Mezec, Simon Crowcroft and Nick Le Cornu's questions, and questions without notice to Philip Bailhache and Ian Gorst are here. Topics are UK same sex marriages and their validity in Jersey, skateboarding facilities at the Town park, Radon testing, and the basis for charges for patients at Accident and Emergency.
 
This has always been to me an excellent site. Rather than listening to whole debates, this is sharply focused on particular questions, and also allows something that Hansard does not do - the tone of the questions and answers. The written text is useful, but it does not convey the more subtle verbal overtones of speech.
 
Jersey Exposed looks at Social Security secrets.
 
http://jsyexposed.blogspot.com/2014/04/social-security-secrets.html  
 
"A recent public Social Security Appeal hearing was adjourned to allow  the Social Security Department time to produce a copy of the 150 pages of hidden rules and guidelines which Determining Officers use for applications for Income Support and other benefits. "
 
"Previous attempts to disclose these rules have failed as the Social Security Officers claim that only they can understand them. They did offer to produce 3 pages they considered relevant to the case under consideration. However, the claimant argued that the complete 150 pages should be made available and the Tribunal agreed with the claimant."
 
I don't see any reason for disbelieving this story, and I find it rather appalling that there are internal "hidden rules and guidelines" which are not known to the general public. They should be on the Social Security website, and I hope that, one way or another, they find their way to the public domain.
 
I notice that the Irish Independent, back in 2007, noted that their new "Freedom of Information Law" meant that:
 
"Public bodies will have to publish all their hidden rules and guidelines, and these can't be used against you if they haven't been published"
 
Jersey does not yet have a freedom of information law. While tidying up of ancient laws is given priority - the law on treason being a case in point - the freedom of information law is given a lower priority. Around since 2011 in Jersey in draft forms, Jersey's Freedom of Information law should be in force by 2015 after politicians formally agree to the new law. The last set of amendments said "It is anticipated that the Law will come into force on 1st January 2015. " I'd be extremely surprised if that was the case.
 
Voice for Children has a posting which is a link to a September 2009 interview by Trevor Pitman.
 
http://voiceforprotest.blogspot.com/2014/04/voiceforchildren-deputy-trevor-pitman.html  
 
Voice for Jersey has a posting which is a link to a blog posting about the how impartial BBC radio Jersey is; the linked post dates from February 2012.
 
http://voiceforjersey.blogspot.com/2014/04/voiceforchildren-bbc-jersey-impartial.html  

Tom Gruchy (alias Mike Dun) has a posting on housing conditions:
 
http://tomgruchy.blogspot.com/2014/04/sandras-new-flat-jersey-housing.html
 
"As can be seen the latest flat is just simply not suitable for a person with her severe disabilities and as we have already told  Minister  Deputy Green many times before ( and he has personal knowledge of disability in his own family) - standard issue flats are just simply not suitable for this tenant or others with similar needs."
 
There are four short videos which make it very plain that the accommodation being offered to a disabled lady is simply not suitable. Doesn't anyone at Housing actually meet the people, and check these matters out? Something which I hope Deputy Green, the Housing Minister, will answer.
 
"With Andium under the Chair of a UK resident receiving £40,000 for  his 30 hours annual attention to the problems of Sandra and thousands of others with real housing needs and the Health service already reeling from shortages and inadequacies and a similar planned "user pays" policy - the future looks ever more grim for those with specific needs and limited resources of their own...."
 
This is a good blog raising present and future concerns about social housing in Jersey.
 
Rico Sorda's blog is about the Committee of Inquiry into Historical Child Abuse in Jersey.
 
http://ricosorda.blogspot.com/2014/04/committee-of-enquiry-2014-part-3e.html
 
"As you are all well aware the Committee of Enquiry into decades long child abuse in Jersey is starting to get going.  There has been a lot of dialogue with the Lawyers representing the enquiry panel. I must say they have been very good in getting back to us regarding the issues we have had with the protocols. There will be more on this in a later date. I really do hope that as many people as possible will come forward to give their accounts to the enquiry panel."
 
Roger Jones has a blog about local books:
 
https://rogerjonesblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/our-new-books/
 
One new book looks very interesting.
 
Roger says that "It is a joint effort by myself and Susan Ilie of Guernsey Ancestry. It is a book based on an item she bought via eBay - the diary of one Andrew Mitchell, a 20 year old Londoner who visited the CIs in 1866. We researched some of the background to things he wrote about and selected a number of contemporary engravings by way of illustration. I designed the book in a small, landscape format, roughly the same size as the original notebook. I think it has turned out rather well."

A Ban on Jersey Cattle: why wasn’t action taken sooner?

There's a ban in place on Jersey cattle – as the BBC news reports on it:
 
"Channel Island farmers are unable to send cows to the UK until they meet EU regulations on disease control. Jersey States vets are working to prove that the herd has been disease-free for many years. Changes to the live cattle import rules between Jersey and the UK in October 2013 meant exports were banned until the island complied with EU disease testing rules. Meeting the testing requirements will cost Jersey £542,617 over five years. It will be at least six months before the testing procedure can be put in place and exports allowed to resume."
 
"Jersey's Director of Rural Economy, Daniel Houseago, said in a report that the impact of not carrying out the tests would cost the dairy industry about £4.8m over the next five years."
 
So what precisely is going on here? The old Agriculture and Fisheries was incorporated into Economic Development, some would say as a very poor relation compared to Finance. There's a Ministerial Decision by Alan Maclean relating to this story and asking for extra funding.
 
"Decision(s): Request for extra-ordinary funding from the Treasury to support cattle exports and trade in bovine embryos requiring compliance with EU legislation including a testing programme for three notifiable bovine diseases – bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), Enzootic Bovine Leucosis (EBL) and Brucellosis."
 
"Reason(s) for Decision: On the basis that this is a new and unexpected requirement in relation to trade and that revenue budgets are committed, that the Treasury consider exceptional funding to come from central contingencies to cover the programme costs for years 1 (£267,030 in 2014) and 2 (£71,515 in 2015). Subsequent costs in 2016-2018 will be resolved through the Departmental MTFP allocations from 2016."
 
Now notice those words – "new and unexpected requirement". But the BBC story tells us that the rules changed in October 2013, so evidently there was a warning note sounded that needed some proactive reaction rather than "fire fighting" after the event.
 
The report goes on to state the background, and note that it is a question of complying with "red tape":
 
"EU Directive 64/432 governing trade in live bovine animals and swine provides a mechanism for officially recognising herds and regions or zones are disease free, part of which requires testing to a pre-determined programme."
 
"The situation is hugely frustrating because all the evidence supports the case that the diseases bTB, Brucellosis and EBL are not present and have not been present for many years, if ever, particularly in the case of EBL."
 
I do have sympathy with that. It is like an episode of "Yes Minister"
 
Hacker: Are those things about South Derbyshire true?
Dr Cartright: They may be.
Hacker: What are you saying?
Dr Cartright: I'm saying that South Derbyshire is the most efficient local authority in the UK.
Hacker: I'm meant to tick them off for being the least.
Dr Cartright: Look at the figures.
Hacker: I thought they didn't send us any.
Dr Cartright: No. But they keep their own records perfectly well. I'm going on those.
 
Hacker: Dr Cartwright said it is the most efficient council in Britain.
Sir Humphrey: Inefficient, I think he means.
Hacker: Efficient, Humphrey. Economical, effective. Just not interested in sending bits of blue paper to Whitehall.
Sir Humphrey: But they have to send them.
Hacker: Why?
Sir Humphrey: It is a statutory requirement.
 
This is very much the case with the EU. There has been a change in policy. They want their little bits of blue paper. This comes out very strongly in the report:
 
"The EU does not provide a mechanism for alternative means to demonstrate freedom, and the Commission expert does not appear willing to consider an alternative. This stance is understandable given the lack of flexibility in the 50 year old Directive."
 
"Subsequently, the EU informed DEFRA in the spring of 2013 that Jersey had historically (over a 30 year period) not complied with EU legislation and therefore the Island could not be classed as being officially free from bTB, EBL and Brucella despite the Island wide testing regime over many years"
 
Now that was Spring of 2013 sounding a warning note. DEFRA later contacted Jersey directly:
 
"In October 2013 Jersey was also officially informed by DEFRA that the import conditions for cattle from Jersey had been amended requiring exporting herds in Jersey to demonstrate compliance with the EU Directive."
 
And the RJA&HS were also evidently concerned about the possible implications – such as a cattle ban, and this was in February 2014
 
"On the 14th February, 2014 a request was received from the RJA&HS and Jersey Dairy for Government support to undertake the necessary testing programme in order to establish official recognition of the islands' herds' freedom from bTB, ELB and Brucellosis. It should be noted the HMG cover the costs of these programmes in the UK."
 
We now fast forward to April 2014, 6 months after DEFRA had advised Jersey of the need to comply with EU rules, and 2 months after the RJ&HS had also requested that a program of testing be put into place. If the testing programme had been put in place 6 months ago, we could probably have avoided a ban on cattle exports.
 
But instead, we now have a sudden request from the Treasuries "contingency" fund for emergency cash to get a testing programme under way, and are told that this is because of "a new and unexpected requirement".
 
The internal evidence of the report itself contradicts that. DEFRA and the RJ&HS both brought the matter to the attention of the Jersey authorities, and either the information never got to the Minister, or he failed to take necessary action in time.
 
Is the Department guilty of negligence, in letting matters slip, because the Minister doesn't have adequate oversight to ensure he is informed of important matters like that, or was the Minister aware, but thought the status quo would just continue with business as usual? Or was the advice to try and negotiate to retain the existing system, and rather like with Britain and LVCR, the EU lost patience?
 
I think there are questions which Senator Maclean should answer: namely, why was the response to changes so late in the day, when the changes needed in testing regime were flagged up much earlier?
 
When Senator John Rothwell was President of Agriculture and Fisheries, a decision was made (on advice given) to dump potatoes near the Beauport headland. This led to an environmental catastrophe for the locale, which even today still requires the occasional removal of waste from tanks.
 
But the Senator admitted it had been a mistake, and offered to resign. He evidently took his responsibility seriously – the buck had to stop somewhere, and it stopped with him.
 
I am not suggesting that Senator Maclean resign. But it would be good if he at least apologised for the loss of earnings by dairy farmers, and even - as the report notes - a possible cull:
 
"Cattle reared for export which cannot leave the island are surplus to requirements and if insufficient market for products from the live animals or for meat, is unavailable, there may be calls for a planned cull on welfare grounds with consequent reputational damage and potentially compensation."
 
Will we have an apology from the Senator, or will we have the usual dissembling approach which manages to remove all consideration of Ministerial responsibility?
 
I am reminded of the phrase by Stanley Baldwin in connection with newspapers – "power without responsibility — the prerogative of the harlot through the ages."

Links
(1)    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-27208354
(2)    http://www.gov.je/Government/PlanningPerformance/Pages/MinisterialDecisions.aspx?docid=8fad5592b0de553a93751b34696f1164_MDs