Evening Tide at St Brelade

There's something wonderful about the light and calm in an evening in St Brelade in late August. The full heat of the noon day sun has gone, but it is still fairly warm, and as the tide comes in, cool sea breezes waft in.

When Katalin and I went down to the sea, there was a magnificent fortress of sand being shored up by children and parents against the incoming tide. Sand gets soggy and collapses very quickly, so they were hard at work, adding more sand as each passing wave took away their sea defenses.

Canute the Great c. 985 or 995 – 12 November 1035) was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Swedenoften referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. When I was at school, history consisted, as remembered, mostly of a series of anecdotal tales. The one about Canute. The story is told in Henry of Huntingdon's Twelfth Century Chronicle of England, and a translation from the Latin reads:

With the greatest vigor he commanded that his chair should be set on the shore, when the tide began to rise. And then he spoke to the rising sea saying “You are part of my dominion, and the ground that I am seated upon is mine, nor has anyone disobeyed my orders with impunity. Therefore, I order you not to rise onto my land, nor to wet the clothes or body of your Lord”. 

But the sea carried on rising as usual without any reverence for his person, and soaked his feet and legs. Then he moving away said: “All the inhabitants of the world should know that the power of kings is vain and trivial, and that none is worthy the name of king but He whose command the heaven, earth and sea obey by eternal laws”. 

Therefore King Cnut never afterwards placed the crown on his head, but above a picture of the Lord nailed to the cross, turning it forever into a means to praise God, the great king."

Which, of course, has given us the maxim that "you cannot turn back the tide".

There was a smaller sandcastle also built close by. The seaside is a place for enjoyment of sand castle building, and I remember we used to buy flimsy little flags, paper flags on a small stick,  to brighten up the castles.

The history of sand castle building is supposed to go back to ancient Egypt, but there is no real evidence of that. The earliest mention is around the 16th century, but with scant evidence. It is really when sand sculptures rather than sand castles come in to their own that we get a lot of history, with Philip McCord, who created a sand sculpture of a woman and a baby in 1897 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was to raise money, which is why there is so much documentation from the publicity he did.

The rain came out, and we all took shelter. Afterwards, there was a wonderful rainbow across the bay, and here is a lovely picture of Katalin with the rainbow descending towards her.

The story of the rainbow comes in the earliest account of Noah's ark, when he makes an animal sacrifice to give thanks for being saved from the flood, and, as the story tells us, God puts a rainbow in the sky to promise that such destruction will never again be wrought upon the earth. With ferocious storms, flooding, rising sea levels, we may find that promise looking a bit shaky, but the rainbow itself is a wonderful thing of beauty.

The rainbow itself is an optical effect, caused by the splitting of water droplets. Optical effects, like the mirage of water on hot roads, are in fact some of the strangest phenomena that we encounter. You can photograph a rainbow, as in fact I did, but it is not in fact tangible; it is purely an effect of water and light, and perhaps rather like a ghost, is not a material substance but a process.

Rainbows have the spectrum colours identified by Newton after diffracting light through a prism. These are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. When I was growing up, we learnt the mnemonic "Richard of York gained Battle in Vain" as the way to remember them.

There were fisherman out on the pier, and a few boats made their way lazily towards the land. It was a good end to the day.

Deputy John Young standing for Senator

Deputy John Young has announced he will be standing for Senator. Here is his “press release” on Facebook:

Press Release on Facebook
Following the many approaches I have received from people throughout the Island during the last few months, I have decided to stand in the Senatorial elections.

It has been a very hard decision to make. I have worked hard to fulfil my promises to the electors of St Brelade No 1 district and had some successes which I believe will enable future improvements. It has been a real privilege to represent my constituents for the last three years. I want to thank everyone for their support and trust in me. .. … During the last three years I have tried to help everybody who has approached me with their concerns or individual problems, whether they were a constituent or from elsewhere in the Island.

If elected as Senator as well as the early establishment of a States ombudsman to investigate cases of injustice and consolidating the changes to the Planning system, I will work to achieve long term policy changes. These include:

• the regeneration of St Helier and future of the waterfront

• access to justice reforms

• improvements to our Ministerial system which fails to deliver joined up government

• rebalancing the power of Ministers

• strengthening the role of States scrutiny

• rolling back regulation

• delivering vital public sector reforms

• diversification of our economy

• development of sporting, cultural, heritage and environmental tourism.

We face a structural deficit in States finances, the fast growing needs of our health service and the imperative of public sector modernization and its overdue reform to stem the growth in public sector spending. These are all vital policy areas for urgent attention.

Yes Campaign Launch

Vote for YES!
A campaign is launched today to show the benefit and necessity of the Parish Constable, and their integral role within the States.

A group of people from around the Island including both political and non-political representatives have emerged in order to coordinate a campaign for Islanders to vote ‘YES’ in the forthcoming referendum on the continuing role of the Constable within the States Assembly

Chaired by the Constable of St Brelade, Steve Pallett, the group will hold their Campaign Launch Meeting for supporters of the Constables in the Town Hall on Tuesday 9th September at 19:00.

On the importance of the Constable, Steve Pallett said that, “When I first stood for election in 2005 with a local political party, I was against the Constables having an automatic right to sit in the States once elected by parishioners, and fought a Constable election with their removal as part of my manifesto. However having seen first hand the representative work that the Constables do while serving as a Centenier and more recently in my first term as Constable of St.Brelade, the benefit of their maturity and sensibility within the Assembly, I have since changed my mind”.

The Vote for Yes team intend to hold public road shows around the Island prior to the Referendum which is being held on the same day as the General Election. The Road Shows will consist of a presentation followed by a Question and Answer session with a selected panel.

“We want the public to be aware that they are better off with their Constables in the States than they would be without them there” said Deputy Luce, another member of the Vote For Yes team. “Parish rates have remained steady for well over 10 years now, which is impressive when you compare it to benefits such as welfare that are now administered centrally.”

The campaign group as a whole are equally concerned by elements of the ‘Property Tax Review’ put forward by the Minister for Treasury and Resources and in particular Section 4 of the paper relating to ‘Modernising the basis for charging annual property taxes’, suggesting that the current rates system shows a ‘lack of transparency’ and ‘allows only a low level of revenue to be raised’, heightens fears that a centrally administered rates system is in the pipeline that could only mean higher rates bills for islanders and further centrally administered costs.

Members of the public who are supportive are being urged to attend the Launch Meeting, in order to learn more about the Campaign, and to hear from prominent Islanders who agree with the Constables maintaining their position in the States.

Nick Le Cornu’s Ratner Moment

Do you remember when Gerald Ratner made a gaffe which wiped £500 million from the value of Ratners Jewellers in 1991.  Attempting some ill-judged humour, he remarked that "We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, 'How can you sell this for such a low price?' I say, because it's total crap." And he went on to say that earrings sold were "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long". That led to an end to Gerald Ratner's promising career.

It look as if Nick Le Cornu has now "done a Ratner" with his tweet. The tweet read:

"SHE is back and so conveniently in time. Faking it like all good girls do"

And the other tweet, which has not been as widely reported, said:

"Such faux indignation from the Right. I remain incredulous at such timely & miraculous reincarnations in front of an election

This certainly appeared to be a reference to Deputy Kristina Moore, who had just announced that she was standing again, and in fact he confirmed that in a Sunday interview to BBC Radio Jersey.

His defence has been mixed. On the Voice interview, he stated that it was intended as "irony", although I think he does not quite understand what irony is.

If I tweeted "I see from his Tweet that Nick Le Cornu is a meek, retiring politician" that would be irony, because it meant exactly the opposite. What he has said is better described as sarcasm.

He also stated that his tweet was "purely political" and not personal in any way, and he had family members who had died of cancer. Quite how "faking it as all good girls do" can be described as anything but personal is questionable, especially as on the BBC radio interview he said it was "about women faking orgasms, because women do".

At one point in the Voice interview, he stated that "It was not personal, because he said 'she' and did not mention her by name. Well, if I tweeted, "He was expelled from his party, and good riddance", it would be as obvious as his tweet who I was taking about. That's a very weasely defence.

On the BBC radio interview, he suggested that she was part of the political right, and was tweeting in support of Philip Ozouf because she was in the right wing camp, and possibly had been pressured to stand again. In fact, she tweeted three times:

At Chamber of Commerce lunch Senator Ozouf explaining his Budget for 2015: deficit is reducing & taxes won't be going up, that includes GST

£274m have been spent over past 3yrs to improve the island's infrastructure, that includes new hospital theatres and new schools

Excellent speech @philipozouf the right budget and long term plan for our future.

Of those, the first two are each just a précis of words spoken, and the note on taxes and GST will be of interest to everyone. Only the last could be considered a political statement, and only the last part of it, because it was an excellent speech – the Senator is a good orator. That doesn't mean I agree with everything in it, and I blogged and asked a question which received an evasive answer. Readers of Ministerial decisions will also be aware of the "magic" contingency fund from which the Treasury Minister seems to deal out varying appropriations, some of which do not go before the States.

But his tweet does not contain, embedded in it, any comment about her political support for Senator Ozouf, unless, in fact, he thought she was faking that, which he clearly was not.

In fact, Nick le Cornu failed to bring up, except in the interview, and badly, the issue of States members who are unable to sit in the house over an extensive period. The obvious thing is not be critical of the past, but to look to the future.  The question he should have asked, which could be asked on any States member in similar circumstances:

Would Deputy Moore promise, if elected, that if she was unable to fulfil her duties and sit in the States for over twelve months (or some specified period), that she would resign and make way for a member who could?

But the wider issue should really be dealt with by the States of Jersey Law, as a States member might not even be in a position to make a decision, and could be in the States for three years, but incapacitated from sitting, unless the law is changed.

Six months applies for absence from the Island and which a member is automatically disqualified from the House, but perhaps the States themselves should be able and have to decide and vote on the case of long term illness every six months rather than fixing a definite outcome. That would allow each case to be considered on its merits.

On the expulsion from Reform, he claimed in the BBC Radio interview that it was run by around four people, that it was not democratic, and in fact was "Stalinist". If it was so bad, why on earth did he stay in and not leave to expose it?

The fact that he only seems to have discovered that Reform was "Stalinist" after he was expelled speaks for itself! When he was in Reform, there was no word of criticism from him about this, and yet, conveniently, just on being expelled, he discovers the whole truth! Was he only pretending that Reform was  a democratic organisation when he was a member? Or to put it more bluntly: was he faking it?

Am I a Good Man?

CLARA: You're scared.
DOCTOR: I'm terrified.
CLARA: Of what?
DOCTOR: The answer to my next question, which must be honest and cold and considered, without kindness or restraint. Clara, be my pal and tell me, am I a good man?
CLARA: I don't know.
DOCTOR: Neither do I.
 
A change of Doctor always requires some getting used to, but I'm warming to Peter Capaldi. Unlike the more godlike presence of David Tennant (as time went on), and Matt Smith, Peter Capalidi's Doctor is more of a flawed hero.
 
Am I a good man, he asks Clara. I don't know, she replies, but you are trying to be, and I think that is what matters.
 
CLARA: I don't know.
DOCTOR: I'm sorry?
CLARA: You asked me if you're a good man and the answer is, I don't know. But I think you try to be and I think that's probably the point.
 
Likewise, in the most recent episode, which explored the nature of legends and fame, the important thing about the hero is that he is trying to do what is best.
 
It is something which we can all relate to. Are we trying to be better people than we are? Are we reflecting on our failings, and trying to improve matters? Are we trying to do good, not for personal self-satisfaction, but because being good, doing good, is something worth aspiring to.
 
My friend Leon, whom I discuss Dr Who with, can see this is very much at the heart: "Am I a good man?" Whatever other story arc there is, and there is one about a place called heaven, this is the theme of Capaldi's Doctor: self-questioning, aware of mistakes, trying to do good.
 
The Protestant Reformation looked at ideas of faith and works, and split the two asunder. It states that human beings cannot find salvation from doing good works, however much they try. It is by faith alone that comes salvation.
 
I think that was an extremely dangerous idea. The urge to do good, to be kind and generous, to think about other people, is as much part of our nature as the urge to dominate and destroy. These is nothing to do with what we do, it is how we respond to those "inner voices" - the call for compassion, or the anger against the unlike. It is from these that proceeds the desire to do good works, or equally, the dark side which leads to people beheading others with the slightest qualm from conscience.
 
If we heed the voices within, the call of conscience, the call for compassion, for kindness, we will do good, and we will change; we will become better people. It is our response that makes those feelings and sensibilities even more acute.
 
But equally, if we decide to shut those voices out, in silencing those voices, we become less able to hear them; if we stifle them, eventually we will lose touch with that side of our humanity. We will dehumanise ourselves.
 
That's something which it will be interesting to see come out of the new Doctor Who. There is a teacher called Danny Pink, who was a soldier, and yet we discover him weeping, after being asked about killing people. In that episode, we also had a Dalek who is damaged, and has decided that Daleks must be destroyed because they destroy others. The Dalek, nicknamed "Rusty" by the Doctor, has become a good Dalek. But after being repaired, it reverts to being a Dalek whose aim is to destroy human beings.
 
The Doctor manages to show it a star being born, which made it change, and then links himself with it.
 
But what it picks up is both the star birth, and the Doctor's own hatred of the Daleks. It defeats the Daleks who have invaded the space ship, saves the humans, but the Doctor is unhappy.
 
RUSTY: I must go with them.
DOCTOR: Of course you must. You've unfinished work, haven't you?
RUSTY: Victory is yours, but it does not please you.
DOCTOR: You looked inside me and you saw hatred. That's not victory. Victory would have been a good Dalek.
 
There is so much hatred in the world, and the troubled times in which we live see the effects of it on ordinary people, destroying lives. Like the Doctor, we must aspire to do better.

Waves

Walking by the sea today, paddling with Katalin in the summer, watching children playing so carefree, and high tides splashing over the promenade. This is the magic I have tried to put into this poem:

Waves
 
By the beautiful sea, oh, the sound
Of waves, soft breaking on the sands
The tide is rising, so soft inbound
Paddling in shallows, holding hands
 
A castle, a stronghold, fortress firm
Made of sand. Happy children play
Still the holidays, not the school term
Halcyon summers, each joyful day
 
Waves crashing over the sea walls
The sand castle long swept away
Swooping above, the seagull calls
Sunset comes, gold dying ray
 
Praise to beauty of waves, of sea
And ocean depths, so deep and free

 

Philip Ozouf’s Speech

Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong—but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong! Heaven save us from poltroons who fear to make a choice. Let us stand up and be counted." (The Right Honorable John Joseph Bonforte in "Double Star", Robert Heinlein)

I attended Senator Philip Ozouf's speech at the Pomme D'Or, and while I was not wholly convinced by everything he said, I did find myself in agreement with him on one point. He said that he had over 15 years made many decisions, and some of them were wrong, but decisions had to be made.

There is a kind of politician who never makes decisions, and is always content to be pristine and pure on the back benches. But decisions have to be made, and someone has to make them. And every decision you make will get the support of some people, and the criticism of others.

That is something the Liberal party has found out, and it has caused grief within the party. As long as the Liberals were safely outside Government, they could present themselves and their policies any way they chose, because there was not the slightest chance anyone would have to decide on them. Once they were thrust into a coalition, they suddenly found it harder, as their decisions alienated some supporters who would have preferred high ideals on the sidelines than practical policies to implement.

Don Filleul told me that politicians had to be able to make tough decisions and be unpopular sometimes, if that was the right thing to do. He should certainly have known. His decision as President of Public Services to back Queen's Valley as a reservoir got him knocked out as Senator, although he was able to sneak back in as a Deputy. But where would we be now with regard to the water supply if he had not forced it through against considerable public opposition?

This, I should say at this point, is not an endorsement of Senator Ozouf's policies, of which more later. But it is an endorsement of the fact that politicians like him have to make decisions, sometimes difficult ones, and politicians who never have to make a serious decision may keep their integrity, but do we want that? It is all very well to harangue from outside, and to claim they never get the change to show how wonderful their decisions would be, but that's pure supposition. In reality, we might be saying, like Oliver Hardy, "that's another fine mess you've got me into".

Incidentally, speaking of decisions, Senator Ozouf has decided to stand again for election as Senator. He came out with that before it became a question from the floor!

There were actually a few swipes at my blog in Senator Ozouf's talk. He mentioned that the proposed reform of the rates was not a poll tax, several times. Some people may have wondered why! My blog posting on the subject was called "Philip Ozouf's Twist on the Poll Tax". In it, I said that while the poll tax was a massive shake-up which shifted the burden of what was rates to the ordinary person, the consultation, while not as radical, did disadvantage the occupier by removing owner / occupier proportions of rates to pay. So the twist is not that it is a poll tax, but that it is a move in that kind of direction. The occupier would pay the whole rates, including that currently levied on the owner.

The talk began with an analogy about farmers and weather forecasting, and how the distant forecast can be quite different as the present approaches, and the forecasts get more accurate, and farmers can change their timetables for planting, fertiliser, irrigation accordingly. He didn't mention when storms come and take everyone by surprise, and mess up the entire crop!

Economic systems are likewise chaotic systems, and predictions are difficult. As Senator Ozouf says, the "contagion" of the economic downturn was outside our control, and not something we could completely isolate ourselves from. Nevertheless, Jersey does seem to be struggling with regard to employment when compared to England, where the slow economic upturn has seen a reduction in unemployment. Is this because Jersey is a small island, or are other factors involved, and is Jersey making all the right decisions for a return to economic growth? These are difficult questions, and the matter was not raised in his speech.

I heard Senator Ozouf on BBC Radio Jersey, interviewed about his speech, talking rather patronisingly about "armchair critics" who think they know it all. He challenged them to demonstrate their economic prowess, which he suggested for most politicians, himself included, was not there; they were not trained economists. He said he took advice from the Fiscal Policy Panel, and that was diligently followed.

I suspect he didn't realise that he was actually talking himself out of a job. If the Minister is reliant upon the recommendations of the Fiscal Policy Panel and his Civil Servants, then anyone can be Minister. It requires perhaps a certain intellectual sharpness, but not more. I have heard people say "If he was not Treasury Minister, who on earth could do the job?", but as it now appears, quite a wide range of candidates might, as long as they have the same Departmental support and the Fiscal Policy Panel to advise them.

Perhaps it might be thought that promoting Jersey overseas would rule out some candidates, but it must be remembered that when Philip Ozouf was Minister at Economic Development, and Terry le Sueur was Treasury Minister, it was Philip who was jaunting across the globe, not Terry. Whatever the beneficial effects of these trips, and they certainly are of some benefit, he has actually usurped the functions of his former Ministerial position, and there is no reason why a future Treasury Minister should not let foreign finance affairs revert back.

In fact, on reflection, for someone relatively young, his enthusiasm, command of other languages, and experience as Treasury Minister would make him ideally suited for the role of External Relations Minister, much more so than the current incumbent, who always seems rather posh and stodgy and faintly old fashioned.

A certain amount was talking about investment in infrastructure – for example, a new hospital and a new police station. He also mentioned the Waste Water strategy, with the new sewage works, and added that "sewage treatment was free, for the moment". It is perhaps worth flagging up that "for the moment"!

There were a few graphs, and one bar chart was rather odd in that under expenditure, it had pensions (or pension liability) and that remained static over the years in the graph. Perhaps the quickness of PowerPoint deceives the eye, but I would have thought that with an aging population, that pension bar would increase over time. (I must re-read Darrell Huff's "How to Lie with Statistics" about the "gee-wizz graph").

On questions, he favoured differential pay to ensure that States members could come from areas of commercial middle management without facing loss of income. He suggested that those who were not heads of Scrutiny, and who didn't want Ministerial office, could actually treat the States more as a part-time job. They would vote and be present, but would not have the same burdens of office.

That's a fine idea, but assumes those entering the States from middle management get elected from within the States as Ministers, and they cannot know that in advance. It assumes that if instead they become backbenchers on lower pay, they have another job, and treat the States membership as part-time. I'm not sure that such a backbencher would necessarily fulfil their responsibility to the electorate by so doing.

There was a certain amount of criticism about States members speaking too long, and wasting lots of time. He didn't actually mention the rejected proposal for limits to speakers times, but it was implicit. I have a degree of sympathy with that. There is a terrible lot of "talking shop" in States debates, but on the other hand, as Karl Popper noted, this is the price we pay for democracy - the resolution of disputes with words rather than direct action. The best way to limit the time would be to time long winded speakers and name and shame them!

"Delay is the worst thing we do in Jersey" was a wonderful soundbite, and it is true that delay can see opportunities missed. On the other hand, fools rush in with £200,000 for fantasy films! What is needed is a degree of balance. Some delay and scrutiny to ensure that decisions are not made like marriage, in haste, repenting in leisure.

He was extremely vague on immigration, suggesting just that it needed to be "controlled" and the "right immigrant" was what was needed, some of whom appeared to be "high net worth individuals" (what used to be called rich English residents), and the laws have been changed to enable them to keep more of their cash in Jersey trusts and banks rather than Guernsey ones without suffering financial penalties. The island does benefit from this, but the ethics of it are problematic: it is literally, "one law for the rich, one law for the rest of us". I would not say it does not help the economy, and is much needed, but we should not paper over the ethical issues raised either.

But he was right on one thing: the ability of businesses to take on more staff as long as they are "entitled" status without running the gamut of red tape. That has to be an improvement, and it means that there is an added incentive for employing local people.

My own question was on the prediction by Social Security Minister, Francis Le Gresley, that the medical fund (for GP's visits) would run out in 10 years. I asked how the budget addressed that issue.

His reply was that free prescription charges were primarily responsible for eating into the fund, and asked if it was fair that those who could afford it, got them free. The suggestion was that prescription charges could return. I have no problem with that as long as there are exemptions for the poor, young children and pensioners, all of whom should continue with free prescriptions. He then went on to speak about a whole shakeup of health care, and how the problems with the medical fund would be addressed in the larger picture.

None of that, apart from prescription charges, actually addresses the question. The two traditional means of getting more funding are increasing the percentage paid as social security, or raising the ceiling beyond which wages are disregarded for contributions. But Senator Ozouf shied away from anything too concrete like that.

In summary, a wide ranging talk, lively, interesting, with good delivery. Unlike Rob Duhamel, he is a good orator. And there were some good nuggets, although a good deal of what was said was actually bereft of concrete data; as a colleague said, "he is a smooth talker". Whether he can talk his way into the hearts and minds of the electorate will be another matter.

A Visit to Harry Vardon

Coming along the road from Gorey, and heading towards La Rocque, I spied the statue of Harry Vardon, and as good fortune would have it, an area of road with no yellow lines where I could stop. I explained to Katalin that Harry Vardon was a great figure in golfing history, and born in Grouville, which is why this statue commemorates him.

Henry William "Harry" Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a Jersey golfer who won the Open Championship a record six times, as well as winning the U.S. Open.

Now I'm not a professional golfer, and the nearest I come to golf is playing crazy golf at the Living Legend. In fact, Katalin and myself did that this summer, and it was great fun, and she got a hole in one! I know little about golf, and don't even watch it on television, but Harry Vardon interests me because of his history. Here is a man from a small pin-prick of an Island, who goes and makes his mark on the sporting world stage. As a Jerseyman myself, I think that's something to be rather proud about.

Vardon was also well known for the "Vardon grip", also called the "overlapping grip", and for those who want technical details, in the Vardon grip, one places the little finger of the trailing hand (the one placed lower on the club – right hand for a right-handed player) in between the index and middle finger on the leading hand (the hand that is higher on the club).  It sounds very complicated to me! Anyway, the picture above shows the said grip. 

The statue itself was unveiled by Tony Jacklin, who was himself a world-famous professional golfer, and lived in Jersey for a number of years before he moved to South Africa. That I suspect was purely to escape paying tax as a rich English resident, and I always believed he never really like the Island. In fact, he once said: "I even went and lived in Jersey [shaking his head] which was like living on this table.". So that's about enough that need be said about his connection to Jersey, which appeared to be principally mercenary.

The sculpture was designed by Gerald Palmer, who is a well known local artist, and has painted some fine paintings in oils and in water colours. He is married to Valerie Palmer, who for many years was the States Greffier. As she went to school with my mother, we used to go round and play with their children when we were growing up. I can't remember anything about that, except that we sometimes had snail races, when you put snails on a wall, and see if yours can beat another's past a particular line. None of that has much to do with Harry Vardon, but it is pleasant, at my age, to let my mind drift.

Of course, I had to take a nice photo of Katalin in front of Harry Vardon! Fortunately, she shares the same love of history that I do, and let's face it, the statue is quite impressive. There is also a photo of me, but while I struck what I thought was a golfing pose, I ended looking up more like Quasimodo.

The Statue itself is on the edge of the Grouville golf links, hence the picture of two people playing golf, or at any rate taking about something which may or may not be golf related; the presence of the golf clubs shows that they must be golfers. Although there was an episode of Jasper Carrott's "The Detectives", when the hapless pair pretended to be golfers, so one can never be too certain.

Anyhow, I suppose I should say something about the Club. It was founded in 1878 by vistors, and the area which is now golf links was once used for horse racing. There is a famous painting by the artist Ouless which depicts a race meeting.

The club house was then the Royal Oak, which was renamed the Golf Inn and is now called the Pembroke. I've heard good reports of the "pub grub". Now the new club house is along a path towards the coast. 

My history book says:

"The early pioneers bought 36 golf hole cups but they only had 10 proper flag sticks and bought 3 more later in two stages, which implies that they were adding holes as they went and therefore only had 13 in the first year. So more likely they laid out 10 or 13 holes, though this may have been played as a round of 18 holes. 1883 saw the first known layout of 18 holes."

May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973) Revisited

Your heart was with your man beside
The blue Aegean sea,
But since I went to France you brought
Roses to give to me :
So I took English roses out to France
And all that there might be.

And my man died. I am so glad
Your roses went with me.

(May Wedderburn Cannan, The Splendid Days, 1919)

 I originally posted a blog all about May Wedderburn Cannan here:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2013/11/may-wedderburn-cannan-18931973.html

I was surprised to find this very nice comment on my blog about May Wedderburn Cannan, an often forgotten War poet of the Great War – most people tend to think of the men in the trenches as War Poets, rather than the women who also served in support as close as they could get to the front line.

"Thank you for this lovely post on May. I'm her granddaughter and am setting up a website about her work. You can find it at
 maywedderburncannan.wordpress.com

Best wishes

Clara"

That's a wonderful site, with poetry and prose and some lovely photos of May and her family. It captures the sense of place and time of that generation very well. I'm looking forward to revisiting it as more is added.

I would recommend visiting it.

And so to finish, another of May's poems, which rather reminds me of Edward Grey's statement about the lamps in Europe all going out:

Girl's Song,

IN heaven there be many stars
For the glory of the Lord,
But one most bright which is the light
Upon my true love's sword,
To show that he always for me
Keepeth good watch and ward.

In England now few lamps there be
Since Death flies low by night,
But brave behind the lowered blind
Shall mine burn steady bright,
That he may know for him also
Burneth a kindly light.

October 1916 (In War Time, 1917)

Un pas avanchi, two steps back…

I have today a guest posting from a correspondent on the Avanchi card which makes some interesting comments:

Un pas avanchi, two steps back…
from a correspondent

Not that long ago Transport for London made a radical change to its policies. In July 2014 it ended cash fares on buses, a practice going back well over a century. Henceforth bus users had to have a contactless payment card, a travel pass or an Oyster card to use the buses.

Concerns were raised – in fact two-thirds of the respondents thought that the time was not yet come for this to happen. But TfL pressed on regardless. To meet the biggest objection - that potentially vulnerable passengers could find themselves stranded if they lacked sufficient funds on their Oyster – TfL introduced a one more journey feature on Oyster cards to ensure that people who don’t have the value of a full fare (£1.45) can still make a journey and then top up their card. They also undertook to review the spread of retailers offering Oyster top-up to see if additional locations were needed, and to ensure the capital’s 24,500 London bus drivers received “refreshed guidance” on how to assist vulnerable passengers travelling without a valid ticket.

TfL insisted that the removal of cash fares “will not affect 99 per cent of bus passengers”, and that “Paying with Oyster or a contactless payment card is not only the cheapest option, but also speeds up boarding times at bus stops and reduces delays. It costs £24 million a year to accept cash on London’s buses and by removing this option we will generate significant savings which, like all of our income, will be reinvested in improvements to the transport network.”

TfL are undoubtedly a large and well-funded operation, and they have invested significantly in Oyster. I can confirm from my own experience that the number of cash fares was very low: I travelled from Shepherd’s Bush to Willesden Junction one Saturday afternoon earlier in the year, and upwards of fifty people got onto that bus. Not one of them paid cash.

I was rather hoping that LibertyBus might emulate TfL, albeit on a much smaller scale – after all, their parent company HCT run buses in London and have experience of Oyster, and part of their pitch for the contract was that they would introduce card payment.

.
I regret to say that at the moment I can’t see it happening. Avanchi is rapidly becoming a nightmare, and to make it work will require a major rethink, and (I suspect) a fair degree of expenditure.

The problem begins with the most fundamental difference. Oyster is simple: touch your card to the reader and it deducts the fare. Because the fare is a flat rate, that is all the interaction you need – so as TfL say, it is quicker to use.

The pay-as-you-go Avanchi is not simple. You place the card on the reader, the driver selects the fare (assuming he knows where the stop is!), and the machine issues a ticket. The touchscreen ticket machines are not easy to operate, and the process is slower than issuing a cash fare ticket. A little observation suggests that tickets for cash take about 3-4 seconds to issue, but tickets for Avanchi cards take about 8-9 seconds. Four to six seconds multiplied by ten passengers is 40-60 seconds added to journey time – and that assumes that the ticket is issued correctly. But if the ticket is issued incorrectly, it takes around 30-40 seconds to issue a corrected ticket – and that, in terms of getting on a bus, is eternity. (Though the drivers have now, I think, got used to the fact that the card has to go on the reader before they issue the ticket - you could get a free ride if they were too quick)

LibertyBus have recognised that in the case of the 15 route, most especially at evening peak time, this cannot be sustained without breaking the timetable. Their solution is to have a member of staff on the pavement with an Avanchi machine jury-rigged on a trolley to issue tickets before passengers get on the bus. Last night (26 August) the pavement machine broke down. All passengers who got on at Liberation got a free ride west, the driver being instructed to make the system understand that there were about 70 people on the bus.

Now this is truly revealing. What this seems to show is that the value of collecting fares on the bus is now secondary to the value of collecting (or fudging) data. That data is undoubtedly valuable isn’t at issue – a clear indicator of how many people are getting on the bus and where gives you a head start in route planning. Or it would if the route management software worked and the place of issue matched the stop location (and anecdotal evidence suggests that the data is wrong about one time in four).

But there is a secondary problem with Avanchi. TfL set Oyster up so that it can be registered to a user (indeed, any user who wants to load on anything more than a monthly pass has to prove identity), but it doesn’t have to be – visitor Oyster cards are anonymous. All cards also only retain eight weeks worth of transactions specifically associated to the card: after that they just become anonymous statistical data. To get a PAYG Avanchi you have to register, the card has your name on it, and I for one have no idea of how long the log of transactions is kept. This, I would argue, should be covered by Data Protection (after all, LibertyBus are contractors appointed by TTS), and I would very much like to know what processing is being done with it.

What else? Well, there’s the fact that there is really only one place to top up Avanchi – Liberation Station. LibertyBus will claim an online top-up facility exists, but the fact that it takes up to 48 hours to be added to the card (where the bus station machine works instantaneously) is indicative of the mess that has been made of this.

What needs to happen? Well, the very simple answer is that Avanchi should be ticketless (like Oyster), and the easiest way to implement that is to abolish the two fare bands and implement a flat fare – say £1 anywhere. If (as the experience on 26 August seems to indicate) the cost of collecting fares is less than the value of the data, fares could be set at any level the States is prepared to underwrite. Result: customers get on buses faster, buses run to time better, more satisfied customers, more users…

Sadly, the really disappointing thing is that LibertyBus have done one thing exactly right. They know their market: they are quite aware of the tendency of Jersey people to spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar, and that most people won’t complain about a badly-implemented system if they get 10p off the fare for every journey!

Removing the De Minimis Limit on GST

Senator Ozouf said: "As a result of research undertaken by the Customs and Immigration Service, based on 2012 data, it is estimated that if the de minimis limit was removed, then the potential extra import GST revenue would be £783,000 per annum."

I have today a guest posting on the subject. See also my own blog posting at:
http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2014/08/philip-ozouf-into-black-hole.html

Removing the De Minimis Limit on GST
Guest Posting by Adam Gardiner
 
You are right about the absurdity of trying to collect GST on low value items.
 
You ask several questions as to how it would be collected. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. The administration process is already long-winded and messy for goods over the de-minimis if you are not registered for GST. A business may not be registered for simple fact (and on the advice of C&E) that it creates a mass of unnecessary paperwork as there are two sides to GST collection.
 
On the one hand, if registered then you are obliged to make a GST return -the goods themselves are released through system without the need to pay 'in advance'. That return is 'balanced' on value of goods imported against GST collected at point of sale. If not registered, then the freight forwarder will ring the consignee to advise that they are holding goods pending GST settlement and will provide you with a CLC number. The theory is that then you go onto the C&E Caesar II website, enter the CLC number and pay online which then releases goods for delivery. You can alternatively attend at Maritime House and clear the consignment by paying cash.
 
You mention logistics. There are many.
 
1. Until the GST is paid and CLC cleared, the goods remain in the custody of the freight forwarder - which equally means Jersey Post if item(s) had been sent by that method. Where will all these small and almost valueless packets and parcels be stored until someone is good and ready to visit Maritime House.
 
2. Very few will want to pay such small amounts on their credit/debit cards if indeed transactions of such small value are even accepted by the payment gateway. One thing is for sure, C&E would be losing £'s on everyone through transaction charges. Can you imagine a constant stream of hundreds of people turning up at Maritime House to pay cash to have their goods released.
 
3. What happens to the small birthday or Christmas presses sent by auntie worth less than £100. Not much of a pressie where it's going to cost you £5 to collect it! A birthday surprise it would surely be! The lower the value the worse it gets. Many will simply leave it - so storage etc again becomes a big problem..some of which may be long-term. Under the Royal Mail Charter, Jersey Post would not be able to dispose of unclaimed items nor allowed under the law to pass them over to any third party (that includes the States of Jersey) unless they were an illegal import.
 
4. GST is actually payable on the invoice value. It seems to me that it would then follow that every package, parcel and envelope containing a taxable item albeit of low value (and that could be thousands daily)  would need to be accompanied by an invoice. How on earth would that be possible if not consigned from a commercial source?
 
5. Lastly. As well pointed out, such a move would suck in an army of C&E officers to monitor the entire imports into the island by whatever method and any GST raised would simply vanish into administration costs and not add one penny to the exchequer.in fact likely to diminish Treasury revenues.

Some thoughts on Racial Discrimination

The Rotherham scandal is high in the newspapers at the time being, and one of the depressing things is the way the threat of race discrimination was used by gang members on occasion to deter action on the streets by the police.
 
In fact, the whole fear of racial discrimination seriously undermined the decisions to take any action against those sexually exploiting young girls, because the majority of those involved were Asian.
 
The men themselves held an attitude of those perpetrators was that the girls, white, and not with the dress codes and subservient attitudes they expected of women. We can see exactly many places in the world where this is the case today - the Islamic State, areas controlled or terrorised by the Taliban around Afghanistan.
 
Just as witch trials - "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" were a perversion of Christianity, so this attitude to women is a perversion of Islam, but the trouble is that - like the witch craze - it has become widespread because any attack on the misogyny is seen as an attack on Islam.
 
There is a widespread fear from those in authority of anything which could be deemed racial discrimination. And the attitude even spread to the top echelons of the civil servants involved, where the attitude became one that these girls were in care already, and were the type of girl who would be provocative sexually, almost "asking for it".
 
Morality was jettisoned in favour of value judgements on people, on how much they were worth. It seems that some girls were judged not by what had happened to them, but on the basis of how they were perceived by the prejudiced eyes of those in charge. The fact that the grooming and sexual abuse would have been wrong as such, whatever the background of the girls, was ignored.
 
Racial discrimination is now prohibited by law in Jersey (the law comes into force next week), and it is important to understand that the law is there to prevent people being targeted because of their race. As far as behaviour towards others goes, it is to ensure that there is not a specific kind of bullying based on race, although it should be noted that all kinds of bullying are reprehensible.
 
The term "race" in this context is a legal, not a biological one. There is no biological definition of race, nor can there be, as biology knows only of continuums within a species, and not discrete items which can be placed into non-overlapping sets. The law defines "race" in terms of "protected characteristics" - colour, nationality, nation of birth, and ethnicity. None of these can be defined precisely in terms of biology, and nationality actually has nothing to do with biological race at all. It is a complete accident of history, and nation states are subject to change all the time.
 
In a recent seminar I attended on the law, the presenter suggested that one of the protected characteristics, colour, was able to be defined precisely. The speaker self-identified themselves as "white". In fact, as what we may term "coloured " and "white" people can, and do, quite happily interbreed, the genetic coding for darker skin can lead to a whole spectrum of differing skin tones. Colour of skin is not nearly as discrete as we imagine it to be, because we tend to think in terms of contrast, not those populations which are hard to place on into our little boxes.
 
What racial discrimination legislation is about is not discriminating against anyone because of the colour of their skin, or making comments about skin colour which would be offensive. Whether metacomments, comments about comments that are offensive, are acceptable, is more problematic. I would imagine a lot depends upon context. It would be entirely legitimate for a television series like "Roots", or more recently the movie "Ten years a Slave", to portray the prejudices of the slave owners because that is not glamorising or promoting those attitudes as acceptable.
 
Racial attitudes can be more subtle. Notions that the Germans have no sense of humour are common, and there is a basis in fact. The fact, however, is not that Germans have no sense of humour, but that some of their humour is different from ours. This is because of linguistic reasons, as their language is constructed differently, and relies more on humorous ideas than wordplay in English language humour.
 
But to say "Of course you wouldn't find that funny. Germans have no sense of humour" could be deemed offensive, because this is a statement designed to ridicule and embarrass someone because of their nationality. It is a question of good manners, as much as anything.
 
There is one area where matters clash, and that is humour, which operates in part, on the basis of stereotypes.  I have heard it suggested that humour based on national stereotypes will gradually fall out of favour, and will be culturally unacceptable. I do not think this is likely. Humour always as a subversive element, to upset the status quo, and that will not go away. But it will change.
 
"Love Thy Neighbour" (which was always a rather appalling comedy anyway) will not be coming back. Citizen Khan, on the other hand, is a self-reflecting comedy from within a community, and invites outsiders to share the joke, and understand some of the sensibilities and absurdities of different cultures.
 
Once a society loses the ability to laugh at itself, it loses a valuable self-critical element. As Orwell noted, Oswald Mosley  rapidly became the butt of jokes, and lost credibility. But who in Germany or Russia would dare to mock Hitler or Stalin openly, and hope they could get away with it.

In Praise of Autumn

As the leaves begin to drop, here's a poem all about autumn, with thanks to Matthias Claudius, Lutheran pastor at Reinfeld in Holstein, who penned "We Plough the Fields and Scatter", which formed the rhyming scheme for my poem.

In Praise of Autumn
 
The winds come, and far scatter
Gold falling leaves on land
Rainfall comes, so watered
The child's outstretched hand
The portents come of winter
As harvest time for grain
Cool breezes and last sunshine,
Between the heavy rain
 
In kitchen, the jam maker
Who walked the fields far
Blackberries, wayside flower
Light bottled from a star
Of winds and waves , a hymn
Symphony of sounds unsaid
And conkers, laugh of children,
And harvest grain for bread.
 
The birds migrating farther
Such sights, such joy, so good,
The seed time and the harvest
For the poet, this is food.
And to the gods we offer
And sweetest praise imparts,
The season most desired
Warm soup, grateful hearts

Philip Ozouf: Into the Black Hole

The States Remuneration Body, mindful of the black hole in States finances, has recommended a "pay freeze" for States members for the next 3 ½ years. Julian Rogers, the chairman of the States Members' Remuneration Review Body has said:

"Having taken everything into account we concluded that the current total remuneration figure of £46,600 remains appropriate for the next three and a half years although we will nevertheless continue to undertake annual reviews to check that this remains the case."

That's a rather nuanced statement, and it does not mean that States pay could not rise, because next year, the board could decide differently. What it does mean however, is that there is not likely to be criticism over the pay rise made this year, or over the body being out of touch with the ordinary people of Jersey where salaries for States members are concerned. In other words, it ensures pay is not a hot election issue this year, while providing scope for it to be reviewed again next year.

I still feel that States remuneration and the Public sector pay should be linked in terms of percentages, so that the limited pay rises of the Public sector should be reflected in the States. That way, they would be share in the general cuts on a fair basis.

Public sector pay is not usually so high on the coalface, but a recent report on salaries shows that the upper echelons receive very large sums indeed, well about £100,000 per annum.

Quite a few years ago, in 2010, when Terry Le Sueur was Chief Minister, the Treasury Minister, Philip Ozouf mentioned a fundamental review of States pay - and salary differentials - cutting down on the number of different grades. That never seems to have happened.

In fact, February 2010 saw some sunny optimism by Senator Ozouf:

Deputy G.P. Southern: The Minister refused to be drawn earlier on to figures for the structural deficit for 2013, nonetheless does he not accept that large scale cuts in public spending and services, and their associated redundancies, will only ensure increased recession and worsen the deficit if he performs them before 2013?

Senator P.F.C. Ozouf: I very much hope that the economy will have returned to growth by 2013 and 2014, and therefore any necessary changes in terms of public expenditure will be able to be absorbed within the economy.

As we now know, Senator Ozouf's hopes have proved rather unfounded, and a black hole emerged, which he is rapidly trying to talk his way out of before the next elections. And another States Treasurer has just departed "for personal reasons", coincidentally at this time. The budget, coming as it does while the old States is sitting for the last time, is usually a good election boost - "safe pair of hands" etc, but this year, he is "all thumbs".

His turnaround, which will probably be at the Chamber of Commerce Lunch talk (conveniently before the budget debate and the election!) will be to present the PwC report on reform of the property taxes and rates. I wonder if anyone will ask how much that report has cost the taxpayer? This is, however, a deflection from asking the question: how come the UK has managed to emerge with small but steady growth, while the Jersey economy is still very much in the doldrums?

Expect the lunatic suggestion of charging GST on all imports to also be made. This sounds good on paper, and of course a retail outlet, acting as a collection point, can charge GST on everything from a 20p bar of chocolate upwards, because the 1p collected on that goes into the general till receipts.

To apply it to goods coming into the Island, however, is a logistical nightmare. If I buy sometime (a computer cable, perhaps, which I did earlier this year) costing £1, I will need to pay 5p on that. Where on earth do I pay the 5p and how?

Online payment of GST by credit card, as happens now, would be absurd, as the card processing charges would far outweigh the 5p concerned. Should I post it? Or receive the goods with a demand to pay 5p to the Treasury at Cyril Le Marquand House, where more civil servants will be needed to cope with the vast number of items of low value.

It reminds me most of Tony Blair's "on the spot fine" idea whereby police would take a drunk to the nearest cash machine, and get them to pay the fine there and then. That was another piece of spin, which rapidly was retracted as the unmanageable nature of the suggestion became clear.

In this case, it may take a little longer, but the notion of having no "de minimis" limit is just as nonsensical a piece of spin, an economic sound-bite which looks wonderful - we could raise millions - until the practicalities are considered. Do we really want to keep a Treasury Minister who can make such daft suggestions?

One question which remains unanswered, and which the former Treasurer could answer: was he aware of the looming budget deficit when the Plemont debate took place? He must have been well aware of the deficit before the publication of the budget, and the Plemont debate was only a month before it was present to the States. Did he keep back the knowledge of the black hole during that debate?

More Disruption to Business from TTS

The following is a letter to the JEP from Clive Broadhead:
 
From Clive Broadhead.
 
The closure of St John's main road could be a potential disaster for businesses at the northern side of the work being carried out. The finishing date of 28 November is almost four months away.
 
My company is La Casa Room Interiors, the old B&Q shop at Les Ruettes, St John. This is a very large shop and as you can imagine has very large overheads.
 
Since the road started closing during the day, the shop has been like a ghost town during road-closed periods. This has not been a very good year as it is, and the road closure could potentially cripple
businesses.
 
It is my opinion that the work should have been carried out during the night where possible. By this I mean where the road is just next to fields, not houses.
 
Transport  and Technical Services have advised me that they cannot work on half of the road at one time and allow one lane open; as the road is not wide enough.
 
Another solution would be to make small detours around the work by making the country lanes closest to the working area one way for south bound vehicles and the other side of the road one way for northbound vehicles. Again TTS have. advised that this is not possible.
 
We do not know how much business we have lost, but an estimate would be around 40% down.
 
My Comments:
 
If we look at the resurfacing work done back in 2006 for a huge stretch of road as far as the Union Inn -  Queen's Road and sections of La Grande Route de St Jean were resurfaced from mid-2006 to early 2007 by Brenwal Ltd and A. Le Sech (Asphalt) Ltd -the information from TTS at the time said:
 
"Transport and Technical Services would like to remind road users that the Queen's Road resurfacing works starts on Tuesday 11 July. There will be restricted traffic flows Monday to Friday from 9am until 4pm and from 6.30pm until 9pm , and on Saturday from 8am until 1pm . Normal two way traffic will be maintained during weekday peak hours (7.30 to 9am and 4 to 6:30pm) so as not to disrupt the morning and evening rush hour traffic, at all other times diversion routes will be signed. Customer access to businesses will be maintained."
 
"The first phase of the works lasting 3 weeks is in Queens Road from Pen Y Craig Avenue to the junction with New St John's Road and is part of an eleven week programme to resurface the stretch of road right through to the Union Inn, most of which was last resurfaced some 20 years ago"
 
Notice how the work was done outside of peak hours, so that motorists could use the road, and any businesses would get the benefit of the passing trade, and there was restricted traffic flow. More extensive hours of access were available on Saturday to help businesses.
 
In May 2012, a road near the airport was closed for resurfacing, and again we note the careful hours to disrupt businesses the least:
 
The main resurfacing work was carried out at night-time from 7.30pm to 2am so that airline passengers and commuters were not delayed. For some sections where there were no houses in close proximity, the working hours were extended to 4am
 
What has happened since then? When the lower part of Queen's road was closed, most of the work was done at night. In 2012, on a separate project, most of the work was done at night. So what has changed?
 
Despite the "technical" reasons given to Mr Broadhead, I think that the major change has been cost. TTS has had to make significant savings under the Medium Term Plan, and one area where costs can be cut is to remove night time working.
 
That makes everything a lot cheaper, no lighting required, no overtime costs - but there is a cost none the less to all the businesses, and it is they who have to pay the price for these economies. It is a triumph of narrow accounting over strategic planning.
 
How different things were back in 2006:
 
Transport and Technical Services (TTS) and their contractor, Brenwal, have worked hard to do all they can to complete the Queen's Road / La Grande Route de St Jean road resurfacing project in as quick a time as possible and they are pleased to be able to open to traffic 2 weeks early, just in time for the busy start of the school term on 11th September.
 
Time has been saved laying the new road surface through the development of innovative new methods of working by the contractor Brenwal and TTS's Highway Engineers, allowing up to 150 tons of asphalt to be laid per day. Detailed early planning by TTS's Engineers in close liaison with Brenwal has allowed major works to be completed with the minimum of disruption to traffic.
 
The current work is being done by TTS Contractor Pallot Tarmac and not by the same contractor Brenwal who did the earlier part. It would be interesting to know how (adjusting for cost of living), the hourly costs of this daytime contract compare with the day and night work done by Brenwal, and the amount of asphalt laid per day.
 
Last time, there was minimum disruption because of "detailed early planning" which caused "the minimum disruption to traffic". I wonder if the same level of early planning took place this time?
 
The Minister for TTS has overall responsibility for the Department and its operations. Looking at this fiasco, and the missed completion target for St Aubin's development, I would say he is not doing terribly well. As a Deputy in St Saviour, he probably will get re-elected, but if he really wanted the Island to judge his record, he should eschew his safe seat and try for Senator. Somehow, I doubt if he will.

St Aubin: Time Tables and Falsehoods

The following is taken from a BBC News story from 21 August 2014:
 
Traders in a Jersey village say they have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds because of summer roadworks. A group of them are now considering withholding a portion of parish rates in protest.
 
David Pallot from Portside studio in St Aubin said takings were 50% down and other shopkeepers in the area had suffered the same problem. Mr Pallot said villagers were originally told the work would be finished by Easter, but says its now not due to be done until November.
 
He is part of the St Aubin Traders Action Group, which has been formed in protest at the damage to business they claim the work has caused. He said some members may seek compensation for the disruption and loss of business they claim has been caused by improvement works in the area.
 
Chris Sampson, of the Transport and Technical Services department, which is carrying out the work, said there was never any discussion of the work being finished as early as Easter. He said traders were given the option for the work to stop during the summer months, but opted not to take it. However, the traders dispute this.
 
Now I'd like the reader to note the phrase "there was never any discussion of the work being finished as early as Easter". This is manifestly false.
 
The Transport and Technical Services Business Plan for 2014, signed by the Minister, Kevin Lewis, gives a strict timetable. Kevin Lewis says in his introduction:
 
"The first of the Village Improvement Schemes will be started in early 2014. Following extensive consultation and working in liaison with the Parish of St Brelade, significant improvements will be made to the centre of St Aubin"
 
When you read through the document, you find
 
"St Aubin's village improvement scheme"
 
And this is given "Target Q2 2014", which means the 2nd quarter of 2014 for completion, at the very latest, June 2014.
 
But further down the document, the dating is even more precise:
 
"Construct St Aubin's village improvement Scheme"
"Key Performance Indicators: Works completed"
"Target: April 2014"
 
"There was never any discussion of the work being finished as early as Easter" says Chris Sampson, but there it is, in black and white, in the document drawn up by TTS itself for 2014. Target: April 2014.
 
Indeed, when the December edition of the Parish Magazine La Baguette came out in 2013, the Constable was well aware of this, and this is reflected in his message to Parishioners:
 
"Some minor works have now begun in St. Aubin as part of the overall improvement scheme for the area. The proposals offer all who live, work and visit, the opportunity to finally deal with many of the concerns over safety in the village with the implementation of a 20mph speed limit coupled with traffic calming measures. During the period of works, which I expect to be complete by Easter 2014, I would ask all who use St. Aubin to be patient as there will, at times, be some disruption to both the traffic and more generally in the area."
 
So why has there been a delay from April to September? Have the original plans (and timetable) been changed? Why is this not reflected in a new "key performance indicator" from TTS, and from Mr Sampson? While there is clear evidence that a date was set, (to paraphrase Mr Sampson) there was never any public discussion of the work being finished as late as September!
 
Will the Minister, Kevin Lewis, actually speak out and issue a statement explaining why there has been a delay of around 4-5 months?
 
As it stands, the target has been well and truly missed, and as for "key performance indicators", what is the point of setting a target date of April 2014, when it is missed by 4 months? Is this purely cosmetic? Does anyone ever revisit these targets, or are they just put in a report to look as if the department is efficient?
 
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-28886574
http://www.labaguette.org.je/Edition26.php?p=3000368
http://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/BP%20TTS%20Business%20Plan%2020140317%20LO.pdf

A Walk to the Pinnacle Rock

Although I’d first visited the site with the Junior Société, I visited the Pinnacle by myself most recently in 2004, when looking for photos to illustrate my “Jersey Wonders”. Then I returned a few years later with Kris Hughes, an Anglesey Druid, when he was temporarily working in Jersey and wanted to see the Neolithic sites in Jersey. But I had not been back for around 8 years.

So this August, Katalin and I went for a walk to the Pinnacle rock. For her it was a first time, an adventure, and for me, it was a welcome return to one of the great sacred sites in Jersey’s prehistory.

There is a good car park at Les Landes, and in August, the headland is full of sweet smelling heather. The dry weather meant the scent was not quite as strong. It was a hot sunny day, but there was quite a good breeze blowing, so we didn’t get either too hot or cold.



Along the coastal paths are various gun emplacements, with guns mounted on them, a legacy of the German Occupation of Jersey in the Second World War. The one close to the car park and the nearby guard hut have both been painted in camouflage colours, which actually seemed rather bright and showy, although perhaps not to the air. They are rather a contrast to the usual dull black or gun metal colours, and come out very well in photographs.





It is a fairly good walk to the top of the Pinnacle rock, and the descent has to be taken slowly, as the track is at places a little steep, with small stones on the path easily giving way underfoot. As I understand it, the Pinnacle itself is a sea stack, an outcrop of rock which was originally cut off from the coast by the sea. Similar stacks can be seen around the headland at La Cotte de St Brelade.

But at the Pinnacle, a rubble of surface rock and ground has at sometime in the distant past filled in that gap, so that the stack became reconnected to the mainland. Wild grasses have grown on top, so that it looks as if it has always been connected, but the tide is eroding the rubble infill away, and there is a cave leading through beneath the site. It can be traversed at lowest tides, but any climb down is only for the experienced, or those with a sure guide.

In recent years, a tourist and their young child, looking over the edge, perhaps to see the cave mouth, tragically fell to their deaths, so it is certainly best not to go too near the edge of the site.

Once down there, the stones of a Neolithic and Bronze age settlement can be seen close up. The Pinnacle itself is a natural menhir, which is probably how it came to be settled, probably at a time when Jersey was cut off from France, but when there was still extensive land across much of St Ouen’s Bay.

There is a vein of dolerite, and archaeologist Mark Patton comments: “Recent research has demonstrated the existence of an axe production centre at Le Pinacle, Jersey, and ‘Type P’ dolerite axes produced at Le Pinacle have been identified in assemblages from Guernsey, Sark and Alderney as well as Jersey. Axes of Type P dolerite, however, seem not to be found on the Armorican mainland. “

The Romans came here too, and there was once a Gallo-Roman temple on this site. It seems to have been very much a sacred magnet, and Katalin and I certainly found it imposing when we had scrambled down the dust track to the very base of the Pinnacle Rock. Ahead, tall and imposing, is the rock itself, like a Menhir (Neolithic standing stone) set down by a giant or a god, and where we were was the ancient stones, some probably at least dating to around 4,500 BC. Look up and inwards, and the curve of the rocks has the effect of a natural amphitheatre.









There are some wild flowers, and I saw a blue butterfly flutter over the stones, perhaps like a spirit of the place, welcoming strangers to respect the fact that this is a sacred shrine.

We climbed up, and it is a steep climb, not for the unfit, until we reached the top, and then gazed back down, and caught our breath back. Nearby, there was a cluster of ragwort growing, blowing in the breeze.



And we made our way back along the coast, until we neared the car park, and could see the wonderful sweep of St Ouen’s Bay from the headland of L’Etacq to Corbière Lighthouse in the distance. It is a wonderful coastline, and I hope it never gets spoilt with developments.

Thinks!

Mainly because it is a bank holiday, and raining, and the poetry group challenge was something with the world "Think" in it, which as "Thinks!" (near enough, I think), made me think of Bluebottle, and the Goon Show. The Goon show had actually finished (in 1960) when I was too young to really appreciate it, but thanks to cassette recordings I came to discover it in the late 1970s at University.

That is probably the best age to discover the Goons and their surrealist brand of comedy, and of course, Monty Python and Spike Milligan's own TV shows had been around earlier in the 1970s. A group of us used to prepare posters for visiting speakers, and at the same time, we listened to the Goon show while we worked. Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, and even the narrator Wallace Greenslade are an unforgettable memory from those days.

There is something about radio which really lends itself to surrealist comedy in a way that television just can't do. Television has to show, whereas radio, like books, expand the imagination, and no more brilliantly than in the Goon show. Now the days of cassettes and cassette players have more or less gone, but CDs of the Goons are still available, and every week, Radio 4 Extra still broadcasts the shows. Goon forever? I think not.

Thinks!
(with apologies to Spike Milligan, and the Goon show)

Thinks! What does I thinks, I ask?
I am a Bluebottle with a task
Which Neddie Seagoon gave little me
For a nice pineapple, almost for free
Go to a Bonded Warehouse in Bond Street
And take the juice pineapple just to eat

My name, dear listener, is Grytpype-Thynne
Count Moriarty and I always like to win
Have a gorilla. You silly, twisted boy, you.
I have a cunning plan. Needle nardle noo!
An exploding pineapple, no more, no less
Oh, Neddie. My a steamroller will make a mess
And diplomatic plates mean I am free
Hidden in a Bond Street, you cannot see

Hello folks! Eccles here! Needle-nardle-noo!
Thought I'd pop up just to surprise you
Major Bloodnok here: gad, it is all lies!
Throwing batter puddings at German spies
Making Elephant soup with squodge spuds
And shooting it, with bangs and thuds
Now Neddie, pull up a chair and sit down
Take off that silly grin, glue on this frown

Thinks! Bluebottle here again. New thinks!
Hand written in my bestest pen and inks
Which Eccles keeps in his spare socks
My pineapple was ticking, now no tocks
Exploded with a bang! You deaded me
Thinks! What dirty rotten swine you be!
High up in the highest air I go
Ying tong iddle I po!