The Restoration – Part 1 by A.C. Saunders

I see that the last time I posted a transcription from A.C. Saunders was back in January this year. So I think that a return to Jersey history is long overdue. Because of the long shadow cast by G.R. Balleine’s History of Jersey, Saunders has been neglected, I think unfairly.

Here is an extract from "Jersey in the 17th century" (1931), by A.C. Saunders. And we have now come to the Restoration, when Charles II was returned to the throne.

The Restoration – Part 1
By A.C. Saunders
On the 29th May, 1660, Charles II landed at Dover, and in his train we find our old friend Sir George Carteret, and, among the deputation receiving him, were Hollis and Fairfax. All moderate people were anxious for peace, and were tired of the continual struggle for power between the many parties who wanted their own way in the government of the country. The good news soon reached Jersey, and Sir Philip de Carteret became Bailiff. The Earl of St. Albans was appointed Governor, and had as his Lieutenant Captain Thomas Jermyn.

We can well imagine the unsettled state of the inhabitants, who during the previous twenty years had been under Royalist, Parliamentarian, Royalist and again Parliamentarian rule, with estates confiscated or heavily fined, as the different parties came into office. We have heard of the acts of Sir George Carteret and his successors on the question of property.

Those who had owned property and been deprived of it, and those who had acquired such property without any permanent security of tenure, must have been of considerable interest to the lawyers who saw visions of much gain in settling the various disputes which must arise, now that the King had come into his own again.

Royalists who had been fined by the Parliamentarians, had many grievances, and hoped that their past services and losses would afford the King an opportunity to show his generosity. He did not fail, but he had little money, and most of what he had he wanted for his own use. There is no doubt that many royalists, in their loyalty to the throne, had sacrificed their all, to further the cause they had at heart. Rich men had had to spend long years in exile in the greatest poverty. These men welcomed the return of the King, and hoped that they would have their estates returned to them. They certainly deserved recognition for their past services.

It is however very interesting to read some of the claims put forward, and how the applicants wished to be recompensed for what they stated they had done. Many asked to have the sale of a baronetcy, so that, by the sale of the same to some rich person who wished a title, they could fill their pockets. Others asked for offices already filled, and on the 30th September 1662, an Order in Council was issued granting to Daniel O'Neil, the sum of five shillings on every French vessel arriving in Jersey.

Although a general pardon had been granted, some of those who had acted as agents for Cromwell must have felt very uneasy. The country was ablaze with enthusiasm for the King, and the Members of Parliament were ready to do anything which they thought would please him.

On the 2nd June 1660, Charles II was proclaimed King for the second time in Jersey by Edward Hamptonne, the Viscount, arnidst the acclamation of the people. All who could, attended the ceremony and there was a great crowd in the Royal Square, whilst cannons were fired and bells rung. What with the beating of drums and the sound of " musick," Jersey must have been a noisy place on that day.

Even in the parish of St. Martin, a stronghold of Parliamentarians, the tocsin was rung from 10 in the morning until 11 at night. People were glad to see the end of Parliament rule, when the people were oppressed by the soldiers and their churches desecrated. They remembered how Governor Gibbons had forced the inhabitants " with their cattel " to work at Elizabeth Castle, without pay, longer hours than under previous Governors. 

The people of St. Laurens had a special grievance against him for he made them work for two tides, with the result that on one dark night five people were drowned with some of their " cattel." No enquiry was made, but some of the " cattel " having escaped from drowning, they were seized by the soldiers at the castle, and slaughtered for their own use. Therefore as they welcomed the return of the King to his throne, we find that Michael Lempriere and his friends found it advisable to disappear for a time.

On the 30th October 1660, the States decided to send a Commission to London to lay before the Privy Council the condition of the Island, and authorised the Constables to levy in their parishes, certain sums to be paid to the Commissioners for their expenses. There is no doubt but that Charles fully recognised the services of his Jersey subjects. They had sheltered him during his days of adversity, and at the risk of their lives, proclaimed him King after the execution of his Father. Even those historians who are apt to criticise his actions severely, are always willing to agree that he was a good King to Jersey.

Now everyone was loyal in the Island and on the 16th April 1661, the oath of allegiance was administered to all Jurats, Constables, and officers of the state. At that sitting it was decided that the oath of allegiance should be administered to all men, over sixteen years of age in the several parishes, on the following 1st May. The undermentioned persons were ordered to see that it was done :

Sir Philip de Carteret for the parish of St. Ouen.
Francis de Carteret for the parish of St. Pierre.
Helier de Carteret for the parish of St Marie
Thomas Pipon for the parish of St Brelade
Philip de Carteret for the parish ofGrouville
Elie Dumaresq for the parish of St Clement
Le Greffier for the parish of St Martin
Carteret La Cloche for the parish of St Sauveur
Helier Hue for the parish of St Helier
Josue de Carteret for the parish of St Jean
Laurence Hamptonne for the parish of St Laurens
Jean Pipon for the parish of La Trinite

The oath was very clear and left no room for a man who later on might wish to get out of it, and it included the following paragraph :-

" Je declarey et reueleray toutes treshisons, conspirations et machinations contre Sa Majeste et heritiers qui perviendront a Enes oreilles et a ma connoissance, dauventage Je jure et promotez que Je detest et abjure cette doctrine damnable ]e qui permet aux subjets de deposer deprive ou occire leer Roy."

Charles had in 1661 pardoned all those who, formerly against him, were willing to take the oath of allegiance, and, in order to assist the authorities to settle the affairs of the Island as quickly as possible, he sent a regiment of soldiers, who landed in St. Ouen's Bay. These men mistaking their mission and thinking they had to deal with a conquered country, treated the Islanders very badly, and demanded of the best of everything from the owners of the houses they passed on the way to the quarters allotted to them in the Town.

Charles confirmed the charters, and privileges of the Island, and, as a proof of his gratitude to the people of Jersey, he presented to the States the mace now carried before the Bailiff when occasion requires. There is an inscription on the mace which recognises the loyalty of the inhabitants to the crown :-

" Charles the second, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, as a proof of his Royal affection towards the Isle of Jersey (in which he has been twice received in safety, when he was excluded from the remainder of his dominions) has willed that this royal mace should be consecrated to posterity ; and has ordered that hereinafter it shall be carried before the baillis, in perpetual remembrance of their fidelity not only to his august father Charles the first, but to his Majesty, during the fury of the Civil wars when the Island was maintained by the illustrious Philip and George de Carteret, Knights, Bailiffs and Governors of the Island."

Thus from 1663 until the present day, Jerseymen have had something to remind them that Charles took every opportunity to show his gratitude for the loyalty and protection which the Island gave him, at a time when he was hunted out of his native land by those who had put a price on his head.

Why was Korris Published?

I’ve been looking back at the actions of Bishop Tim Dakin, and trying to make sense of why he took particular actions. Motivation is, of course, difficult to establish, and even one’s own motivation is not always clear. What follows is therefore a rational reconstruction of events which he almost certainly had to react to, and possible motivations for his reactions.

The Korris report was commissioned in 2011 regarding the complaints by a young woman, HG, about the actions of a churchwarden, and the way the Dean had dealt with them, leading to the effective deportation of HG to the UK. That left her dumped in the UK and destitute.

The commissioning of the report seems to have been just after Tim Dakin took office as Bishop of Winchester. I suspect he inherited paperwork which included complaints from HG. The question was then what should he do about it.

Obviously, as a newly installed Bishop, he would have been very aware of accusations of cover ups of abuse within the church, as a review had just been released by Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss about the Diocese of Chichester, which borders Winchester.

The Bishop of Chichester had just admitted that there had been a cover-up, over a whole range of clergy and sexual abuse of children. The impression being given by the press, as a result, was that the Church of England was just as prone to keep its dirty washing hidden in an ecclesiastical laundry basket as the Roman Catholic Church.

So what Tim Dakin decided to do was something similar to the report for Chichester, and commission his own report. Hence the appointment of Jan Korris to investigate what had happened. A question that has never been adequately explained is why he decided to appoint a psychotherapist, rather than a judge who would be more used to handling evidence. That is a question which remains unanswered.

But Tim Dakin would have had to do something, or face criticism of cover ups. To some extent, he was driven by events.

Looking at the Chichester report, it has a similar structure to Korris. The main difference is that the Chichester report was about priests abusing a number of different boys, over a number of years, not a singular occurrence. Also Butler-Sloss is very clear about deficiencies in the material and evidence she had to work with.

Jan Korris was commissioned to write the report, but was limited in what she could find out. What is more, unlike Chichester, where the police had finally taken action prompting a review, the police had taken no action against the churchwarden. Those involved, such as Jane Fisher, would be giving their version of events – a good historian is aware of bias in how reports are made, but Korris does not seem to have considered that anyone like Jane Fisher would be putting themselves in the best possible light, and omitting anything that might not be so creditable in their interventions.

In historical research, and this is essentially a historical review, a good historian looks for inconsistencies in evidence, and differences between different people’s accounts, as well as multiple attestation where independent sources agree. Taking material or reports at face value is only an option when there are no other sources, or any other way of looking at the material.

This is a weakness of the Korris report – mainly in that she didn’t check what she had been told with HG, who was surely a primary witness, to get a different perspective. A further weakness is that she faced resistance in getting the Dean to participate in the review – which is noted in the report.

And, of course, she only glances at the fact that the Churchwarden evidently had problems (spoken to about being too tactile, chaperoned as a policy by the church, known to the Dean) without investigating further. Of course on that score, the members of the congregation at the Church may well have closed ranks against participating. But what she should have done was include anything like that in her report – that complaints had been made against the churchwarden, but that she had been unable to speak to the people concerned.

Once the report was complete, then Tim Dakin had to decide what action to take. Again events in Chichester put pressure on him to make this public in some fashion. Not to do so would have looked bad – he had commissioned a report about a complaint and then buried it. How would that look? Not at all good, if it leaked out that had happened. So he evidently decided to have it redacted (poorly) and published.

These decisions, while safeguarding is evidently part of them, appear to me to be primarily taken with reputational considerations more than pastoral ones. That can be seen in deciding to publish without consultation with HG, and the effect on HG that publication would have.

From a pastoral point of view, I think that HG should have seen the report before publication, and she should have decided how the diocese might make amends for their treatment of her. Those decisions could have been properly minuted but done privately.

Likewise, any safeguarding deficiencies could have been addressed without the need to go public and intrude on HG’s private life. The release of personal, sensitive data about HG should at the very least been subject to review on Data Protection matters. There is no evidence that this was done – no statement has been released about what the Data Protection officer for the Diocese would have said if consulted.

Instead, with Chichester hanging over him, Tim Dakin appears to have decided to protect his reputation by going public. That’s not to say that there were not pastoral considerations, but they seem to have taken second place to concerns about cover ups.

Now as the report criticised the Dean for not fully co-operating, that meant he might have to take action against the Dean. Again, the question which may have arisen could be termed a reputational one – not to take action smacked of an “old clergy boys” network, and favouritism. Hence the ill-judged suspension of the Dean, and the whole can of worms that opened.

Now this is a rational reconstruction of events and suggested motivations, and may not be correct. But the fact that – unlike any previous Bishop of Winchester – he has a professional PR firm – Luther Pendragon – to address anything to do with press releases suggests that here is a Bishop who is very concerned with how he is seen to act, and very controlling of his public image. Can you imagine Pope Francis communicating by a PR firm?

Protecting the reputation of the church is not wholly wrong. Where abuses have taken place, arguments can be made for transparency to retain the trust of the general public. Decades of cover ups have eroded trust in the Roman Catholic Church, for example. Reputation is partly trust, partly image, and partly pastoral in these cases.

However, there seems to have been little consideration applied in this case in particular about where pastoral considerations conflict with reputational considerations. To release information into the public domain when that release would actually hurt the victim is something which was not been addressed with HG, and such considerations seem alien to the mindset that we see here.

We can see that mindset in a press release from November 2013, where Tim Dakin states: “In all of this, the victim at the heart of the original complaint should not be forgotten. As a Church, we are called to reach out to the least, the last and the lost, even though at times they may reject the help we offer.”

The continual attempts to impose “help” on HG, even when rejected, even when she has made it clear that what she wants is to be left alone by the Diocese, seems to be purveying a message very much like “Nanny knows best”. It is well-meaning, but patronising. There seems to be a need to be seen to be doing something, which seems to me to be at odds with the pastoral consideration which should reflect that HG will probably find some help elsewhere, and perhaps it is time to back off and let her rebuilt her life without interference.

That requires a degree of humility because there is certainly a danger in thinking you know best, especially it seems when the clergy are involved. Doing nothing and letting HG live her life as best she can may seem like a bad choice. But so might be continually raising the spectre of trying to interfere in her life, a kind of well-meaning stalking, and a kind of harassment. Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose.

And in these choices, I think to let alone - to leave be - would be the better one for Tim Dakin and the Winchester staff under his direction. Continually trying to do something reminds me especially in this context of a saying by C.S. Lewis:

“She's the sort of woman who lives for others—you can always tell the others by their hunted expression.”

Does Tim Dakin really want HG to feel hunted? That is the pastoral consideration which should be addressed now. Time for the Diocese to back off.

Felix by Terry Hampton

From the 1994 edition of “The Pilot” comes this interesting historical piece by Terry Hampton, Rector of Grouville at that time. It was part of an occasional series entitled “There in the Bible but…” looking at the background of more obscure figures whom we come across in the Old or New Testament.

It is interesting also in the considering the recurring cry that religion should be something apart from politics, that was precisely the problem that Felix had with Paul talking about justice. Politicians like Felix see management of the political situation as a priority, and while that may be informed by ideas of justice, the managerial approach usually takes precedence.

Felix
By Terry Hampton

"Wasn't there a cartoon cat called Felix?" Possibly, but this particular Felix was a far deadlier and devious individual than any fictitious feline. St Paul met him went he went on that ill-fated visit to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey.

So what do we know about governor Felix? Well, we actually know quite a lot about him, and considerably more than the governor who followed him, Porcius Festus.

Felix "was the first slave in history to become a governor of a Roman province," so said the Roman historian Tacitus. He owed this remarkable state of affairs to his brother Pallas, who was also a freedman, first the favourite of the Emperor Claudius and later the next Emperor Nero. Tacitus also gives the biting comment that Felix "exercised the powers of King with the mind of a slave." Clearly Felix wasn't one of the acerbic Tacitus' favourite characters. Yet he was a man of ability, and particularly good at marrying into powerful circles.

Felix was married three times. His first wife's name isn't known, but he had followed her by marrying a grand-daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. His third wife, who Paul met, was called Drusilla, a daughter of Herod Agrippa I, and a sister of the famous Berenice (who later became the mistress of the future Emperor Titus, the man who reduced Jerusalem to rubble in AD 70).

Felix was stationed in Samaria for two years prior to becoming the Prefect of Judea from AD 52, and he mercilessly crushed any uprisings. One writer says, "He was completely unscrupulous, and was capable of hiring thugs to murder his closest supporters." Some his coins show crossed palm branches, others crossed Roman shields, which clearly is a warning to would-be rioters or revolutionaries!

But he had done his homework about Paul and this new religion, because Acts 24:22 tells us that Felix "had a very good knowledge of the facts about the Way," as the early Christian faith was often called. Is this a link with Jesus' claim to be the Way, and the Truth and the Life?

It is fascinating reading to turn to Act's 24, and look through the opening remarks of the prosecution case made by an orator called Tertullus. "Since through you we enjoy much peace ... and through your provision reforms are introduced ..." (I bet Felix had a cynical smile on his face as he listened to this slimy introduction! 

Clearly Felix did realise that Paul was innocent but that he did not have powerful friends, who would make trouble if Paul was detained without a further trial. (Paul had asked that those who accused him of fomenting riots, and defiling the temple should be in court and so be able to be cross-examined.)

Felix then kept the apostle in prison for two years. But what is fascinating is that during that time Felix quite often talked to Paul. This has echoes of Herod Antipas of Galilee speaking to John the Baptist when he was in prison. Paul spoke to Felix about faith in Jesus, "but when he talked about justice, self-control and future judgment," Felix was alarmed and sent Paul back into prison. 

Oddly enough, the governor did allow Paul some liberty, and friends were allowed to visit him. Was this because Felix was well aware that Paul's Roman citizenship was not something to be messed about with? So Felix and his wife (his third one) Drusilla, listened to Paul, fascinated, and yet frightened, hearing the Gospel and rejecting the cost of the Gospel to them.

After two years, Felix was recalled to Rome and downgraded by Porcius Festus. Felix had blotted his copybook once too often. An outbreak of violence in Caesarea had resulted in the Jews coming out best .and Felix had sent in troops who had killed many Jews. (It was in Caesarea that gone of the earliest civil clashes between Jews and Greeks occurred, and this was one of the main sparks which set off the first Jewish War, culminating in the destraction of the city and Temple in AD 70.)

So that illustrates the dry point that Luke makes in Acts 24:27, that Felix, wishing to please the Jews, left Paul in prison. He had during the two years of Paul's house-arrest, hoped that a hefty bribe would be paid into his private purse, and then Paul would have been released, but neither Paul or his friends had that sort of money or more likely, Paul would have no truck with bribing judges! (There is a lovely quote by Dr Howard Marshall, when commenting on Paul and Felix talking together about justice and self--control, "the very thing that Felix and his wife needed to hear about.")

So what does this sketch of the life of the Roman Prefect of Judea say to us? Isn't one point that we must beware of dabbling about with the claims of Jesus? Clearly Felix was intrigued by Paul and the Gospel which had changed his life, and this Jesus "who Paul claimed to be alive," but Felix still remained, brutal, corrupt, and self-seeking. He is a warning to us!

Brief Lives

At the end of the week, a last look back with a rondel poem at the Great War, and all wars in which so many die young.

Brief Lives
They have died, while we grow old
Sorrow is a lost lover, and a lost son
Life cut short that has scarcely begun
Barbed wire, mud, misery, and cold

Young men so keen, so fresh, so bold
Dreams of victory, of the spoils won
They have died, while we grow old
Sorrow is a lost lover, and a lost son

Wind among the graves is so, so cold
The distant echo of shots from a gun
Shadows remain, in the setting sun
They have died, while we grow old

Children in Need and Pudsey

In 1980, the first Children in Need telethon was broadcast, a series of short segments linking the evening's programming instead of the usual continuity. It was devoted to raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the United Kingdom.

It is amazing that Children in Need began fund raising in 1980. Originally it was a series of short segments linking the evening's programming instead of the usual continuity. But as time went on, the segments grew, and by 1984, there was a continuous programme running the whole evening.

Pudsey Bear has also evolved, and the photo above shows a Pudsey almost unrecognisable from the modern incarnation, show here with a very young looking Sue Cook and Terry Wogan. The bear was created in 1985 by BBC graphic designer Joanna Ball, and named after her hometown of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, where her grandfather was mayor.

In 1986, the bear underwent a revamp, and the elements we know today began to appear. The new bandana design was white with red spots, one of the buttons was removed and the logotype now appeared as building bricks, which spelled out "BBC CHILDREN IN NEED" in capital letters. 2007 saw another change in the design, as all the buttons were removed, and Pudsey's bandana had multicoloured spots.

The 1986 Domesday project doesn’t mention Children in Need, but it does mention Pudsey a lot – the town, not the bear:

"Pudsey's industries are located in a) 18th and 19th century stone mills spread over the built-up areas and beside streams which were the original power source. b) purpose-built units on an industrial estate situated between major road and rail links. Few old mills serve their original purpose. Some have moved over to man-made fibres whilst others have been converted into smaller units, e.g. small warehouses, a printer's shop, a plumber's suppliers. In the main the modern units house distribution sites for national companies or small firms concerned with home improvement. Several metal-based industries concentrate on specialist items, e.g. park fencing and castings. Regrettably many units, both old and new, display the all-too-familiar TO LET signs."

Nowadays Pudsey shows little sign of its industrial heritage. During the Industrial Revolution, Pudsey was said to be one of the most polluted areas of the UK due to its position within a slight valley and between the two industrial cities of Leeds and Bradford. People joked that the pigeons in Pudsey Park had to fly backwards to keep the soot out of their eyes. Today there is a Pudsey in Bloom group.

The whole Leeds Metropolitan District still experiences deprivation, in part from the decline of the traditional industries, although Pudsey itself is not among the most deprived area. Some nearby wards are among the most the most-deprived 10% in England. . This is a proportion that is lower than in other Local Authorities covering major cities – such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle, as well as nearby Bradford and Sheffield – but is high relative to the rest of England, according to a report a few years ago.

Income deprivation affects families, and this in turn can have a knock on effect on the support and quality of children's education. Children in Need, with its projects, can address some areas of deprivation, and make children's lives immeasurably better.

Jersey in the 1980s - BBC, Tourism, and Demographics

I’ve just been enjoying perusing Domesday Reloaded.

The picture above is the “Liberation Anniversary Arch”. It was at the entrance to The Battle of Flowers Arena on Victoria Ave. In 1985 it was also used to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Liberation.

Back in 1986, the BBC decided to celebrate the 900th Anniversary of the Domesday book by getting groups of people to submit pictures and observations about the places they lived. Information was collated via BBC Microcomputers, and early floppy disks. Other material included colour photos, statistical data, videos and "virtual walks".

It was put on laser discs, but of course the technology changes made that rapidly become out of date, and so it rested, moribund, until it was revived in 2011 into a web based format. It is fascinating, because this is a work where the most sophisticated computer which most people came across (outside of businesses) was the BBC Micro.

It was an era with three and then four TV channels – and that was all! No mobile phones, except large clunky cell phones which looked like bricks. Even in businesses, computers were just starting to gain inroads, and the photocopier was beginning to replace carbon copies in typewriters. Fax machines were gradually becoming more common, but the telex machine was still often a part of the business equipment for communicating across the world.

And BBC Radio Jersey was just starting up. It was largely news story based, and not broadcasting continuously through the entire day as it does now. Here is a piece about it, and about Rediffusion, a cable TV channel, now long defunct (in 1988):

“Local B.B.C. Radio Jersey is situated in Rouge Bouillon and was set up in 1982. It broadcasts on the same wavelength as Radio Two. It has a manager and a producer and a number of free-lance reporters. Its broadcasts cover local news, emergencies and weather forecasts. It also broadcasts local entertainment programmes, local interests and outside broadcasts on special occasions. “

“Rediffusion Electronics Works. There are 2 works on this site. Rediffusion Channel Islands was opened in 1976. It repairs Rediffusion TVs, videos, radios and other electrical equipment. It also installs cable television facilities and has done so since 1984. Rediffusion Reditronics is a factory which makes amplifiers and background music systems. It employs around 100 people, mainly local women.”

The tourism season was slowing down by the end of the 1980s, but in 1986 there was still a substantial industry. This piece looks at the kind of tourists one might expect to see. The small private hotels and guest houses have largely gone, turned into flats or lodging houses. And there is not much nightlife left either!

“In our area there are lots of small private hotels and guest houses. We thought we would do a survey to find out about accommodation used by holiday makers, the length of their holiday, where they lived and why so many of them chose Jersey for their holidays. ”

“We prepared a questionnaire which we used to record the answers of fifty holiday makers. We found that most visitors were staying in small hotels. The average length of holiday was one to two weeks. Most visitors were from the Midlands and the south of England. They had chosen to come to Jersey for their holidays because they thought that Jersey had a lot of attractions such as better weather than England, good beaches, plenty of nightlife. Everyone we spoke to said that they were enjoying their holidays. “

And finally, this survey of employment of parents from St Clement’s school gives an interesting demographic.

“We found out what is the most popular job of parents in St Clement's School. We started off in the Infants and worked our way up to Junior 4 “

Building Trade = 53 Parents
Finance = 35 Parents
Tourism = 19 Parents
Sales People = 16 Parents
Working with children = 12 Parents
Agriculture = 11 Parents
Cleaners = 11 Parents
Health Workers = 9 Parents
Other Jobs = 23 Parents

“The most popular is the Building Trade because there are so many buildings being built in the Island. Finance is the second most popular job because lots of people work in Banking which is one of Jersey's main employers. Tourism is third because Jersey is a Tourist Island.”

One has to also remember that the demographic of the Island’s private schools, as now, would probably have been very different with a larger proportion in finance and the legal profession.

Postscript

Murray Norton adds:

Tony, the report was slightly inaccurate in that BBC Radio Jersey did not broadcast on the same wavelength as Radio 2 but on its own at 88.8FM & 292 MW. It did have a limited schedule in the early days. It rebroadcast Radio 2 when not delivering it's news. So in and out of Ray Moore, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Gloria Hunniford & John Dunne it was mainly news at breakfast, lunchtime & Jersey at Five. By 1984 the station has grown into programmes with a two hour breakfast show with Ros Forrester, Lunchbreak with Richard Johnson & Jersey at Five with me. Station manager was Mike Warr, news editor was Mike Vibert.

Freedom of Information: Some Comments

 “A former government department will be included in Jersey's upcoming freedom of information law, if an amendment by the chief minister is approved. Andium Homes, which used to be the Housing Department before being turned into a government owned company, was not previously included in the law. The freedom of information law covers States of Jersey departments and comes into force on 1 January 2015. Senator Ian Gorst wants Andium Homes to be included from the start. A spokesman for Andium Homes said it planned to abide by the law on a voluntary basis anyway.”(1)

This is the big law coming up, although just like the UK, there will be exemptions. Criticism was made in the last Assembly that Andium Homes would be outside of the remit of the law, and it is good to see that Senator Gorst has taken on that criticism. The amendment says:

“The purpose of this amendment is to add Andium Homes to Schedule 1 so that the

Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (“the Law”) will apply to that incorporated body, to take effect from 1st January 2015, that is from the same date as all departments of the States”

The question relating to it was made by Deputy Roy Le Hérissier in September this year, when he asked:

“Does the Chief Minister consider that agencies like Andium should be subject as soon as possible to the full provisions of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011?

Ian Gorst was not present so Ian Le Marquand answered in his behalf:

“It is the intention of the Chief Minister, if he is still Chief Minister after the 2-stage elections, first of all to bring a proposition to the States to extend to the Parishes from September 2015 and then to phase-in the other such items, including Andium, which potentially lie within the law as soon as is reasonably possible.”

The importance of Andium being under the Freedom of Information Law was made plain in that assembly by Deputy Judy Martin:

“Up until Andium became Andium and was Housing, any tenant could - and I have been with them - go in and see every record about themselves.”

But Constable Juliette Gallichan gave an example of what could and what would not be made available under the new Law:

“This gives a right to information unless that information is in the absolute exempt category. But public, official and statistical information, the costs of doing various things can be accessed, but not information like ‘does Mrs Smith have a house in St Mary?”

That makes sense, because while an individual has a right under Data Protection to obtain information about their own situation, they would not have the right to get private information about other people. In fact, in the September Assembly, Mike Higgins pointed out that Data Protection would still allow individuals access to their own data:

“The Freedom of Information Law does not mean lack of information for residents.

Residents can still get their information under the Data Protection Law. If they file a subject access request, any personal information they are entitled to get.”

So what kind of information might we expect from Freedom of Information and Andium Homes? In March 2013, Tom Morrison, writing in the New Law Journal, posed precisely this point:

“Whereas the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) gives individuals the right to ask any person or organisation for a copy of information which is held about them, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) gives every person or organisation the right to ask any public authority for any other information it holds. In broad terms, unless an exemption applies, a public authority is likely to have to provide the information requested within 20 working days”.

So what kind of questions might be posed?

Without naming names, bands of salaries of employees – as for the States – can be obtained. They can be compared with the salary banding of the States sector, and indeed of the former Housing Department – Andium has taken over staff. Average (mean) and Median pay would also be useful to see if the privatisation of housing has led to inflation of salaries. As well as senior pay, details on severance payments would be useful to obtain.

Other questions which could be asked:

What was the range of rents, median rent, average rent and rises?
How many new social housing tenants were there in particular years?
How many existing social housing tenants were there in those years?

It can be seen that Freedom of Information requests relate to broad matters, whereas personal data requests would come under Data Protection. Freedom of Information requests should not conflict with Data Protection.

In the UK, and in Scotland, one of the requirements of a Freedom of Information Act is that a public authority should routinely and proactively make certain types of information available. This requirement is referred to in the Act as a “publication scheme”.

I expect we will see this planned and occurring in Jersey.

Examples – taken from the Homes and Communities Agency include:

Details of all expenditure over £500
Details of tenders and contracts
Financial statements
Staff and board members allowances and expenses
Procurement and tendering procedures
Lists of contracts awarded and their value
Financial statements for projects and events
Internal financial regulations
Records Retention Schedule
Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews
Annual business plans / annual reports
Statistics produced
Decision making processes and records of decisions
Public consultations
Minutes of senior level meetings
Internal Communications guidance and criteria used for decision making
Policies and procedures
Regulatory responsibilities

Obviously, if these do not fall into the “publication scheme”, they can be subject to Freedom of Information requests.

References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-29987765
http://www.newlawjournal.co.uk/nlj/content/private-eye-4
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/publication-scheme

Armistice Day

There has been in recent times, a modern revival of the custom of taking a minute's silence on Armistice Day, not on Remembrance Sunday, but on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

In our office, a room is set aside for 11 am. A candle is lit, decorated with a few poppies around its base. For those who wish, they come through at around 10.55 am, and wait for the one minute's silence. I always prepare a small folded A6 piece with selections for contemplation, as well, and below are a selection from this year.

Remembrance
The narrow bridge of mourning
spans generations.

Overnight every dream shows
destruction. Ashes and bones.

Remembrance wells up.
Not only at the cemetery

but when planting, or
listening to the radio.

The moment of silence
lasts forever.

- Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

After the War
After the war perhaps I'll sit again
Out on the terrace where I sat with you,
And see the changeless sky and hills beat blue
And live an afternoon of summer through.

I shall remember then, and sad at heart
For the lost day of happiness we knew,
Wish only that some other man were you
And spoke my name as once you used to do.

May Wedderburn Cannan, In War Time

Prayer

Lady, whose shrine stands on the promontory,
Pray for all those who are in ships, those
Whose business has to do with fish, and
Those concerned with every lawful traffic
And those who conduct them.

Repeat a prayer also on behalf of
Women who have seen their sons or husbands
Setting forth, and not returning:
Figlia del tuo figlio,
Queen of Heaven.

Also pray for those who were in ships, and
Ended their voyage on the sand, in the sea's lips
Or in the dark throat which will not reject them
Or wherever cannot reach them the sound of the sea bell's
Perpetual angelus.

- T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

Ave
In cities and in hamlets we were born,
And little towns behind the van of time;
A closing era mocked our guiless dawn
With jingles of a military rhyme.
But in that song we heard no warning chime,
Nor visualised in hours benign and sweet
The threatening woe that our adventurous feet
Would starkly meet.

Thus we began, amid the echoes blown
Across our childhood from an earlier war,
Too dim, toos oon forgotten, to dethrone
Those dreams of happiness we thought secure;
While, imminent and fierce outside the door,
Watching a generation grown to flower,
The fare that held our youth within its power
Waited its hour.

- Vera Brittain

Prayer for Remembrance Day
For those who were killed in battle,
For those who gave up their lives to save others
For those who fought because they were forced to,
For those who died standing up for a just cause
For those who said war was wrong,
For those who tried to make the peace
For those who prayed when others had no time to pray
For those creatures who needlessly die
For those trees that needlessly are slaughtered
For all of mankind
let us quietly pray:

May your God hold them in peace
May Love flow over the Earth and cleanse us all
This day and for always.

Marianne Griffin 11am 11 November 2004

Post Election Blues

Post Election Blues
St Helier No 1: Possibilities
Martin, Judy – 946 (elected)
Labey, Russell – 811 (elected)
Wickenden, Scott – 476 (elected)
Kerrigan, Shannen – 355
Le Cornu, Nick – 311
Risoli, Gino – 192

Nick Le Cornu and Gino Risoli are calling for a straight re-run of all the candidates with Scott Wickenden disallowed from standing again because his nomination paper was wrong.

I don’t think this is at all fair on the other two successful candidates, who after all did provide valid nomination papers, and won fair and square. As I can see it, there are several possibilities, and that is the lowest and most unlikely.

What I think is most likely is one of two possibilities:

First, as the Town Hall was ultimately responsible for checking the nomination papers, it may be decided that the fault did not lie with Scott Wickenden, who would not have had at that time a copy of the electoral role. One once nominated – but only then - can candidates get a copy for £50 (to cover Data Protection charges). The Data Protection office, must, incidentally, make a lot out of elections!

In fact this must be well known to Gino Risoli. When he turned up at the St Helier No 1 bi-election with a blank nomination form, and asked people present if they’d like to nominate him, he was told that the nomination papers have to be checked by the Parish.

So on that basis, the law may apply discretion, and let Mr Wickenden’s election stand, as long as it is clear he did everything he could to ensure that his nominees lived in the district – and having the Town Hall check them would fall into that category. He would have also asked the nominee, but it seems they live on a road which is both in and out of the district, and had just moved, hence might well have been uncertain which district they were in.

On the other hand, the Court might decide that, regardless, Mr Wickenden’s election was null and void, and debar him from the States. This would, I venture to suggest, be like the case of the Trevor and Shona Pitman. Mr Wickenden would immediately loose his seat forthwith, and the due process of a bi-election would be called. In such an eventuality, there would be no reason why he could not stand again with a proper set of nominees, or, for that matter, others decide to stand as well.

Either way, the result that Nick le Cornu and Gino Risoli want, which would give then a better chance because of the more limited number of candidates, seems very unlikely to happen.

Referendum Fine Print
Should politicians support the views of their constituencies and represent them? A number of candidates said they would support the results of the Referendum, but does that mean Islandwide, or where they are? For the sake of clarity, in St Helier:

District 1: 679 Yes, 705 No
District 2: 579 Yes, 561 No
District 3: 818 Yes, 821 No
District 4: 464 Yes, 475 No

District 2 was the only St Helier District to support the Yes vote. Sitting Deputies there are Rod Bryans, Sam Mezec, and Geoff Southern. Do they follow the democratic mandate given to them in the Referendum? And if not, why not? Expect prevarication.

In St Brelade, Yes also gained more votes than No, where the other Reform member, Montfort Tadier, sits - so strictly speaking Reform, if they are to reflect their constituencies wishes, should let the matter of the Constables drop.

Recount Results
The recount results for the whole Senatorial elections are available on the Vote.Je website, and they demonstrate some small differences of about one vote or two, some larger ones around 20 votes. As I commented earlier, because mistakes are randomly distributed, they are not significant in ordering with such large numbers, although it is also clear that the counting process is riddled with errors. Not one vote turned out the same. Robust - no! Just fortunate in how statistical error works. And somewhere in the recount, 22 votes vanished overall!

Gorst, Ian (elected): 14,035 (original count: 14,037)
Bailhache, Philip (elected): 13,759 (original count: 13,770)
Green, Andrew (elected): 13,252 (original count: 13,240)
Maclean, Alan (elected): 11,694 (original count: 11,698)
Routier, Paul (elected): 10,962 (original count: 10,964)
Cameron, Zoe (elected): 10,413 (original count: 10,412)
Farnham, Lyndon (elected): 10,413 (original count: 10,409)
Ozouf, Philip (elected): 10,080 (original count 10,062)

Ferguson, Sarah: 9,809 (original count: 9,800)
Dooley-Power, Sean: 8,249 (original count: 8,263)
Young, John: 7,074 (original count 7,095)
Ferey, Malcolm: 6,475 (original count: 6,488)
Habin, Geoff: 5,328 (original count: 5,329)
Southern, Anne: 4,281 (original count: 4,276)
De Faye, Guy: 3,384 (original count: 3,381)
Magee, Chris: 3,158 (original count: 3,153)
Kruszynski, Konrad: 2058 (original count: 2059)
Richardson, David: 1,801 (original court: 1,811)

Total number of votes: 146,225 (original count: 146,247)

Remembrance

I remember John Perry when I was doing biology O-Level at Victoria College, now a lifetime ago. College at that time was awash with ex-military types who had turned their hand to teaching, some good, others more like those described in “Goodbye Mr Chips” as “old crocks”. I found John Perry to be one of the better ones.

He came to the College in 1963 as a biology teacher. In an appreciation given by Brian Vibert when he left the school in 1989, he was described as "exacting but fair, versatile in his approach, ready to change his techniques and attitude to teaching when he felt it necessary, even if he did not personally wish to. He loved the subject he taught and expected others to enthuse too."

I still can picture him – tall, and with a somewhat florid face. But outside of lessons, I didn’t really get to see him. I never joined the school CCF, as I have an aversion to military square bashing, and anything like that. For one thing, like Corporal Jones in “Dad’s Army”, I cannot keep time, even when clapping to music, I am always a beat out.

But the name rang bells, and memories, when I came across this piece from “The Pilot” in 1994, I remembered the name. This piece is all about memory, and it is full of memories. Memories connect us, and here John Perry uses his own memories, and those of his ancestors, to connect to those remembered from conflicts then and today.

There is a piece in “Goodbye Mr Chips”, where Chips reads the name of the former German teacher at the school out at school assembly – he has died in the trenches. I couldn’t help but recall that when I read about John Perry’s old college of St Catherine’s College, where the panel of 54 names of those who died in the Great War also remembers Leonard Hubert Jagenberg, of the Royal German Navy Flying Corps, because he was an “old boy”. He was killed in a training accident on 7th October 1914.

And that is the other part of remembrance- reconciliation. Seeing the ties which transcend national boundaries, in this case, membership of a Cambridge college, but deeper than that, our common humanity binds us all.

At Theberton Parish Church in Suffolk, a large board commemorates 16 German Airmen who were buried in the churchyard after a Zeppelin was shot down in 1917. The graves were tended and remembered as much as those of the village men who had also died. The board also says “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master, he standeth or falleth” (Romans 14:4)

I am very pleased that a wreath will also be laid this Sunday at the memorial by the Churchyard entrance of St Brelade’s Church for the Germans who died here during the Occupation, and who were buried in the cemetery by that entrance. And also that the minutes silence now takes place on the 11th as well, something which was not the case when John Perry penned this article.

Remembrance
By John Perry
This oft-quoted word derives from memories. Many of us can remember items from the past, either locations or people or both from many years ago or the events of the last few months. It may well be that the "olde worlde" thatched cottage on the corner or a particular bend in a long-forgotten country lane suddenly transports you to times past; pleasant or not so.

For myself, brought up on a large manorial estate near Cambridge, there stands a bridge over a series of lakes. Some three generations ago the .Lord of the Manor had an inscription placed on each side of that bridge.

Margaret and I stood on that span earlier in the year and as I looked down the largest of the lakes, memories of the thirties flooded back. That gentleman crossed the bridge, travelled to Australia and died there (mid-thirties).

Nearer home, on Battle of Britain Air Display Day, the mere sound and vibration of the Merlin. engines of the Lancaster and Spitfire recalled those days in the forties when airfields such as Bourn, Gransden, Graveley, Duxford and Bassingbourn daily disgorged aeroplanes overhead manned: by young men, many still in their 'teens, who fought in the skies and died that we might live in freedom. They died over Britain, over Europe, over Jersey;, over Asia as many others died before and after them not only in the air but on the ground, on and under the sea.

These men and women from all walks of life we bring together on the nearest Sunday to 11th November each year: Remembrance Sunday, when we lay wreaths of .Flanders poppies and stand still with our own memories of wars large and small - from the 1914-18 War where my father fought at Mons, Ypres and on the. Somme, to 1939-45 when my small village lost its young men as the “Cambridgeshires” spent their war years in captivity in Changi PoW Camp on the Burma-Siam Railway.

Since then Korea, Kenya, Northern Ireland, the. Gulf, Bosnia, Aden, Suez and Trucial-Oman -all have added names to the lists on War Memorials all over the world. Names not just of British, nationals: but also of Allied and Commonwealth Servicemen and women.

In Remembrance : there is a:poignancy - of :lives begun- and then cut off in their primes

"They shall not grow old
as we grow old."

In many places young men are remembered from the ranks of the opposing army. In my old college in Cambridge, the Great War memorial records one "Jagenberg" under the heading, 'In Hostis Amicus." He is remembered: as an old member of the college, not as an enemy.

These names engraved in stone or wood serve to remind us not only of those who made the ultimate sacrifice as indeed did Our Lord some 2000 years ago, but also of those still 'living – some fit and well, others crippled in mind or body who must for their lifetime be looked after by us.

I no longer lay the Victoria College wreath on our own Cenotaph here in Jersey but watch the Whitehall service on television. In 1993 Margaret and I attended the service at the Hong Kong Cenotaph with an unfortunate chattering background of uninterested bystanders. We noted the "Chindit" wreath later and that was Margaret's memory of her father who was a Padre in "Ferguson's Column" in Burma in 1943-44.

A few days previously we were sitting in our Boeing 767 of Qantas Airlines at Sydney airport awaiting take-off. The ding-dong of the public address system alerted us. It was the captain. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "it is now just before 11 o'clock on 11th November. If you would care to be silent with your own thoughts of Remembrance at this time I will quieten the engines. Thank you." The aircraft, with not an empty seat, was suddenly very quiet and remained so for a few minutes. To our shame we did not connect our take-off time 11 o'clock with the Anniversary of the Armistice in 1918.

Before the outbreak of the Second World War a silence was kept on "Armistice Day," 11th November, when most people throughout the then British Empire stopped what they were doing for those moments,

We found it incredible that at least one person still thought along those lines. It has often been said that the big parades and services of "Remembrance Days" glorify wars and conflicts. I for one having during Army service taken part in some of those parades and services strongly disagree.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them."

Let us never forget - least of all. when the Last Post sounds on Sunday 13th.

Remember Me

As we approach Remembrance Sunday, a short piece about remembering, and those lost, whose bodies were never found again, and how they were once someone's child, growing up, and all the promise cut short.

Remember Me
 
Remember bones of forgotten soldiers lie
In no man's land. They fall, they die,
But no one knows then or even today,
Where they were killed, where they lay;
Life snuffed out like a candle's flame,
And in an instant gone. And no name
For the unknown soldier. But one day,
He had been a young baby, and a ray
Of sunshine, a blessing to his parents,
Who would scarce believe clothes rent
By bullets, lying there, still, all alone,
Left to become shapeless rags and bone;
The schoolboy, playing pranks, happy fun,
And little knowing of a blood red setting sun;
Remember me, remember those with no name,
Those left, whom no one returned to claim;
Into the dark, the valley of the shadow of death,
They all went, each one lost, each last dying breath,
Taken on the winds of the world, blown away,
And all we can do is light a candle now and pray.

Beating the Puritan Drum

"LAUGHTER has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration; it unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy; it makes men forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something (as the common phrase goes about a joke) that they cannot resist."

~G.K. Chesterton: "The Common Man."

Parish Magazines are not as a rule strictly political, so I decided to see if there was any mileage in something decidedly apolitical for an article. I’m am also going to do a random survey as well in St Brelade. And yet it is political, in the sense that it effects ordinary people – and their dogs.

The question posed on Facebook was whether the current regulations about dogs on beaches are fine as they stand, or do people want to see them relaxed or to have dog free beaches. Currently, dogs must be on a lead on the Jersey beaches from 10.30 am to 18.00 pm between 1 May and 30 September.

It’s a human interest matter, perhaps light, and not too controversial. And I did say it was for an article. So why does Mike Dun weigh in with this criticism?

“Pity you don't devote your time to researching about the 10,500 resident working adults without housing quals and such related matters as where they might be housed now and where they might be housed in 10 years time - especially since the CM has specifically referred to adequately housing everybody...its whatever you think more important I suppose....did the CM refer to dog excrement in his speech to the States? - I must have missed it.”

I have grave doubts as to whether Mike Dun has a sense of humour, unlike Clive Dunn, who certainly did. He certainly cannot appreciate that life is not all about large issues all the time. In his book, anyone who looks at small matters, yet matters where legislation effects dog owners, and there are plenty of those, is committing some kind of misdemeanour.

To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, there is a time for lightness, a time for seriousness. If you cannot deal with lighter matters just some of the time, you come across as a political grumpy old man. And lighter matters are important too, albeit not as important as housing.

I get “The Week”, which is a kind of digest of stories in all kinds of papers – the UK daily papers, foreign papers, science stories, economics stories, etc etc. And amidst all the more serious stuff is a section called “It must be true, I read it in the tabloids”. It is there precisely because the readers want a mix to read, the heavyweight stuff and the lighter stuff.

The same is true with Private Eye, which is certainly not an “establishment” magazine by any standards. Some levity is needed.It has a central area which is the "colour section" where there is satire, spoof and plain funny cartoons.

And when the TV programme, “That’s Life” was on, it was a mixture of consumer pieces, which were serious, investigative, and the more comic asides such as Cyril Fletcher’s Odes.

The attitude of Mr Dun seems wholly opposed to this. He clearly frowns on anything trivial, because it detracts from the serious. In short, whatever his religious sensibilities, he is a puritan, beating the puritan drum.

The puritan frame of mind is well described by Joseph C. Sommer

“Puritans often viewed laughter, happiness, and pleasure as suspect and undesirable. Making matters worse, they frequently tried to impose their doleful philosophy on others.”

Looking at Mike Dun’s comments on Facebook, I cannot but help think he would have been rather at home in the Puritan milieu. I’d really like to see a blog post from his nom de plume, Tom Gruchy, on politics and laughter. If he thinks the two do not go together, I suggest he reads Chesterton.

“It is much easier to convince people by saying serious things in a humorous way -than by writing them, as G.K. Chesterton did, in a style so sparkling with paradox and witty not to say comic illustration that they became dissipated in a cloud of laughter.” (Emile Canunaerts)

And Chesterton himself wrote:

"Seriousness is not a virtue. It would be a heresy, but a much more sensible heresy, to say that seriousness is a vice. It is really a natural trend or lapse into taking one's self gravely, because it is the easiest thing to do. It is much easier to write a good TIMES leading article than a good joke in PUNCH. For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity."

Playing Safe – or Playing to Strengths?

Playing Safe – or Playing to Strengths?

Geoff Southern accuses Ian Gorst of playing safe, and Ian Gorst presents his new team as playing to the strengths of the candidates. As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

One thing is certain – this is a broad Council of Ministers, not one of Ministerial cronies. If anyone forgets what that looks like, I suggest they look back at Terry Le Sueur’s dismal tenure when the Council was largely packed with people he felt safe with. Even so, he miserably failed to prevent the falling out between Bill Ogley and Philip Ozouf, despite signing the golden handshake deal with Mr Ogley.

By contrast, this is a Council of Ministers picked carefully more for talent. Although one thing has gone without notice by other bloggers - all except Rod Bryans are Yes Campaign supporters. I'm sure that didn't play a part in the choices, but was more of a statistical side-effect.

Treasury – Alan Maclean
Playing safe – Alan Maclean came 3rd in the Senatorials, and was in a strong position to challenge Ian Gorst, make divisions which might have been difficult to live with. The easier choice was to give him the role he aspired to. There’s a sense that there is a Blair / Brown deal behind the scenes. Whether someone who gave away £200,000 to a fantasy film without due diligence is a good choice remains to be seen! But perhaps he has learnt from his mistakes.

Health – Andrew Green
Playing to strengths – Andrew Green has shown admirable skill at Housing, and was also able to work with Deputy Tadier regarding the latter’s proposition on rental dwelling minimum standards. His showing in the elections demonstrate the electorate see someone who can sort out the various problems facing the health department – a critical report on mental health, a new hospital site, and an entrenched silo mentality and large managerial structure. The only organisation charts of the entire structure are those prepared personally by former Senator Sarah Ferguson!

External Relations – Philip Bailhache
Playing to strengths – Sir Philip is perhaps not that dynamic, but he has the gravitas needed for dealing with Whitehall mandarins and the like. You need a Sir Philip to deal with a Sir Humphrey Appleby.

TTS – Eddie Noel
Given the property holdings portfolio moves with Eddie Noel to TTS, if he gets the post, this is playing to strengths. But will we finally get the Street Works Law promised by Kevin Lewis during most of his tenure as Minister, and forever delayed? Does Eddie have the ability to deal with the layers of management that have accrued to the Department? (Managers at the incinerator outnumber the workforce by at least 2 to 1). And will he get it or will Kevin Lewis get back in? I think this may be a close run thing.

Home Affairs – Kristina Moore
A move from Scrutiny to Minister. Playing to strengths. Scrutiny requires the ability to be critical but constructive, and someone good at scrutiny could also be excellent as a Minister. It’s a pity Deputy Hilton, who has delivered outstanding Scrutiny reports, has not been given any role though.

Economic Development – Lyndon Farnham
Long awaited, and playing to strengths – Lyndon is certainly the one to deal with tourism and his experience of the industry will stand him in good stead. Perhaps not so strong with finance, but some of that will shift to the Chief Minister’s department under an Assistant Minister, Philip Ozouf, in a role created specially for him.

That is also playing to Senator Ozouf’s strengths, and getting him to focus on specific areas to bring in business from abroad, where he already has built up networks to use, and taking him away from the Treasury, where he has sometimes been to ad hoc in decision making. But the decision about Philip Ozouf is also playing safe – with a remit like this, he won’t challenge Alan Maclean.

Social Security – Susie Pinel
Playing safe. She was Assistant Minister. However, she was very much a silent partner under Minister Francis Le Gresley, making virtually no contributions at States sittings. Will her light now come out from under its bushel? Or is she really too lightweight? Time will tell. But by nominating her when she has expressed a desire for the department, Ian Gorst avoids her challenging someone else for the post.

Education, Sport and Culture – Rod Bryans
Now reduced to Education and Skills, it will certainly not be left and neglected as it was under Patrick Ryan, a Minister so concerned with not making mistakes, that he didn’t make anything happen. Bryans is a peculiar member of the States, sometimes coming out with “blue sky” or “whacky ideas” like his cards to give out for acts of kindness. But innovative thinking outside the box is perhaps what is needed. Playing to strengths, and by no stretch of the imagination playing safe. Edward de Bono would approve.

Housing – Anne Pryke
Playing safe. Now that housing has mostly left to Andium Homes with housing staff, this is a clear demotion to a skeleton department. Stuff to deal with – deposits, implementing the minimum standards legislation. But small fry. Interesting that she has still been kept on as a Minister whereas Kevin Lewis has been booted out. It is clearly playing safe because by putting her here, she is removed from Health and will not challenge Andrew Green because she has a Ministry.

Planning and Environment – Steve Luce
This will be interesting – after two planning ministers with grand ideas (albeit different ones), will we actually get someone who has some notion of what is best for the island? I suspect his major input into the Yes Campaign may well have tipped him for higher office. Clearly playing to strengths. We don’t want another Freddie Cohen with Masterplans and Freddie’s Folly at Portelet, or Rob Duhamel with maverick planning decisions.

Remember, remember, fireworks are dangerous.

Today is the 5th of November, when people celebrate by letting off explosive devices, without the slightest problem about terrorist activity. It is fireworks night!

Now I have no problems with fireworks in organised displays, because they have set times. What I object to is the random setting off fireworks by individuals from now for at least a month, sometimes even longer if they have the odd firework left over to set off New Year’s Eve. And there is a lot of that about.

So here are some firework stories - mostly from this year already - about how hazardous fireworks can be, and why it is perhaps time to restrict their use to organised displays. There are responsible individuals who take care and have firework parties, but there are a quite a few careless or malicious users of fireworks.

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/11567960.Firework_thugs_will_be_treated_as_criminals__warns_safety_boss/?ref=ec

FIREWORK hooligans have been issued with a tough warning by Bradford's public safety boss following two incidents where people were put at risk.

In one incident a terrified family were ambushed in their home by hooded yobs who hurled a lit firework into the building, leaving two asthmatic brothers aged 10 months and two years old needing hospital treatment.

Another resulted in the arrest of a man at City Park, Bradford, following reports that fireworks were being hurled around the area mid afternoon.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/383087/fireworks-incident-in-thurso/

A firework which was set off in the centre of a north town on Friday night then entered a nearby house and caused damage.

The incident happened at a property in Traill Street in Thurso at about 11.10pm. Two fire appliances from the town were called to the scene and the firework was extinguished straight away.

A police spokesman said that the damage appeared to have been caused by a firework being set off nearby and then flying into the house.

http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/dundee/dundee-fireworks-incident-sparks-action-call-1.651178

A Dundee chip shop owner is demanding action after claiming children as young eight have been setting off fireworks. Graeme Squire, 50, who runs Tony’s fish and chip shop in Mid Craigie, said he saw a group of youths letting off bangers before running away in the Linfield Street area on Friday afternoon. He now wants to find out how youngsters are getting their hands on the potentially dangerous devices.

The action call comes just days after a group of youths set off fireworks in a car park near Asda in Milton of Craigie. One resident said the youngsters were lighting them and throwing them into people’s gardens.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed officers had received reports of fireworks being set off, but no one was caught.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/aston-schoolboy-suffers-serious-eye-8032184

A Birmingham schoolboy has been treated for serious injuries to his eye and hand after a firework he was holding exploded. A spokeswoman said: “Crews were called to a teenager who had reportedly become injured when a firework that he had been holding exploded.

“On arrival at the scene, crews found a 15 year old boy who had sustained a serious eye injury and an injury to his hand. Crews treated and dressed his injuries at the scene before conveying the teenager to the specialist eye unit at City Hospital for further assessment and treatment.”

The spokesman added: “Unfortunately despite the many warnings issued at this time of year our crews are sadly all too familiar with people who have injured themselves in firework incidents.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/paramedics-warn-fireworks-exploding-peoples-8021640

Paramedics in Birmingham are urging revellers to stay safe this Bonfire Night after revealing they attended several incidents last year where fireworks exploded in people's hands.

WMAS Area Manager, Martyn Scott, said: "These injuries will remain with that person for the rest of their life, and in most cases we know that they could have so easily been avoided.

"It appears that people don’t realise they are holding an explosive device in their hands when they light a firework; it is always alarming when people are surprised that they get injured.

http://www.shropshirelive.com/2014/11/02/spent-fireworks-put-in-bin-causes-fire-at-home-in-telford/

Firefighters last night attended a fire in Telford caused by spent fireworks put into a recycle bin, which could have resulted in a family’s home being destroyed.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, Area Manager Andy Johnson said: “The attending crews quickly dealt with the fire and used thermal imaging cameras to make sure that there was no fire in the roof of the property. Upon speaking to the occupiers it became evident that they had placed the remains of some fireworks, which they had set off in their back garden, into their recycle bin believing them to be fully extinguished. Unfortunately, about an hour later the family smelt smoke in their house which alerted them to the significant fire that was threatening their home.”

Mr Johnson asked everyone to very careful when they dispose of their fireworks. “Whilst they may feel cold to the touch on the outside, they may still be smouldering inside.” He advises people to leave the remains of any fireworks in a bucket of water overnight and then dispose of them the following day. He pointed out that “Even better advice would be for everyone to go to properly organised events, where the organisers take responsibility for the safe disposal of the fireworks.”

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/crime/appeal-after-fireworks-thrown-at-police-in-huddersfield-1-6929064

At around 10.30pm yesterday (Friday, October 31), officers conducting routine enquiries parked a marked police vehicle in Devonshire Street. While unattended, a window of the vehicle has been smashed and a firework thrown inside. Officers discovered the damage and removed the firework before extensive damage was caused.

Detective Constable Shaun Topham, of Kirklees CID, said: “Although the damage on this occasion was minimal the impact on the local community is far greater. The police vehicle has had to be taken out of operational use and as a result one less vehicle is available to attend both emergency and non-emergency calls from the public.”

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/deadly-bangers-could-sale-bonfire-8029266

Deadly and illegal fireworks are being sold in West Yorkshire.

The bangers are thought to originate from Eastern Europe or China and consumer watchdogs believe they are being offered at car boot sales or on markets.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service is warning traders and members of the public to be on the lookout for the potentially dangerous fireworks.

Due to their use in incidents of anti-social behaviour and associated safety concerns, bangers were banned outright in the UK in 1997, followed a few years later by bans on air bombs and restrictions on the dimensions of mini rockets.

However, it now appears that unscrupulous suppliers are ignoring the ban and continuing to supply them.

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Fireworks-Spare-thought-animals/story-23830435-detail/story.html

During Hallowe'en and the Bonfire Night period, please spare a thought for the animals and birds who may be terrified by the deafening crashes and blinding flashes.

Traumatised dogs are rushed to vets for emergency treatment; sheep can spontaneously abort; horses gallop into fences; and rabbits have been known to die from the shock.

Animal Aid believes that – for the sake of all animals – fireworks should be sold only to organisers of public events and not to individuals wishing to set them off in their gardens or in the street.

A ban on sales to the general public would also prevent the terrible cruelties reported every year of vicious individuals deliberately harming animals with fireworks.

http://www.rospa.com/news/releases/detail/?id=1345

Data collected across Britain in previous years shows that, on average, around 1,000 people visit A&E for treatment of a firework-related injury in the four weeks around Bonfire Night, with half of the injuries being suffered by under-18s. 

Terrorism and Jersey

“A 21-YEAR-OLD Islander has been charged with terrorism offences after allegedly being found in possession of an al-Qaeda magazine – and publishing bomb-making details online.” (JEP)

“Mr Harding is charged on two counts of the terrorism (Jersey) law including being in possession of the Spring edition of an Al Qaeda magazine at his home.” (BBC News)

“The second count covers his copying of the bomb-making section of the magazine and publishing it online.”

While sharing information about bomb making is not at all wise, it remains to be seen whether this was malicious intent, or merely a young man using the material to brag that he could get hold of this information and foolishly forgetting the dangers. Context will be the deciding factor.

What is apparent, however, is how extraordinary the law is.

I can understand why publications that promote bomb making should be banned, but mere possession of a copy of this terrorist publication is apparently against the law, not just the dissemination of it.

Yet if there is no public education programme, no easily available list of such publications, how on earth are we, the general public, to know that possession of it is illegal? I had no idea this law existed or had these consequences. I’ve asked a number of other people, and they had absolutely no idea that there was a law which could see you charged with possession of a proscribed publication without actually listing said publications.

It is as if someone said that possession of “Le Grande Albert” is illegal, and when you protested that you had no idea, you would be told that it was on a list of proscribed publications, which were only on display in a dark cellar. It’s like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
"So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.

I can also understand the reluctance to publish and make the public aware of such publications – it will instantly attract people trying to find a copy, just because it is banned, and for no other reason. There’s an insatiable curiosity about anything banned.

Human beings are possessed as they are by a formidable instinct to find out things, which is both how science progresses, but also, alas, how malicious gossip gets around. If a publication proscribed (the polite euphemism for “banned”), people want to see it.

Wikipedia has this to say about the magazine:

“Inspire is an English language online magazine reported to be published by the organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The magazine is one of the many ways AQAP uses the Internet to reach its audience. Numerous international and domestic extremists motivated by radical interpretations of Islam have been influenced by the magazine and, in some cases, reportedly used its bomb-making instructions in their attempts to carry out attacks.”

In May 2014, someone wrote asking this question, making a request under the UK Freedom of Information act:

Dear West Yorkshire Police,

“Does your force maintain a list of proscribed publications where any persons found in possession of them will automatically be arrested under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000?”

“If such a list is maintained: Who is responsible for adding a particular publication to the list? What criteria are used to determine if a publication should be added to the list? Can I please have a copy of the entire list with the dates that each publication was added to it?”

“In the absence of such a list: What criteria are used to decide whether or not to arrest a person in possession of a particular publication apart from the opinion and gut feeling of a police officer at the time?”

The reply noted:

“West Yorkshire Police do not maintain a list of proscribed publication where any persons found in possession of them will be arrested under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Therefore we hold no information in relation to your request.”

“Section 57 of the terrorism act states that; A person commits an offence if they possess an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that the possession is for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism. “

“Section 58 of the terrorism act states that; an offence occurs when a person collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or, when found in possession of a document or record containing information of that kind”

Let’s face it, this is a pretty vague reply. An amateur military historian could be collecting information about bombs. Section 57 places the locus of the offense on intent. Section 58 puts the possibility that the material might be used for terrorism as an offense, but it would seem in part to depend on the act of dissemination.

The second section “when found in possession” appears pretty strong, but still does not allay fears that one might accidentally come across such material. If it was in a PDF, or part of a bundle of documents, you might not realise it was potentially “of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” until you had read it.

And what about honest research, trying to understand the mindset of Al Qaeda? Apparently you would probably have to apply for permission to read the publication, provided of course, you knew that the publication in question was prohibited.

Fortunately a further two questions elicited a clearer response:

“1. Please confirm whether it is legal or illegal to possess copies of the Inspire magazine, Join the Caravan, and the Al Qaeda Training Manual?”

“Considering whether to charge an individual under S58 of the Terrorism Act is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service who take account, not only of the document itself but all of the surrounding circumstances.”

“2. If it is legal then what do you consider a reasonable defence under Section 58(3) because people have been arrested and prosecuted for possessing these publications? “

Answer: “It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.”

Unlike the Roman Catholic “index” of banned publications, there would seem to be no exact list of proscribed documents under terrorism. The reason is almost certainly because it is very easy, especially with online publications, to change the name of the publication in an instant, while the content remains the same.

What has emerged, however, is the singular lack of any education of the public by the authorities as to the fact that mere possession of terrorist publications is against the law, and the kind of publications which may be deemed to fall under that remit.

Clearly anything which is, to all intents and purposes, called “Practical Bomb Making” would be proscribed under the Terrorism law. Publications such as “Insight” are clearly aimed at promoting terror in an explicit way.

But there may well be publications such as those involved with firework manufacture, for example, which could be implicitly allow information regarding bomb manufacture to be disseminated.

There are clearly grey areas, and the law is largely framed as to keep people in the dark, if not about its existence, certainly about the draconian penalties which can apply.

The arrest of what appeared from the JEP photo to be a pimply youth suggests someone bragging online, sharing information without the slightest knowledge that they might be breaking the law. If that is indeed the case, I hope that commonsense prevails, and a stiff caution is given. As it stands, I fear that more will be done simply to justify the expense of the operation.

But the notion that you can somehow prevent knowledge escaping is facile. You may prevent it in one form, but all science hangs together. It's one piece. If you want to stop one part, you've got to stop it all, and that cannot be done.

In the USA, for example, the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) is charged with regulating explosives activities in the United States. Their regulations can be found in ATF Federal Explosives Law and Regulations, commonly called the Orange Book because of its orange cover.

On Page 64, Paragraph 37. “When is a manufacturer’s license required?”, we read:

“Persons who manufacture explosives for their personal, non-business use are not required to have a manufacturer’s license. However, no person may ship, transport, cause to be transported, or receive explosive materials unless such person holds a license or permit.”

Now this means that there will be USA publications, not Al Qaeda ones, where there is a discussion on explosives, often related to fireworks, and easily accessible in online versions.

The UK law also allows, for example, individuals to make 100 grams of black powder for experimentation without licenses – it is clearly more restricted than the USA. There is however a forum for chemists and professional firework makers and users to discuss all aspects of fireworks, including their manufacture.

Finally, on a lighter note, I might mention that some basic explosive materials - Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal, and Sulphur – are mentioned and used in the Star Trek episode “Arena” for the manufacture of a home made cannon.

I think I can safely mention that because, firstly, the episode is readily available, and secondly, Mythbusters tried it out, and showed that the hand mixed version of gunpowder was not explosive enough, it would only fizzle. They also showed that if the mix was made explosive enough, it would have destroyed the bamboo cannon and killed Captain Kirk.

Referenceshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-29530882
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/publications_violating_section_5_3
http://blog.skylighter.com/fireworks/2009/06/fireworking-safety-and-law.html
http://www.pyrosociety.org.uk/forum/topic/2763-making-black-powder-meal-powder-in-the-uk/
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1082/regulation/9/made