The Slaughter of the Innocents

Did the slaughter of innocent children by King Herod ever happen? There is no mention of it in Josephus, but on the other hand, he mentions that Herod perpetrated numerous killings. Would those particularly stand out in an age when tyrants committed many atrocities, or simply left unsaid.

But when Matthew uses it in his gospel, it is to show who fearful Herod is of any challenge to his rule, and how much he would fear a Messiah. It also means Jesus can be taken to Egypt, and this ties up with another of the allusions to the Old Testament – “out of Egypt” that Matthew uses as prophecy. So is it simply prophecy historicised, as some scholars suggest?

"Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

“Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

But historical credibility is not just pertinent in the ancient world. The photo above shows the murder of 375 Christians murdered by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria.

That is one of the stories featured in the retrospective edition of “More or Less”, the BBC Radio 4 programme looking at numbers.

Now there is no doubt that Boko Haram has killed countless people, and taken women and children into captivity. But this photo is a fake.

The photo has been blurred over the bodies because it is extremely distressing, nonetheless.

Africa Check looked into this, and noted the following:

“This report was published in July 2014. It investigated claims that an image circulating on social media networks showed the burnt corpses of 375 Christians massacred by Boko Haram militants. In fact, the image showed the aftermath of a fuel tanker explosion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

“The tragedy, which occurred exactly four years ago today, killed at least 230 people and injured 190. The fuel tanker apparently overturned while trying to overtake a bus. By-standers were attempting to collect leaking fuel from the truck when the fuel ignited, possibly as the result of a lit cigarette. Many of the dead had gathered nearby to watch a World Cup soccer match.”

“In January 2015 the image went viral once again amid reports that dozens, hundreds or possibly as many as 2,000 people had been massacred in Boko Haram attacks centred on the northern Nigerian town of Baga and surrounding villages. “

“While the image - as evidence of a massacre - was false, the killings around Baga were all too real. Amnesty International described the slaughter as the "deadliest massacre" in the history of Boko Haram and there were disturbing reports of bodies strewn among bushes and in village streets nine days later. “

It comments that

“Faked images and pictures of purported atrocities make for powerful propaganda tools on social media sites. Often they go ghoulishly viral.”

Falsifying news stories to gain support is in the long run, self-defeating. No one will believe anything, and cynicism will rule. That is why it is important to check facts before repeating stories.

References

http://africacheck.org/reports/boko-haram-massacre-image-fake/

Cry Freedom

Today's poem is a sonnet about liberty. I would like to think the days of slave owning are gone, but the trafficking of human beings has just become more submerged and taken new forms.

There are children taken by Boko Haram, women taken by the Islamic State, and in the UK, people who prey on immigrants and lure them in with a false promise, only to use them in the sex trade.

The plantations of the Deep South of America may no longer see the whip, but the cords that bind many are still in use, even if they take more invisible forms than chains of iron. It is an evil that we must fight,.

While the poem is a sonnet, I have deliberately shortened the rhyming pattern in the last verse of each of the three main stanzas for an effect of abruptness.

Cry Freedom

I remember my last day of liberty
A prisoner standing in the dock
Flung into the dark, I could not see
The key turned in the lock

Paraded out, goods for sale
Auctioned off as healthy lot
No escaping from this jail
Ropes that bind with knot

Out in the fields, work so hard
And a whip, for those who slack
Always being on one’s guard
Blood streaks down the back

Oh, crying freedom every night
We weep at our unhappy plight

RIP: Brian Clemens - The Prolific Professional

Wikipedia says:

Brian Horace Clemens OBE (30 July 1931 – 10 January 2015) was an English screenwriter and television producer, possibly best known for his work on The Avengers and The Professionals. Clemens was related to Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), a fact reflected in the naming of his two sons, Samuel Joshua Twain Clemens and George Langhorne Clemens

The BFI says:

“Clemens fashioned the television model of op-art and pop fiction in the world of espionage, while managing to tread a fine line between not taking the genre too seriously and not being too much of a send-up. Clemens' Avengers was consistently enjoyable in an undemanding way.”

Perhaps he was not a ground-breaking TV writer, like Dennis Potter, but what Clemens did provide was prolific entertaining drama. Here are a few of my own memories of the shows he wrote, and I still think they enriched my life, just as much as a Dennis Potter play. Not everything on TV should be realistic, or serious, and sometimes there is nothing better than to sit back, relax, and enjoy an hour of well-constructed drama.

And, for the most part, Clemens did construct his writing well, hooking the viewer, keeping them watching, wanting to know what happened next, and taking them on a journey which would be thrilling, funny, suspenseful and above all enjoyable to watch. Even when his shows were not quite as good as they might have been, with for example, The New Avengers, they still were fun to watch, and still are.





The Avengers (TV Series) (teleplay - 27 episodes, 1961 - 1969) (written by - 5 episodes, 1963 - 1964)

This was surely his “golden age”. I loved the Avengers, especially the Emma Peel era, and even when Linda Thorson took over, there were still some cracking episodes. I loved “The Cybernaughts” with Michael Gough as the mad scientist, and their return, in an episode where Peter Cushing plays Paul Beresford, his brother. Why they should have different surnames was never explained!

Rays that shrunk people, a gun that rotted wood – the title was the punning “The Rotters” – an electrically charged positive-negative man, a superlative seven, a special liquid conveying invisibility, and a device to produce identical doubles of someone’s face in They keep Killing Steed (somehow the body was always the same size) – all these were part of this wonderful tongue in cheek series, which never took itself too seriously, but played it straight.

After “Mother” came in, and Steed became more of a government agent, it was perhaps not quite so much fun, but there was still lots to enjoy. I rather liked Linda Thorson, although stepping into Dianna Rigg’s shoes was always going to be hard.

The Champions (TV Series) (screenplay - 1 episode, 1969) (writer - 1 episode, 1968)
- Autokill (1969) ... (screenplay)

Another wonderful 1960s piece of fantasy hokum, where the three agents of “Nemesis” are given special powers by an ancient race hidden in the snowy mountains of Tibet (where else!). Autokill was one of the most memorable episodes.

Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (screenplay) – 1971

A twist on the Jekyll and Hyde tale, with Ralph Bates becoming Martine Beswick – astonishingly, with similar hair styles, it did seem plausible. Hammer films obviously going for the sexy angle, but managing to get in Burke and Hare body snatchers as well. Quite what this Dr Jekyll thought he was up to was never really explained – trying to get in touch with his feminine side, perhaps? But a rattling screenplay by Brian Clemens.

The Persuaders! (TV Series) (screenplay - 3 episodes) 1971

This had Roger Moore as an aristocrat, Tony Curtis as a millionaire playboy, teaming up to solve crimes. I liked it very much at the time, but on repeat showings I have to say it is rather formulaic, and the flares and long hair really look dated.




My Wife Next Door (TV Series) (created by - 13 episodes) 1972
John Alderton, Hannah Gordon,

Too busy to work on the scripts himself, Clemens brought in sitcom writer Richard Waring to finalise his storylines. The series won a BAFTA award. I remember this and really enjoyed it. It was a will they make up or not kind of storyline, with all the awkwardness that goes from a coincidence of two divorced people who end up in adjoining houses. How it would look now, I don’t know, but it was very popular, and an example of how Brians could expand his range.



The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (screenplay) / (story) 1973

With Tom Baker as really the only memorable character – but what a fantastic villain – this is one of the best Ray Harryhousen Sinbad films. It is a wonderful Arabian nights story as Sinbad tries to find a cure for the Prince who has been placed under an evil spell that has altered his appearance so that he has to wear a mask.

It was Tom Baker’s performance that got him the job as Dr Who when seen by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks. I missed it at the Cinema, and caught up with it later. Still great fun, even with CGI effects today being vastly superior to stop-motion. Unlike some of today’s effect driven movies, Ray Harryhousen understood that effects were needed for these stories, but a good story was the backbone, and Clemens delivered this well.





Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter – 1974

A strange take on the Vampire story, this Vampire sucks youth from young maidens and leaves them as old crones. Enter our hero on horseback who comes along with a girl (rescued from witch hunters) and finds who the vampire is – yes, there is a whodunit element as well. And a how to do it – apparently different methods are needed to kill different vampires. The locations and music make it a very moody piece and although it virtually disregards all Vampire lore, it is great fun, especially with the swordplay and swashbuckling hero.




Quiller (TV Series) (writer - 3 episodes) 1975
Michael Jayston

Never out on DVD, I rather enjoyed this series about a spy. Michael Jayston was excellent in the role. I can’t now remember a lot about it, but hope one day it may be released.

Thriller (TV Series) (writer - 24 episodes, 1973 - 1976) (written by - 9 episodes, 1974 - 1975) (story - 9 episodes, 1973 - 1975) (created by - 1 episode, 1974) (original story - 1 episode, 1973)

Remember that creepy music? That fish eye lens in the opening sequence giving a nightmarish distorted outlook on the world. This twist-in-the-tale anthology was Clemens at his height, providing a suspenseful hour of TV that we all watched. A masterclass in how to grab the viewer’s attention, and keep it.



The New Avengers (TV Series) (written by - 17 episodes) 1976-1977

I still like this, but how it has dated. Not just the flares – Gambit wears a flared black suit, for goodness sake. But the way in which the dialogue is stilted, and is synchronised, with several people – usually Steed, Gambit or Purdey – saying the same thing at the same time. Or when they alternate, it sounds like a game of consequences or that radio show where they follow one another with single lines - it just doesn’t flow. For the radio show, that’s fun. Here, it is dreadful.

The stories are not bad, some old-style ones with a fantasy element, some that are almost a throwback to the Avenger’s beginnings as a plain spy / crime story. The Canadian stories are also not quite as bad as some critics make out – I rather enjoyed The Gladiators who deflect bullets, and the battered old car Emily - but the all time winner has to be the UK based non-fantastic, Dead Men are Dangerous, when Steed faces an old friend returned for revenge. The Frenchmen in the France locations in episodes set in France all sound like Rene in “Allo Allo”.

Not one of Brian Clemen’s high points.



The Professionals (TV Series) (40 episodes, 1977 - 1983) (written by - 17 episodes, 1977 - 1983)

From something of a failure to a success. Still repeated, the clothes are not so dated, and are general casual. Gordon Jackson got a lot of criticism as George Cowley, coming so soon after his time in Upstairs Downstairs, but actually he is very good in this. Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins are good as the chalk and cheese heroes, and there is a surprising amount of talk and expression of feelings (especially by Shaw’s Doyle). The suspense, thrills, element of detection, and the car chases and characterisation are all very good, and it is easy to see why this is still popular today.  And the dialogue is so much more realistic compared to the very stilted New Avengers.

Best episode is probably “Mixed Doubles”, which is much more character than action (of which there is virtually none) and the story follows the two Professionals trying to protect a conference, and the two villains, and how they think and feel. It’s very modern. I also liked the one about a suspect killed in the year that Everest was conquered, and the repercussions in the present. As usual, lots of good solid British character actors in it.

Bergerac (TV Series) (by - 1 episode) 1983

“Ninety Per Cent Proof” was rather a good episode, with the kind of twists and turns that Clemens did so well.

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (TV Series) (writer - 1 episode, 1984)

Father Dowling Mysteries (TV Series) (story - 5 episodes, 1990 - 1991) (written by - 1 episode, 1990) (teleplay - 1 episode, 1990)

Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin 1991 1993 3 tv movie
3 screenplays

Bugs (TV Series) (40 episodes) 1995

Clemens helped devise this as a kind of technological Avengers style programme, but had little input after creating it. It was a good concept and for the first two series very enjoyable, at any rate. After that, the Bugs team became more of a special government agency, and it rather lost its lustre.

CI5: The New Professionals (TV Series) (4 episodes, 1999) (written by - 8 episodes, 1999) (writer - 1 episode, 1999)

Edward Woodward took on the mantle of the groups leader, and there were some nice nods to the past. Never quite as good as the original, it still was a fun series, with the same music, and tight suspenseful scripts. And the car crashing through a glass window at the start! Rather a nice swan song.

Clemens also wrote successful plays, even almost to his death, with “Murder Weapon”, described as a very tidy, balanced tale”.

The writers of the golden age of the Sixties – Terry Nation, Dennis Spooner, and of course Brian Clemens, have mostly passed away now. Clemens was one of the last, and he may be gone, but the substantial body of work on TV that is his legacy, now available on DVD, will surely entertain future generations as much as it did me.

The Act of Oblivion

Here is an extract from "Jersey in the 17th century" (1931), by A.C. Saunders.

The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Cha. II c. 11), the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act asked King Charles II to pardon everyone involved in the regicide of his father, Charles I, except those who had officiated in his execution. It also said that no action was to be taken against those involved at any later time, and that the Interregnum was to be legally forgotten.

The lands of the Crown and the established Church were automatically restored, but lands of Royalists and other dissenters confiscated and sold during the Civil War and interregnum were left for private negotiation or litigation, meaning that the government would not help the Loyalists in regaining their property. Disappointed Royalists commented that the Act meant "indemnity for [Charles'] enemies and oblivion for his friends.

In fact, while the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion (against any redress for any acts committed by Republicans short of regicide) expressly named Jersey,  Jersey Jurats tried to plead that it did not apply in Jersey, and only after English Law Officers had twice ruled otherwise, was on the third occasion registered in the Court Books to remove all doubt that it applied locally.

The Act of Oblivion
By A.C. Saunders
King Charles had passed an Act of Oblivion and it was decreed that those who had been deprived of their estates during the Civil Wars, should have them returned. It was very difficult to arrange this satisfactorily, as since the date when some estates were confiscated, they had changed hands. Many people had acquired property of which others had been deprived of, owing to the side they had followed during those troublous times.

So that it is no wonder, that on the eighth October 1664, at the Privy Council at Whitehall, a petition was considered from those who were anxiously awaiting the decision of the Bailiff and Jurats upon so important a question. The Council directed that the Bailiff and Jurats should report fully what they had done in the matter. They were certainly in a very difficult position.

The Royalists were now in power and until the Restoration their property had been heavily taxed for their loyalty to the King. Now it seemed only fair that they should have reimbursed all those fines and penalties, which they had paid under the Commonwealth. Then there were the Parliamentarians who had acquired property, formerly in Royalist hands, and probably spent considerable sums in improving the same.

The Jurats had been carefully selected for their Royalist sympathies, and probably the claims by those who had suffered between the years 1651 and 1660 were not under-estimated.

Then there was the complaint of those, who in 1645 and 1616 had been deprived of their property for their seeming compliance with the two Houses of Parliament. They had in 1651 re-entered their estates which they had peaceably enjoyed until the happy return of His Majesty when they were again deprived of their property, which, under the Act of Oblivion, they claimed was not justified.

The matter was referred to Mr. Sergeant Glynne, H.M. Attorney General and Mr. Sergeant Maynard, H.M. Solicitor General, and these gentlemen having pointed out that Jersey was particularly named in the Act of Oblivion, the Lords of the Council directed that the petitioners should be restored to their estates under the Act of Oblivion and Pardon.

But matters moved slowly in Jersey, and it was one thing for the Privy Council to issue an order, and another for it to be carried out. On the 27th August 1669, the matter again came before their Lordships and having been referred to the Earl of Craven and Sir George Carteret, it was unanimously decided that the reason by which their estates were forfeited was cancelled by the Act of Oblivion and Pardon, and their Lordships were satisfied that the petitioner's estates in Jersey ought fully to be restored to them, and further that the pretended sales of the petitioners lands and estates in Jersey made by Dr. Jansen, John Poley and John Nicholas Vaughan, or any of them, were of no validity in law,

The Bailiff and Jurats, were therefore directed to see that the Petitioners should be fully restored to their estates but that no arrears should be claimed. The Order in Council is dated 27th August 1669. It must have been a very trying time to settle the many disputes, but probably the six Advocates of the Royal Court tool, time to see that the orders of the Privy Council were properly carried out. They had many difficult and complicated problems to solve, as, during the period from 1643 to 1660, properties had changed often after the original owner had been deprived of his tenure by those in power for the time being.

Behind the Headlines

I’ve been looking at “Behind the Headlines” in the Jersey Topic Magazine of1968. Essentially, it is the editorial, the equivalent of the leader article.

It is fascinating to read the flowing depiction of Majorca. I remember going on holiday there in the 1970s, and the southern coastline – Palma Nova – was brim full of huge block like hotels, all along the sea front.

There really is no beauty in that. I would disagree with the statement that nothing has been spoiled or, for that matter, that it is “magnificent”. It is a sprawling overdeveloped mess, and we had to visit the port of Andratx and the north of the Island to find some real coastline of beauty.

It is worth noting with the comments on Fort Regent that this was penned in 1968. A decision to develop Fort Regent as a leisure complex was taken in December 1967. In 1970 the cable car facility was opened which gave access to Fort Regent from snow hill, this was closed to public use in 1991. In 1974 the Fort was roofed over. The swimming pool was built on the Glacis Field and opened in 1971, the Gloucester Hall opened in 1978; this is part of Fort Regent’s multi-use facilities. The Queens Hall opened in 1988.

It is interesting to see the comments on car tax. Of course that ceased and was replaced with an increased duty on fuel instead, which more than made up for it. But in its day, it was based on engine capacity, and the Chelsea Hotel (now demolished and Spectrum Flats) was taken over in January for the queues of people thronging to renew their car tax. No records show the location was ever put out for tender, and it must have been a nice bonus for the hotel owners during its closure in the winter months, one of whom was a States member.

The notion that road tax (or even fuel duty) goes towards roads and car parks is false, of course. It goes into a central fund, from which some part returns to fund roads and car parks. It is not ring fenced, and has not been since Churchill was Chancellor in the UK, and raided it. Jersey follows the same practice, and increasing duty on the basis that it is needed for funding road maintenance is nonsense; it is not ring fenced, and any increase will mostly go to central funds.

The pedestrian crossings at Beaumont must have been new in 1968. Despite the dire warnings of accidents, I would say they work extremely well with the filter in turn system. But hindsight is a wonderful thing. Back then, it must have seemed very different.

Looking further down. Rediffusion was the trading name of Broadcast Relay Service Ltd, formed in 1928. In 1929 the company introduced its first cable radio service in Hull to customers frustrated with the difficulties of tuning in weak radio broadcasts. It expanded and was also a cable TV supplier, and I well remember the little switches on the wall to change channel (photo above).

Reditronics Jersey was sold to SCK Holdings Limited in 1986 and following BET's retreat from cable and the consequent loss of associated contracts, it ceased trading in 1987. The Rediffusion Jersey cable network was sold to Jersey Cable Limited (now Newtel Solutions) in 1988.

Another golf tournament of note was the Jersey Open which was a European Tour golf tournament played in Jersey, from 1978 to 1995.

I’m not a golfer, but I can’t recall any major tournaments on a regular basis being held in Jersey today. Perhaps as a means of boosting tourism, it should be looked at again.

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

MAJORCA'S EXAMPLE

Last month I was a guest of the Spanish Government on a visit to Majorca. It was the first time that I had visited this island and it was not a very happy trip. Wherever I went I realised more and more how Jersey was missing the boat.

Majorca has planned its development. They have built magnificent hotels on wonderful sites and the whole effort of the island is geared to tourism. More than anything the general population realises the importance of the industry and they are right behind the efforts of the authorities. Unlike Jersey they know that a really successful tourism business means greater benefits and a higher standard of living.

The beauty of the island is in no way spoiled. There is strict planning but planning which is aware of the need to develop. Once the plans for a hotel have been passed by the tourism board to ensure that they meet the basic requirements, they are then sent to a panel of architects who, if they approve them, send the plans on to the planning board. If the planning authorities turn them down the plans go before an appeals board consisting of members of the tourism board, the architects panel and the planning authorities as well as lay members of the public,

This sensible planning policy has resulted in some outstanding architecture.

When I was finding out about all this I kept thinking of Jersey.

Of the English residents who want to keep Jersey quiet and peaceful (no tourists).
Our Island Development Committee.
Our crazy licensing laws.
Our climate (miserable by comparison).
Our lack of night entertainment.
The residents near the Airport and their protests about jets.

It was hard not to throw myself, complete with Jersey sweater and wrapped in a red and white flag of Jersey, into the warm, warm Mediterranean.

WHY SO MUCH FOR A ROOF

Last week I visited the Merton Hotel to see their magnificent swimming pool. Seymours Ltd, must be congratulated on their enterprise and Channel Islands Contracting on their swimming pool constructional ability. It is truly an outstanding job. The cost of this project, I understand, is about £60,000. For this the hotel has an international size swimming pool, a paddling pool for youngsters and a diving tank. It will be possible to hold international swimming meetings in the pool next year, when the diving towers will be completed.

When I think of the £400,000 plus that the States need to build an indoor swimming pool I wonder why it takes so much to put a roof on. And would it not have been better for the States to put a roof on the Merton Hotel pool and for the States to then rent it for the winter, when it will hardly be used.

There can be no reason why imaginative private enterprise should not be joined by States finance to give the people of Jersey what they need at the right price.

NEW CAR TAX

Already a number of people are complaining about the new taxation plans for cars, which the Finance Committee have released. The aim of these plans is to tax cars by their length so that the mini owner pays less than the Rolls Royce man. Such a scheme strikes me as being more than fair.

Let's put this matter of car taxation in perspective. Car tax in Jersey is a third of the English tax. Petrol costs are amongst the lowest in" Europe. There is no charge for parking our cars in the street. The car has become a serious problem in Jersey. New roads are needed and multi-storey car parks have to be built. It is therefore right that car owners should pay for this. I can see no reason why car taxes should not be trebled, why petrol should not sell for at least 3/6 a gallon and why people should not be charged to park in the streets.

Incidentally I also believe that tourists should also pay for motoring amenities in the form of a tax on every car that is hired, which would have to be paid by the hirer. Those people who cannot pay these types of taxes should not run cars.

CROSS-EYED

I see that the police of St. Peter have issued a warning to motorists about the pedestrian crossings at Beaumont. We have, in fact, been told to watch our p's and q's and look out for pedestrians.

I cannot but conclude that incidents at this incredible jumble of islands are inevitable.

As if it isn't enough to concentrate on getting through the complex you have to worry about pedestrians suddenly stepping into the road.

Having successfully negotiated this hazard you are confronted with traffic coming from St. Aubin. You get through this unscathed and have scarcely let the clutch out when you are slamming on your brakes at a pedestrian crossing no more than five yards away. I think that the Motor Traffic office should award certificates to any driver who can go through that spot unscathed for six months. Certainly by that time he will be cross-eyed.

REDIFFUSION GOLF TOURNAMENT

I was back in the island in time to catch last day's golf at the Rediffusion Golf Tournament. What magnificent golf it was too.

At the end of the tournament I overheard two States members saying what a good tournament it had been, although one of them doubted its value as a tourist attraction.

I can tell them that it is the biggest single tourist attraction that Jersey has ever staged. Professional golfers are world wide travellers and they are spreading the Jersey golf gospel far and wide. The tournament brings down a battery of press, who send back reports about the golf and about Jersey. And a number of late season visitors are beginning to plan their holiday to coincide with the tournament.

Gerry de Wit, the Dutch champion who is the professional at a very big club at Hilversum, told me that at least a dozen of members had booked a holiday in the island. I act like a walking tourist information bureau for Jersey" he said.

Jersey should be grateful that a firm like Rediffusion should spend so much time and effort in a promotion from which the island gains so much. They deserve our sincere thanks.

But what a better tournament it would be if the States were to quadruple the prize money and run a joint effort to make the Jersey tournament the biggest on the golfing circuit.

Then even the Americans would come over - and what an attraction that would be.

LITANY TO OFFICIALDOM

A reader has sent me a section from what calls "the litany of Malayan officialdom which appeared recently in the Malay Mail.

I have a feeling that its message applies governments the whole world over and reproduce part of it as I feel it might also ring true here.

Let us pray

O Lord, grant that this day we come to no decisions
Neither run into any kind of responsibility
But that all our doings may be ordered to establish
New and quite unwarranted departments.
For ever and ever.

Hymn

Thou, who seest all things below
Grant that Thy servants may go slow.
That they may study to comply
With regulations till they die.
Teach us, Lord, to reverence Committees, more than common sense;
Impress our minds to make no plan,
But pass the baby when we can.
And when the Tempter seems to give
Us feelings of initiative
Or when alone we go too far,
Chastise us with a circular.
Mid war and tumult, fire and storms,
Strengthen us, we pray, with forms,
Thus will Thy servants ever be
A flock of perfect sheep for Thee.
Amen!

Some Background on the Situation in France

Here is a guest posting from a correspondent, giving an overview of French history in connection with freedom, and explaining some of the background which laid down a fertile soil for disaffected jihadists.

Guest Posting - Some Background on the Situation in France
We have all been caught up in the moment over the Charlie Hebdo shootings, and now is in many ways the time of greatest danger. For in the wake of the dreadful events of the last few days, it would be easy to make decisions which impact widely – and badly – on our future prospects. So let us try and anchor ourselves in history.

The shootings at the office actually provide us with one important clue: they are, as the recorders remind us, the worst such event since 1961. As we shall see, this is a somewhat misleading comparison, because what happened in 1961 was an entirely different sort of massacre.

For the many people who are unaware of the history, the French empire collapsed between about 1945 and 1962 as its various territories gained independence. It was a traumatic process: the French were first defeated by General Giap in Vietnam, then forced out of India. Tunisia and Morocco gained independence in 1956, then following the democratic coup d’etat which installed De Gaulle as President in 1958, the process accelerated – no fewer than 13 new states came into being in 1960. But there remained one sticking point, and that was Algeria.

The Mediterranean coastal strip of Algeria had, since 1848, been treated as part of the French republic – it was as French as Paris or Marseille. As part of this, a large number of Europeans had settled there (the natives called them pieds-noirs – black feet, because they wore leather shoes), and by 1950 they were as much a settled part of the local community as the native population.

When the rising levels of discontent among the native Arab population rose and unrest started (just after the French had been defeated in Vietnam), popular opinion in France responded: you may take Indochina, but Algeria is French. The French military were garrisoned in Algeria in large numbers, and the unrest escalated into civil war. As we have seen ever since, and never learned, it was a battle that no army could win. The hit-and-run tactics of the local terrorists/freedom fighters meant that every strike was a win: the French army could not stop them all, any more than security services now can hope to stop every terrorist plot. The only ways to beat the terrorists were to play them at their own game, or to attempt to negotiate.

The French did both. Reprisals were noted for their brutality – not only was torture used widely, but both old and young were picked up and detained in barbaric conditions. When the campaign of violence came to metropolitan France, the man put in charge of operations was Maurice Papon, the chief of police in Bordeaux during the occupation and responsible for the round-up and deportation of Jews to Auschwitz.

Papon was largely responsible for the events of 17 October 1961. Police attacked a large pro-independence demonstration, beating many people unconscious and then throwing them into the Seine where they drowned. Others were beaten to death in the courtyard of the Paris Police HQ and their bodies dumped in the Seine (but not before the police had removed wallets and watches). No figures for the actual number of those killed exist: best estimates are between 70 and 200 killed. For his actions Papon received not censure but a medal.

De Gaulle eventually negotiated Algerian independence, only to find now that he had a large number of army officers and pied-noirs furious at having been sold down the river. If you have read Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal you will find in the book’s first chapter a fictionalised account of a genuine attempt on De Gaulle’s life in August 1962. A continuing low-level campaign of violence went on for several years.

Honest discussion of these events has been limited in France. Contemporary accounts of what was happening in Algeria were censored by the government; the participants in criminal acts on both sides were granted general amnesty and historical papers were put under 30 years’ prohibition, extensible to 60 where the authorities thought it expedient.

For a country whose version of the social contract includes a commitment to provide liberty, equality and fraternity, it’s not a good record to start from.

All terrorism starts with two things. One is a sense of grievance, a sense that things could be better. The other is a sense that the existing methods of trying to reach that better state are unavailable or ineffective.

While these are required precursors to terrorism, they are not always indicators that terrorism will follow. The existence of movements like the non-violent resistance promoted by Gandhi and Martin Luther King is one example: the existence of satire, or “unofficial media” is another. It is worth noting in this connection that the original Charlie Hebdo came into being after its immediate predecessor was banned by the French Minister of the Interior in 1970.

The great problem of terrorism is that when we dissect it, we find that in some cases the grievance is difficult to resolve. Algeria was relatively simple in some regards: what people wanted was independence, which was in the gift of the French government.

The situation running up to Charlie Hebdo is, by contrast, not in the gift of the government, but to a large extent in the gift of the people of France. The biggest grievance is that France does not practice equality and fraternity. The opportunities for a young person of Arab descent living in the Paris suburbs fall far short of those for those of native French descent. Tests have been done: identical CV and application forms submitted with an Arab and a French name repeatedly come back with a rejection for the former and a job offer for the latter.

(An aside: France is not only institutionally racist. Attitudes to people with learning disabilities are decades behind those in Britain, as are those towards people with mental health issues.)

It is here that the grievance has to be dealt with, however, for the more specific grievances raised by radical Islam are not in the gift of any French person. The majority of them are unrealistic.

As far as means of change go, the problem is equally in the gift of the French people. But the long and half-buried memories of the era of decolonisation (and indeed of the occupation before that) remain unaddressed. People remain shackled to their past and the fears that went with it. Principal among these is the fear of weak government: remember that De Gaulle came back to power in 1958 on the basis that he was given power to sweep away the constitution of the Fourth Republic (which had seen 21 administrations in 12 years) to create a more stable political environment. The French electorate, remembering that the pre-war Third Republic’s instability had led to defeat and Nazi occupation, acquiesced – a decision that has been reinforced over time.

So the precursors for terrorism – grievance and lack of remedy – exist in France. The alternative of non-violence has little root there, and satire – at least in the way that Charlie Hebdo practices it – is not an effectual means of change.

And yet – there is some precedent for non-violence. In secular France, where Charlie Hebdo spends much of its time attacking the follies of organised religion in all its forms, for many decades the single most popular figure was a man called Henri Groues, better known as the Abbe Pierre. His career was a roller coaster ride – monk, then priest, then member of the Resistance, then MP, then organiser of a charitable initiative (all this before he was 40 years old), funded in part by his willingness to play a radio version of Double or quits. At a time when there were severe shortages of housing in Paris and when homeless people were literally freezing to death in the streets, Abbe Pierre was the nation’s conscience.

It’s a bitter irony that many of the tough housing estates now home to putative jihadists were created as a step forward from the shanty towns – the so-called bidonvilles - that they replaced; but what got lost in the rebuilding was that it was not about bricks and mortar, but about human dignity. Abbe Pierre’s view of charity was that it existed to right injustices, not to treat their symptoms, and his modus operandi was very often to take the person who an hour before had been the recipient of charity and turn him into an agent of charity to someone in greater need.

Human dignity is something that the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo clearly don’t understand, any more than do those who write for the British tabloid press, with their all-too visible contempt for all immigrants and their writing-off of the poor as benefit scroungers. For that reason alone we might pause before whipping out the Je Suis Charlie banner. I suspect I am not alone in feeling vaguely nauseated by the tone of some of the front page headlines I have read since the shooting.

But we might equally ask what gives us the right to associate ourselves with Charlie Hebdo. For all of its gratuitous offensiveness on occasions Charlie Hebdo lives by its principles. Its cartoonists refuse to be silenced, and it takes the right to freedom of expression seriously. Dare we say that we measure up to that?

Autism Case Notes

The following notes were made in 2002 about out Autistic son M, which I am putting online in case in can help anyone else. It provides a snapshot of what it can be like living with a severely autistic child.

Case Notes

The Issue Stated:
• As M gets larger and stronger, his outbursts of “challenging behaviour” are becoming more difficult to deal with in the home situation.

• In particular, early mornings and evenings present the greatest problems.

• Both ourselves and others see this is a situation which is likely to get worse, not better, as he gets older.

• We feel as if we are running out of options and matters are getting beyond our ability to cope.

Behavioural Approaches
• While a certain amount of information can be gained from looking at antecedent effects, it is not always clear what external triggers cause M’s outbursts. We feel that the approach so far has, in a sense, not followed formal guidelines, because we are not experts in functional behavioural assessments. Our reading of the literature suggests that a more formal and expert approach would be useful in directing observations to what might be significant.

• In a recent review (Fall 2001) in the Journal of Applied Behavioural Analysis, “Functional Assessment and Program Development for Problem Behaviour: A Practical Handbook”(1997) by O’Neill et al, comes out as the best in the field, and presents “the logic, forms and examples that will allow the reader to (a) conduct a functional assessment in a typical school, work or community settings, and (b) develop a behavioural support plan that addresses problem behaviour”. It is a comprehensive approach, addressing structured or unstructured interviews, rating scales, checklists , scatter plots linked to ABC (antecedent-behaviour consequence) forms.

• If a behavioural approach is to be any kind of success, we must have all parties using this kind of rigorous approach.

Medical factors
• The weakness of the behavioural approach is that it assumes that the behaviour is caused by external triggers, and not internal states, either mental or medical, which may effect M.

• It is very difficult to understand why M reacts. But medical factors must be ruled out. In this, we would suggest problems like [a] tinnitus (hearing problems are a genetic factor on T’s family) [b] eye problems (blurred vision (needing glasses) causing headaches and stress, partial detached retina caused by repeated head-banging) [c] brain problems. [d] diet, not gluten free as such, but seeing if any additives or lack of water acts as trigger.

Medication
• The main problem is one of compliance. If there is no compliance, it is impossible to give him medication.

• Medication with side-effects must be ruled as a last resort.

• Medication requiring blood tests will obviously cause its own problems as to feasibility.

• With regards to measuring efficacy, we must return to the requirements of the behavioural approach. Note that medication can seem to be effective, simply because of a cycle in the pattern of behaviour (which may last months).

• Injected sedatives may be considered as an emergency measure and have been used in similar cases in the UK.

Effect on Siblings and Parents
• There would seem to be a definite effect on the siblings, particularly R, of fear, because of the continual outbursts of violence. So far, we have managed to protect the other children, but if M can inflict damage on us, he might well inflict it on them. If they are causing a noise, and in close proximity, he will “go for them”. In our opinion, there is a risk.

• We might note that one person seeing the bruising on A was concerned that T was beating her, and mentioned this to M’s school teacher. The bruising was so marked that she had not considered that a 12 year old could have done it.

• It might be helpful to interview the children to see how they present this to an outsider, as in cases of battered wives etc.

Emergency Cover
• Phase 1: short term help currently involves contacting the Emergency Social Services officer at Police number. Response is limited, normally to talking to us, and seeing if help is needed. M’s outbursts do seem to eventually burn themselves out, but may take some time, and may require some intervention depending upon locality.

• Phase 2: serious consequences. Provision if actual injury requiring treatment of M, parent or sibling has been raised but no plan of action set out.

Summer Holidays
• Mondays and Fridays. This is a worry.

Residential and Educational Options
• At present, as not an adult, still open to education and residency. The options may be narrower when he is an adult.

Images of The Prophet

A number of hadith and other writings of the early Islamic period include stories in which portraits of Muhammad (peace be upon him) appear.

It is important to realise that the prohibition of images of the prophet has not been universal, and that past depictions should not be airbrushed out of history. These are portraits by Islamic painters or scholars of the past, and to rewrite the past to fulfil the needs of the present is a principle which is dangerous.

If free speech is important, it is perhaps not so important in the depiction of cartoons which might be said to stir up hatred, as the freedom to talk and show the past as it was, and not as extremist groups would wish it to be. Rewriting the past is, of course, not something that is just done within Islam, and most countries have in the past (and some in the present), tried to write history as they would like to have been seen.

So while others have shown a support for free speech by printing copies online of the cartoons, I am doing so with respect, by showing Muslims their own gracious history, which they should celebrate and not try to forget.

Ships that meet in daylight

This painting by Philip Ouless was the inspiration for my Saturday poem.

Ships that meet in daylight

On tempestuous waves, so tossed about,
The passengers began to doubt,
Whether they would survive or not,
Or doom come like the casting lot;
And as the ship began to founder,
The waves crashing all around her,
Some fell to knees, in troubled prayer;
The gales blew with icy air,
And then another ship was seen;
A child sang, God save the Queen,
And a woman wept, in quiet relief,
Of no more mourning, no more grief;
A line was thrown, ropes made firm,
To catch the ship listing, so infirm,
Amidst the waves of white flecked foam;
And slowly tugged, the ship came home,
Past rocky headland, steered around,
And into harbour, and safe and sound,
Tied up and made good by the pier,
And all rejoiced, and gave good cheer!

Understanding the Massacre at Charlie Hebdo

In the attack on Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar")

What is great about this God? And why should God need defending in this way?

And yet the murderers in Paris clearly thought their God was not sufficient in himself, and was helpless to do anything, which is why they took direct action.

Yet what is great about a God who needs people with guns to back him up? Is their God so pitiful, so weak that he needs help? I can see very little to shout about. What is really great about attacking unarmed civilians?

The tragic murder in Paris shows just where religious fanaticism can lead. But the murderers were not brave men, but instead hid behind masks, for all their bravado, and cries. That surely is a statement of cowardice. They were indeed “cowardly glory-seekers”.

If we are to combat this kind of evil, we need to get inside the minds of these killers, and understand the deeper impulses that motivate them. It is easy to brand them fanatics, which of course they were. But fanaticism does not always lead to violence in this manner.

Not all fanatics are killers. Simeon Stylites was clearly a religious fanatic – he lived for 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria. He was fanatical about religious austerity. But he did not seek to impose it on others, only give an example. So to say these men were religious fanatics, or to suggest that Islam was itself to blame for their actions is too wide a generalisation.

So how can we understand what motivates and drives them?

On this, I think we can find Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher a useful guide. He had this to say about causes of conflicts, writing in his book “The Leviathan” (1651):

“In the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory. The first maketh men invade for gain; the second for safety; and the third for reputation.”

“The first use violence, to make themselves masters of other men’s persons, wives, children and cattle; the second, to defend them; the third, for trifles, as a word, a smile, a different opinion, and any other sign of undervalue, either direct in their persons or by reflection in their kindred, their friends, their nation, their profession, or their name.’

It is within the context of this third kind of conflict – for “a different opinion”, for a “sign of undervalue” by reflection on their beliefs that we find the roots of their behaviour.

Hobbes sees that a perceived sleight against self - or against that which a self holds to be important - can be enough for conflict to take place, and there was certainly a provocation which fits, in this respect, by the satirical magazine. That does not exonerate the killers, but we can see how it fits with Hobbes view of conflict, and explains why they might act as they do.

When we ask why people behave like this, Hobbes suggests that it is implicit in some form, within everyone. It is part of the human condition to seek to be valued, and to have ones own values respected by others, and approved by others. As he puts it:

“every man looketh that his companion should value him, at the same rate he sets upon himselfe: And upon all signes of contempt, or undervaluing, naturally endeavours, as far as he dares (which amongst them that have no common power to keep them all in quiet, is far enough to make them destroy each other,) to extort a greater value from his contemners, by dommage; and from others, by the example”

As Michael N. Di Gregorio comments, Hobbes idea of glory is “rooted not in fear, but in hope – the hope to be treated justly, to be properly esteemed, or to get one’s due, and to extort it violently if necessary”. Everyone, in Hobbes view, has an impulse to seek glory, to be valued. It is this natural impulse which can be taken up and taken further by those who “extort it violently”.

As Partel Piirimae explains, for Hobbes:

“A man can build up reputation by attacking those who condemn him, because they learn from their own experience that his power is actually not inferior to theirs, at least with regard to his capacity to inflict damage on them. And this also sets an example to people not involved in the conflict, as it makes clear that he is not someone who can be subdued without resistance.”

In the case of these killers, it is not their own glory seeking for themselves which has led to their actions, but they seek glory for their religious cause, for their God, for their prophet. It is what Hobbes calls a “sign of undervalue”.

Dr. Haig Patapan, reflecting on Hobbe’s ideas, says:

“Glory seekers often pursue glory ‘farther than their security requires,’ creating the problem that some seek glory even at the risk of their lives. ... The difficulty of acquiring and maintaining glory, due to our inability to judge or “value” accurately, the problem of construing “signs” of valuing, and the need of the glory seeker to ‘extort a greater value from his contemners, by dommage; and from others, by example’ mean that the glory seeker is compelled to risk himself to show his power.”

“In the extreme case, the glorious may risk his own life to show his power. Therefore, the pleasure of glory is not checked by the moderating demands of security and property in two senses. The first is in the sense that we have noted—the glorious will illogically sacrifice his life for his name. The second is that the pleasure of glory seeks to ever increase its delectation—glory will in social terms seek ever greater mastery, at the risk of security”

The result – as Emmett Gilles notes - is that “the majority suffer from the strife brought on by the selfish competition, diffidence, and glory-seeking of uninhibited individuals.”

How can this be countered? The solution for Hobbes lies in the social contract. Emmett Gilles notes that:

“The social contract requires all persons to subsume a certain degree of absolute liberty to government in exchange for guaranteed recognition of their rights and interests, thereby preserving the community’s peace and welfare.”

But that means that when the community’s peace and welfare is threatened, a greater degree of liberty may be subsumed by the State. We can see this in the legal measures taken against terrorism, which also reduce our own freedoms, so that detention can be imposed in such a fashion as to apparently bypass the normal legal processes, and even the possession of certain books in electronic form becomes an offence. While a Jerseyman was charged with disseminating bomb making procedures from a prohibited journal, it should be noted that simple possession of that journal would itself have been an offence under the law..

This is the price we pay for generally going about our business protected – that we surrender part of our liberty to remain safe. Laws against terrorism, against fanatics, are seen as the instruments by which the many can be protected from the few.

We should be aware that those same laws may be capable of abuse, and more stringent laws and processes may keep us safe, but will diminish our freedom. The reaction by the State must be scrutinised carefully to ensure that it does not take too many freedoms away in the name of preserving freedom.

That would indeed by ironical if it occurred as a result of these shootings. An irony that would, I am sure, not have gone unnoticed among those poor people who were tragically murdered at Charlie Hebdo.

Sir Thomas Morgan - Part 2

Here is an extract from "Jersey in the 17th century" (1931), by A.C. Saunders.

Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet (1604 – 13 April 1679) was a Welsh soldier during the English Civil War, and Commander-in-Chief in Scotland during the Restoration

Sir Thomas Morgan - Part 2
by AC Saunders

The apple season was good, and the Bailiff and Jurats decided that a good way to encourage work in the Island was to stop all importation of apples, and cider, from Normandy; therefore they passed an order to that effect.

Although Sir Thomas was present when the order was passed, yet that same evening, he issued licences to two persons to import large quantities of Normandy apples, and made it public that lie was prepared to grant others.

Not only this, but he allowed a large number of hogsheads of Normandy cider to be landed at Mont Orgueil, not only for the use of the garrison, but for sale by retail to any who cared to buy. As the Magistrates pointed out, the people flocked there, mostly on Sundays and during Divine Service, where they could get a cheap drink and be drunk and disorderly. And when this abuse was modestly represented to the Governor, by the Constable of St. Martin at one of the sittings of the Court, Sir Thomas, indignant at being so bearded before the assembly, threatened to " lay him by Ye heeles & Yt he would thinke of him." They accused him of smuggling great quantities of wines, Aqua Vitx, and Brandy, into the Castles, and they state that in 1677 no fewer than fourteen Hogsheads of Brandy were landed at Elizabeth Castle and disposed of free of duty. They evidently had very just cause of complaint against this autocratic Governor, who appears to have taken every opportunity to defy the regulations which the Bailiff and Jurats had taken so much trouble to pass through the States.

Even in Ecclesiastical matters Sir Thomas had his say, for when a lew'd woman had been condemned, on the report that she had done away with her child, " to Ye whip & then banished for Yt she was originally a stranger, and being under Ye Executioner's hand, four soldiers of Ye garrison in Ye sight of Ye people there assembled assaulted Ye said Executioner with swords drawne, wounded him sore, rescued and caryed away Ye woman, & raised such an uproare by Ye helpe of theire fellowes & of other unruly people, that had it not been for Ye assistance of some gentlemen, they would have killed him outright."

Evidently the soldiers of the garrison did what they liked, and cared little for the laws of the Island. When a soldier named Clarke murdered one of the Islanders, the Governor, ignoring the Royal Court, took charge of the case and sent him prisoner to the Castle where some of his comrades rescued him without any opposition and put him in a boat and sent him out of the Island without being punished in any way. There were many other cases where soldiers helped others to escape from the officers of the Court, and were ever ready to use their swords to overawe those in authority. They also refused to assist the Magistrates in conducting prisoners to prison at Mont Orgueil, although in former days, it was the custom for the Master Porter of the Castle to convey them to the Castle, and keep them in proper custody.

Sir Thomas thought nothing of levying taxes on goods exported from the Island, and we find that the Bailiff and Jurats complained that by a note under his hand, he directed his Customs to levy one penny'*' for every Tobacco roale being above five pounds weight " sent out of the Island. He raised the charge for a passport to Foreign vessels leaving the Island, to fifteen pence, no matter the size of the vessel, and five pence per head on every passenger against all precedent. He charged each person making a voyage to 'Normandy and Brittany, five pence per voyage, although in former days this charge was payable for a passport lasting a year. They accused the Governor of issuing Blank passports to strangers, to the great prejudice of the Jersey people.

Sir Thomas was Governor, and he had the troops under his command, and they were willing to do what they were told, provided their little irregularities were connived at, and they had a certain amount of freedom in their disputes with the inhabitants. These unfortunate people had no one to defend them, and we find that they were compelled to mow the meadows belonging to the Crown, on payment of one penny a day and a cup of small beer, although the laws could compel the inhabitants to work but one clay each year, and that at the regulated pay,

He took charge of the building of the pier, and the inhabitants agreed that all the carts in the Island should be used for two days each year in order to carry the necessary building material. This hardly satisfied Sir Thomas, who demanded that instead of carts, the people should give the equivalent in money. He therefore demanded 1,000 crowns for carrying on the work, which, as the Bailiff and Jurats protested, was hard on the poor husbandmen, who could lend their carts but had little money to spare.

Then there was the billeting of the soldiers ; and here we find that the Governor wished for the best, and was not content with what the Constables of each parish had provided. It was a serious state of affairs, for if the Governor had power to billet soldiers anywhere, then he might use his power to pay off any grudge he had against an opponent.

For instance, six of Captain Wide's troop were sent to St. Martin's parish and the Constable, who was an Advocate of the Court, provided a house for their use, with a man to wait on them. The Governor however was not satisfied, so he ordered two of the troopers to be lodged at the house of a Jurat, and two at the Constable's house, and when the matter was raised in Court, Sir Thomas held up his cane to him " threatening him in these unworthy termes, ' By God, Sirrah, I shall rubb your nose.' "

But we must not allow the petition of the Bailiff and Jurats to prejudice us too much against Sir Thomas. He had been sent to Jersey at a time of danger on account of his great military experience, and notwithstanding his faults, faults which were very common in that age, he saw that the Islanders were prepared to defend themselves against the expected attacks of their near neighbours, and he did everything possible to encourage the trade of the Island. He placed the militia on a proper footing and introduced the scarlet uniform which continued to be in use until the recent war.

He died in April 1679, regretted by many, and on the 16th May 1679, Sir John Lanier was sworn in as Governor.

Sir Thomas Morgan - Part 1 by A.C. Saunders

Here is an extract from "Jersey in the 17th century" (1931), by A.C. Saunders.

Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet (1604 – 13 April 1679) was a Welsh soldier during the English Civil War, and Commander-in-Chief in Scotland during the Restoration

Sir Thomas Morgan - Part 1
by AC Saunders

After the Earl of St. Albans had given up the Governorship of the Island, Charles decided to send Sir Thomas Morgan as Governor, and on the 10th December 1665, he arrived in Jersey, and took up his appointment.

Sir Philip de Carteret was Bailiff, but he died on September 25th of that year and was succeeded by Sir Edward de Carteret. Sir Thomas was a man very much below the average of the height of men, with a broad set figure, and a very choleric disposition. He was a very distinguished soldier who had served in the thirty years war. He had joined the Parliamentarian party, and had taken part in the siege of Lathom House in 1644.

During the troublous times in Scotland in 1651, he was one of Monck's Major Generals, and was knighted by Richard Cromwell on the 25th November 1658. He was a strong follower of Monck and Lambart, for-as he told his general-" I am no statesman : I am sure you are a lover of your country and therefore I will join with you." So when Monck marched to London, Morgan remained in charge of the troops in Scotland, and when Charles was proclaimed in Edinburgh as King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Morgan showed his enthusiasm by firing off the celebrated cannon " Mons Meg " with his own hand.

He was made a baronet and appointed Governor of Jersey but as he arrived before his appointment he refused to take office until everything was in order. In his instructions from Charles dated 21 December 1655, he was directed to take over the stores, and ammunition, from the Lieutenant-Governor at Elizabeth Castle, and the other forts, and at once report on the present state of the Island; the defects and dangers and the best means to redress the former and defend the people. Charles directed him to assure the Bailiff and people of Jersey, of his particular care in preserving them in full enjoyment of their Civil rights, and to protect them from all violence, and invasion from abroad. He was directed to fortify the bowling green at Elizabeth Castle, and was authorised to spend £2,000 on such work. This work was completed in 1668 when Elizabeth Castle proper, and Fort Charles were joined. He was to take charge of the King's Revenue reserving for himself £1,000 per annum, and finally he was directed to make a weekly report on the state of the Island, and especially to watch the movements of their French neighbours.

Morgan was a very keen soldier, and took every opportunity to strengthen the defences of the Island. We hear of him spending days and days, watching the Islanders and others repairing the defences, seated on a cannon, or on a wall, and smoking his pipe. He was apt to swear at the men if they did not do at once what he wanted, and threaten them with all sorts of terrible punishments. It was nothing for a workman to hear the Governor threatening him " Sirrah, I'll cleave your skull ! " or " By God, Sirrah, I shall rub your nose ! "

But with all his threats, he was popular with those under him, for they knew he was a good soldier, and liked what he did to be well done. He was essentially a man of action, and was bored stiff by the meetings of the States, with the long speeches about what he considered matters of little importance, and during such meetings he would be seen walking outside smoking his pipe. As he said, he was no statesman, and therefore it is no wonder that he, and the Bailiff and Jurats, did not get on well together.

He was very autocratic, and gave orders and took action without any consideration for the wishes of those who were entitled to be consulted, and, during his rule of thirteen years, we find this great little man governing the Isle of Jersey, and getting more and more unpopular with the officials whom he ignored, but retaining the respect of those who, knowing the dangers of those days, recognised that he was the best man to look after the defences of the Island.

In the Treizieme Bulletin of the Societe Jersiaise, we have a copy of the Petition to the " King's most Excellt. Matie." from the Bailiff and Jurats of the Island which. was read in Council on the 21st May 1679, and orders were given for the redress of the grievances contained therein.

In the meantime the Governor, Sir Thomas Morgan, had died on the 13th April 1679 and, although the question came up again, by the efforts of Sir Thomas' successor, Sir John Lannier, to delay the registration of the Order in Council, the dispute developed into " Les proces entre Les Etats et le Gouverneur Lanier," the remonstrance of the States dealt principally with the actions and misdeeds of their late Governor.

One of the complaints against Morgan was about the old question of Wool licences. At first the manufacture of stockings in Jersey was dependent entirely upon Jersey wool, but as the trade increased, quantities were allowed to be imported from England, by licence up to 2,000 tods.

The Governor had reserved for himself and friends one quarter of this allowance. This quantity, the petition said, the Governor disposed of at the rate of 2/6 per tod. So long as he got his fee, he did not care whether the wool was purchased by Jerseymen, or by those who had no connection with the Island. Therefore the Bailiff and Jurats pointed out, that the wool was allowed for the benefit of the Islanders only, and that the Governor had no right either to charge a fee, or dispose of this quantity against the wishes of the inhabitants.

Then they objected to the action of the Governor in claiming the sole power to grant passports for ships, and certificates for the due arrival of goods imported to Jersey under a licence. They contended that they were better fitted to carry out such regulations respecting the shipping " both by theire owne interest & by feare of forefiting Yr. Maties. favour in case of abuse." They asked that the States should be joined in the responsibility of the shipping laws, and at least that the " Customes " appointed by the Governor, should be appointed, and sworn, by the Royal Court and be responsible to it " for all excesses and defects committed by him in ye said office."

The petition then goes on to explain the very many grievances the Islanders had suffered under military rule, and pointed out that when the Attorney General questioned the Governor's authority in claiming dues in connection with " Seawracks " over and above those claimed by previous governors.

Morgan got very angry, and furiously told him that " he had been like to lay him by Ye heeles." He did not mince matters with the States, for at one of their sittings he caused a paper to be read to those present - " Gentlemen, You are here nowe altogether, and I must tell you that you have provoked me very farre, & affronted me very grossely by using Yor authority to imprison the Kgs. soldiers before my face & Yt without my consent and to detain them for fifteen days prisoners upon pretended Priviledge."

The States had certainly many grievances but Sir Thomas went his own way, and let them see that he cared nothing for the respect due to the Bailiff and Jurats.

Lies, Dammed Lies, and Tourism Statistics

“The number of people visiting Jersey increased last year - with arrivals from Gatwick Airport and St Malo providing the biggest boost. A total of 1,069,265 people came through the Airport and Harbour between January and November 2014, a rise of 3.7 per cent on the previous year, according to figures released by the Economic Development Department.” (JEP)

My correspondent, Adam Gardiner, is suspicious about those figures. He comments:

“The total that came through the harbour and airport DOES NOT equal the number of people visiting Jersey. Subtract the locals travelling (and returning) also the business ‘visitors’ who simply fly in and fly out - they are NOT tourists - and business travel generally which in many cases relates to multiple journeys by the same person(s) over the course of the year.”

“I have had a bee in my bonnet for years about this so called ‘visitor numbers’. The numbers in inaccurate and misleading. I daresay numbers of tourists were up - and I may even accept 3.7% but that is not on a base number of 1.07m visitors. For a start where would that stay? We don't even have that number of bed nights available and I cannot believe day-trippers from France are increased significantly - not with the state of the Euro.”

“Until they introduce a system of counting exact number of actual visitors not just travellers in and out of the island we shall be none the wiser, and be fed these drivel statistics for political expedience and to make it look as if EDD/Tourism have been doing great job. They haven’t. I just hope this new 'tourist supremo’ will be more honest and tell us as it is - out tourism industry is all but on it’s knees. As we pull put of recession I am sure things will improve quite naturally but a renaissance it will not be without some real blue sky thinking and a huge amount of work on the strategy.”

" For what is worth (and only pure guesswork) I would estimate actual visitors ie: tourists number around 600,000 - which makes more sense with regard to the accommodation the island can provide, the number of hire cars registered and obvious lack of private investment in the general leisure economy - a sure sign in itself that tourism remains pretty stagnant."

I wondered how Guernsey does this. Do they just count arrivals? They have several documents which show how they analyse the data.

http://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=50619&p=0

This is the 2011 Travel Survey Research Report, which gives an idea of their methodology. Their numbers of departures, for instance, gives a figure of 775,500 for the tear 2011, of which it is broken down into 358,700 (46.3%) from visitors leaving the Island, and 349,800 departing residents (who would return (45.1%), along with 67,000 returning visitors leaving (8.6%).

Returning visitors are those who are counted twice in passenger numbers because they visit elsewhere during their stay in Guernsey (e.g. visitor day trips to Sark, Herm or Jersey).

Those are very useful figures, and that is the kind of data we need to know regarding Jersey. But the Jersey report (for example comparing 2014 with 2013 says “Arrivals include returning residents, visitors for all purposes including day-trippers, and returning visitors e.g. visitors to the island returning from a trip off-island.” And it gives no breakdown.

The Guernsey statisticians even have a breakdown of departing residents giving the purpose of their visit away from Guernsey.

So how do they come up with such impressively detailed figures?

“The only way to accurately measure total tourism volume is by undertaking a comprehensive exit survey in order to break down (or calibrate) passenger departure figures from the Airport and Guernsey’s Harbours. This detailed information helps the Commerce & Employment Department, Guernsey Tourism, its marketing partners and other interested parties in allocating resources, planning and refining product development and marketing strategies, and acts as a benchmark to review future progress against marketing and strategic objectives.”

And the methodology explains:

“As with previous exit surveys, face-to-face interviews were conducted with departing passengers throughout 2011, with interview shifts planned to reflect passenger throughput and to cover all routes, all days of the week and all times of the day. It is very difficult to achieve a completely randomised approach when predetermining interview shifts, but the Passenger Calibration Survey used a random sampling methodology as far as possible. Interview shifts were planned to broadly represent passenger movements throughout the year, but the selection of respondents within those shifts was random, with departing passengers being interviewed immediately after checking in at the Airport and Harbours, with the next passing person/car being selected for inclusion as soon as the previous interview had finished. This provided a randomised approach to interviewee selection, while ensuring that interviewer time was used as productively as possible.”

For more recent figures, I’ve found the 2013 Travel Survey which can be seen here.
http://www.guernseytrademedia.com/files/managed/pdf/2013_exit_survey_report_q1.pdf

The surveys are actually done by Island Ark Ltd, which is a Jersey based company! Why doesn't Jersey make use of them?

Guernsey has decided that the quality of information – and there’s a lot more in those surveys than my brief selections, including charts and comparison – is much more important than mere numbers. The survey also takes the visitors place of origin, purpose of visit, length of stay, etc.

Any serious planning for tourism needs good quality information, and simple arrival numbers, while they may have been fine during the heyday of tourism in the 1960s and 1970s, now look increasingly blunt as a means of measuring data, and giving the granular demographic information which a tourism strategy needs.