A handful of observations from within the best of all places being ruined for the worst of all motives. Forget America where right-wingers would rather risk bankrupting their own country then grant the poorest basic health insurance - when it comes to getting it spectacularly wrong my home island is out there in a league of its own...
Senator Ozouf joins the battle for fair representation - or does he?
It was encouraging to spot in the Jersey Evening Pravda that none other than Senator Philip Ozouf was telling us that we really could not let the unfairness inherent within the over-representation of country over town parishes in the States continue past 2014. Indeed, as I always do whenever he is right - I wholly agree with and even applaud him. Nevertheless there are just two little problems that keep niggling at me over this.
Firstly, if Senator Ozouf really cares about the people of St. Helier at last having voting parity of representation with their country parish cousins (some of whom never even have contested elections at all - just successions) then why doesn't the Senator's proposition attempt to give St. Helier just that instead of something that again sells them short? Secondly, the good Senator has derided the need for changes over more than a decade in government. Whatever can have led to this moment of epiphany after all of these years?
Senator Ozouf really should tell us all about this at once. Otherwise some of our more cynical political watchers might just begin to suspect this change is all down to the Senator believing he wouldn't be able to hang on to his current Senatorial seat. One thing is beyond doubt this week's States debate of 'reform' is likely to be the biggest shambles for years. And that we are in this mess is all down to Senator Philip Bailhache's ego and the lily-livered politicians who allowed him to hijack the independent Electoral Commission
Economic Development to lead clampdown on cyber-bullying
As the politician who forced this on to the political agenda (well, you have to blow your own trumpet sometimes!) this story seemed to be a very welcome one indeed - for cyber-bullying can kill and that should never, ever be forgotten. Welcome that is, until you come to realise that the grim truth is: if you cyber bully someone from outside of the Jersey Establishment fold and/or from a position of power you will remain wholly immune to prosecution no matter what.
Cyber-bullying and the twisted 21st century social phenomena of the internet 'troll' really is an issue that demands government action. Yet again the sad reality here is that the island's most vicious and cowardly cyber thug has been afforded huge wedges of taxpayers' money by our 'justice' authorities to take another person (one of many) he himself had relentlessly bullied for years to court for....bullying! And this via a secret court circus at that.
Throw in the further facts that police files against the same said cyber-thug get no further than the Attorney General's wastepaper bin; the Managing Editor no less of the local BBC refusing to even apologise for his promotion of a Twitter hate account set up to attack Deputy Shona Pitman; and now yet another staff member of that company being even accused in a national newspaper of involvement in the alleged 'bullying to death' of the late Simon Abbott and the dire need for genuine government action is loud and clear.
Yet in the cold light of dawn what are we really likely to get? My bet is a cobbled together quasi-legal 'law' to enable the Establishment to try and close down the only independent Jersey news source that is Citizens' Media. You have been warned....
The call for 'Access to Justice' in Jersey isn't just about affordability...
In a week that has also seen my colleague, Deputy Montfort Tadier lodging a proposition calling for Chief Minister Gorst to finally publish the TOR for the Access to Justice 'Working Group' I have a question lodged for the Chief Minister asking that he accepts 'backbenchers' being included on this. Why? Well, a fact that Senator Gorst has been strangely silent on is the truth that this whole initiative actually arose out of a meeting Deputy Shona Pitman and I had with him on the abuses of justice we were (and still are) experiencing.
You remember - just little things such as... individuals proven to be willing to disregard hard evidence against paedophiles then being allowed to sit as jurats and the like. Anyway, the point of my wishing to be involved revolves around this core: 'access' to justice - as can be seen from what I highlight above - is clearly not just about issues such as putting an end to the Closed Shop of Jersey Lawyers that cements their ability to rip the rest of us off by keeping out far cheaper UK lawyers. It is about the 'justice' the average man and woman in the street are able to access also being guaranteed to be just that: JUSTICE. Transparent. Accountable. Affordable. And Human Rights compliant.
For if Chief Minister Gorst is allowed to get away with handing over this review - both its make up and its working mandate - to the very same people whose lucrative gravy train relies upon it - just as it has done for decades - we the ordinary public will get nothing like what is needed at all. We simply must not let that happen.
Keep the Faith
Meanwhile I leave you with the following oral question to be asked of the Minister for Home Affairs:
Senator Ozouf joins the battle for fair representation - or does he?
It was encouraging to spot in the Jersey Evening Pravda that none other than Senator Philip Ozouf was telling us that we really could not let the unfairness inherent within the over-representation of country over town parishes in the States continue past 2014. Indeed, as I always do whenever he is right - I wholly agree with and even applaud him. Nevertheless there are just two little problems that keep niggling at me over this.
Firstly, if Senator Ozouf really cares about the people of St. Helier at last having voting parity of representation with their country parish cousins (some of whom never even have contested elections at all - just successions) then why doesn't the Senator's proposition attempt to give St. Helier just that instead of something that again sells them short? Secondly, the good Senator has derided the need for changes over more than a decade in government. Whatever can have led to this moment of epiphany after all of these years?
Senator Ozouf really should tell us all about this at once. Otherwise some of our more cynical political watchers might just begin to suspect this change is all down to the Senator believing he wouldn't be able to hang on to his current Senatorial seat. One thing is beyond doubt this week's States debate of 'reform' is likely to be the biggest shambles for years. And that we are in this mess is all down to Senator Philip Bailhache's ego and the lily-livered politicians who allowed him to hijack the independent Electoral Commission
Economic Development to lead clampdown on cyber-bullying
As the politician who forced this on to the political agenda (well, you have to blow your own trumpet sometimes!) this story seemed to be a very welcome one indeed - for cyber-bullying can kill and that should never, ever be forgotten. Welcome that is, until you come to realise that the grim truth is: if you cyber bully someone from outside of the Jersey Establishment fold and/or from a position of power you will remain wholly immune to prosecution no matter what.
Cyber-bullying and the twisted 21st century social phenomena of the internet 'troll' really is an issue that demands government action. Yet again the sad reality here is that the island's most vicious and cowardly cyber thug has been afforded huge wedges of taxpayers' money by our 'justice' authorities to take another person (one of many) he himself had relentlessly bullied for years to court for....bullying! And this via a secret court circus at that.
Throw in the further facts that police files against the same said cyber-thug get no further than the Attorney General's wastepaper bin; the Managing Editor no less of the local BBC refusing to even apologise for his promotion of a Twitter hate account set up to attack Deputy Shona Pitman; and now yet another staff member of that company being even accused in a national newspaper of involvement in the alleged 'bullying to death' of the late Simon Abbott and the dire need for genuine government action is loud and clear.
Yet in the cold light of dawn what are we really likely to get? My bet is a cobbled together quasi-legal 'law' to enable the Establishment to try and close down the only independent Jersey news source that is Citizens' Media. You have been warned....
The call for 'Access to Justice' in Jersey isn't just about affordability...
In a week that has also seen my colleague, Deputy Montfort Tadier lodging a proposition calling for Chief Minister Gorst to finally publish the TOR for the Access to Justice 'Working Group' I have a question lodged for the Chief Minister asking that he accepts 'backbenchers' being included on this. Why? Well, a fact that Senator Gorst has been strangely silent on is the truth that this whole initiative actually arose out of a meeting Deputy Shona Pitman and I had with him on the abuses of justice we were (and still are) experiencing.
You remember - just little things such as... individuals proven to be willing to disregard hard evidence against paedophiles then being allowed to sit as jurats and the like. Anyway, the point of my wishing to be involved revolves around this core: 'access' to justice - as can be seen from what I highlight above - is clearly not just about issues such as putting an end to the Closed Shop of Jersey Lawyers that cements their ability to rip the rest of us off by keeping out far cheaper UK lawyers. It is about the 'justice' the average man and woman in the street are able to access also being guaranteed to be just that: JUSTICE. Transparent. Accountable. Affordable. And Human Rights compliant.
For if Chief Minister Gorst is allowed to get away with handing over this review - both its make up and its working mandate - to the very same people whose lucrative gravy train relies upon it - just as it has done for decades - we the ordinary public will get nothing like what is needed at all. We simply must not let that happen.
Keep the Faith
Meanwhile I leave you with the following oral question to be asked of the Minister for Home Affairs:
“Would the Minister inform members whether the Chief
Officer of the States of Jersey Police, in response to allegations made to the
Police by former Senator S. Syvret relating to corruption, advised Mr. Syvret
that his concerns had been referred to a local legal firm and had been deemed
groundless, and, if so, which legal firm was utilised and why?”
The answer - or perhaps even the non-answer - stands to be quite fascinating. Maybe because I know the answer already?
The answer - or perhaps even the non-answer - stands to be quite fascinating. Maybe because I know the answer already?
Think you are on the money over Ozoufs motivation for this sudden change of perspective. As a Senator is surely finished after the Lime Grove farce. See him standing for election following a deal in Trinity? Even he must be sick of Pryke.
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly getting 'fired' up for next week.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of secret court cases do you agree that only cowards would ever use injunctions against the Media then Deputy?
No Andy or is it Jon Anonymous.
DeleteI have never been involved in secret court case and am not likely to unless the Establishment are planning one for me...
As to injunctions on the media - given the amount of lies and bullying highlighted over the past few years with the 'accredited' MSM all the way up to hacking dead children's phones - injunctions may be quite reasonable.
Especially I suppose if they manifest from fabrications created to try and save an exposed corrupt court case perhaps or some kind of sockening skullduggery so far covered up.
Indeed, the cowardly behaviour of some local 'media' in manufacturing and/or colluding with the lies of others has been quite sickening these past five or so years. Would you not agree?
News of the World? Tip of the ideberg old chap!
Well you do surprise me because I thought you agreed with John Hemming that all injunctions against free speech or just reporting news were totally unacceptable and should be smashed by Parliamentary Privilege as quickly as possible.
DeleteWell only goes to show that you should not believe all you have heard. Maybe you should check your sources for credibility?
DeleteI mean, for instance if you read something negative about me (for example) in the Jersey Evening Pravda you can be almost 100% certain it will be utter tripe and probably just invented so should ignore it.
As for parliamentary privilege I'm afraid that you don't appear to fully understand its intended use and thus existence. A good example of this is where it is necessary for someone to be able to stand up and challenge instances of judicial corruption and/or perhaps instances of media colluding with that for whatever reason.
Couldn't happen here of course....
Luckily you don't see politicians generally spreading the regular lies of all too many in the so called 'accredited' or mainstream media. Though a plus side of this is that serious Citizens Media within the likes of Jersey is going from strength to strength.
Trevor.
Delete"Though a plus side of this is that serious Citizens Media within the likes of Jersey is going from strength to strength."
And up pops another Blogger (Jersey's only independent media) EXCLUSIVE
'Sockening' is a new word which I just invented.... It a local media expression for when they have to put a 'sock' in telling the truth on the order of their Establishment overlords.
ReplyDeleteThis move from Economic Development is nothing more than spin. It won't go anywhere. If it did then it would open up a whole can of worms around the Syvret case alone.
ReplyDelete"Yet again the sad reality here is that the island's most vicious and cowardly cyber thug has been afforded huge wedges of taxpayers' money by our 'justice' authorities to take another person (one of many) he himself had relentlessly bullied for years to court for....bullying! And this via a secret court circus at that."
ReplyDeleteYou keep on saying this but never give any intrinsic detail, but why do you defend what Stuart Syvret does to others?
Dear boy - I don't defend anyone.
DeleteI do point out the black farce of having a thug given my money to go to court complaining he - a bully - has been allegedly bullied.
As for the details of the 'secret court case' the details are well known. It just doesn't suit the likes of Pravda to tell the truth about it that's all.
As for me I have done more than anyone in the States to show how wrong this is. Of course, though never in sufficient details like other 'political citizens media bloggers' stories I have raised at least this has resulted in something getting reported to help the curious start digging further to become more informed.
"Sockening!" A great word. If you hadn't invented it, some one else would have had to!
ReplyDeleteThe points you raise about access to justice are well made. There is no point whatsoever in being able to afford to seek justice if you then get a kangaroo court.
ReplyDeleteAs to the question of jurats it is my belief that people should be able to opt for a jury. Jurats are almost entirely white, rich and from two or three schools. Hardly a broad cross section of our community.
Talking of bullying has Sean Power made any apologies for his antics with the filthy rag in telling a load of lies about your planing application yet? How he hasn't been sacked by the minister yet is amazing.
ReplyDeleteTrevor,
ReplyDeleteIf your readers have a spare 5 minutes or so tomorrow morning, they should join a few of us who will be outside the States Chamber from 8.45am - 9.30am to lobby States Members as they enter the building to demand that they end the gerrymandering and adopt a proper democratic system for Jersey fit for the 21st Century.
It's going to be the 5th November, so perhaps some Guy Fawkes masks and barrels of gunpowder wouldn't go a miss!
Sam
Can you tell us what this injunction is all about before the JEP?
ReplyDeleteJersey's Government and warped justice system f***s up again.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/04/jersey-stuart-syvret-jailed-blog-allegations