The Jersey Democratic Alliance

THE PURPOSE OF THE JERSEY DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE  is to restore the government of Jersey to the people of Jersey, and to create and maintain a government which serves the interests of all Jersey citizens and the community in which they live.'   We thank you for taking the time to visit this site and invite you to join us in making sure the type of government we all want becomes a reality.  Together we can make it happen!   Keep scrolling down for a variety of topics on this page WHO DOES THE JEP THINK ARE “HIGH” QUALITY CANDIDATES TO STAND FOR THE STATES

WILL JERSEY HAVE A FINANCE INDUSTRY IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS TIME?

by John Christensen John was formally the Economic Advisor to the States of Jersey prior to becoming director of the Tax Justice Network

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No community can survive without banking, accounting and insurance services, and Jersey is no exception. But will the island provide the same types of offshore services and on the same scale as it does today? Probably not.

The experiment with deregulated financial capitalism collapsed ignominiously in 2007. The combination of secrecy, tax regulation and unbalanced taxation labour, financial capital and land, hampers market efficiency. Capitalism in its current configuration is not creating enough good-quality jobs, nor does it distribute wealth and income effectively or equitably. Secrecy impairs the quality of investment decisions and shifts wealth and income upwards to a small elite.

A repeat of the latest global financial and economic crisis in the next 20 years is quite possible, and the next version of capitalism must address these structural problems. It must be more transparent and it must address the kinds of regulatory gaps so skilfully exploited by the shadow banking system.

.Globally, the trend is towards automatic information exchange on the European model. This is the only effective way to tackle endemic tax evasion, and Jersey will not shake off its poor reputation until it signs up to the EU model and cooperates fully and effectively. The OECD’S discredited 'on request` bilateral information exchange mechanism will not do. It would also be disastrous for Jersey to perpetuate a race to the bottom on tax and financial regulation with competing offshore financial centres, not least those emerging in Mauritius, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong ass global economic and political heft shifts eastwards.

There is also a trend towards full disclosure of company ownership information, meaning the ultimate warm-blooded person rather than a legal intermediary or offshore trust. This is likely to become a requirement of the Financial Action Task Force in the near future.

Jersey should embrace such transparency. It will not scare away legitimate business.

The European Union will continue to combat harmful tax competition. Tax avoidance may be legal, but it will become ever more unacceptable. We can expect to see a common European tax base (but not rate) that will reduce opportunities for profit-shifting to tax haven subsidiaries. Adoption of an international standard for country-by-country reporting by multinational companies will complement this.

These measures will reshape demand for offshore financial centres. Those that can embrace a genuine, deep-rooted commitment to transparency and international cooperation might still thrive. Those that rely on tax avoidance as their principal selling point will go to the wall. And the sooner, the better.

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SENATORS LE MAIN AND PERCHARD ARE TWO BUFFOONS WHO GO WELL TOGETHER

There are a number of buffoons (“a ridiculous but amusing person”) in the States Assembly headed by Senator Terry Le Main and Senator Jim Perchard.

It’s not Terry’s fault, of course, that he is as thick as two short planks but there’s no real excuse for Jim Perchard.  He really ought to know better.

Dopey Terry made the most disgraceful speech I have ever heard in the States during the “in-house” debate on the Carswell Report, dealing with changing the role of the Bailiff. This is a very important constitutional matter requiring considerable thought and debate. Reproduced below is his full speech, showing how carefully he considered the subject.

“I do not like these talking shops. Meaningful discussion were able to be held years ago but when broadcasting started in this assembly, these ‘in committee’ debates and discussions have been, in my view, a nightmare and nothing but a forum for some members to be heard and often to electioneer. I, therefore, would just give a very strong held view that I do not support any further erosion of our traditional way of life and I will strongly oppose any changes to the Bailiff’s roles and duties. I am not just going to waste my time in a talking shop like this and I am going to remove myself from the chamber and am going back home”   And he just went home.

Click here to read the rest of this article

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BRING BACK SCHOOL MILK” PETITION HITS 5,000

The petition calling on the States to bring free school milk back to nursery and primary schools has attracted 5,000 signatures in just five days and a special children’s version has been signed by 750 children aged between 4 and 11.

The petition is being organised by the Jersey Democratic Alliance, the island’s only political party.  Party president, former Senator Ted Vibert who has organised the petition said: “We have taken this course of action following many requests by JDA members asking us to do what we can about reversing the decision to take free milk away from primary and nursery school children: We have been staggered by the response.

People are really very angry about this.  Many have commented about how the home of the Jersey cow could possibly stop free milk on the grounds that there are no health benefits to be gained by young children drinking a third of a pint of low fat milk every day.”

He added that there appeared to be a complete conflict between the Medical Officer of Health and her Health Promotion Unit, who worked with Jersey Dairy and provided the health messages on the milk cartons. These messages stress why milk is good for you –“helps build strong bones; good for your teeth; gives you energy; contains vitamins and minerals and should be part of a healthy diet. Low in fat, high in goodness”.

Healthy diet lessons in primary schools, said Mr. Vibert, are taught by teachers using what is known as the “eat-well plate”. This plate has been designed by the UK Food Standards Agency which divides the daily plate of food that should be eaten into five food category groups showing how much of each category should be eaten in a day. One of the five segments is milk and dairy foods which should make up around 14% of the food we eat each day

”Yet the Minister of Health claims that there are no health benefits to be gained from it” said Mr. Vibert. The conflict between what each is saying is absurd”

“One of the most important aspects of young children having milk at school is that they learn at a very young age that low fat milk is good for them” said Mr. Vibert.“

“Evidence shows that a high percentage of children drink milk at primary school. “In a survey last year of all the 25 primary and nursery schools receiving milk there was an 88% take up rate by the children, who don’t have to have milk if they don’t want it. Mothers want their children to have their school milk and so do their children. This is why 750 of them have already signed the petition with the permission of their parents”.

“Studying the transcript of the debate last year (during the Comprehensive Spending Review), it is clear that this was not a debate about health but about cost.” said Mr. Vibert.

“Senator Maclean made this very clear when he said: “I would implore members to reject this albeit well-meaning proposition ( to keep free school milk) and maintain our aim. We have to cut costs. This is one, I am afraid, that has to go.”

“I have evidence that Senator Maclean misled the house in respect of the cost He told the House that it was costing the taxpayer £183,000 a year to maintain this. What he failed to tell the House was that he had received a letter from Jersey Dairy saying that they were anxious to maintain free school milk and although they were charging considerably less than the price they were getting from larger supermarkets, they were prepared to drop their price so that the cost of the project would be only £138,000. In addition, they would continue to cover the cost of all packaging and distribution free of charge”

“ I have spoken to a number of States members who voted to get rid of free milk in primary and nursery schools and they have told me if they had known the full evidence about the vital contribution to children’s health and that the cost was only £138,000 they would not have supported the move” said Mr. Vibert.

The ”bring back school milk” petition will continue to be found in King Street next week from Tuesday through to Saturday or can be downloaded by clicking here. Teams of JDA members will also be outside primary schools during the week.

The petition reads:
Reason for the petition: When the States voted to withdraw funding for free school milk in the Business Plan 2011 they did so in the face of good evidence for the medical, dietary, educational and economic benefits of regular milk-drinking for young children.
The prayer of the petition reads: We, the undersigned, petition the States of Jersey as follows:
To restore the provision of free school milk in Jersey nursery and primary schools in September 2011 for the start of the school year.

For further information contact : Ted Vibert 077978 46764
Home: 625591 email tedvibert@gmail.com

To download a copy of the petition Click here

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WHY THE” SMALL SOCIETY” IS NOW THE “very small society”

When the “ tax and cut debate” was at its height last year and the JDA and combined unions were bombarding States members with powerful and well-researched arguments based on the universally accepted maxim that you don’t slash public sector jobs when a recession is in progress, there appeared on the horizon a strange animal calling itself “The Small Society”.

This so-called organisation allegedly consisted of the Jersey Hospitality Association, the Jersey Association of Trust Companies, the Jersey Bankers Association, the Institute of Directors and the Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society.  They produced brochures which were placed in stores owned by Kingfisher (Checkers, Marks and Spencers) and they took full page ads in the JEP headed SAVE FIRST, TAX LAST. THIS IS THE SOLUTION”

In their ad they claimed they were “a group committed to ensuring that the development of Jersey’s government policy and infrastructure is appropriate and in the best interests of the island” (in fact their policies are appropriate to the wealthy section of Jersey society only-people who don’t want their taxes increased). They called on the Council of Ministers to "commit absolutely to the programme of cost savings that they have proposed and to, in fact, go further”..  All of their arguments were published under a heading of “FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW”.

We publicly challenged their facts and tried to organise a public debate between myself and Deputy Geoff Southern and any two spokesmen who the “Small Society” chose to nominate. Unfortunately, we were unable to match up dates and availability of the Town Hall so it became impossible.

Fortunately for Jersey, there was a champion for the truth not prepared to put up with this mis-information onslaught by people allegedly representing some respectable organisations and who should know better.

His name? Dr. Cameron McPhail, well-known economist in Jersey who has held a variety of important posts within Jersey’s institutions. He was chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Wealth Management Division and before that ran the RBS International Division. Today, he sits on a number of important boards, co-owns Flower and Plant Nurseries Ltd and specialises in investment and private equity management. Click here to read more.  Thank you Dr. McPhail

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“SAY: NO TO GST”  

It’s Not Over Yet!  New fight to rectify this injustice
 

Senator Alan Breckon has lodged a new proposition to remove GST from foodstuffs in line with the UK’s VAT arrangements as well as from domestic energy and fuel.

Old story: new fight: against background of changed circumstances.  Click here to read the whole of this article

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TAKE THAT MR DIX 

JDA Secretary and president of the Jersey Teachers Association, Anne Southern, has been particularly angered by a letter to the Jersey Evening Post, by Mr. John Dix, who persistently shows his ignorance on many matters, and decided to have a dig at the island’s pupils and teachers.  The message is very clear—with respect to education in Jersey Mr. Dix is,as usual, totally out of his depth and in denial of the facts.  Well done Anne- he deserves all he gets 

Anne’s  letter reads:  

Your political correspondent, among others, has claimed that the exam results for Jersey schools should be in the public domain. Whilst agreeing that openness is generally to be welcomed, it is regrettable that in this case the issues are complex and have led to much ill-informed comment and illogical conclusions. John Dix’s letter (9^th March) is an extreme example. I don’t know whether he accepts that overall, students’ achievement in Jersey compares favourably with that in the UK. However, he does appear to assume that any students not achieving the benchmark grades are ‘unable to read, express themselves and understand simple mathematics’ and are not equipped for life. This is patently not the case. Click here to continue reading the letter

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COMPLAINT TO THE PRESS COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

JDA president Mr. Ted Vibert has lodged a formal complaint with the Press Complaints Commission about the reporting and coverage given by Jersey Evening Post reporter Ben Queree over the JDA petition, which attracted over 10,000 signatures, asking for the Chief Minister to sack the Treasury Minister

The PCC is an independent body which administers a system of self-regulation of the press and adjudicates on breaches of their code of conduct which applies to all UK newspapers.

“The purpose of the PCC is to serve the public by holding editors to account We strive to protect the rights of individuals while at the same time preserving appopriate freedom of expression for the press,” said a spokesman.

The JDA complaints against the JEP and Ben Queree are:

• They published in- accurate misleading and distorted information about our petition.
• They failed to distinguish clearly between comment and conjecture and fact.
• Ben Queree failed to establish whether or not his complainant was in fact a signatory to the petition.
• He also failed to ask the JDA why they had not included the freezing of GST at 3% in the “prayer” of the petition, which was the nub of the JEP campaign against us, which went against all aspects of fair reporting
• The prominence given to the story based on one identifiable signatory was totally disproportionate considering over 10,000 people had signed the petition.
• The editorial headed JDA SIGNS AWAY ITS CREDIBILITY was totally out of proportion to the facts of the case

It is expected to take several weeks before the Commission makes a determination of the case.

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WHO PAYS JERSEY TAX? …..   WE DO!

Figures produced today by JDA Deputy Geoff Southern show that in the past decade the tax burden for running Jersey has shifted dramatically from business to the ordinary workers of Jersey.

These figures produced in the table below show how the Walker, Le Sueur, Ozouf  Councils of Ministers have transferred the tax burden way from business and on to the shoulders of ordinary working people in Jersey.

“Back in 2000 companies contributed over half (52%) of the tax revenue needed to run the island” said Deputy Southern.

“That proportion has been steadily reduced and thanks to the zero-ten tax regime is now as  little as 12% of the sum required.  Over the same period workers and their families have seen their taxes double to 84% of the revenue needed.  Click here to read the rest of the article

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IT'S TIME WE SAW THE BACK OF THIS LADY

What was extra-ordinary about the information that the new hospital managing director was getting £312,000 a year was that Health Minister Deputy Anne Pryke thought this was” good value for money”.

The fact that she got her figures wrong and it was £216,000 was a measure of how much this lady is out of her depth. That she is in charge of such a massive portfolio as health is scary.

How can she possibly think that £312,000 a year was value for money when the man was earning between £110,000 - £140,000 a year in his last job. (He must have thought all his Christmases had come a once when he took the Jersey job)  Click here to read the whole of this article

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EVEN MORE ELECTION PROMISES FROM THE SENATOR

Such has been the mendacity of our Treasury Minister that I decided to go back and look at his election manifesto of 2008 and see how many of his promises he has broken.  I have earned a reputation as a team player” He forgot to add “provided you agree with him - ask Deputy of St. Lawrence.  “I had the vision to improve St. Helier and we delivered Broad Street and many other town improvements” of course, the St. Helier Constable or the ten deputies had nothing to do with this.

He claimed that the Competition Law that he introduced-along with the Competition authority -“ which at last outlawed cartels and price fixing and has made a real difference on prices in telecoms, transport and many other areas” Click here to read the whole of this article
 

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FUNNIEST STATES QUESTION OF THE MONTH

This award goes to Deputy Paul Le Claire who produced this gem at the last sitting of the States addressed to the Chief Minister, Senator Le Sueur about his statement on zero-ten

“This seems to put an end to the great uncertainty within Jersey and the position of its tax regime. In the statement it says we believe this puts our regime back to the position which ECOFIN approved in 2003 when it was agreed that zero ten was acceptable that clearly states that there was a concept that was approved . Does the Chief Minister not agree with me that now is the time to stop asking questions and disagreeing with the chief minister and now is the time to get behind the chief minister and bury our heads in the sand along with them?”

Senator Le Sueur answered: “There are some people who will never be satisfied with anything I say”.

Great question , Paul. Poor answer, Senator. The reason why a lot of people don’t believe anything you say is because you have caught the Ozouf disease of spin and obsfucation.

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