Thursday 10 June 2010

Integrity according to Francis Le Gresley.

Team Voice, as most will be aware, have very kindly offered ALL Senatorial Candidates the opportunity of FIVE FULL MINUTES on video to engage with and sell themselves to the online community, which we are publishing on one of our sister Blogs VFP.

Unfortunately not ALL candidates have taken us up on this very kind offer, however All of them WILL be appearing on one of our Blogsites. For those who have ignored our very kind offer, we will be publishing their 5 minute speech made at one of the hustings. The audio quality will be a little inferior to those who have given us a 5 minute “piece to camera” as we can’t “mic them up” at the hustings. It must be said our very kind offer was made through public demand from people who have asked us to do what the “accredited” media, aren’t/can’t and that is something a little more in-depth so the potential voters who can’t get to hustings etc will have a more “informed” choice of the candidates.

Which brings us to Senatorial Candidate Francis Le Gresley (who has ignored our very kind offer). His definition of “integrity” and my definition of it differ somewhat and here’s how.

At the St Martin hustings he told a story to the audience of how a young enthusiastic man joined the Honory Police Force in order to serve his community as best he could. As part of his training he was instructed to observe a local pub where he could catch and arrest drink drivers etc. One particular night he watched one of his superiors down a bottle of whiskey, get in his car, and drive home.

The following day this particular “inferior” Officer handed in his resignation because his “integrity” would not allow him to be a part of double standards, where his superiors are arresting, or charging, people for crimes they themselves are committing. The story ended with a very dramatic finish when Francis Le Gresley said “that young officer was me” to which the crowd seemed to enjoy. What a fine up-standing man who is willing to resign his post rather than be a part of any “double standards”.

To which I would completely disagree, rather than using the word “integrity” I would be inclined to use words like “cowardly” or perhaps, which is just as appropriate, “The Jersey Way”. Rather than put his arse on the line and uphold the Law without fear or favour and arresting the criminal, he “let him off” because of who he was. He allowed his superior - after consuming a bottle of whiskey - to drive home putting his own life and others in severe danger.

What Francis displayed, in my opinion, was a complete lack of any integrity or courage. He kept his head down and didn’t “rock the boat” which is the good old “Jersey Way” and it would appear was willing to endanger people’s lives in doing so. What we need in the States is somebody who IS willing to “rock the boat” who IS willing to hold senior figures to account, not people who will resign and keep their head down. We want somebody who will put their head above the parapet without fear or favour.

The video below is from a hustings (can’t remember which) where Francis gives us his opening five minute speech. You will note he devotes the first one minute and 15 seconds attacking YET AGAIN and YET ANOTHER fellow candidate, who coincidentally(?) does put his head above the parapet and is not afraid of rocking the boat. What Francis doesn’t appear to have been told by his advisors is that negative campaigning is a real “no no” in elections, so you can have that one on me Francis.

Viewers will also notice three minutes and 50 secs in he tells us he is “not afraid to challenge authority” uhh, yes you are Francis. He then goes on to say “I will not shirk from making difficult decisions” uhh yes you will Francis. To top it off he says “I will challenge Senior Civil Servants if I un-earth unacceptable practices”……….Will you indeed??????

One thing, unfortunately, that has become apparent is that Francis Le Gresley is the establishment’s candidate in this by-election. If you are happy with the way this government is run and where it is going and your definition of “integrity” is the same as Francis’ then he is your man.

If your definition of “integrity” doesn’t mean keeping your head down, not rocking the boat, turning a blind eye for people in authority then he most certainly isn’t your man!



Submitted by VFC.

24 comments:

  1. All I can say VFC is I endorse every word you have printed here.

    This all became very apparent very early on in the hustings. The biggest disappointment of all the candidates I feel.

    A shame he did not take up your kind offer to maybe change some people's minds.

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  2. VFC, it was the Grouville hustings.

    And yes VFC, he is a coward, and corrupt. Mr "turn a blind eye" if ever there was one.

    It is also evident that he is quite stupid, he has clearly not thought his "self-promoting" little story through, or it's implications!

    Do we want yet another servile Establishment man in power? Or do we want a Syvret man, honourable, truthful and decent?

    It is our choice now!!!

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  3. He has got my vote. The most important thing is to keep Syvret out. He has made fools of the taxpayer for too long.

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  4. 'He has got my vote. The most important thing is to keep Syvret out. He has made fools of the taxpayer for too long'

    Which are you ? A fool or a taxpayer?

    This man is a wet and as vacuous as they come. He would be left dazed and blooded by the 'yet to be appointed ' refreshment lady.

    He is as wet as his distorting election posters in this rain. Just look at them!

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  5. 'The most important thing is to keep Syvret out'

    Surely if you are so keen to keep Syvret out you look for the next best option, which is NOT Francis Le Gresley. He has shown he has not got the integrity, nor the forcefulness required to take on what we have in the Government at present. If he is not already he soon will be Mr Establishment.

    I am a taxpayer and I certainly do not feel SS has taken me for a fool. Indeed I think he has offered more value for money than most of the remainder.

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  6. My vote goes to le Gresley, it is time SS and his band of followers got together and created the Social Charter, concentrated their possible skills on social policy to bring about effective change and stopped making unfounded allegations based on nothing more than personal observations, chit chat, and gossip.

    The tactics that SS's band of followers engage in do nothing more than tarnish the reputation of SS, and lets face it Stuart has the capacity to do that himself.

    I have always voted Syvret and if I was able to cast two votes he would have my second vote, I find him to be a lonely and quite tragic figure, he has not worked out yet that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

    I will check with interest to see if this comment - which no doubt will be viewed as anti Syvret is posted....just to see how much of a main stream media site this is!

    Oh and by the way I do feel empathy for all victims of abuse be it sexual physical or VERBAL

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  7. "I find him to be a lonely and quite tragic figure, he has not worked out yet that there is more than one way to skin a cat."

    Lonely is how you get in Jersey when you fight corruption because no one else has the balls to assist you.

    And furthermore, there is only one way to skin a cat in Jersey. That way is to get rid of the corrupt States Members. The only way to do that is the Syvret Way, through the courts and through unrefutable evidence....and that takes time!

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  8. Quote from BBC Jersey on the proposed introduction of GST. So, who was looking out for the less well off, and who didn't place too much weight on it's impact??

    'Senator Syvret thinks basic foods, medical services and products, life insurance policies, books and newspapers, education, childcare and children's clothes should be exempt from the Goods & Services tax set to be introduced in 2008.

    However Francis le Gresley, manager of the Jersey Citizens Advice Bureau doesn’t think exemptions are needed as not all businesses in Jersey will have to pay GST.

    "Only about 1500 business in Jersey will actually be charging GST to the public"
    Francis le Gresley
    He told BBC Radio Jersey’s Talkback programmes “A business that has sales that would be otherwise subject to GST of less than £300 thousand per year does not charge GST to its customers.

    “So that to me means, and the figures in the report say, that only about 1500 business in Jersey will actually be charging GST to the public.”

    Syvret every time!

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  9. I must correct you VFC it was Grouville that Le Gresley recounted this story and not St martin.
    We don't want Mr Le Gresley to have an excuse to say you print Rumour and gossip

    We all know to get any kind of truth we have to look to the blogs
    I liked Ian Evans recount of Le Gresleys story
    keep up the good work boys

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  10. Please all
    google
    MAN WITH A PLAN

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  11. Hi, this may be of interest,
    http://themwap.wordpress.com/
    http://twitter.com/Themwap/statuses/15781466828
    Pats step son ???
    A regular hustings participant, except yesterday(St Ouen)
    Dervish

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  12. Re Le GResley and GST n food the coments printed by one blogger should not be taken out of context - the black hole has to be filled gst ws not inevitable but the majority of the assembly voted for it FACT..........in order o exempt food, it would have taken another influx of civil servants and bureaucrats to administer - FACT.......therefor a blanket 3% was simplest.
    LE GRESLEY has stated that he would not be in favour of increasing GST as a way to rais e tax revenue - he has advocated higher earners ( those earning over £100k) to pay a higher rate of tax.................peole like Syvret and Le Gresley ae not that far apart in their ideology - its a pity Le Gresley stood on this occasion

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  13. I cannot agree with your comment that it would have been impossible to adminster the removal of GST from foodstuffs and children's clothing. If it can be done in the UK it can be done here.

    The majority of the assembly voted for it, but a large number of the general public petitioned against it, to which Terry Le Sueur basically said 'sod off, you will have what I say regardless!'. I suspect that a lot of the people who signed this petition would be those who have been hardest hit by this, i.e. low income families who have no choice but to feed and clothe themselves and their children.

    Maybe Mr Le Gresley in his capacity as manager of the CAB should have seen this as an issue, and thought of an alternative way of filling that black hole, caused by over paid civil servants and the States squandering of our money.

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  14. No vote from me. He is as dull and wet as Stuart Syvret is now plain demented and nasty.

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  15. Le Gresley had no impact on the political decision he merely passed an opinion.

    I agree GST was not the only solution but those elected democratically to power decided otherwise.


    Consider this....19000 signed the petition against GST, myself included. Contrast that figure with the number of people who will bother their axxxes to get out and vote on Wednesday next!

    The people of this island get the government they deserve, and any decent politician would stand up for political reform......next year we will have a general election ......the monied few ( not Le Gresley not Syvret) but Ozouf, McLean, Reed and the numerous other millionaire politicians will I predict get a firm grip on this island at that time and as for us hard working, tax paying people of middle Jersey..........well theres a boat in the morning A!

    One wouald hope with the threat of industrial action from States workers, teachers and whoever is next the public would come out and vote but of the 50k that are eligable I suspect only 15k will bother nest week.

    Meanwhile one of the most talented politicians of recent years Stuart Syvret has become a one trick pony, and yes I do empathise with him and all the victims of the child absue tragedy. Stuart needs to change the way in which he operates he is going around in circles fired up with the realisation that life is just not fair.................fate plays some mean tricks.

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  16. Anonymous commented: "I find him to be a lonely and quite tragic figure, he has not worked out yet that there is more than one way to skin a cat"

    This type of argument is often raised by naive types who believe that if only people like Stuart raised things in the "proper way" that he would achieve far more and in a far less disruptive way. They are well meaning but have no clue as to how things really change significantly in history, going back as far as you like.

    The equivalent of the modus operandi they think will cure all ills is a well worded, moderately phrased, letter to The Times. They laughably think that if you just write to the Minister in charge, or talk to the relevant civil servants, that they will metaphorically slap their foreheads and exclaim "my gosh, I hadn't thought of that - you're right! I'll get right on it - thank you! thank you! thank you!"

    Where people like anonymous go wrong, with their ignorant "there's more than one way to skin a cat" fantasy, is that they don't realise that people like Stuart, when trying to initiate significant change, as opposed to tickling round the edges change, tried those approaches first - many times.

    After years of banging your head against intransigent brick walls and talking to deliberately deaf ears, the only thing left is to ratchet up the game. The final consequence of any establishment's maintaining its impenetrable walls, whether they be political, religious (Galileo vs the Catholic church) or scientific (Einstein vs established Newtonian physics) is that they inevitably create the revolutionaries or terrorists who fight against them and sometimes overthrow them. The mild mannered "writers to the Times" equivalents who stop there, and go no further, never achieve anything.
    In Jersey, sadly, the "sheeple" people have been brainwashed to believe that only polite, moderate, proper action is appropriate or effective. The majority are too dumb or ignorant to realise how this plays right into the hands of those in power.

    Try your method sometime, anonymous, about anything significant and you will get polite letters back, knocking you back. Translated they are saying, fingers in their ears, "La La La - I'm not listening". Expecting that they will shows how ignorant anonymous is about the real nature of challenging established authority.

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  17. Like Mont and Nick were saying a couple years back Stuart is so far up his own backside he must need a torch. I think he should have taken himself away for a year or two to get some of the crap out of his system. He seems to have become totally removed from how so many working people now see him. Too many sycophants around him I reckon.

    Most of all the part of me that still wants to support him just wishes he would drop this farce about having to go to London for six months or he would have been put in prison. It is just so laughable and probably the thing that will cost him the election.

    Le Gresley may well be nothing more than the next Ian le Marquand. A scary thought and enough to ensure that I for one don't vote for him.

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  18. Not letters to the minister Damocles, but working with other progressives and staying the course.......... Rome was not built in a day.

    Staying the course and asking those awkward questions, pointless attempting to get a proposition through as a backbencher. That said with Bob Hill in the assembly plenty of awkward questions are asked every sitting, Trevor Pitman is keeping the topic current, it will not go away even if SS does..........the truth is out there.

    If SS gets back into power then maybe his modus operandi will have been worth while, if not he has let all those that had voted for him in the past down and will be in the political wilderness. No doubt he would continue with his 'abuse' work and those people do need him and his contacts.

    If he does get back in then I would view that as a triumph for SS..and a two fingered salute to the ESTABLISHMENT

    SS could do with proffering a few apologies himself, and I think he knows who to, and I dont mean civil servants or states members.......................

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  19. I fail to see how all those people that voted for Senator Syvret in the past could possibly be let down if he fails to get re-elected
    We will be disappointed , yes but if he fails to get re-elected ,its the whole island that should be worried.
    It will send out a very clear message, Its business as usual

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  20. Stuart's down fall is that he has taken multiple personal attacks too far. He cannot seem to post anything without having a personal dig at somebody and now its anybody. Its cumbersome and predictable. I agree, he should take a year off and sort himself out, get himself together, but stop what he is doing on that Blog now, insults against others is not the way forward anymore.

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  21. After this evening's showing I am in no doubt that this is the second Establishment candidate in this election.

    Vote for this man at your peril!

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  22. Well despite your best efforts to ridicule him, the best man won.

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  23. Well despite your best efforts to ridicule him, the best man won.

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  24. Those who have pre judged Le Gresley will now have an opportunity to see if he is a man of his word.

    I do not think he will let the people of Jersey down. He has spent his working career supporting the under privilaged in this island, quietly lobbying for changes in social policy that have resulted in better working conditions, lobbying for ITIS, lobbying for better conditions at La Moye.....he has publicy stated that he has great respect still for Stuart Syvret ( BBC Radio Jersey ) he is a left of centre Senator Elect he will vot ewith the progressives and more importantly he intends to expose publicly what exactly is happening within the governance of Jersey

    Do you bloggers really think that a man who has worked at CAB for thirty yeasr is going to roll over in front of the COM..........think again and watch this space

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