Below are the Top Ten most hit VFC Blog Postings of 2016.
Adrian Lynch.
In Tenth Place BODY FOUND.
In Eighth Place. Adrian Lynch UPDATE.
Deputy Andrew Lewis.
In Seventh Place. Andrew Lewis COI Transcripts PART THREE.
Lenny Harper.
In Sixth Place. Lenny Harper COI Witness PART TWO.
William Bailhache.
In Fifth Place. The Curious Incident of WILLIAM BAILHACHE........
Lieutenant Governor.
In Fourth Place. Jersey Lieutenant Governor CROWN INTERESTS.
In Third Place. Adrian Lynch Official Line QUESTIONED.
In First Place. Adrian Lynch's Last Reported KNOWN MOVEMENTS.
2017 should see the publication of the long awaited report from the Jersey Child Abuse Committee of Inquiry. A possible vote of censure tabled against at least one sitting States Member as a result of the report. VFC has a number of Blogs lined up for the beginning of 2017 including an announcement from prominent local lawyer and constitutional expert Philip Sinel and much more.
Team Voice would like to wish all our readers, old and new, a very Merry Christmas and thank you for your support and contributions to the Blogs/comment sections through the year(s). We will wish you a Happy New Year when we publish our "All Time Top Ten" most hit VFC Blog Postings. Stay tuned.....................
Top Ten 2015 can be viewed HERE.
Top Ten 2014 can be viewed HERE.
Top Ten 2013 can be viewed HERE.
Happy Christmas and (I hope) a serene and productive new year.
ReplyDeleteJersey will need you in 2017.
My thoughts are with Adrian's family at this time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my sincere thanks for the leading contributions to Jersey news via the Voice. Together with Rico, you're asking important questions. Questions that other mainstream media's in Jersey rarely consider, or perhaps deliberately leave out. In addition, your posts are always investigated and delivered with professionalism, respect and courage.
Happy Christmas and New Year to you and yours.
Happy Christmas to you VFC, to all at Team Voice, and to all regular posters.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your 2017 blogs in what promises to be a very difficult year for the States of Jersey. Keep up the videos too, they're great!
Happy Christmas to team voice and all it's readers and the very best for new year keep up the good work as you are the only reliable news outlet in this lost island.
ReplyDeleteProof, if proof were needed that blogs like yours are the source of the real truth, spoken with honesty and good investigative skills. No spin, just what we want and need to hear.
ReplyDeleteTotal respect to you and Team Voice and we can only hope and pray that you are able to continue unhindered with your excellent work.
Seasons greetings to you and yours and a productive New Year.
As much as I enjoy this blog, comparing it with the msm is disingenuous of your followers. Yes, the work you do is extremely important but it operates in a very narrow field and as well as being extremely specific it is also infrequent. The msm grinds it out everyday and covers myriad topics and does a pretty good job of spreading a broad range of information across a wide range of people throughout, TV, radio, print and digital. It has its place, as do the blogs and we would be much poorer for it if we lost any of the reliable services we can currently access. We're lucky to have the choices we have and the freedom to access them. some places don't have that luxury.
DeleteSorry to sound offensive but your daft comment that the MSM 'does a pretty good jog' is highly offensive bollocks. You aren't Andy Sibcy are you?
DeleteAny report on the Lewisgate Meeting last night?
ReplyDelete....there are others blogs but the number is sadly diminishing. I try to present information on a wide range of topics and unlike Sam try not to be offensive.
ReplyDeleteOdly, there is no "tradition" of blogs in Guernsey or the Isle of Man and Gibraltar lost its primary blog after being sued following a report on child abuse in a care-home. One of the best blogs in the West Indies was closed down after being sued = and that blogger was a senior lawyer and QC.
I have just posted my latest blog - an interview with Roy Le Herissie3r which I hope will be a constructive contribution to the current discussion of reform in its widest sense.
Perhaps Neil you do whatever is necessary to make this a LIVE LINK...http://tomgruchy.blogspot.com/2016/12/looking-forward-with-roy-le-herissier.html
We bloggers are all vulnerable bacause we operate on shestrings
Tom Gruchy. LINK.
DeleteFacebook has been dominating political debate for sometime though interesting to see that Twitter is losing users and the JEP website has stopped user comments. There are still plenty of local blogs but we have not seen any new political based ones for a very long time.
DeletePeople are losing interest in Politics as we know from election turn outs, but there is hardly ever anything sexy to talk about these days.
You talk like shutting sites down and effectively doing so by blocking comments is a good thing? Hopefully I misunderstand your comment. If this is happening it will likely be largely down to pretend political site that are actually just platforms for the abuse of people populated by only a miniscule number of trolls. We need the blogs now more than ever.
Delete2016.
ReplyDeleteA year that has witnessed an ex Police Officer / Prison Me No Way Officer, an Honorary Police Officer and yesterday a former IT worker at La Moye Prison all going to Jail for the possession of Child abuse images and videos.
http://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/prison-it-worker-sentenced-indecent-images/?t=i#.WF0TufmLTIU
Hardly a year great year for the protection of children.
Not altogether true. Again the JEP is blocking comments relating to deputy Higgins proposition in the States of no confidence in the States Employment Board. Is this because CM Gorst and his chief minister department publicly funded spin doctors are involved. Either way it shows that they are subservient and put ministers before their readership. Good work VFC and team voice not bothered about the CM Spin doctors but concerned with the truth.
ReplyDeleteso the JEP has (a) stopped allowing reader comments on its website or (b) blocked comments relating to a specific deputy's proposition...come on now, which is it, it cant be both? Meanwhile, rather than accepting "anonymous at 9.08's" assertion a simple visit to the site just now shows comments dated as 23/12/16. it seems it isn't just Donald Trump and Nigel Farage who are keen on "post truth" as a way of enforcing their own agenda?
ReplyDeleteThe JEP has stopped all comments, I couldn't log in.
ReplyDeleteComments not allowed by JEP even where comments have been allowed before, maybe the employee who edits the comments is one of the twenty that the JEP are making self employed or even let go.
ReplyDeleteAbaddon
Only 3 on there with the amount of multiple log ins.
DeleteAnd two of them are the same troll.
DeleteThe psychopathic JEP employees who were trolling and moderating have probably been given the bullet.
DeleteThe writing is writ large on the wall and has been for some time. The Jersey Evening Propaganda is dying on its feet. A victim of its own lousy journalism and palming the public off with establishment propaganda while slagging off the progressives. It won't be missed. Hasn't anyone else noticed how thin the paper is quite often these days? I give it a year to eighteen months.
Delete"but there is hardly ever anything sexy to talk about these days."
ReplyDeleteOnly the Hospital with a lack of beds. Record number of people attending CAB with debt problems this month and tiny things like Brexit. Perverts in authority downloading sick material - Anon 12.09. Maybe people have passed caring eh?
I have struggled to understand why Jersey politics is so fcuk'ed up for decades. Now thanks to stumbling on the States Assembly website link to propositions I have learnt the answer.
ReplyDeleteIn a proposition lodged by Deputy M Higgins it clarifies that Connetables are allowed to retain their seats in the Assembly even if they are declared insane! They appear to have almost no restrictions on them as Senators and Deputies do.
I was even amazed to discover in the accompanying report that Connetables even retain their seats in the States if made bankrupt for a time, while Senators and Deputies would lose their seats.
Why are Connetables treated as a special case? Why does Deputy Mezec want to keep them in the States?
I don't want to keep them in the States.
DeleteHow very dare you! I am a Constable and I am definitely NOT insane. I would say more but I am just off to Heartepool to buy some exploding underpants for my pet rabbit.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, how many States Members have been made bankrupt over the past century?
ReplyDeleteAre the Pitmans the only, does anybody know?
Tom Gruchy will know.
DeleteThe Pitmans should sue the States. I didn't know that there were two separate rules on bankruptcy in the States and possibly they did not? They would have very good grounds/chances if they could stomach the five years to get to Strasbourg. Deputy Higgins should be commended for digging all of this up. How can two groups of people both doing the same job essentially be treated so differently?
DeleteThat the Constables who should find themselves bankrupted are allowed to carry on with their roles as representatives yet Deputies (and Senators) like the Pitmans would not be shows how corrupt Jersey is. Reading Higgins' proposition I also ask why with the bankruptcy law, like England's, having been modified some years ago to 4 years instead of 5 why the States of Jersey law wasn't immediately brought in to line by the Chief Minister or PPC. I am sure it would have if Herr Bailhache had been made bankrupt.
But never mind. We can all sleep safely knowing we might have 12 insane Constables running our island.
Any news from Trev, can he make his presence felt if he is still hovering around?
DeleteOtherwise it is old news and they should be left alone.
Old news? How can such glaring one rule for some, another rule for others be old news? I thought this discrepancy must be a mistake when I first read the comments on here. But no. Truly incredible. As for Constables being allowed to sit even if utterly mad. Say no more. But Season's Greeting Team Voice. And may I even say a Happy Christmas to you little troll. may your financial difficulties improve with the New year.
DeleteI bet getting rid of this disgustingly corrupt States Employment Board as Mike Higgins also wants to do is "old news"? What a sad dweeb you are anonymous.
DeleteThe appalling treatment of the eye specialist and the bankruptcy law that saw two fine deputies removed from the States while Constables would have remained have one thing in common they demonstrate just how deep political corruption runs in our island. Gorst should resign or face a no confidence vote for his part in both cases.
I have contacted Dep Higgins re his amendment but he must be a bit deaf in that ear - I don't know why he does not simply propose to abolish the bankruptcy bar for ALL States Members.
ReplyDeleteBankruptcy is hardly relevant to a persons political ability and may be due to perfectly innocent circumstances. Historically it stems from the fact that voting rights were linked to owning property - no property means no vote - and of course it was originally restricted only to men of a certain age with wealth. Thankfully we have moved on but the link with bankruptcy and bad 'uns remains in our prejudiced mind-set just as the reluctance to allow prisoners the vote.
Time to move on - Dep Higgins should be seeking to abolish the bankruptcy rule for all States Members and trust the public to elect or reject candidates - he should not be trying to extend it to Constables...
Well it certainly doesn't apply if you are A member of the European Parliament does it.
Delete"Dep Higgins should be seeking to abolish the bankruptcy rule for all States Members and trust the public to elect or reject candidates"
ReplyDeleteFew people become bankrupt. Generally it is a matter for intelligence quotient, though, like you say, a great introduction to political office, because they are wrecking our finances.
A much more needed and relevant election law than this redundant bankruptcy discrimination would be to introduce a ban on people who have helped cover up or simply ignored abuse whilst being a Crown Officer. Free up at least one space on the Senatorial benches. Same rule should be brought in for remaining as a Crown Officer, be it Attorney General or Bailiff.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine many voters supporting any standee who is or has been declared bankrupt.
DeleteIt's hardly a great thing to have on your CV.
With these observations on insanity and who gets to stay in the States and who doesn't can I ask why it is that Deputy DJ Smashy McLinton has been allowed to retain his seat?
ReplyDeleteIf the clip posted on You Tube of Smashy doing the Harlem Shuffle, 'Woooooaaahhh! I was born to do this!' doesn't indicate an acute case of utterly bonkers great mate them my name is Gary the Goblin. Can we have a link while I think of it please?
Happy Crimbo to you and yours.
"I was BORN FOR THIS."
DeleteHave to agree. This man is surely Stir Fry Crazy. Not sure what he was born to do but it sure ain't represent me. Surprised this clip hasn't gone viral like the Mezec clip. Put it on Facebook?
DeleteLeaving insanity aside a moment and going back to the bankruptcy law issue the point a reader makes earlier in the thread about States election law being allowed to become out of kilter with reformed bankruptcy rules is a very important one. If Jersey's government and judicial function was anything more than the Potemkin village Stuart Syvret and others have called it, then this wholly indefensible gap between the two would never have happened.You simply can't have a person free of their bankruptcy being told, whether they want to stand for Senator or Deputy, sorry chum. We know you are as legally free of bankruptcy as Senator Bloggs is but we haven't bothered to update our law, so he can re-stand for election but you can't. It is nonsense but a nonsense that shows how unprofessional the legislature and judiciary is. Any Chief Minister or PPC worth their salt would have initiated a synchronisation of the two laws the very same week.High time we had proper UK oversight of such matters.
DeleteHappy Christmas Voice. So what if the Adrian Lynch story dominated your Top Ten this year when it is usually much more varied?
ReplyDeleteThe point is this was a hugely importnat story and you and Rico were the only ones stopping it from being swept under the carpet. Great reporting throughout as always so well done.
Look forward to some more great blogs in the New Year so have a good one and thanks for your efforts in 2016.
PS With a lot of people understandably talking about Deputy Higgins propositions on mad Constables, bankruptcy and the States Employment Board fiasco can I suggest it would be good to start the New Year with an interview with the Deputy?
Enjoy the Christmas pud and don't drink too much bubbly!
That's not a bad idea. Will contact Deputy Higgins in the New Year and ask him for an interview.
DeleteI'm off out to the pub for a few Xmas eve drinks. What will the Constables be doing? My bet is dancing around in a circle in Rozel Woods with their trouser legs rolled up, frilly little aprons on and pillow cases over their heads singing "We're mad and we know it! We're mad and we know it! We're mad and we know it! But there's f--K all you can do!"
ReplyDeleteReading through the posting that makes number 4 in the Top Ten list (which readers are encouraged to do) one is reminded of "Helga." She was quite a star for a little while on this Blog but then seemed to disappear. Hopefully she will make a return in 2017?
ReplyDeleteHere is the comment that started off her stardom.
"Like many of your readers I am from outside of your country and I have been reading your blogs to find out more about these events, after I first read about them in our own newspapers. I have also enjoyed reading this blog about your Governor. In our history lessons we learned about the British Empire and your Governor Generals but I did not know yours still existed. I hope that, not like some Governors we learned about in our lessons, he gets on well with your natives.
The story about the historic child abuse is complicated and I sometimes find it hard to follow the story and to work out who is who. Reading about these events also gives me an opportunity to learn more about Jersey and its people. There is something which I find a puzzle and you might be able to help me with.
I find it interesting that although people in Jersey speak in English they sometimes have surnames which are not like those in England. From what I have been reading so far the name “Bailhache” appears to be very popular in your island. I say this because so many of the people who I read about in this story have this name. For example, the person who was Chairman of your Victorian Boy’s College where I read that sex abuse was covered up was called Bailhache. I have read that your Committee of Inquiry into historic child abuse was given evidence about one of your Attorney Generals who knew about a case of child abuse but did not tell the police, and that he was also called Bailhache. A different Attorney General who your people say did not want to prosecute the abusers and who they say played golf with one of the people who was accused was called Bailhache. The judge who made a public speech criticising the abuse investigation before any of the cases came to your court was called Bailhache. The Senator who tried to close down the Committee of Inquiry by stopping its funding was called Bailhache. The Chairman of your Parliament who decides which questions members are allowed to ask of your government, he is also called Bailhache and the person who is now your Chief Judge is called Bailhache. I see also that the person who chooses your Governor is called Bailhache but that the Governor has a different name. Perhaps that is a mistake which will be changed soon. It is unusual for so many important people to have the same name. Are they by any chance related?"
From HERE.
Another of Helga's little pearls:
ReplyDelete"Thank you all for the responses and kind things which have been said about my first entry on your blog. It is humorous that some people say that they are related to me and have the same name. Actually I am the only live person in my family who now has the name Helga. I was named after my great grandmother who we all admired. Recently I have been sorting through some of her old papers and was reminded by them that for some of the time when she was a young woman it was wartime and so many people lived under a bad regime. Towns and countries were run by a small group of powerful people such as generals and top officials. Sometimes there was a puppet government but it had to do as it was told. Any politician who disagreed was cast out or jailed.The top people controlled the police and the courts so they could decide who got charged and who got away. Even the papers and the radio dared not criticise who was in charge and if people wanted to know true news they had to get it by underground means. It is good that these things have now changed.
I am thankful that you have corrected my mix-up about the name Bailhache and the top jobs in your island. I thought that there were lots of different officials with the same name but now you have explained that these are two brothers who have lots of different important jobs.They must both be very good and popular men for your people to elect them to control so many important things.
I feel sorry for Mr William Bailhache because he is just a “Mr” while his brother and other people who were Bailiff were “Sirs.” This might be because these things are shared out among worthy people and he has to wait his turn, but I did read that he was once part of a secret plan to break-up Jersey from the UK. It might be that your Queen has heard of the plan and that she is now cross with him because of it and will not make him a “Sir.” If that is so then the next time that he appoints a new Governor he must pick someone who will speak up for him about this. Or perhaps your readers could organise a petition on his behalf. It would be a big pity if a man who has done so much for his people did not get everything he deserved."
From HERE.
Wishing all at Team Voice a very merry Christmas, what would make my Christmas would be to see the Bailiff turn off his brother Philips microphone. KARMA
ReplyDelete@VFC
ReplyDeleteTbh, I'm not seeing anything in Helga's comments that is not readily apparent to anyone who has a basic knowledge of Jersey's constitutional affairs.
Jersey quite simply lacks a separation of powers at a basic level.
Are Monty and Helga related, however distantly?
ReplyDeleteThe two options that offered any reform of the electoral system were basically the same apart from the issue of the Constables. Both would have led to a 42-member Assembly - a drastic reduction justified only on comparatively piffling savings grounds (piffling when compared to the amount Ozouf wastes on duff loans to tech companies, for example). If cost is the only consideration then why not just keep the present number of Members but kick Ozouf out of government instead, thereby saving annually just as much, if not more?
ReplyDeleteNo thought was given to the increased power of the executive in a 42-member House, particularly as our executive is only ever likely to expand in numbers in the future - not decrease. If they had promised a reduction in the number of Ministers and Assistant Ministers instead of in the overall number of States Members then at least I would have given it a couple of minutes of my time before rejecting it anyway.
No reform option was offered without the complete abolition of our Parish Deputies in favour of the creation of entirely artificial new super constituencies. It looks like they decided on these arbitrary electoral boundaries in the same way as the allies apparently drew up the national frontiers in the Middle East after World War I - by moving matchsticks around on a map - and look how successful the latter approach has been in keeping those populations peaceful! Ironically, nobody involved in dreaming up these reform options actually wanted to see the destruction or diminution of the current parish-based system of local government yet they somehow concluded that when it came to voting for their elected representatives, the public should no longer be able to have their own dedicated parish spokesperson in the States. Unless, in the case of option B, that sole spokesperson was their Constable, whom they normally wouldn't get a chance to vote for anyway because of the tradition for uncontested Constables' elections. It should also be noted that Constables could be removed from the States by an unelected official such as the Attorney General, whereas the other States Members cannot. Remember Constable John Le Sueur's demise. I am not quite sure whether any legislative changes since the Le Sueur episode have had the practical effect of changing the legal status of Constables or not, as I believe they no longer officially have policing powers, so I am not sure whether the AG can still sack them. Others might know better. However, I would certainly not be happy with a situation where my only dedicated parish representative could lose his seat in the House because of a minor personal indiscretion, with an unelected Crown officer deciding whether or not that indiscretion was serious enough to force that representative to resign from the States.
Only about 1.5% separated the two reform options based on the first preference votes only. That was no clear mandate for either option. Obviously Mezec has since flipflopped from option A to option B but that was his personal decision of treachery and he cannot now claim to speak on behalf of all those who voted for option A in 2013, many of whom probably don't agree with his subsequent flipflopping.
Turnout of only 26% for heaven's sake. In some countries a referendum result would be automatically invalid with that few people bothering to cast a vote.
Imagine how much more controversial the Brexit referendum result would have been if the government had deliberately engineered the choices on the ballot paper to bring about the outcome that it favoured, with a ridiculous situation where the option that eventually won only gained something akin to a clear majority based on the second preference votes of those who primarily favoured a different option!
The result had precious little credibility back in 2013 so why should some politicians still be using it nearly four years later to justify their arguments in favour of implementing it now?
Petty comments like this once again show that it is impossible to have an adult conversation on this subject.
DeleteFirstly, since you clearly weren't a supporter of Option A, I'm not sure you have the right to decide who acts as their spokesperson now. In my experience, most Option A supporters that I spoke to wanted the winning option from the referendum to be implemented, despite having not supported it themselves. At the time, I disagreed with them, which put me in a minority of the Option A supporters.
I am not an Option B supporter, I remain a supporter of Option A. I'm just not stupid enough to believe that the perfect solution is imminently about to present itself.
I've worked on the PPC subcommittee on electoral reform and with two years of work done, it is clear that there is no possible reform whatsoever that stands a chance of being accepted by the States to improve our system.
The only possible exception is redebating the referendum result.
I actually want change. I'm not one of these miserable losers who sit behind a computer screen and spend more time complaining about the people who are trying to change things for the better than they do complaining about the people messing things up under the current system.
The proposal is to move from 3 categories of member to 2, and distribute 32 seats in a much fairer and more proportionate way. It even has a slight amendment to the referendum result to protect voters right in St Helier (which was one of my primary concerns before).
The system is clearly better than the mess we have now. I'll back it now and I will stand for re-election continuing to promise that I'll vote to support any proposition which makes the system even fairer and move towards one category of member.
I have one question for the naysayers -
What do you propose instead?
It must satisfy two criteria -
1. It must make the system fairer.
2. It must stand a chance of being accepted by the States.
If it doesn't satisfy that second criterion, then don't bother wasting our time please.
I think Deputy Higgins has stumbled upon something huge in this business about the untouchable Constables and the differing rules on things like insanity and bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteThe Deputies Pitman should not have lost their seat it is as simple as that. Deputy Higgins showing how they would not had they been Constables goes right to the rotten core of the Jersey Way.
Just imagine a totally plausible possibility with these revelations. If Shona Pitman had been a Deputy but her good husband been the Constable she would have lost her seat but he would have kept his! Bloody incredible!
I can't wait to hear the excuses against making everyone the same.
I do not like the idea of anybody, no matter who they are, being in the States if declared bankrupt.
DeleteIt would actually make Jersey look bad as an Offshore Fiance Center as anybody declared bankrupt in Finance loses their job, no question.
Comment @ 18:09: No excuses needed. Surely this is the best way forward for a start to stop the Constables unfair and unjustified place and vote in the Jersey States Chamber.
DeleteDeputy Sam Mezec take note and good starting point for change.
Anonymous at 18.18.
DeleteQuite hard for anything in the States to make Jersey 'look bad as an Offshore Finance Centre'. WE are a bent Tax Haven making tainted money out of assisting people from eles where to cheat their own governments and thus service providing tax take of money. Having someone who may have been made bankrupt for no fault of their own, possibly through a corrupt paedo, crook protecting court system like Jersey's isn't going to make this look any worse. What does as people are pointing out is having some politicians able to keep their seats if bankrupt while others lose theirs. Higgins propositions, both of them, need supporting because of the very thing you worry about. They make Jersey look like the cesspit it is.
Deputy Mezec, join Deputy Higgins on his, rather than following Deputy Lewis on his.
ReplyDeleteStick with a good guy, keep your reputation and make progress for well needed change.
What are you talking about? Of course I'm supporting Deputy Higgins on this, as I do with most things.
DeleteMost of us never doubted that for a minute. It is just the helping to rehabilitate a complete enemy of both justice and democracy by supporting his Option B plus that is upsetting so many.
DeleteDeputy.
DeleteBeing one of very few States Members with a legal background do you know why the States of Jersey Law wasn't immediately brought in line with the bankruptcy law when it was reduced to 4 years? This should happen automatically not be left to people like Gorst dragging his heels at the Bailiff's order so we remain a neo-feudal State, Remember it is not that long ago you could not dance on a Sunday in Jersey!
Legislation oversight is generally very poor in the States. We have a rather backwards system to determine which law drafting work gets prioritised and things like the bankruptcy provisions for States Members would not take priority above what the Council of Ministers decides it wants to be top of the agenda.
DeletePersonally, I'm slowly being converted to the point of view that we should expand the law draftmans office and consider electing a panel of politicians whose sole job is revising legislation.
We take way too long to deal with these sort of things and it's holding us back.
Another example is the Home Affairs department being very clear that they want to introduce legislation on inviting racial hatred, but can't until the sexual offenses law is completed which will take a year! Same with Social Security refusing to look at regulating zero-hours contracts because they're focusing on family friendly legislation instead.
Anon at 21:54. The boy mezec has all ready jumped into bed with Lewis he now just come clean that speech he made if you listen to it carefully it's really Trevor pitman's he made before he lost he's sit.as like so many others mexec has come to see witch side he's bread is butted he will be seen for what he is.
ReplyDeleteI've not jumped into bed with anybody. Your comment again proves that it's impossible to have an adult conversation on this.
Delete'The boy mezec has all ready jumped into bed with Lewis'
ReplyDeleteBecause Lewis is devious.
With the JEP currently blocking all online comment the wildly humorous article on the Bailiffs Christmas speech has avoided the adulation of his many fans.
ReplyDeleteEntitled 'Jersey a beacon of tolerance' it included:-
At the end of a week in which terrorists struck in Belgium and with other European cities on high alert as a result, the Bailiff, William Bailhache, has used his Christmas message to call for Jersey to remain a ‘beacon of hope’ and an example to the world of the tolerance of a small community.
The Dean, the Very Rev Bob Key, has echoed the message and urged Islanders to focus on all that binds rather than divides them.
Read more at http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2016/12/24/call-for-jersey-to-be-a-beacon-of-tolerance/#WgYAYEDmoZSi5SGr.99
Chatting about the States after a huge Christmas dinner and I admit several bottles of wine running out of topics to moan about we moved on from Brexit to the States. Okey dokey I admit we are sad bastards. Anyway getting on to the SEB and barking Constables we collectively came up with two excellent questions we think somebody in the States should ask next.
ReplyDeleteThe first is can the Chief Minister explain if he feels he should retain his position if Mike Higgins wins his vote of no confidence vote? The second is to the Chairman of PPC. Why is the justification for Deputies and Senators losing their seats if bankrupt but Constables not doing so?
Happy New Year.
I see Guernsey Police are having their Adrian Lynch moment. Looks like Stephen Corbet has been found where he went missing on the 27th June 2016. Honestly, you couldn't make this up. And again it has taken members of the public to find him. This time possibly by children.
ReplyDeleteFirstly Deputy Higgins needs back up if he is to win a no confidence vote in the Chief Minister and his cronies. Secondly Deputy Higgins needs back up for Constables losing their seats due to bankruptcy. The good Deputy will not get this back up.... Because turkeys do not vote for Christmas!?
ReplyDeleteThe Vote of no Confidence will get between 5-8 votes.
DeleteI predict 21 votes. It is that damn obvious it should be supported. Anyone who votes against should be remembered for ousting come May 2018. Same with the Constables and bankruptcy proposition come to that.
Delete'Your comment again proves that it's impossible to have an adult conversation on this.'
ReplyDeleteDeputy Sam Mezec, I vary rarely get involved in online conversations with States Members directly online yet when I do, I have never witnessed a response like this.
I hope in 2017 you treat people online with a little more respect because there is no call for it.
There is nothing even remotely inappropriate in the tone of my response to some of the childish and ignorant comments being posted about me here.
DeleteDeputy Mezec, I have voted for you in the past because I agree with your outlook for this Island and would do so again but I would ask you to be very, very careful when you are dealing with 'mister' Lewis, he is most definately NOT to be trusted and make no mistake he would not wait one millisecond to stab you in the back if he thought it would be of benifit to him. I really do hope you know where your going with this Sam, but for me I would not p..s on this apology for a human being if he were on fire. Good Luck.
DeleteDeputy Sam Mezec is already firmly in Deputy Andrew Lewis's embrace, ask him on FB.
DeleteHe is so pleased that Reform Jersey supports his proposal that he is confident about winning it.
It's in the bag.
As Deputy Andrew Lewis is so concerned about fairness maybe Sam Mezec should ask his new friend if Lewis will be supporting the propositions brought by Mezec's progressive political chum Mike Higgins? He should be supporting them but I bet he won't.
DeleteDeputies Higgins and Lewis hate each other.
DeleteLewis has accused Higgins of backstabbing him in the past.
Very Toxic.
If you think I'm firmly in anyone's embrace, then you're delusional. Simple as that.
DeleteTake the tin hat off and smell the coffee.
Comment at 21.30 offers us a real insight to the real political nature of Deputy Andrew Lewis. He does indeed hate Deputy Mike Higgins for being brave enough to call a spade a spade and telling people what Lewis had done at the last election.
DeleteSo will Lewis now support Higgins as he should on the SEB proposition and the two parts of his bankruptcy and other reforms proposition? Of course he won't.
Its all about Lewis, Sam. A snake can't change its spots any more than a leopard can.
There is an inference behind that analysis which is fundamentally childish and anti-democratic and I will never support acting that way.
DeleteA parliamentarian should vote for a proposition if it is good, or against it if it is bad.
That is the only criterion I will consider before casting my vote on a States proposition.
P.133 is a good proposition which offers a pragmatic way forward on an important subject.
Am I to vote against a proposition because of the past failings of the personality behind it even if it is clearly in the best interests of my constituents? No thanks. That is a backwards way of doing politics.
If we hate the establishment, we must act better than them. Playing by the same dirty rules as them will make us just as bad as them one day.
I don't know why you are all getting your knickers in a twist. The Option B Plus or whatever shite it is being called hasn't a hope in hell of getting passed.
DeleteLike that old TV commercial used to say 'We (States members) don't like change'. Any change. It is going nowhere so give Mezec a break.
Your last line is a fair comment. But do you know if Deputy Lewis who stands to gain by your support will be supporting future Progressive political propositions? How about starting with the Higgins' propositions people are talking about? Will friend Andy be following your lead on those? Will mean voting against Gorst and Co and the Constables!
DeleteI have no idea how Deputy Lewis will be voting on them. The answer is entirely irrelevant to whether P.133 is a good proposition or not.
DeleteLeave Deputy Mezec alone. He is making the call as he sees it. Like many I think he is wrong. But I think he is making an honest mistake here. We can't expect everyone to have balls the size of Trevor P. Let him be.
ReplyDeleteI wonder when the Deputy decided to support this Lewis proposition? Was it after seeing a damning report?
ReplyDeleteI was just looking back to your top ten of 2013. A time when we had real politicians in the States and a lot more really important stories. Hardly anyone seems willing to stand up in the Chamber and raise the real issues any more. No wonder so few vote.
ReplyDeleteRead it all now.
ReplyDeleteMezec accuses others are attacking child abuse victims when he's done a deal with the Devil Lewis.
No I haven't.
DeleteWhen do the States go back to what most of them pretend to be work after the Christmas break? I'm missing my fortnightly fix of baloney.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 17th is the next sitting I believe.
DeleteCan't wait to hear the excuses from the Constables for not making them subject to the same restrictions as their colleagues. I'll also make a prediction. Chief Minister Gorst being the Establishment poodle he is will put forward comments from the Council of Morons arguing against this. You read it on vfc first.
DeleteHook line and sinker (and rod end) for 13.00 !
ReplyDeleteYou really haven't seen the game plan have you?
Lewis is an establishment poodle whose hubris is power. They know that and want him to be a puppet Chief Minister /
The best way of doing that is to let him take an anti Council of the Dead stand and suck in 'lefties', (in this case and others it is through what would appear reasonable versus CoM idiocy or intransigence ). Thats a whack of forgetful left votes in his pocket. Next the CoM will see how his wise council should in fact be listened too and with a few tweaks for face saving , start to see his proposals supported. True it might not be this one but it will come between now and the elections to snare the .led right voters. Job done and we have Chief Minister Lewis (Same as the old crowd.Fooled again.Daltrey)
"The best way of doing that is to let him take an anti Council of the Dead stand and suck in 'lefties'"
ReplyDeleteNail on the head, but hold on a second. Isn't Sam still right to use this as an opportunity to progress things a little bit further and make things just a little bit more democratic? That seems like a logical thing to do. Choose your battles to win the war remember! And I don't doubt for one second that when the time comes to expose the game to the ill informed or blinkered part of the population at large Sam and others will be shouting that from the roof tops.
For the record, and I've said it twice already on these posts Sam should IMHO also raise an amendment to kick the Constables out. Doomed to failure I know but the point is to keep this issue repeatedly in the public eye and keep chipping away at it and testing latest sentiment of the house. Hopefully each time it will be marginally more successful.
JRCbean
People keep on referring to Lefties who around the world are dropping like flies.
ReplyDeleteSeen it in the UK, the USA, France is going far Right and most of Europe are shifting to the Right.
The States of Jersey holds around 5 Lefties which is only around 10% and Deputy Mezec is probably about the most vocal. Hardly a force in anybodies book so this teaming up benefits Lewis the most.
Lewis has been singing from the same song sheet as Reform Jersey for a while.
DeleteMinimum wage, Working Wage, Jollies to Africa, Logfooler and States reform. Lewis has been using these subjects to raise his profile away from all the **** that's about to be sprayed all over him.
The world certainly has teetered to the right. But with neo-liberalism the politics of the walking dead and inevitable economic ruin it is really the last hurrah before the final meltdown. Even back in Germany in the late 1960s you saw bitter old Nazis try one last throw of the dice before the had to accept the good old bad old days are over. All the Left need to do is hang in a little longer. One thing is for sure if you go by the opinion polls to convince yourself the Tories will win in the UK in the next election you are likely to be disappointed. Just like Brexit. As Beven said Conservatism is the politics of the rat.
DeleteHAPPY NEW YEAR TEAM VOICE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
ReplyDeleteJust to echo the above comment. Happy New Year to all at Jersey's finest political blog. Still going strong. Still doing what the JEP, ITV and BBC Jersey are far to craven to.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see the back of 2016 since we found out that Deputy Sam Mezec is best friends with Deputy Andrew Lewis. Shows how quickly Graham Power's illegal suspension has been forgotten.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to the Voice Team. It's always a pleasure to read a new post from you guys. I think it's this time of year when you remind us of 'Concrete Angel' and 'Something Inside So Strong' and we all connect. Thanks guys, you keep us together.
ReplyDeleteHigh time you had another interview with that Constable chap, Sir Reginald. So much for the good Constable to give us his views on. Is he happy that he and his chums are able to keep their seats no matter what they do? Does he think a conviction for sheep worrying should see a Constable banned? How will the good Constable and his colleagues be celebrating the New Year? Will 'the ladies' be allowed to drink alcohol? Come on Sir Reg - you can't spend all your time in the Bahamas.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year. Look forward to more real news stories in 2017.
ReplyDeletePS
Bring back Sir Reginald!
Am in negotiations with Lord Reg at the mo discussing a possible "New Year's Message."
DeleteGreat news! What does Lord Reginald think about women having infiltrated the ranks of the Constables club? Is it the beginning of the decline and fall of civilisation? Should women really be allowed to drive anything faster than a tractor? Should States Members be allowed to ask whether the Bailiff is in fact a devil worshipper? Is Gin always better without tonic when discussing buying pencils to fill out voting slips at elections. (I am aware that most Constable do not face elections but still interested in Lord Reggie's thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDoes Lord Reg think that General Franco was not all bad? Does he think that we should invade Guernsey and steal their harbour and waterfront as ours is so damn ugly thanks to Philip O and Freddie Cohen?
DeleteIs there really a secret rule about Constables stating that all males running for the post be bald and ideally have beards?
DeleteHappy new year to all at team voice give them hell in 2017.keep up the good work .
ReplyDeleteLord Reg! Lord Reg! Lord Reg!
ReplyDeleteWhat is Lord Reginald's fee@ A bottle of Blue Nun, 200 x Bensen & Hedges and an uncontested election?
ReplyDelete