GUERNSEY should not follow Jersey’s lead in signing up to a constitutional framework with the UK. Speaking to business leaders in Jersey, Advocate Roger Perrot warned that the 10-point document released in May had given the UK more power to meddle in that island’s international affairs.
He said the accord’s vague language, which says that the UK will not act for Jersey ‘without consultation’, does not clearly set out where the island stands.
Advocate Perrot hoped Guernsey would not follow Jersey and the Isle of Man in signing.
‘In my view, it takes us back a step,’ said Advocate Perrot, the senior partner at Ozannes Channel Island Advocates.
‘It seems to say they will not do anything internationally without consultation.
‘But as any lawyer knows, consultation can simply mean telling.’
His comments came during a question and answer session during which Advocate Perrot and Jersey Chief Minister Frank Walker debated the merits of the accord.
Senator Walker said he could not agree that the framework was a step backwards.
‘We disagree. We do not believe it gives anything away. We believe it takes Jersey forward,’ he said.
During his speech, Advocate Perrot addressed several issues about the constitutional relationship between Guernsey, Jersey and the UK.
He questioned the role of Crown Officers as advisers to the States, suggesting they were not right for the job because they had been appointed by the Crown – meaning they had a conflict of interest when discussing constitutional affairs.
Advocate Perrot also said that Jersey and Guernsey should be working more closely together in exploring the various routes that the islands could take should their autonomy be compromised by the UK. Pouring scorn on the government at Westminster, he said it was ‘no more than an agent of the European Commission’.
‘A political pimp for an institution that is so corrupt that for 12 successive years its accounts have not been signed off by auditors,’ he added.
He also attacked what he called ‘quiet understandings between senior people in the island and their counterparts in Westminster’.
Discussing the possibility of Guernsey and Jersey having more responsibility for their international identity, he suggested
setting up a ‘confederation’ system whereby six representatives from each island acted for the Channel Islands on an international level.
Advocate Perrot said that if Jersey and Guernsey did decide to ‘go it alone’ then they might fail, but at least would have tried.
‘It is possible that the downside could be worse than the upside, but at least it would have been looked into,’ he said.
‘We could make a mess of things, but it would be our mess.’
Article posted on 2nd August, 2007 - 12.00am
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