This Is Guernsey

By Gemma Hockey

ATTENDING the Conservative Party conference was worth every penny, according to Chief Minister Mike Torode. He said the trip, funded by the public purse, was invaluable in placing Guernsey in the political arena.

He could not state the total cost, but said it would probably be £3,000-£4,000.

‘I think it was very valuable. We didn’t take the expensive route of taking a trade stand, which would have cost anything from £8,000 to £9,000,’ he said yesterday, after spending two days in Blackpool.

He said the conference provided a great opportunity to gauge the island’s standing in the financial community.

‘We had select meetings with a number of Shadow ministers, starting with Steven Hammond, Shadow Transport Secretary and secretary for the Associate Parliamentary Group on Wholesale Financial Markets and Services. It was very interesting to talk to somebody with a strong professional interest in financial affairs and he was very supportive of Guernsey,’ he said.

Deputy Torode, who was unable to attend the Labour Party conference due to illness, also met Cheryl Gillan, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

‘She is a very experienced member of the House and very useful to know. She’s going to be in Parliament for a long time - I cannot see her losing in the general election,’ said Deputy Torode.

Deputy Torode said he and his chief officer, Mike Brown, also met John Whittingdale, former Parliamentary private secretary to the Minister of State for Education and Employment, who was also Margaret Thatcher’s political secretary when she was Prime Minister.

‘So we are talking about top political people who look to be strong opposition in the general election, whether it is in five weeks or 18 months.

‘These people know that Guernsey was there and that really is the strong point - Guernsey is here and Guernsey is interested in what is going on,’ he said.

He said it was the first time a States member had attended the conference.

‘I would recommend to my successor that they go at least once to get a feel of what the whole thing is about - it gives them the opportunity to get stuck in.

‘We really did get ourselves noticed by being there.’

Deputy Torode said the party’s election promise to raise the threshold of inheritance tax from £300,000 to £1m. was a smart move. ‘I think it’s a great vote-puller for middle England, without a shadow of a doubt,’ he said.

‘It was after listening to George Osborne’s ‘Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and general election campaign coordinator’ speech that I got a feel of how well this was going and the atmosphere was so great that you could almost feel the roof lifting,’ he said.