AN EXHAUSTIVE examination by Jersey’s Constitution Review Group came to the not very surprising conclusion that the island was, in any event, just one or two steps away from full independence. Like Guernsey, it has had an independent legal and judicial system since 1204 and has, with some exceptions, been successfully responsible for its own affairs for a very long time.
In addition, the work is a second report and was commissioned on the basis of Jersey seeking independence should its interests be best served by so doing. In other words, the research essentially seeks to be proactively defensive by setting out some of the steps necessary should what are called external influences demand a split from the UK.
The authors also touch on what that trigger might be when they say the Privy Council should approve legislation on what is right and proper for Her Majesty’s subjects in Jersey and not from the perspective of the UK’s domestic interests.
Increasingly, the fear is that the government’s own agenda, at least party driven by the EU, will start to dictate island interests and there is already some evidence of that happening.
Yet while having a form of insurance policy - a framework for avoiding possible future trouble - is attractive, it is not necessarily the best approach. Islanders from both Bailiwicks are independently minded and take a pride in being able to manage their own destinies. The relationship through the Crown with the UK has worked well and has evolved and matured over the centuries.
The issue, then, is one of whether these islands believe the time is right for the next step along the road of their own development.
Retaining an opt-out clause in case it might be necessary might be pragmatic but it also has more than a whiff about it of seeking cynically to exploit an 800-year-old relationship. And that does not sit comfortably with a people who are still loyal to the Crown, whatever they might think about Her Majesty’s Government of the day.
These islands are right to consider independence - but as part of their own development in a modern world and as a sign of their own increasing right to self-determination.
Going alone must be for right reason
AN EXHAUSTIVE examination by Jersey’s Constitution Review Group came to the not very surprising conclusion that the island was, in any event, just one or two steps away from full independence. Like Guernsey, it has had an independent legal and judicial system since 1204 and has, with some exceptions, been successfully responsible for its own affairs for a very long time.
In addition, the work is a second report and was commissioned on the basis of Jersey seeking independence should its interests be best served by so doing. In other words, the research essentially seeks to be proactively defensive by setting out some of the steps necessary should what are called external influences demand a split from the UK.
The authors also touch on what that trigger might be when they say the Privy Council should approve legislation on what is right and proper for Her Majesty’s subjects in Jersey and not from the perspective of the UK’s domestic interests.
Increasingly, the fear is that the government’s own agenda, at least party driven by the EU, will start to dictate island interests and there is already some evidence of that happening.
Yet while having a form of insurance policy - a framework for avoiding possible future trouble - is attractive, it is not necessarily the best approach. Islanders from both Bailiwicks are independently minded and take a pride in being able to manage their own destinies. The relationship through the Crown with the UK has worked well and has evolved and matured over the centuries.
The issue, then, is one of whether these islands believe the time is right for the next step along the road of their own development.
Retaining an opt-out clause in case it might be necessary might be pragmatic but it also has more than a whiff about it of seeking cynically to exploit an 800-year-old relationship. And that does not sit comfortably with a people who are still loyal to the Crown, whatever they might think about Her Majesty’s Government of the day.
These islands are right to consider independence - but as part of their own development in a modern world and as a sign of their own increasing right to self-determination.
No other reason is good enough.
Article posted on 1st July, 2008 - 1.45pm