ANYONE who has followed the emergence of the island’s zero-10 taxation strategy, the latest Budget and now the comments of the Treasury minister published today will realise that something of a crossroads has been reached.
Comment
RSS
You pay, so they simply don’t care
November 17, 2008 – 1:48 pm
WHEN this newspaper criticised Treasury and Resources last week for abandoning any pretence of a policy of restraint in government spending, we did so on the basis of the department’s own 2009 Budget report and quoted some of the minister’s own words from the Billet d’Etat.
I’d like my 150 quid back, please
November 15, 2008 – 9:30 am
NOT so many years ago, the chief question about retirement was how early an individual intended stopping work. Now, that same question is how long someone has to struggle on in order to fund a realistic pension.
The damage is in no way lessened
November 14, 2008 – 2:48 pm
AS THE fallout from the blighted Jersey police investigation into historic child abuse continues, what is increasingly clear is that the two frontline casualties in the affair are trust and confidence. Sadly, the very people - the police - who are responsible for a catastrophic loss of public confidence are also the same people who […]
Everyone loses in this abuse case
November 13, 2008 – 2:53 pm
A PARTICULARLY savage irony in yesterday’s admission by Jersey’s police that they have bungled key aspects of the investigation into allegations of historic child abuse in the island was the suggestion by the new deputy chief officer that what has been said and interpretations that have been made could prevent fair trials from going ahead […]
First step to becoming commercial
November 12, 2008 – 2:26 pm
AN ANNOUNCEMENT today that the Public Services Department is considering the commercialisation of the ports and Guernsey Water is an encouraging sign that at least some areas of the States are prepared to modify their thinking for changing circumstances.
Trip success shows ‘risk’ was right
November 11, 2008 – 2:50 pm
POLITICIANS heading off on overseas assignments are always fair game when it comes to criticisms of taxpayer-funded ‘jollies’. The several missions to China fell into that category and the complaints are still coming in.
It’s all about the words
November 10, 2008 – 2:30 pm
ONE of the unfortunate developments in the controversy over the proposed ‘international identity’ framework document that the States will debate later this month is that the question of who endorses it - the chief minister or the States as a whole - has become something of a trial of strength.
The price of ‘restraint’ comes home
November 8, 2008 – 10:06 am
ONE of the strongest messages coming from Treasury and Resources in its Budget report for 2009 is the need to generate more money – in other words, take more taxes off islanders. In part, that is because of the state of the global economy and the effects that will have on the island’s post-zero-10 growth […]
The code in the fiscal message
CONFIRMATION from the Treasury minister that the States cannot control its expenditure is a worrying admission, for clearly no organisation can operate effectively, efficiently or for the long term without being in charge of its costs. In addition, the minister’s honesty might be seen to raise issues of government credibility.