IN HIS Christmas message to the islands’ communities, the Bailiff urged everyone to remember the true meaning of the occasion – a time for peace and understanding, for loving, forgiving, thoughtfulness, thankfulness and tenderness.

‘Don’t let the spirit of Christmas and what it means go out with the tired Christmas tree in early January,’ he said.

Not only was it an excellent reminder of the message that underpins what is increasingly a secular celebration, it was also timely.

As the chief minister said in his own message to islanders, while Guernsey is prosperous and its economy robust, the new year brings with it a degree of uncertainty.

This is the wrong time of year to put concerns about the future any more strongly but, whatever happens in the wider world, Guernsey is already committed to a process of taking cost out of its public sector and trying to do more with less.

Inevitably, that will have consequences and there is a need to ensure that they do not impact on those in the community least able to take it.

For a generation, the Bailiwick has been fortunate to enjoy a growing economy and annual surpluses. Public services have expanded and the benefits have trickled down to all sectors.

Despite that, however, an alarming degree of relative poverty has been disclosed and this masks areas of actual poverty, deprivation that is shocking in a community that everyone takes for granted is well heeled.

A programme to narrow that exclusion gap has stalled and it now coincides with a period of economic austerity. Those who are least fortunate risk being doubly squeezed unless, to quote the Bailiff again, thoughtfulness and tenderness are exercised.

It requires those seeing the islands through new eyes to recognise the profound benefits life here brings and, as the Lt-Governor said in his first message, what a special community it is.

A looming general election and fiscal pressure provides an opportunity to ensure that it remains special for everyone who is part of it.

So, and in the true spirit of the meaning, we wish all our readers a happy Christmas.