PUBLICATION on Saturday of a letter signed by 27 deputies opposed to any shift to executive government is a significant indication of the political forces now at play in the aftermath of the ending of the firefighters’ industrial action which closed the airport.

Their positioning statement appears to indicate a nervousness that ‘the States’ having demonstrated the ability to  take swift and decisive action  to resolve – at least in the short term – a crippling problem, might develop a taste for short-circuiting the processes that so hamstring normal, protracted decision-making.

Yet while the letter needs to be taken seriously, not least because a majority of the Assembly supports it, it also represents something of a looming problem.

All the recent reviews carried out for the States that touch in any regard on the system of government have been deeply critical of the collegiate system so admired by the 27 deputies.

The most recent came from Tribal Helm and it is inconceivable that the current assessment of corporate governance being conducted by the Wales Audit Office will not be critical too.

The very qualities supported by the 27 deputies, including compromise and an input in all key decisions by all States members, are what external reviewers observe are most wrong with the current system.

While that can be ignored for a time – although the cost of doing so cannot – the inevitable reviews of future problems will all highlight a governance/structural flaw that the States will look increasingly feeble for not addressing. Islanders, too, want a government that is in control.

Left to the devices supported by the 27 signatories, this island would have faced days of a closed airport and public opinion remains overwhelmingly in favour of a swift end having being achieved.

Circumstances will arise again in which some sort of ministerial intervention is required – and islanders will expect that to occur because it is the right thing for Guernsey.

Whether we like it or not, times have changed and this island needs to recognise that fact.

The issue is not if the system is improved but simply when.