Chief Minister of Jersey: Senator Frank Walker

[Jason the Maverick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x0QTeV-k54

[David Rotherham]

http://www.esnips.com/doc/6a28ea20-62fc-44c2-8abe-ce836b6b8de7/Powells-Puppet-Show

[Jason the Maverick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeKwwSrHeg8

[Millennium Man]

How much money has this guy made out of Jersey?

[Jason the Maverick]

I would guess a hell of a lot.

[Chief Minister]

The make-up of the 6 Millionaires that run the Government explains why they all watch esch others backs and promote their own preservation of fu**ing wealth.

[Al]

A comment on Stuart Syvret's blog quotes from a BBC response to a letter of complaint and says 'The now-notorious Newsnight footage of an exchange between Senator Syvret and the Chief Minister was shot by BBC Jersey journalists and first broadcast by BBC Jersey. This resulted in a vociferous call of complaint from an outraged Chief Minister hours before he left home to take part in Newsnight.'( https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7124117913567332282&postID=3890404244777918488 the it's right at the bottom of the page)... That's a 'phone call I would love to hear - I hope it was recorded for security or for training purposes!

[Pomme de terre]

He is pro business the rest of us can burn we are of no benefit to him.

I would like to discuss this point with you. Yes, he is pro-business. That's because it costs £550m a year to run the States of Jersey. It's his job to bring in that money, amongst other things. He is obliged to be pro-business, it's a requirement of the job for the leader of any government.

What would you do to bring £550m per year in, on an anti-business platform? Seriously, I'm not having a go at you, but I want to know what your useful ideas are for raising that money, all of which gets spent, every year, bar a few quid into the strategic reserve.

[Pomme de terre]

I agree with the sentiment of your post, if not your numbers.

For example, the split of personal taxation versus corporate taxation is roughly 50/50. You don't mention corporate taxation. So, the 50,000-ish (agreed) personal taxpayers in Jersey raise about £275million per year in income tax, resulting in an average personal tax bill of £5,500 per year. The other £275million comes from business taxation (and now, GST). Sorry, but your average figures of £13,750-£18,333.33 per tax payer are wrong.

Regardless, is £550m a year right? No, of course it's not. I would like to see it trimmed to £450m. But that can't be achieved without significant public sector lay offs and a severe reduction in capital spending (pet projects). 

75% of the £550m is spent in three key areas: Education (mostly salaries and grants); Health (mostly salaries and drugs) and Social Security (pensions and benefits). Where would you make cuts, given that most active voters are elderly? 

The "name me one town in England" argument doesn't really work; there is no comparable town that has to run its own airport and port, financial services regulator, judiciary, legislature, etc, etc. I would like that argument to work, but it doesn't. The UK has economy of scale in many costly areas.

[danrok]

I think in the UK, only those who earn about £35,000 a year or more, make a positive contribution.  Meaning the tax they pay exceeds what the government spends on them.

Will be a similar situation in Jersey, I'd imagine. Unless you're a fairly higher earner, you most likely take out more than you put in.

The States of Jersey does have other revenues not from taxation, e.g. Jersey Telecom and Jersey Water.

[danrok]

The States of Jersey's handling of JT is a staggering display of incompetence.

They could have sold it off in much the same way as British Telecom was sold off, i.e. float it on the stock market, give generous share options to all employees, and allow the Jersey public to apply for shares in advance.

Many of their long-standing employees could have ended up with 10s of £1000s, and still kept their jobs.  Those made redundant would have had enough cash to pay the bills whilst finding new jobs.

Many islander's could have had a small windfall, which is about right given that we own the company in the first place.

The State's of Jersey would have made a bundle, as well.

[Jason the Maverick]

It was always doomed when Geoff Southern got on his high horse and wanted to protect the 400 or so workers.  They spent what 1/2 Million putting together a report which concentrated more so on the rights of workers than what was actually better for the Island.  Another example of a Politician putting his own popularity first.

I agree, JT will end up laying off people through either natural wastage or pressure.  It will never be the Monopoly it used to be.

[Jason the Maverick]

The Public demanded competition.  JT were ripping people off.  Remember when it used to cost £20.00 to be ex directory?  A SIM Card cost £29.99?  To get connected from an existing line it was £50.00? Competition was a necessity.

[Jason the Maverick]

There are no pieces to pick up at all.  I have a C&W landline and a Vodafone mobile.  They will only be picking up the pieces after Geoff Southern's meddling when they had a buyer on the table last year.

[Jason the Maverick]

Competition has been here for a few years.  What is the point of debating something that has already happened?  I am please we have choice now and couldn't give a monkeys about the 'lost' revenue.  They are getting tonnes more money from income tax and GST now anyhow.