ha dylan do you remember me saying that stuart had balls we guess what rico me stuart have them big time do you and your cronies dont have anything like it if there was a war you would be running in the wrong direction have a coffee with me some time all of you can come i dont mind large numbers
TTFN
FOFN
SHAUNSKY1
Wow!
I am now impressed that you have made a posting which does not contain so many mistakes. Maybe the twelve steps are helping?
You assume that I am anti-Syvret and declare war on me because you are not. If you ask Rico, he will tell you that I am very open-minded, in fact I wrote a Christmas speech for Stuart: OK I'll Start the ball with a possible suggestion on the lines of :-
"I know it's weird, but I always find our economic standing to be a terribly emotional experience. Since he has been Treasury Minister, Senator Le Sueur has produced budgets that have made me feel elated, and budgets that have inspired my absolute fury. This last one, though, made me feel oddly desolate. At times, in fact, it brought me close to tears.
It wasn't the facts or figures that really struck me. After all, there was not very much in this budget that had not been flagged in advance. It was the faces. How tired, unwell, old and worried the States front bench is looking. Years in government has taken its toll.
And no wonder. What a thankless task governing this Island must sometimes seem. One of those times, for this government, must surely be this morning.
For Senator Le Sueur himself, even though he still had much he felt he could boast about with regard the the economy generally, this budget seemed like an admission of failure. In the past, Senator Le Sueur has shown every sign of believing he could govern from the Treasury, performing great feats of social engineering with a nip here, a tuck there, a seam let out, a hem let down. This GST will lift all of us out of poverty and into a glittering future, that concession will keep pensioners warm, happy and sleepy, in front of the television.
In the past Senator Le Sueur’s tinkerings with the tax and benefits system have been elaborate and fiddly, but promising sweeping change and wonderful transformations nonetheless.
This time though, it is as if Senator Le Sueur has lost faith in himself, stared at the complicated and fragile house of cards on his desk, and swept it away in frustration. Nowhere is this more apparent than in those aspects of the budget that are concerned with increasing "family prosperity for all".
At a stroke, many of Senator Le Sueur’s previous initiatives have been binned. Certain tax credit has gone, after a brief – and in terms of not-very-effective advertising and promotion alone – expensive existence. A simpler system is certainly welcome, because it will reach many more of the people it is supposed to.
The overhauled system will be helping those who have, in the past, been fiscally discouraged too, such as primary carers who would prefer to give up working to care for their children. It will also help those whose childcare needs are specialised and who need childcare at home. Of course it is right to target such people for help. But one gets the feeling that, for political reasons, it will be reaching many people that Senator Le Sueur would prefer not to help as well.
Back in the early days of new Island budgets, Senator Le Sueur spoke passionately of "lifting us out of poverty". Though from the start it has been by no means clear that Senator Le Sueur’s strategy would work, through several budgets the phrase has been repeated. This time, I didn't hear it. Perhaps this is because so recently the Island Government has been accused of wildly over-estimating the success of its assault on poverty. Perhaps it is because Senator le Sueur has realised that the public does not have as big an enthusiasm for this crusade as it should.
Anyway, the phrase has drifted off, even though not enough has been set aside for helping families. All Senator Le Sueur’s promised this time was that half of The Islands families would find themselves better off. Like the pessimist's glass of water, this promise is half-empty.
Much of this money, it seems obvious, is being used to assuage people on middle incomes who will resent the three per cent rise in GST contributions. Why else would Senator Le Sueur have decided to spread the bounty in order to help families with lower incomes and little more in the first year of parenthood?
Doesn't it beggar belief that, in an Island as wealthy as this one, an income that is a good £10,000 more than double the average salary is not deemed quite enough to raise a child on? The absurdity of the idea becomes even more apparent when Senator Le Sueur’s pledges regarding the minimum wages that families will be guaranteed. Working families with children will be certain of receiving £237 a week – or £12,324 a year. A lone working parent will get £179 – or £9,308 a year – plus help with childcare. If these people can manage, why do people earning five or six times as much need subsidy?
The answer can only be that Senator Le Sueur fears that, without this fig leaf, middle class resentment of the poor will be too great. It's not a reason for spending money that the Island can be proud of. But Senator Le Sueur’s fear is probably well founded. Because his budgets also hide in their folds another reversal of government policy. Previous budgets have emphasised that welfare to work is the priority. There is no doubt that his next budget will be helping those out of work more than any other families.
And while this is not necessarily out of kilter with Senator Le Sueur’s hope that the very worst off people can be cushioned a little from the abject poverty all around them, the horrible thing is so much money has to be spent on persuading those who will never know such degradation that they are not missing out.
For me, the last budget is an admission not just of the obvious – that tax must rise to fund increased public spending – but of the Government's understanding that the poor are despised and feared too much for help to be directed too honestly at them. There are many good social intentions wrapped up in his budgets but the sad, awful thing is they have to be heavily and expensively disguised.
No wonder that row of decent individuals looked so worn-out and so glum yesterday.
Happy Christmas."
What do you think??
Answers on a Postcard..............................
Now Stuart was well impressed with this and said so. All I have complained about is being called a Nazi in an email from him. So I think that this is fair.
I even re-wrote the speech :
Durendal, I've run the Christmas speech through spellcheck etc and I do have to admit it has forced a few changes:-
I would like to give thanks to the venerable Council of Ministers and the People of Jersey for the honour they have bestowed upon me in allowing me to make the traditional christmas address unhindered. Present in all our thoughts today is the Island’s Chief Minister whom has steered a healthy and wealthy Government and whose generosity has done so much good for improvement, integrity, and the betterment of all our wellbeing. This great new Government in the last three years has pulled us together with a broad vision that stretches far beyond the frontiers of our one nation and serves as an example to bring all nations closer to one another.
I cannot talk of My fellow Chief Minister without being reminded of Charles Darwin, remembering him not only as a man of intelligence who has drawn a line between two epochs, but also as the most lovable, the kindest of human beings, the best of fathers; his distinguished name will be carried by his descendants for many years. To him, the evolution of the Island is not only the work of a life's study but the very essence of life’s qualities, proof of the inexhaustible richness and wonders of careful management, revealed each day and taken to heart.
Were one to determine the degree of maturity of each nation according to its capacity for reasoning and comprehension, Jersey would come out on top for her sense of realism, and the man who put forward these Channel Island ideas in a simple, unaffected manner is Frank Walker.
Minister Walker’s designation of management, is the foundation which subsequently enables The Council of Ministers to form their conclusions on their findings. This monotheistic approach to reality, derived from our common Island background, has established for all time the place of Jersey in this tiny world.
I should like to mention on this occasion another name in our Island Culture, who is linked with Jersey tradition, that of Terry Le Main. You will remember that when he first entered politics in the late 1970’s, he was hailed by the public as the great politician and since that moment, nothing has changed, save as for his ever increased input into the care of people of all walks of life.
Thirty years later, here in 2008, it is now my lot to give this seasonal address in the traditional and time honoured manner. In stepping down, I for one will never aspire to be Minister Walker’s successor, but I do count myself honoured to be among his followers and admirers.
It is with a feeling of fellowship that I now wish to thank all of the great People of Jersey whom have given me support, to look towards the bright future laid before us by these great men. Only crowned with laurels, it is their industry and honesty which are now worthy of distinction. Happy Christmas
Now It's funny that things turn out how one predicts because that was two years ago when you were upsetting posters on other sites, I'm afraid I won't be joining you for coffee because I'm not into cyber-cottaging thanks.
