"I never forget how difficult life can be for low and
middle-income families. The daily struggle to provide a decent life for
our own families is a constant worry for many. As a mother of three
children myself, I am well aware of how difficult it is to support
children through education and into work.Whilst I understand the importance of the finance
industry to our local economy, I would like to see more government
support for small local businesses, especially in the provision of
training and apprenticeships for our young people."
More Lies
from Senator Le Sueur
Over the past
few weeks the chairman of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce has made
statements to the effect that the “black hole” in our revenue has
been caused by overspending by the States. He was supported by Mr.
David Kern, the Chief Economist of the British Chamber of Commerce.
The island’s chief minister then joined in the chorus, blaming
overspending by the States for our fiscal deficit and insisting that
he had constantly been calling for restraint in spending.
It is surprising that our chief minister should support such
ill-informed comment. The figures for the last seven years shows
that our revenue has totalled £3.8 billion and the cost of running
the island has been £3.3 billion—a budget surplus of £500 million.
If capital projects of £365 million are added in Jersey is still
£135 million in front. This figure includes paying cash of £108
million for the incinerator- in retrospect a rather foolish decision
Far from constantly calling for restraint, Senator Le Sueur, on
several occasions, has praised the States for their responsible
attitude towards spending. Nowhere in the financial reports
presented to the States from 2003 to 2010 has there been any or
criticism from him about States spending. The reason, of course, is
that Jersey has not been overspending, despite the claims of the
Chamber of Commerce.
Just to remind your readers what Senator Le Sueur has said during
the presentations of his Budget reports:
• 2003 “ financial discipline was exercised over the General Reserve
Fund resulting in 24.6 million of the 27.7 million allocation being
spent.”
• 2004 “States expenditure grew by less than the rate of inflation,
reflecting the real strides that have been made to put the brakes on
what may have been regarded as the spending excesses of the past”.
• 2006 “we ended the year within budget. In a year of significant
financial pressure, this was an excellent result”
• 2007 “spending rose by3.3%. Not only was this increase less than
the rate of inflation but it was also the smallest increase in
States spending in the last 20 years.” So why does the Chief
Minister side with the Chamber of Commerce to push forward this
totally untrue scenario of overspending on to the public of Jersey?.
One can only assume that it is because he still wishes to hide from
the public that the real cause of the” fiscal black hole” is the
disastrous zero-ten tax policy that he pushed through with former
Senator Frank Walker and Senator Ozouf
We , the people of Jersey, are paying for that mistake in cuts in
services, jobs losses and increased taxation.
Christine
decided to become politically active after seeing the way our
politicians are completely out of touch with the needs of the majority
of ordinary Jersey people. By ignoring the 20,000 people who signed the
anti-GST petition, the ministers were shown to be, in the words of Alan
Breckon, "morally bankrupt". Her politics are based on a passionate belief in
social justice and human rights for all.