Jersey & Guernsey Law Review – June 2008
BOOK REVIEW
Guernsey in the 21st Century by Tony Gallienne
GUERNSEY IN THE 21ST CENTURY by TONY GALLIENNE. Published by Gallant Publishing (gallant@guernsey.net) in 2007. ISBN – 978-0-9556352-0-5.
1 Guernsey is home to an affluent and happy society. Admittedly some people do not earn enough to satisfy their needs and not everybody feels secure, but that is true of any place on earth. Not that Guernsey has become complacent because of its economic success and social harmony. There is a strangely uneasy tone to public discussion and any forecast of misery lurking round the corner is guaranteed to receive extensive media coverage. This is linked to a settled conviction in some quarters that the Island is badly-governed and so is drifting onto the rocks.
2 Tony Gallienne has written a book that ought to reassure his fellow islanders about Guernsey's past, present and future. His purpose is to analyse the forces that shape Guernsey's collective mentality and he has assembled a host of facts about every important aspect of public life. The book, however, is so much more than a comprehensive survey of Guernsey's outlook. The author reveals himself as good-natured, profound and, above all, moderate. He preaches no sermons, but carefully states the case for and against a course of action. He does this without recourse to exaggeration and alarmism. To write such an outstanding contribution to an understanding of Guernsey, while avoiding the cheap tricks that capture attention, requires unusual talent and restraint.
3 Mr Gallienne takes a favourable view of the island's political system, which he thinks has an adequate level of democratic accountability and has a greater measure of political consensus and social cohesion than would be found in larger societies, like the U.K. With great clarity and objectivity he examines the new machinery of government and arrives at no final judgement, though I think I detect a belief that eventually it will evolve into executive government with collective responsibility. In my view a mistake was made by not going over to that system after the Harwood Committee reported. The mistake is not irredeemable, because the States of Guernsey can vote for executive government whenever it chooses. Perhaps, with Guernsey caution, people need to dip their toes into the water of change one at a time. But a system in which the Chief Minister is denied the authority to select the policies he wants and the people he needs to carry them out will not survive forever.
4 Zero-ten is the option Guernsey has chosen to try to make sure it retains a large financial sector. This book wastes no time speculating on whether the Island can abandon the finance industry and go back to growing enough tomatoes to prosper. It takes for granted the current dominance of finance, whilst stressing the adaptability of Guernseymen throughout the ages. Finance is discussed with such lucidity that I wish it had been pursued in even greater detail.
5 If I have a criticism of Mr Gallienne it is that though he accepts that public expenditure must be held constant in real terms, so that expenditure rises only by the rate of inflation, he is willing to allow exceptions, like additional increases in health, education and law and order. He shares the view of the majority, and I think the majority is wrong. Because it is difficult, especial diligence must be shown by the authorities to contain spending on public services. Health, in particular, can burn up resources at an incredible pace. Who can be so hard-hearted as to deny better and ever better treatment of the sick? The answer is everybody who wants to see Guernsey's financial strategy work, rather than be ruined eventually by kind-hearted indulgence. The States of Guernsey needs the courage to be strict.
6 My disagreement with the general sentiment in Guernsey on social expenditure illustrates that the Island is not, as its ignorant critics suppose, a haven of greedy reactionaries who care for nothing but money. Mr Gallienne has an extremely sensitive social conscience and much of his book is devoted to the problems of the poor and the disadvantaged. Anybody from outside Guernsey who reads it will get the true flavour of local society with its stress on community. I doubt if Mr Gallienne realises the extent to which he is an advertisement for that which is best in our way of life.
7 One point Mr Gallienne presses is the need for greater co-operation with Jersey. He outlines those areas where the islands work together, but urges that in an inter-dependent world closer links are needed between "parallel universes with a common Norman ancestry." Beyond doubt that is the correct approach to the delicate question of Channel Isles autonomy. If Guernsey and Jersey can stand together in defence of their rights and customs, then there may never be an unwanted constitutional crisis.
Brian Walden is a television and radio presenter and journalist. He was President of the Oxford Union in 1957 and an MP between 1964 and 1977. He has been a columnist for the London Standard, Thompson Regional Newspapers and the Sunday Times. He has presented numerous shows including the Walden Interview between 1988 and 1989. Since 2005 he has presented A Point of View on BBC Radio