I do not hate everyone!

It appears that many people are misunderstanding some of my posts here at The State of Jersey; most definitely due to my choice of wording.

I often refer to ‘The States’ as Jersey’s biggest problem in recent times, however I must clarify that this does not include every single states member; some of them, just some of them, are actually doing a decent job and show a real interest in the wellbeing of Jersey residents. I am certainly not backtracking on what I have previously said; however what I have previously said has been taken the wrong way by many people.

What I am trying to convey is that I do not hate EVERYONE!

This post is a result of an interaction with two States members yesterday who mentioned this website and how ‘we [States members] are all a load of ******* . . . except Peter Hanning of course’ (is this implying a suspicion of political bias?) This was in no way a confrontation, in fact the two people concerned were laughing about it, however it highlighted the fact that my messages have been slightly misconstrued.

To my knowledge I have not once mentioned these two people’s names on this website, however I have written about the generalised ‘States’, thus creating the assumption that this umbrella term includes each and every member – which it does not. To be fair it includes most of them, but not all.

So from this post forward, whenever I use the term ‘States members’, please remember that this is not a universal inclusion of each member, but a generalisation of most of them. From reading my previous and future posts I am sure any reader of this website could work out who is included.

I do not wish to be known as ‘that grumpy blogger who hates everyone in the States no matter who they are’, and so I hope this post will convince anyone who currently believes this otherwise.


But on a lighter note...

Much was achieved yesterday at the Jardin des Buttes, with most of the cow parsley and nettles cleared from the main area of the woodland. There will always be work that needs doing, however the work accomplished yesterday will be sufficient until sometime after summer. Much-needed refreshments were served at the Parish Hall after the word had been done.

Unfortunately I have been unable to achieve much progress with my previously-mentioned side-projects. For all those waiting, rest assured the Jardin des Buttes website will be online sometime during the next few months; however it is more complicated than I first expected and so there are a few technical problems I need to resolve before any further progress can be made.

- Benjamin Langlois

Connétable Peter Hanning's Blog

It all started with Senator Stuart Syvret's blog; the public reaction it produced was what first motivated me to start this website. What makes his blog so popular, at least in my opinion, is the way it destroys the apparent secrecy surrounding States members; what do they really think? what must it be like to be a person 'in power'? Such questions are easily answered when a States member starts blogging.

Of course Senator Syvret's will always be the Jersey blog, however that does not mean it should be the only Jersey blog.

In recent weeks I have not only been following Senator Syvret's personal commentary, but Connétable Peter Hanning's also. From my previous comments here you will most probably already know that Mr. Hanning is in my 'good books' so to speak, however I would like to make it perfectly clear that this website is not, and will in no way become, a politically biased commentary. That said, I would like to harness this website's growing popularity, and the so-called 'power' that inevitably follows alongside, to direct your attention to Peter's online voice.

Started in July 2007, Peter Hanning's blog acts as a means to connect with us; the 'general public' (not his words). This is a great idea, and something I believe every States member should be doing, however I have noticed that none of his posts have been commented on. As a 'blogger' myself I can tell you that seeing this is not very reassuring; are people even reading my posts? am I doing something wrong? is there any point continuing if nobody is 'on the other end'?

Therefore I ask you to spare just a few minutes to read through some of his more recent posts; possibly even submit your own comments just as you would do here. Of course you don't have to, but surely it is our own interests to connect with our Connétables?

So, if you will, you can find Peter Hanning's blog at http://peterhanning.blogspot.com. I have placed a direct link in my 'Jersey blogs' section.

- Benjamin Langlois

St Saviour Woodland: An Overview

Good morning readers, sorry once again for not posting in a while; I have many side-projects on the go at the moment, one of which I will present to you later in this post.

This post concerns the newly-revamped St Saviour Woodland (officially named Le Jardin des Buttes just recently), which is located just across the road from St Saviour’s Parish Hall. You may remember this deceptively-large plot of land as an overgrown mess with ivy dominating the otherwise healthy trees and wildflower, and that is the way it would have stayed were it not for the work of Graham Langlois, my grandfather.

For many years Graham had been planning to rejuvenate the area, not only for the sake of local wildlife but for schoolchildren and the general public also. In the last few months his plans have manifested as direct action from a growing number of volunteers (the official woodland volunteer group is now called Le Jardiniers); from hacking away the over-confident ivy from the trees to creating many large log-piles for the benefit of much wildlife. Such actions have resulted in an award of £3,500 from Sandpiper Checkers which shall play a great part in enabling us to continue work in the area.

I am myself a volunteer, and I have been surprised not only by the immense effort put in by the other volunteers, but also by the encouragement from the Constable of St Saviour, Peter Hanning. To be perfectly honest I had not heard much of Mr. Hanning beforehand; the only other time I remember seeing his name was on the leaflet distributed at the Anti-GST demonstration; however since then my opinion of him has most certainly changed for the better. But this post shall not be political in nature.

Mr. Mike Stentiford has also volunteered his own expertise on the subject of local wildlife, and has played a large role in identifying beneficial plant and animal species and presenting ideas on how to encourage such wildlife.

* * * * *

Since starting work at the woodland, the ivy is now very much under control, the paths have been well defined, and most of the litter has been collected however there is still much work to be done before it can become a popular leisure destination, with the next problem being the immense mass of what I believe is cow parsley which has become the dominant ‘weed’ during the past week or so. I have already made one attempt at removing this dangerously irritable plant, however after working hard at it for over an hour I had only managed to eradicate it from an area no large than two metres in diameter – I could almost hear the weeds laughing at me. It is at such times that the refreshments offered at the parish hall are very much appreciated, and I can only thank the parish for the use of their facilities.


Side-projects

I am planning on creating the official website for the woodland, which is one of the reasons I have not posted here in the last week. The website will have interactive community features enabled, such as a message board for example, which I hope will be used not only by volunteers but by other islanders also. I am also in the process of designing an official ‘St. Saviour Woodland Volunteer’ enamel lapel pin badge; however this is proving a little more complicated than I first assumed. There is a strong sense of friendliness amongst the volunteers, and I hope that both the website and the badge will serve to reinforce this feeling.

I apologise if this post is in any way incoherent; it is very late (or very early depending on how you look at it). If after reading this post you are interested in either volunteering at the woodland or you would simply like to know of any updates, check back here regularly (or subscribe) and I promise to keep you informed.

I am beginning to ramble on a bit now, so I will say goodnight and I thank you for your patience,

- Benjamin Langlois

The Bailiff's Letter RE: The GST Demonstration

As promised, below is a copy of the letter sent to the demonstration's organisers. I have had to crop the letter in order to fit it onto the page, and so what you cannot see is the filepath in the footer which shows the location on the the States' computer where the letter was saved, and this shows that the letter has been saved in a file named 'Adhoc Ent Permit'.

A Predictable Start to the Demonstration

Today's anti-GST rally in the Royal Square started with a predictably laughable action on behalf of the establishment. The demonstration was planned to start at 12:30, a schedule that had been publicised for at least three days beforehand (and I am sure much sooner still); however upon the arrival of 12:30, with a nearly-full Royal Square waiting patiently, the crowd was informed by Time4Change/Reform that the rally would now be starting at 13:00 . . . because the Bailiff was having lunch and did not want to be disturbed! He didn't appear too bothered by the load machinery being used on the opposite building site, which I can assure you was much loader than the microphone speakers being used.

Mr. Nick Le Cornu has kindly offered to send me a copy of the Bailiff's letter via email, which I promise to post here as soon as I receive it.

After this rather sickening incident I must say the demonstration proceeded rekarkably well, with many different speakers stating their case against GST (and certain States members in general). This was not any normal 'pop-demonstration' though, at least I do not believe so; there was a real sense of genuine passion from all speakers who have been personally affected by this tax (as opposed to a bunch of millionaires saying they have been affected for the sake of public support). Much was covered in all, and I found it both emotionally-charged, powerful, and educational - exactly what a good demonstration should be.

Many papers were available to the crowd, most notably a full list of the 28 States members who voted for the implementation of GST, which I will reproduce for you below (this list was also read aloud at the rally, followed by loud booing from the crowd following certain names near the top of the list):

Frank Walker, Senator
Terry Le Sueur, Senator
Wendy Kinnard, Senator
Paul Routier, Senator
Mike Vibert, Senator
Philip Ozouf, Senator
Jim Perchard, Senator
Patrick Ryan, Deputy for St Helier No. 1
Alan Maclean, Deputy for St Helier No. 2
John Fox, Deputy for St Helier No. 3
Jacqueline Huet, Deputy for St Helier No. 3
Guy de Faye, Deputy of St Helier No. 3
Sarah Ferguson, Deputy for St Brelade No. 1
Peter Troy, Deputy for St Brelade No. 2
Ian Gorst, Deputy for St Clement
Dan Murphy, Constable of Grouville
Andrew Lewis, Deputy for St John
Geoffrey Fisher, Constable of St Lawrence
John Le Fondre, Deputy for St Lawrence
Silvanus Yates, Constable of St Martin
Juliette Gallichan, Deputy for St Mary
Ken Vibert, Constable of St Ouen
James Reed, Deputy for St Ouen
Thomas du Feu, Constable of St Peter
Collin Egre, Deputy for St Peter
Peter Hanning, Constable of St Saviour *
John Gallichan, Constable of Trinity
Anne Pryke, Deputy for Trinity

Senator Terry Le Main (Housing Minister) and Senator Freddie Cohen (Minister for Planning & Environment) were absent on the day of the GST vote, but have consistently supported the tax since then. Neither will face election this autumn.

* I must say that although Mr. Hanning voted for GST, he has shown great interest in the St Saviour Woodland, which I believe shows a genuine interest in the welfare of both wildlife and residents in the Parish.

I would also like to use this post to mention the minimum of three police officers present at the demonstration:

I have not seen one police officer walking through town in the last few months (of course I am sure they do, but the fact that I have not seen one after near-daily visits tells me that there are not many of them there). In fact to be entirely honest I cannot remember the last time I saw a police officer on foot anywhere in Jersey. In town at night I have never, and I mean never, seen a police officer; so why on Earth were there three of them at the demonstration today?

Just over a year ago I was assaulted in town at night (nothing severe), and to be honest a police officer would have been a very welcome sight at the time, but there was not one! I can only assume they are too scared, which is in no way sarcastic; what other reason is there? Surely town at night, a place of many 'drunk and disorderly' people, a place of potentially dangerous people, should be a priority for the police force?!

I apologise but that is something I just needed to get off my chest; the sight of three police officers chatting to each other jokingly with stretched grins across their faces whilst there is undoubtedly a crime being committed somewhere was a sight I could not simply dismiss. Maybe in another post I will explain my reasons for disliking the police force, but not here.

As mentioned earlier I will post the Bailiff's letter whenever I receive it. Check back soon.

- Benjamin Langlois


Update (08/05/2008):
The YouTube video of the GST demonstration mentioned in a recent comment can now be viewed below for all who could not attend the demonstration in person. Unfortunately YouTube will only allow me to publish a low-quality copy here, however the higher-quality version can be found at the following link: High Quality Video

This video was filmed by crapaudvision, who has kindly given me permission to publish his video here. You can visit crapaudvision's YouTube Channel by clicking here.

Upcoming Anti-GST Demonstration in the Royal Square

After a rare visit to Cineworld this evening I was intrigued to find a professional-looking man handing out yellow paper leaflets just outside the entrance. I asked for a leaflet and was pleased to read about an upcoming demonstration in the Royal Square. The details on the leaflet were as follows:

Are you fed up with our government?

Then get off your arse and do something!

LUNCHTIME DEMONSTRATION

Date: Tuesday 6th May 2008

Time: 12:30 -1:30pm

Venue: Royal Square

Come join us and have your voice heard

As you can imagine I was very excited by this, and so I thought "yes, I will get off my arse and do something!" I only hope all my readers will think the same.

Please come and join me and many others. The protest is timed to coincide with the standard working lunch hour so there really is no excuse if you are near town! Also, please remember to register your name to be eligable to vote in the coming elections; if I hear "one man/woman cannot make a difference" one more time I think I will go mad!

I look forward to seeing you all there,

- Benjamin Langlois

Official Time4Change/Reform Press Release

Time4change/Reform have organised a demonstration to 'welcome' the arrival of GST to Jersey, this coming Tuesday, and are asking islanders to attend to show the States of Jersey how they feel about this tax. They are also calling on the Chief Architect of GST, Terry Le Sueur, and his 29 supporters in the States to attend and listen to what the people have to say.

Lieve Hodgetts, a spokeswoman for the group said, "We live in a democracy, albeit an imperfect one, so it is important that the 30 members of the 'GST Party' are reminded that they have brought in this pernicious tax against the will of the vast majority of people.

The rally will start with the names of the 30 members of the 'GST party' being read out loud, and flyers will be handed out of all the guilty politicians. There will be a proposal for the zero rating fof GST and failing that for exemptions to be put on foodstuffs, childrens' clothes and school books. We also hope to put an end to the myth that there are no viable alternatives to GST, and will be proposing a whole series of viable, fairer alternatives."

The rally which will take place from 12:30 - 1:30pm on Tuesday 6th May in the Royal Square, is expected to attract many workers in St Helier over the lunchtime period.

Message to the organisers: If you would like to contact me to follow-up what we very briefly discussed earlier this evening (Sunday 04 May 2008), you can reach me at online@benjaminlanglois.co.uk. Thanks.

A Rather Busy Schedule

Just a quick post today.

I just wanted to reassure all my readers that I have not abandoned this blog and I will be back posting again shortly (hopefully in two or three days). I have been very busy during the past week or so and, as much as I have tried, I have simply not been able to find the time to sit down and post a blog entry.

As you can see I am writing this at just after 05:30 on a friday morning; there is literally not enough hours in the day!

Thank you to all my regular readers and, especially for my subscribers, thank you for being so patient.

- Benjamin Langlois