States a long way from delivering on the economy
It’s been the same every year since 2008 and the introduction of zero-10, when the island started running a deficit. The improving picture of the economy painted in the Budget looks completely...
View ArticleIsland, like the UK, needs clarity in the wake of Brexit
The vote might be over, but it looks like being a long time before the shock waves from last week’s Brexit referendum result start to abate. As for what this means for Guernsey, Nick Mann says it is...
View ArticleA question of trust
Political history is littered with promises broken and lies spoken, so is it any wonder that politicians can struggle to gain the trust of the people they are supposed to represent? In the UK, campaign...
View Article‘Taxpayers will not be fooled’ over States cuts
In light of Home Affairs president Deputy Mary Lowe’s claim that her department has already ‘cut to the bone’ its spending, Nick Mann argues that if the public are to accept such claims and reach...
View ArticleNow is the time for the island to make itself heard
As the aftershocks of Brexit and the change at 10 Downing Street rumble on, Guernsey needs to make sure that it forges good relationships with Theresa May’s new government. But at the same time as...
View ArticleWaste strategy may end up being dumped – again
When will the waste strategy be signed, sealed and delivered? That has been the perennial question on many islanders’ minds, including Nick Mann’s. The latest preferred option of shipping waste to...
View ArticleDevelopment plan a tough balancing act for planners
Build only in the main centres? Should the rural parishes take more of the new-build burden? These are the questions that continue to be asked by islanders in relation to the proposed new Island...
View ArticleThe lazy days of summer are about to end for States
When it comes to Guernsey’s consensus model of politics, it takes a while for a new States Assembly to get up to speed on matters – including introducing new members to the intricacies of our...
View ArticleOld habits die hard when it comes to politics game
A new system of government, but nothing much has changed, says Nick Mann. Politics being what it is, the usual issues are surfacing less than four months into the new States with planning, education...
View ArticleReferendum brings chance of electoral certainty
It should be no more than a sideshow given the major issues facing the States, but whether its members should continue to be elected by district or via some form of island-wide poll is high on the...
View ArticleStates finds three ways to juggle hot potatoes
Instead of States assemblies moving in a linear direction and coalescing around major policy ideas in a timely fashion, Nick Mann ventures that governments just can’t help but revisit the same old...
View ArticleAlderney’s issues are laid bare by eloquent report
A report by the Constitution Unit of University College London into Alderney’s administration warns that it is inconceivable Alderney can be administered satisfactorily by 29 people and that shared...
View ArticleCoping with the conundrum of consensus government
If the ongoing debacle involving the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture and its split over the future of secondary education has shown anything, it has highlighted the difficulty of consensus...
View ArticleA good time to look at reform of the Ecclesiastical Court
The French scrapped theirs during the Revolution in 1789, the UK in the 1850s and Jersey in 1951, but in Guernsey the Ecclesiastical Court remains and continues to play its finances close to its chest....
View ArticleWhat’s the real buzz about P&R’s vision of the future?
The Future Guernsey vision is seeking to make the island ‘the happiest place to live’. But at the same time as promoting this dream, P&R is saying there is no money to help the island’s poorest....
View ArticleScrutiny needs to find its voice and skip the chitchat
The idea of shining a light on the work of States committees to get a better understanding of how they are progressing has to be a good idea. But what if those holding the torch fall short of gleaning...
View ArticlePlan looks to marshal States’ Wild West urges
Given the savings targets expected of the States during the next three years, the long-term planning and prioritising of projects when linked to detailed business plans of the committees next June...
View ArticleChalkboard system left languishing in digital age
At the end of the month, Education, Sport & Culture will ask the States whether to retain selection or move to a comprehensive system. But with many islanders unable to see past their own 11-plus...
View ArticleBarrage of proposed changes could over-complicate plan
The Policy & Resource Plan is facing 20 amendments when it goes before the States. But while many of these are well-intentioned, Nick Mann wonders if some are just adding layers of unnecessary...
View Article11-plus debate must rise above post-truth politics
Tomorrow’s selection debate will result in a vote like few others because of its fundamental impact on the community, both now and how it will evolve, requiring deputies to weigh up the evidence, rise...
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