A group of 22 high-profile Channel Islanders, including ex-Chief Ministers Frank Walker and Terry Le Sueur, signed an open letter last month calling for the UK, Jersey and Guernsey governments to set up a Royal Commission-style inquiry into problems they say the island is facing.
The group believes that Sark is facing ‘very serious’ issues including economic, educational, health, social security, community and democratic problems.
But in response to the letter, the UK Justice Minister Lord Faulks has said that he does not feel that UK intervention is the ‘best way forward’ for Sark. Instead he called for its problems to be resolved locally.
In a statement, he said: ‘There have been calls for direct intervention from the UK government. I believe that local efforts to produce solutions are the best way forward.
‘I urge all with an interest in Sark’s future to engage positively with its elected government, which is responsible for the island’s economic strategy.’
Commenting on the remarks, ex-Senator Frank Walker said that he did not think that the UK had rejected the group’s proposals and he was encouraged that they had called for interested parties to work together to find a solution.
‘In our view the problems of Sark have been there for so long that it’s almost impossible to see how the people of Sark will resolve them on their own.
‘What we can offer is not interference, but help. Our help should be viewed as not a threat but an opportunity.’
Mr Walker plans to meet members of the Chief Pleas – Sark’s governing body – in the new year and said that he hopes ‘something positive’ will emerge from the discussions.
He said: ‘We have been invited to Sark by the Chief Pleas. At least four of us – Stuart Falla, Rupert Dorey, myself and John Stares – will be going in the new year.
‘The important next step is to engage with the Chief Pleas and I hope something positive will emerge from the meeting.’
He added: ‘Support and action from the States of Jersey, the States of Guernsey and the Ministry of Justice will be needed, in our view.’
Last month, Sark Chamber of Commerce president Alan Jackson said that the island is heading for ‘economic oblivion’ after one of its three general stores closed, and the billionaire Barclay brothers, who live on the neighbouring island of Brecqhou, announced that the hospitality businesses they own in Sark would remain closed for a second year in 2016.
