St John Constable Chris Taylor said that a meeting with Chief Minister Ian Gorst on Monday failed to dissuade him from bringing his vote of no confidence – which is likely to be lodged on Tuesday.
He outlined three reasons why he was bringing the vote:
- Concerns over the Jersey Innovation Fund, which handed out more than £2m in loans to start-ups – £1.4m of which is unlikely to ever be repaid. A highly critical report found that the handling of the fund was inadequate from the outset and that governance of the scheme was poor. There was also confusion over who had ultimate responsibility for the fund.
- The repeated stalling of plans to fund the new hospital. The debate has been withdrawn several times and will now not reach the House until later this year.
- The reappointment of Senator Philip Ozouf, who resigned as an Assistant Chief Minister following the Innovation Fund report. Senator Gorst has said he reappointed the Senator because he is the best man for the job.
Mr Taylor claims that ten Members have already said they would back the no confidence vote and he was ‘very hopeful’ 11 more would support it.
