British breakaway? Think of our sporting stars

We are also sending more and more junior players to the UK, often through the LTA.

I mention this because in the JEP this week we have been told that the States are seriously thinking of going down the route to full independence. When I first read this I was aghast.

First, does any Islander really believe that there are enough States Members of sufficient calibre to lead the Island to independence and beyond? Then there is the cost of the report, which as a taxpayer I certainly wouldn’t have advocated.

But finally – and here is the nub – I bet that nowhere in this report do the authors consider the implications to sport if Jersey decides to become a small, relatively insignificant Island nation a few miles off the coast of Normandy.

I wonder, for example, what the LTA would think of it. Or the Rugby Football Union. Or the Football Association. Or any other organisations, clubs, associations and funding agencies in the UK who make the effort to encourage sport here in the Island.

And before the idea even has the remotest chance of turning into reality, what I would fully expect is for the States to organise an Islandwide referendum, because I for one would be heartily against it – and I don’t think I’d be the only one.

For would the likes of Graeme Le Saux, Beckie Herbert or Elizabeth Cann ever be selected again as a part of a British national team if Jersey declared itself to be independent? Or would they have to hand their passports in and become naturalised?

No, to have my taxpayer’s money paid towards this 83-page report is an insult to my intelligence. Even the cost of the Steam Clock makes more sense than that.