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Finance is pivotal to the Island’s economic future
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From John Boothman.
HOW time flies. Less than a month ago ex-Senator Ted Vibert announced his departure from the Jersey Democratic Alliance, the party he had founded in 2005, explaining that its policies had drifted too far from his own moderate views. Now his latest letter (JEP, 26 May) gives us a glimpse of what the word ‘moderate’ means when uttered by Mr Vibert.
His central theme is that ‘the finance industry has given Jersey more problems than benefits’. That is clear enough, and no doubt accounts for his closeness to the Tax Justice Network which has set itself to destroy all offshore finance centres, including ours. Yet it seems a strange position to adopt for someone seeking elective office.
The finance sector, after all, employs thousands of people, contributes tens of millions of pounds a year to the Island’s exchequer and supports dozens of other firms, ranging from shops and restaurants to builders, car dealers and utilities. One does not need to be a prize-winning economist to recognise the pivotal importance to Jersey of this industry.
Surely, whether one’s policies are right-wing or left-wing, a viable economic model must be the starting point because without it the prosperity on which everything else depends – including lavish public services – will be lost. Or to put it in terms even Mr Vibert should understand, unless someone is doing the baking there will be nothing for the States to slice.
I have described his policies as nihilistic because they are essentially destructive. He is all for tearing down the (admittedly flawed) achievements of others, but never tells us – in credible, coherent terms – what he would build instead. If he looked around at other small island jurisdictions – Guernsey and the Isle of Man, say, or further afield the Cayman Islands and Bermuda – he might spot that the most prosperous and successful are those with established finance industries.
Yes, diversification is desirable, and rapidly becoming essential (thanks to the pressure exerted by bodies like the TJN), but it will be many years before other activities take up the slack if finance fades away, as he seems to hope.
Laced with inflammatory expressions like ‘cowardice’ and ‘pompous arrogance’, Mr Vibert’s letter goes on to challenge me to take part in a public debate on the merits or otherwise of the finance industry. There are several reasons why I shall not be taking up this tempting offer. Firstly, I have no doubt that such an event would be orchestrated by him as a publicity stunt, designed to generate maximum heat and minimum light. Nothing would be served by such a dialogue of the deaf except more media exposure for his pre-election campaign.
Secondly, I hold no brief for the finance industry, which has many people who are better placed than me to engage in such a debate, if they felt it worthwhile. And thirdly, I have no need to defend my opinions in public, because unlike Mr Vibert I am not and (with one minor exception) never have been a political activist. I have no intention of standing for election. I am not accountable to anyone else for my views and they are therefore of little or no importance.
By contrast, Mr Vibert’s views are of great importance, as he hopes once again to play a part in the States, drawing £45,000 a year and helping to make laws that the rest of us must abide by. If he succeeds, he will be answerable to the voters who put him there, and so like all candidates he must expect close scrutiny of his policies, background and reputation.
So instead of issuing challenges and asking me questions, perhaps it is time for him to start answering some of his own. For example:
What can he tell us about his career in Australia, where he worked as a paid lobbyist for the gaming machine industry? Does he feel this experience entitles him to take the moral high ground when debating the ethics of offshore banking?
Has he learned the lessons of his last spell in the States, or if re-elected can we look forward to further doses of the venom, rabble-rousing and character assassination that did so much to bring Island politics into disrepute?
What future, if any, does he see for Jersey once its principal industry has been sacrificed to appease his friends at the TJN?
Between now and the autumn Mr Vibert will face these questions and many more like them. If every inquisitor is simply to be treated to stonewalling and abuse, it will only confirm the opinion of him – which I think is widely held – that he has nothing worthwhile to offer the electorate, now or in the future.
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