Guernsey’s ministers resign en masse

Despite claiming earlier in the week that he had nothing to apologise for and that there was no question of the Policy Council – Guernsey’s equivalent to the Council of Ministers – stepping down, Chief Minister Laurie Morgan announced the decision yesterday. He had been criticised by two ministers who announced their own resignations before yesterday afternoon’s decision, and by a Welsh Audit Office report into the £2.4m Fallagate scandal. The scandal centres on the waste of £2.4 million of taxpayer’s money caused when building firm R G Falla withdrew their lowest bid to build a new hospital wing because of political tensions about the firm’s links to Commerce Minister Stuart Falla – who had announced his own resignation the day before the rest of the council followed suit. The firm’s bid was withdrawn after Treasury Minister Lyndon Trott cited a regulation prohibiting one firm having too many States contracts – he later admitted that there was no such regulation, and apologised – but as a result the States had to make up the difference between that bid and the next lowest, which came out at £2.4 million, or £50 for every man, woman and child in the island.