A step in the right direction

Senator Le Main continues to deny wronging and says that he hopes that, in the interests of fair play, the implications of his actions will in due course be judged by the public.

The Senator has undoubtedly taken the honourable course by moving to the back benches. All too often in Jersey public life politicians or civil servants whose conduct demands scrutiny manage to wriggle off the hook – even when there is a prima facie case for suspecting unacceptable activity.

That said, revelations which came late in the day boxed the Senator into a corner from which it would have been very difficult to escape unscathed. He still had the option of waiting for the outcome of an inquiry – the results of which could have been available by the end of the week – but his undoing was there in black and white on the register of Members’ interests.

Senator Le Main says that contrary to allegations made in court, the defendant in the controversial housing case is not a close friend. That might well be true, but the register confirms that the defendant’s design company has sponsored the Senator’s election materials since 1978. That clearly amounts to a significant relationship, even if it did not extend to close personal friendship.

Meanwhile, although resignation was the correct course, the Senator has acted less correctly in looking for people to share any blame which may attach to him. He has accused the media of making allegations against him, conveniently forgetting that they were, in fact, made in open court. The media, including this newspaper, simply reported them before digging deeper in the register of interests. Surely no one would suggest that they should have been ignored.

Senator Le Main assures the electorate that, as a backbencher, he will continue to be an active and diligent States Member. Few would doubt that he will keep his promise. He is likely to miss ministerial responsibility and the Housing department, the division of government with which he has been associated for so long, but an inactive and quiescent Terry Le Main is a difficult phenomenon to imagine.