Don’t turn a blind eye to what is happening

From Christine Papworth, chairman, Jersey Democratic Alliance.

Mr Dick Turpin is perfectly entitled to be happy to be living in Jersey. It appears that he can close his eyes and ignore what is happening around him.

He ignores the very real social problems that exist in this Island where the gap between the rich and the poor is getting even greater. Has he no concern for the fact that property prices are now so high that it is impossible for any young couple to afford to buy a house?

Is he not concerned that only half a mile from where he lives over 90 Jersey families are living in States accommodation that has leaking windows and roofs and where the damp is so bad that mould is growing on the walls inside?

They have been told that it will be at least three years before this can be fixed, as it is going to cost £7 million. Does he think it is morally right that people should be forced to live in these conditions when the Island has over half a billion pounds in the bank?

Does he think it is right that people earning £150,000 a year should pay the same rate of tax as someone earning £20,000?

Does he think it is right that Jersey companies that are not in the finance industry (like Voisins) should pay 20 per cent tax on their profits when a UK owned company (like de Gruchy) pays nothing?

Does he think it right that primary school children will no longer receive school milk? Or that the hydrotherapy pool for the use of incapacitated people and the physiotherapy department should be closed?

Does he think that a wait of six months for certain operations at the hospital is acceptable?

These are just a small number of matters that make life in Jersey very difficult for a lot of people – and a rise of two per cent in GST will make life even harder for ordinary people when food costs are already 25 per cent higher than the UK.

For Mr Turpin to suggest that we should compare ourselves with deprived countries and be grateful that we do not live in those countries is extremely simplistic. We live in Jersey and any comparison should be made with comparable communities.

Mr Turpin complains about the fact that people like our president, Ted Vibert, Deputy Geoff Southern, Nick Corbel and Deputy Tadier have been prepared to give their time to highlight many of the wrongs within the Island.

They have not been alone. Large numbers of parents have attended protest meetings about plans to cut grants to fee-paying schools, senior citizens have attended meetings to protest about the rise in GST, teachers have rallied because they are unhappy with things and large numbers of public sector workers have turned out at meetings of protest about their treatment. Does that not give Mr Turpin a message that a lot of people are unhappy?

Mr Turpin’s attitude to life in Jersey is akin to those tourists who visit places like Manila in the Philippines, stay in plush five-star hotels and step over people living in cardboard boxes without batting an eyelid.

And I commend to him the following quotation: ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’