Casting light on dark times

Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur might well be right to suggest that the committee of inquiry voted for by the States yesterday will fail to provide total closure for abuse victims or tie up all the loose ends, but that does not negate the value of what will undoubtedly be an important exercise.

It is also the case that although the inquiry will cost a substantial sum of money, this is of secondary interest. The public funds employed will be well spent for reasons which are clearly appreciated by a majority of States Members – and a great many Islanders – and can be set out easily and simply.

To begin with, although abuse victims whose cases could never have gone to court for lack of compelling evidence or the death of perpetrators are unlikely ever to be content, an inquiry should at least satisfy them that no stone has been left unturned in seeking closure.

Secondly, an independent and thorough inquiry is a mechanism capable of quashing suspicion that there has been some form of high-level conspiracy aimed at protecting the guilty and minimising damage to the Island’s reputation.

The third point is that, in reality, the only way of minimising – and perhaps even undoing – damage to the Island’s reputation is to cast as much light as possible on a deeply regrettable period in our recent history.

Fourthly, there are still those who deny that the police inquiry was botched. Full examination of the facts ought to lead to the scales finally dropping from their eyes.

Finally, when the investigation was in progress, the Chief Minister of the day, Frank Walker, promised a full inquiry. That promise should always have been kept.

Although many States Members exerted pressure for the inquiry that will now be held, the greatest credit for taking resolute action must go to Senator Francis Le Gresley, who successfully called for the Council of Ministers to make a U-turn, inflicting a significant defeat on them in the process.

Senator Le Gresely is a relative new boy in the House, but he has already demonstrated that his instincts lead him in the direction of natural justice and that he has the common sense, integrity and determination to make his opinions count.