Our politicians aren't the only ones who like to spin

However, how many of us have really thought about spin beyond simply knowing, because everyone says so, that it is bad?

The concept of spin has been causing controversy for thousands of years and dates as far back as the days of Plato and Aristotle. Although the actual term is relatively modern, both argued the same kind of issues that we do today when politicians are accused of ‘spinning us a line’.

But – and here is the real question – is it possible for politicians not to spin? Can Senator Gorst’s utopian view that our elected representatives can be free from spin ever be achieved? No, of course not. For all of us, no matter what our background, beliefs, job or role within society, are guilty of spinning in some way or other.

It is impossible not to because it is as much a part of our human nature as, say, laughing when someone falls over – we just can’t help ourselves.

If spin is to be defined as cherry-picking facts to support your case, disguising your agenda and burying bad news, among other things, even the most honest and open of us can probably apply something we have done or said to one of those things.

For example, I treated myself to some rather sparkly jewellery over the weekend. Not only did I spin myself a line that I needed it, but I also told myself that it was something I could wear for the rest of my life and pass on to my children, and it was an investment. I also went on to do the same when I sought to justify my impulse buy to my other half.

Now these things are all true, and I wasn’t lying, but I also chose not to mention the down-sides – the price, the lack of money in my bank account and the fact that I don’t really wear jewellery very often. I also put them to the back of my mind.

Technically, if we accept the definitions, I did a pretty good job of spinning the situation. Okay, so that is a very basic and perhaps inconsequential example, but you get my point.

Now put yourself in the position of a politician. You are debating an issue and want people to side with you because you think you are right. Of course you give precedence to some facts over others; of course you present your case in a certain way; and yes, you probably also balance out the bad stuff with some good stuff.

Spin just exists, it is not something that can be avoided in its entirety. Yes, politicians do sometimes use it to the extreme, and yes, this should be avoided. They also shouldn’t cover things up, mislead people or lie to us. But sometimes political spin of a lesser sort will happen, and often quite naturally rather than following some drawn-out discussion with evil spin doctors. But it is up to us, the media, to see it and balance it with unbiased information about what else has gone on, and put everything in its context.

It is also up to us as electors to know that it exists, notice it and bear it in mind when we are seeing, hearing or reading what our politicians are doing and saying.

Senator Gorst was right to urge Members to drop the spin – he meant the extreme stuff that undermines democracy, transparency and honesty. The rest of it is just, I am afraid, par for the course and certainly isn’t limited to politics.

I once wrote a comment for this paper about how outrageous it is that Islanders are still charged VAT by many local retailers. It caused quite a stink – lots of consumers told me how right I was, while many business leaders and retailers got a tad upset and said I didn’t understand what I was talking about.

Well, the outgoing chairman of the Jersey Consumer Council, Senator Alan Breckon, has said exactly the same thing. He now wants what he called the ‘excuse’ given by retailers that doing business in Jersey is more expensive than in the UK to be investigated.

Of course, I wouldn’t dare to say again that it’s no wonder we all shop on the internet so much (especially on websites that automatically take off VAT), and I wouldn’t even try to make the point that if retailers want our hard-earned cash, then they have to be competitive.

No, instead all I will say is that Senator Breckon, with his 15 years of experience at the helm of the Island’s consumer watchdog, is a very experienced man. So it is safe to assume that he knows what he is talking about.

I’ve had an idea, and I have to say it is really rather brilliant. It came to me while I was sitting in the States last Tuesday listening to yet another question about the historical abuse inquiry that just won’t go away.

Instead of spending hours and hours and hours of political time making accusations, having he-said-she-said conversations about reports that may or may not exist, and debates based on hearsay rather than actual evidence, everything needs to be made public.

Every document relating to the issue, every email, report, memo and scrap of paper should be printed out, piled up and then chucked up in the air in the middle of the Royal Square.

Then, and only then, everyone, including those directly involved, can get on with their lives.