Satisfactory end to saga of officialdom's making

The temptation always exists in such circumstances to pursue matters to the nth degree and on the occasions I’ve seen it done in the past – and a couple of names spring readily to mind – it results invariably in the total evaporation of any sympathy that existed when the original decision was made.

There is no doubt that Mr McDonald enjoyed – and continues to enjoy – considerable public sympathy, not least, I strongly suspect, because of the distaste people like me have for the spineless pussyfooting of an officialdom which, having given him all the necessary consents to let off thousands of fireworks for charity – a not inconsiderable achievement for the former police officer in an era of jobsworth bureaucracy – then caved in under pressure from dog walking, tree hugging environmentalists.

As I recall remarking just after the charity display was called off, those same objectors were within a month or so probably among the thousands applauding – as I have since its inception – that other charity event, the Royal Air Forces Association’s Air Display, where the potential for environmental damage and pollution was almost certainly greater.

I liked the observation by former Boss Philip Bailhache who said: ‘This is one of the very rare cases where we can take the view that we can act as a small and sympathetic community and mitigate the catastrophic consequences to a member of that community. This is a wise, moderate and compassionate proposition.’

Those words and the decision which followed them encapsulate all that is good about this small rock and go some way towards redressing the nasty taste left by an original decision based on the claims of a disproportionately small but vociferous section of an otherwise fair-minded community.

Just one further observation, if I may. I didn’t listen to the debate on the wireless because Herself needed ferrying to all manner of places and so I am unaware of the reason – if indeed any was given – for both the Constable of St Ouen and the parish Deputy abstaining from the vote on the ex gratia payment to Mr McDonald.

There may well be good and valid reasons for Michael Paddock and James Reed’s decisions but as a general principle I dislike abstentions. Both the Constable and the Deputy have available to them salaries which many of their fellow Island residents would dearly love to enjoy. I’d have thought that a prerequisite of pocketing a little brown envelope with more than 800 notes in it every Friday lunchtime is participating in the decision making for which they and their colleagues are paid. I’d like to know why they didn’t on this occasion.

While talking about all that is good in this small community, it is gratifying to know that Jersey yet again responded with its traditional generosity to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal. During its fortnight’s duration the public shelled out cash for this most worthy of causes at the average rate of more than ten grand a day.

I wonder how many others found themselves in the same predicament as I did yet again this year. Herself usually buys a couple of poppies early and helpfully pins them on the coat I am likely to wear more often than not in ensuing couple of weeks. Year in and year out I either lose my capacity to mind read – others in my position will know exactly what I’m on about – and wear a coat other than the one she has determined I should wear, or I simply lose the poppy. Either way, as happened three times this year, I find myself shelling out another couple of quid when collectors point out that I am not wearing the little red emblem. Notwithstanding the fact that us crapauds are sometimes described as Scots stripped of their generosity, I don’t mind in the least. It’s money well spent.

If the letter he sent in is anything to go by, I seem to have touched a nerve with Post Office head lad Kevin Keen with my what I thought were quite light hearted comments about a survey he sent out concerning personal mail. He devoted quite a bit of his response to challenging what he claimed was my assertion that the postal services was second rate. I never make excuses for anything I write but on occasions it’s necessary to give reasons why certain things happen.

The fact is that nowhere did I ever say that the postal service was second rate. True, it appeared in the headline but, as some people know but Mr Keen clearly doesn’t, columnists and reporters never, ever write the headlines which top their words – other people do that. I don’t criticise either the person who wrote the headline or indeed Mr Keen for thinking that it had been written by me. I simply point out that it wasn’t.

He asserts also that I don’t like surveys but fails to address the point I made about the one he sent out – that it contained an inane question about what people do with personal mail other than keep it, bin it or ‘other’. I am still in the dark about what ‘other’ might mean.

What I do know is that Mr Keen appears to be one of those sensitive souls who, when it suits, can be as critical as the next person about things which get under his skin but doesn’t much like it when the boot’s on the other foot. Never mind, Kev. You’ll get over it.

And finally,

It’s almost December – the annual exchange of unwanted rubbish is nigh. Yuk.