THE recent government statement about Jersey’s future customs arrangements with the EU after Brexit, sum up perfectly the choice that our government has made to remain impotent in these matters. As such, it is failing to protect Islanders’ interests.
To state that ‘it is our priority to achieve access to the EU goods markets, including for agriculture and fisheries products, on terms no less favourable than the United Kingdom’s’ is to state that the Island’s government is putting up no attempt to protect Jersey’s current position following a referendum in which none of us had a vote.
It is well known that the UK government is prepared to leave the EU with no terms in place, a situation that would devastate the Island’s agricultural and fishing industries.
Given that Jersey had no say in the vote, our stance should be one of protecting the current status quo, not one of following the UK government’s own incompetence in its Brexit negotiations.
As long as the Island’s government is happy to follow the UK, no matter where the UK goes, then it is a government that is not looking after the interests of Island residents.
Jersey did not have a vote. Therefore Jersey must demand that its trading capabilities with the EU remain exactly as they are today.
