THE world is an ‘uncertain place’ but the hope and solidarity of 77 years ago can help those who find themselves under occupation today, the Bailiff has said in his Liberation Day speech.
Timothy Le Cocq said that after the pandemic restrictions of the past two years, it was ‘marvellous’ to be joined by crowds again yesterday in Liberation Square to celebrate Jersey being freed from occupying forces. He called Liberation Day the ‘jewel in our Island’s calendar’.
Mr Le Cocq said: ‘The world is an uncertain place and we may ask how can this all be solved and what can we do to make it better? The answer is, we do what we can and we have hope. In recent months we have shown our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we have sent supplies, we have donated money – we give what we may give.’
‘The hope and expectation of 77 years ago is ours as well. Jersey has emerged as a community stronger from the experience of the last two years knowing the freedoms we had taken for granted may not always be available to us but that we can be resilient, courageous and caring,’ he added.
Addressing the thousands of Islanders who had gathered in and around the square on a fine, sunny morning, Mr Le Cocq said: ‘In this place – so many people gathered, there was much joy, laughter and tears. In this place my father, as part of Force 135 serving in the Royal Navy, found his younger brother, who he had not seen during the war years and was soon thereafter reunited with his parents and the rest of the family. So many other separated families found each other that day and in the weeks that followed.
‘And when we gather together now, for the first time since the restrictions imposed to battle the global pandemic were lifted, we too come together again as a people. We are all to my mind the inheritors of Liberation Day, whether born here or more recently have made the Island our home.’
The Island had also played its part in addressing global warming when it voted for a carbon-neutral roadmap, he said, ‘knowing that we cannot solve it alone but hoping that we can solve it together. A very old expression was used in the States Assembly in a recent debate – it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Well, by these positive actions and others we light candles.’
Commenting on the upcoming June general election, Mr Le Cocq: ‘We should not approach this event with cynicism but instead listen to those who offer themselves, and decide who we believe best represents the values of the Jersey we want to see and what we hope for in our community. I make no apology on this day of the celebration of liberty to urge you to exercise our right as free people to influence our future. It is a choice many in the world do not have.’
Mr Le Cocq also paid tribute to the late ‘and much missed’ Constable of St Saviour, Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard. Her rendition of Beautiful Jersey, in English and Jérriais, was one of the central points of Liberation Day celebrations for many years, said Mr Le Cocq. Mrs Le Sueur-Rennard gave the 2016 Liberation Day speech in the States Assembly, and the Bailiff read out the end of her speech yesterday: ‘We have so much to be thankful for in this Island and yet even today we are still learning from humanitarian events around the world. So I would like to say on my mum and dad’s behalf, and everybody who was here:
‘Mèrcie bien des fais, à la procheine, à bi.’
