States colluded with RNLI

WE have all backed the wrong horse at some time in our lives – either metaphorically or literally. The important question is how we deal with the situation and whether we learn from it and move forward.

In the following case which horse would you back if you were the States?

On one side are your harbour employees, to whom you have a sense of loyalty; your wholly owned incorporated Ports of Jersey, which
is in its infancy; and the mighty RNLI, with whom you have a commercial relationship to provide lifeguard services.

In the other corner is the coxswain of the St Helier lifeboat, a volunteer with few employment rights.

The States backed their own employees, the Ports of Jersey and the RNLI, on the basis that the coxswain was expendable. It is not only the RNLI that does not want the report on his suspension published, it is also the States of Jersey, as the amount of collusion will become apparent.

This is why Sir Andrew Ridgway, the former Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey, and I wrote to Paul Boissier and Stuart Popham of the RNLI on 9 October 2017 and offered to act as mediators in the dispute. This would have been in an honorary capacity at our own expense.

The reply we received was courteous and explained that ‘the channels of communication between the RNLI and all the various stakeholders in the Island remain open’, and there was no need for our services at that time. A follow-up offer on 14 November 2017 was also rejected.

Rather than being a dispute between the lifeboat crew and the RNLI, this is in fact a dispute in which the Jersey government are heavily involved.

The States of Jersey must be prepared to suffer the consequences of their collusion and persuade the RNLI to publish the disciplinary report in confidence to relevant parties, unredacted. Just as the States have misplaced loyalty to their employees, the RNLI appears to have misplaced loyalty to the Jersey government.

If there is no mediation and no resolution, Islanders should throw their full weight behind the creation of a local lifeboat service early in 2018. And the States, as custodians of our money, should dig deep in their pockets to make it happen. After all, they are partly responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.

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