In a surprise use of the ‘communications from the presiding officer’ section at the beginning of Tuesday’s sitting, Sir William said he felt compelled to speak out after the inquiry’s progress report two weeks ago once again called for the dual role to be split.
While the Bailiff said he condemned the abuse suffered by those who gave evidence to the inquiry, he said their suffering must not be used as a reason to adopt all of the recommendations of the panel without question.
He accused the panel of ‘arriving in the Island with preconceived ideas of what a proper constitution should look like’ and said they had never sought, either during their original hearings or while working on their two-year update, to hear evidence on the matter.
‘It is important that none of us adopt merely the entirety of what is a flawed report simply because the abuse was as bad as it was,’ he said.
