Lifeboat seizure has made Jersey feel a little less safe

I LOVE the sight, sound and smell of the sea – unless you count the sea lettuce in St Aubin’s Bay, obviously – and I wouldn’t ever want to live anywhere that is far away from it.

Yet despite all that I’m just not that much of a fan of swimming in it, a fact only made worse by the discovery of a Portuguese man o’ war at Rozel on Sunday and the recent news that a humpback whale has been sighted off the coast of Jersey.

However cool that last one may be, you can blame my friendly colleague for my nervousness after his comment about bluefin tuna, which were also sighted near the whale and which feed on the same food.

‘You know what they say: wherever there’s tuna there are… big sharks!’ he said with a cackle. Thanks, Jack – much appreciated. I knew there was a reason I rarely ventured in for a swim.

Yet despite the rarity of my swimming in the sea and the number of times I’ve been on a pleasure boat in the past year (one, but I did manage to fall off while trying to get on), this whole RNLI row has still got me concerned.

We live in an island, after all – a very little one with some pretty dangerous seas around us at times. So just as if the row had been within the fire service, the police force or among air-traffic controllers, it’s entirely normal to be feeling a little disconcerted by it all.

Because most Islanders just want to know we have the best possible rescue services in place should we need them.

Not only has this row escalated to an extreme, but it has also brought that last bit into question. Yes, back-up plans are in place and I am sure everything will be fine, but it’s natural to be concerned.

Now, I have no view either way on who is right or wrong – as a layman watching from the sidelines I simply don’t know enough to have an opinion.

I’m not acquainted with anyone from either side, and I’ve only heard the rumours and gossip that everyone else has. And just as rumours alone don’t make a newspaper article, neither are they enough to base an opinion on.

And to be honest, while I’m all for fairness and justice, I’m not sure I actually care who is right or wrong – and I suspect there would be things that with hindsight both sides could have done differently. What I do care about is our island being – and feeling – safe.

And the thought of the George Sullivan sailing off into the sunset last Friday did not make me feel safe. I also couldn’t help but be a bit annoyed that we’d helped to pay for it then had it confiscated like we were naughty teenagers who couldn’t be trusted with the latest smartphone.

So what’s the solution? Without knowing what actually has gone on behind the scenes I haven’t the foggiest.

What I do know, however, is that it is time that our government showed some leadership on the issue, even if it is just to step in and reassure the public.

The RNLI and the St Helier crew have shown they aren’t capable of sorting it out themselves. Surely now it is time someone else tried to?

TO date, in my lifetime, it is estimated that I have spent around £830 on sanitary products, according to a new calculator created by the BBC that predicts what a woman will spend on the so-called ‘Tampon Tax’ during her lifetime.

You see, sanitary products are currently subject to five per cent VAT – in years gone by that figure has been up to 17.5 per cent – and I suspect that in Jersey we have not been immune to this despite our VAT-free status.

The BBC calculator estimates that during my life my overall expenditure will rise to more than £1,500, around £92 of which will have been VAT.

But the calculator is also part of a wider conversation about periods in general, and encouraging women to be private but not secretive about them.

Employers, schools and other organisations are also being invited to think about how they can be more ‘period friendly’, for example by providing adequate breaks, facilities and information.

It is not something that traditionally is talked about very much in workplaces and particularly not when those environments are male-dominated.

But it is a fact of everyday life, and one that we must not shy away from discussing where appropriate.

And in Jersey, where we have one of the highest percentages of working women in the world, it is even more important.