By John Henwood
SLOWLY, almost imperceptibly, Jersey has moved from a mildly right-of-centre government with an enterprise-led (or capitalist) approach allied to a strong community spirit to an increasingly left-of-centre government with socialist emphasis.
The terms “capitalist” and “socialist” have tended to be used by each politico-economic philosophy to discredit the other and, some would say, have become misunderstood. From the far left, the word capitalist is still used to conjure an image of the Victorian mill owner, grinding down the workers while getting rich. On the far right, the word socialist is used to disparage as lazy and feckless those who rely on the state to provide for all their needs.
Both philosophies still have their adherents as well as their deniers. Let us deal with those bogeymen by expressing both in simple terms.
A capitalist economic system is characterised by private or corporate ownership of systems, infrastructure and business, carried out for profit in a competitive, open-market economy. Government is not unduly interventionist, but it extracts varying proportions of wealth and profits in taxation to pay for services.
A socialist economy is a system defined by state or collective ownership of systems, infrastructure and business as a means of collecting and distributing public welfare. Government intervention and control is the means to provide universal services.
UK politics has become blurred as political parties of both right and left moved toward the middle ground in search of the popularity that will lead to power. Recently, opinion polls indicated a swing to the right in the shape of the Reform Party, while the extreme left of the Labour Party has sought to wrest control from the centre-left government. In other words, recent governments have occupied the middle-of-the-road unsuccessfully and we may now be seeing a polarising of politics. Reform UK, from the right, was expected to win the recent Gorton & Denton by election, a seat easily won by Labour in 2024, but they were convincingly beaten by the Green Party candidate. The Greens are a motherhood and apple pie party which, not unlike some candidates in Jersey, promise social Arcadia without offering the means to deliver it. In short, the people of Gorton & Denton showed their dissatisfaction, not only with the Labour government, but Reform and the traditionally mainstream parties. If you doubt it consider this: the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (yes, they’re still with us) polled more votes than the Social Democrat, Communist League, Advance UK, Libertarian and Rejoin EU party candidates.
What, if anything, does this mean to us in an election year? Broadly speaking, we have been given a good leaving alone by UK governments of all colour and it is interesting, left to our own devices, to observe the changes in Jersey society since Liberation and how those changes are reflected in the way in which we are governed.
Those who took up the challenge of rebuilding our community after the Occupation came largely from the business and farming communities and they did it in an honorary capacity.
They were conservative of approach and capitalist by choice and that was how post-war Jersey was rebuilt. Before the Occupation there was no welfare system, no old age pension, an uncoordinated approach to education where it happened, little public infrastructure or public transport, and much more that we take for granted today. All of it was created not by a socialist political agenda, but by a capitalist approach with a strong social conscience. It was this enterprising approach which drove economic growth to the benefit of all.
Today, we have a crypto-socialist government. Evidently what it fails to understand is that everyone benefits from private enterprise creating wealth, whereas the present method of stifling enterprise in favour of government provision has led to economic stagnation.
Who are these crypto-socialists? There’s nothing hidden when it comes to Reform Jersey. They claim to be centre-left, but their policies are much closer to “old Labour” as Deputy Geoff Southern once proudly labelled himself. No, the crypto-socialists are those we might call the well-meaning do-gooders. These are good people all who probably wouldn’t recognise themselves as socialists; they get elected with the desire to help, often with a particular mission in mind. Typically they propose and vote for a wide range of additional public services, but few ever pause to consider where the money is coming from, far less suggest ways in which the economy might be stimulated. In short, we have slipped, perhaps by default, into an era of electing States members who want to do good, but simply don’t have the background, knowledge, experience and skills to earn the money before they spend it. It is the idealistic socialist-leaning politicians who have filled the vacuum left by the capitalist-leaning States members who shaped Jersey – those who had the good old-fashioned notion that money should be earned before it is spent.
Our government has shifted ever increasingly into areas where government should not venture. The size and cost of government has risen sharply and continues on the same trajectory, but there has been no concomitant improvement in the quality of delivery or, among most, the feelgood factor. The overreaching regulatory nature of government has stifled enterprise while reducing choice; competition is not rewarded or even encouraged.
It is one thing to explain what has gone wrong, quite another to do something about it.
Where there are a few good people with the will to change, with the courage to do what is in the best interests of everyone, even if some of what must be done may be unpopular, Jersey can still begin to get on the right track. In the coming weeks I will be setting out the headline manifesto of a shadow political party whose slogan is Quality, Choice & Competition. It will set out a radical agenda for change. We will fly the flag; it will be interesting to discover who, if anyone, is prepared to salute it.
John Henwood is Jersey-born and, having worked in television, communications, finance, investment, tourism, marketing, publishing, aid, consultancy and one or two other things he would rather not talk about, he now concentrates his energy on important stuff, like writing and horse racing.
