Reasons for standing


Why I am standing:
I have very serious concerns arising from the strategic policies Jersey is adopting We need to have a serious, honest and open debate over the strategic direction we take in the light of peak oil, climate change, world population growth, and increasingly limited world food availability.

These are the same issues I raised in the 2008 election. Since then we have seen, as I predicted, significant food and fuel prices rises, an increase of GST on essentials, and no noticeable economic recovery. The States have agreed to produce reports on some of these items, but repeated failed to deliver even those documents

The States policy of hoping for growth is doomed to failure in a finite world. We must address how we support the population through the difficult times ahead and do so with much less impact on the planet than currently. I believe that we would be better served if we addressed being more self reliant in food and alternative energy and had a much more diversified economic base.

There is also a distinctly personal element too in that I am a member of the Jersey Care Leavers Association. Like all the members of the Association that means I have personal experience of being in care as a child, although not in a Jersey Home, nor as a victim or survivor of abuse. We have spent millions on English lawyers to defend the indefensible, the media have had their headlines, yet many of the victims have still not been heard, less yet properly compensated. The committee of inquiry must ask the really difficult questions, the embarrassing and shocking truth about who knew and who colluded and who neglected their responsibilities must come out. If it does not we cannot be sure of preventing a repetition.

Put simply, I want to see a fairer, cleaner, greener future for our island.

For more background and comment on the issues see my blog:
http://st-ouennais.livejournal.com

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