Former Chief Minister: Those who believe Deputy Lewis lied are “misguided”

Monday 11 September 2017

A former Chief Minister has given his “full support” to Deputy Andrew Lewis ahead of a States debate today on whether he should be officially reprimanded over a ‘lie’ he allegedly told in order to suspend a former Police Chief in the midst of a 2008 child abuse investigation.

In an email circulated to all States Members last week and shared with Express, ex-Senator Terry Le Sueur, who was Chief Minister from 2008 to 2011, accused anyone who believes that Deputy Lewis intentionally misled the Assembly over his actions of being “misguided.”

The issue centres around a confidential speech given to States members nearly a decade ago while Deputy Lewis was Home Affairs Minister. In it, Deputy Lewis justified his decision to suspend Graham Power by stating that he had seen a report criticising the then Police Chief’s handling of the ongoing child abuse inquiry.

Critics – including the author of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI) report, Frances Oldham QC - allege Deputy Lewis lied because he was referring to the Metropolitan Police report, which he hadn't in fact seen. Deputy Lewis argues that he used the wrong words under pressure, and meant that he had seen a letter from the then Deputy Police Chief David Warcup, which summarised the Met Police report.

Pictured: Deputy Lewis claims he made a slip of the tongue when explaining the reason why he chose to suspend former Police Chief Graham Power (above) over his handling of the Haut de la Garenne children's home investigation.

That allegation led to a hearing with the Privileges and Procedures Committee (PPC), who concluded that Deputy Lewis’ actions had misled the Assembly and brought the States into disrepute. They have since called for an official vote of censure against the former Minister, which will be put to a vote today.

Ahead of that vote, Mr Le Sueur, who was Treasury Minister at the time, claims that he personally did not feel misled. “Whether you had seen the actual report of the Metropolitan Police or merely been informed of its principal findings seemed to me both then and now to be an immaterial distinction which did not at the time even occur to me. I certainly do not believe that the House was misled in respect of the substance of your comments, still less do I believe that it was your intention to intentionally mislead or 'lie' to the House,” he wrote.

Pictured: Deputy Lewis' fate is to be decided upon following a debate in the States Chamber today.

Moreover, he blasted the Care Inquiry Panel for what he described as an “extreme extrapolation of facts” and the PPC for using this as a basis for a vote of censure.

“It is hard to see how a committee headed by a learned QC would use extreme and damaging language by accusing you of lying without giving you the opportunity to respond, particularly as the suspension of Graeme [sic] Power was not central to the issues they were dealing with… I think that PPC were on very weak ground in using the IJCA findings to support their case, and suspect that they may have done so only in an attempt to bolster their somewhat weak case against you,” he continued.

“I am sorry that you and your family have had to be dragged through all of this, particularly when I consider the PPC case to be so inadequate. You have my full support, and that of Angela, for taking a courageous stance and defending your reputation in a very tricky matter where individual prejudices sometimes seem to have run riot.”

Mr Le Sueur isn't the only Terry to back Deputy Lewis. Writing on social media last night, former Senator Terry Le Main, who was serving in the States when the alleged lie was told, also pledged his support in the Deputy he felt had been "hung out to dry."

He wrote: "I was in the STATES when Deputy Lewis made his statement..he never misled me in anyway..I perfectly understood every word....all this smells and I just cannot put my finger on it and WHY ? [sic]"