"It's a case of trust me, I'm a politician"

Tuesday 04 October 2016

It's likely the Chief Minister will be facing a vote of no confidence in his Council of Ministers before the end of this month, following a stinging attack on their alleged lack of co-operation with backbench politicians.

St John Constable Chris Taylor has confirmed that he is set to launch the move, and it is likely that he will go ahead within the next few days, with the support of up to 15 other States members.

The news comes just a few days after the Ministers' proposed new health charge was vetoed by the States on a hung vote, 23-23. 

Constable Taylor says he is deeply frustrated with the leadership of the States, as he believes the Scrutiny process is not being used as a 'critical friend' which was how it was originally envisaged by the late Sir Cecil Clothier in his original blueprint for Ministerial Government.

Constable Taylor says his frustration has grown in recent months, and he has been considering bringing this confidence vote for some time:

"I entered the States with great enthusiasm, really wanting to move things forward; and one thing that has become very apparent is that information is not available, and its easier to get it through a Freedom of Information request than it is through Scrutiny. And that is seriously hampering the work of Scrutiny.

"That frustration is building up. There are a number of things which are almost insulting to the integrity of the backbencher. For example, when they proposed the £11m commercial waste charge, we asked 'what's it all about', and they back-tracked and said its only 'in principle'. It's a case of 'trust me, I'm a politician. You vote for the £11m charge, and we'll work out everything else.' I'm not signing up to that sort of  leadership."

"It's the lack of leadership at the top, in failing to bring everybody on board and take us forward. Scrutiny should be used to scrutinise for the benefit of departments, not as an 'us and them.'

"I would not do it unless I was very serious, it's something which has come after quite a few months of consideration.The Council of Ministers are not working with Scrutiny and the whole assembly. They lock themselves in their ivory tower and they don't tell us what's happening."

It would be the first vote of no confidence in the Chief Minister since 2010, and needs the support of at least three other States members, if it is to go ahead. If Constable Taylor decides to proceed he would certainly get that support, with Reform Jersey's Chairman Deputy Sam Mezec already confirming that the three Reform Party members would support him:

"The Health Tax not going through is a serious blow, they should be considering their position, given that a major part of their plan has been rejected."

Additionally, St Saviour Deputy Terry MacDonald confirmed he would also support the move:

"It's all to do with last week, but there are also other issues I've been badly let down on, I will stand up and be counted."

A spokesman for the Chief Ministers Department said Senator Gorst wouldn't be commenting until a confidence vote was actually filed with the States Greffe.

There needs to be a 'lodging period' between submitting the proposal, and it actually being debated, which would mean the earliest a confidence vote could be debated by the Island's politicians would be 25 October.