Over to you! Lewis case to go before full States Assembly

Friday 18 August 2017

The main political drama of the summer is now to be aired in the full States Assembly, with all the island's politicians being asked to decide whether Deputy Andrew Lewis should be censured for allegedly 'lying.'

The issue centres on an apparently confidential speech given to the States nearly ten years ago by Deputy Lewis when he was the interim Home Affairs Minister. He said he had seen a report which was highly critical of the way the then Police Chief Graham Power was handling the ongoing child abuse inquiry – a report that had been used to support the Chief’s suspension.

Critics claim Deputy Lewis lied because he was referring to the Metropolitan Police report, which he hadn't in fact seen. Deputy Lewis argues that under pressure, he just used the wrong words, and actually he meant that he had seen a letter from the Deputy Police Chief David Warcup, which summarised the Met Police report, and was very critical of Mr Power.

He denies it was a deliberate 'lie', but the recent £23m Independent Jersey Care Inquiry disagreed, and heavily branded him a liar - leading to a review by PPC, which is the States committee responsible for procedures.

Following a hearing earlier this month, that committee unanimously agreed that Deputy Lewis had brought the States into disrepute, but it is split over exactly how.

Three members – Constable Len Norman, and Deputies Simon Bree and Sam Mézec - have found him ‘guilty’ of lying both to the States and the abuse inquiry.

Meanwhile, two other members – Constable Chris Taylor and Deputy Scott Wickenden - whilst accepting the findings of the inquiry that Deputy Lewis 'lied , have found he breached the States Code of Conduct because he “misled the Assembly… and did not seek to rectify the situation at the earliest opportunity."

Either way, the PPC unanimously says Deputy Lewis brought the States into further disrepute at its recent disciplinary hearing: “Deputy Lewis… did not appear to the Committee to accept that he had made a mistake and continued to robustly defend his actions: ‘What I have done is use the wrong language to describe a report and some Members have clearly been misled by that.’”

In its report, PPC goes on to say: “In refusing to acknowledge, correct or rectify the error made in the first instance, until many years after the event, the Committee believes that Deputy Lewis perpetuated the confusion surrounding the ‘lie’. If he wished to maintain the integrity of the Assembly, he should have sought to remedy his mistake and to apologise to anyone who had felt misled immediately he became aware that his comments had been misinterpreted.”

And PPC continues its criticism: “Deputy Lewis has had ample opportunity to correct this misunderstanding since 2008, and the Committee does not accept that because he was no longer an elected member he was unable to do this. Anyone can make a statement to the media.

“Instead of resolving the matter in 2008, or apologising for not doing so subsequently, Deputy Lewis has chosen to robustly defend and justify his actions; question why the Law Officers did not step in to correct his mistake; provide e-mail exchanges to intimate he was not party to the machinations of civil servants behind the scenes; blame pressure of work and his lack of familiarity or experience in his role; question the motives, political or otherwise, of those who have sought to raise this issue over the intervening years; and, most recently, to claim that the way in which he was treated by the I.J.C.I. was ‘unjust’.

“At no point, until the release of a media statement after the hearing, did Deputy Lewis say unequivocally that he was sorry. This statement was not circulated to States Members.”

Responding to PPC's findings, Deputy Lewis told Express: "I will await the outcome of the report and proposition when it's debated in the States."

Throughout the report, no quotes were taken from the statement made by Deputy Lewis or Senator Philip Bailhache, who assisted him during the hearing and described the findings of the Care Inquiry report "shockingly unfair."

Deputy Lewis commented that he was "disappointed" that the report did not reflect this evidence.

"It is also disappointing that this deflects so much from the important content of the Care Inquiry report, which is fundamentally about abuse in our care system. That’s where the focus should be," he added.

Privileges and Procedures is now asking the States to censure Deputy Lewis. That means there will be a States debate and a vote when politicians meet on 12th September.

A 'censure' is in effect a rap across the knuckles, with members saying they do not approve of a fellow member’s actions.