Guernsey’s P&R President is keen to strengthen bonds with Jersey during her term of office.
Writing for the Jersey Evening Post, Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez has revealed her view that Guernsey-Jersey co-operation already takes on place on a scale not seen publicly, and that she believes this could and should continue.
Through her past roles as President of Environment and Infrastructure, and Vice-President of Employment and Social Security, she wrote that she has seen first hand how the two islands can work together.
“(In these areas) there is no logical reason to compete: on the contrary, it makes perfect sense to share information and effort for mutual benefit. In the grand scheme of things, each island has the population of a large UK town yet has the additional responsibilities of being a self-governing jurisdiction, so the rational approach is to work together to avoid pointless duplication and unnecessary expense.”
Deputy de Sausmarez, in her new role as P&R President, has taken on additional external relations responsibilities, including recent trips to France, with another tomorrow for a summit in Normandy as part of a pan-island contingent aiming to strengthen regional relationships and support greater co-operation.
“Sailing towards France as part of a pan-Channel Island delegation to learn more about the nuclear power facilities we can all see from our respective shores, I couldn’t escape the obviousness of the metaphors surrounding me: the bumpy seas, the distant storm looking set to sweep us up in its path, and – despite this – the horizon dancing in determined sunshine breaking through peppered clumps of clouds,” she wrote for the JEP last week.
“I don’t mind admitting that the wider global outlook has tested my optimistic tendencies lately. Plenty of worries keep me up at night: looming environmental tipping points that if not avoided will have profound and irreversible impacts; breathtaking technological innovation that brings with it opportunities, yes, but also very real risks if effective regulation can’t keep up; and macro-economic uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions that is breaking out into brutal kinetic wars.
“At the heart of many of my concerns is a common theme: the fraying of our social fabric; the weakening of the bonds that keep communities together.”
Deputy de Sausmarez further wrote how she “loves” social media because it can aid communication, despite its flaws.
“I find it ironic that our flair for communication has led to the development of tools like social media that – in some respects at least – are contributing to the weakening of co-operation,” she wrote. “There’s a lot that I love about social media and on balance I still think it is a net benefit to society, but the culprits in my eyes are the algorithms that drive polarisation. Why do they do this? Because outrage and conflict are the most valuable currency in an attention economy. More conflict leads to more clicks which lead to more money for these platforms – but at what cost?
“We see this phenomenon playing out in politics: there is growing rhetorical aggression, division and polarisation, fuelling more political violence with real-world consequences. Populists – adept at pushing the right buttons to capture people’s attention – are in the ascendency at both extremes of the political spectrum, and the political landscape in between is becoming more fractured and fragmented. This is a godsend to – or, some would suggest, an actual strategic objective of – autocratic regimes and leaders with autocratic aspirations everywhere. Democracies in disarray play into their hands.
“But if anyone can defend against this kind of deterioration, it’s small, close-knit communities like ours. Being islands, we have I think a stronger sense of identity and belonging, and (while a long way from perfect) we’re still quite a trusting bunch. Put simply, we’re better at keeping it real.”
Deputy de Sausmarez has been P&R President since early July, after she topped the polls in June’s election. Suffice to say, this means she is well known locally.
She says she is happy to be stopped for a chat in the street or supermarket, and to answer questions about the States and its work.
“It works in the other direction, too,” she wrote. “I’ve always found that the most successful policies are those that have been co-developed with the parts of the community that will be most impacted by them. Even potentially contentious plans such as on electricity, climate change and our open market housing have sailed through the States with near unanimous support, because we didn’t sit in an ivory tower deciding and defending the brilliance of our own ideas: we got out there, spoke with people who could give us a ground-level view of what would and wouldn’t work in reality, and improved the policy through their feedback. What’s more, different stakeholders explaining their own perspectives to each other and agreeing compromises develops a deeper understanding between them, as well as buy-in to the policy they’ve had a hand in shaping.”
This thirst for communication extends to our relationship with Jersey, reiterated Deputy de Sausmarez.
“While we rightly and proudly maintain our own distinct identities, Guernsey and Jersey share many things in common: the same geographical patch of the English Channel, a similar cultural heritage, and an impressive ability to punch above our weight on the international stage, to name a random few. Just as conversations and connections can make us each a stronger community, they can strengthen the bonds between our islands also. While the sea between us can sometimes be a bit boisterous, we share a broad and bright horizon. Let’s keep the conversation going.”
Deputy de Sausmarez’s article was published in full by the JEP.