Senator Sir Philip Bailhache told the States Assembly yesterday that he had been ‘misquoted’ in weekend media stories, and that,”…he did not assert that Jersey should seize the opportunity of Brexit to consider greater independence from the UK” – in fact the word “independence” hadn’t even been used in the interview.
The External Relations Minister called reports that the Island might seek to change it current arrangements by looking for greater independence, a “…significant misrepresentation of my position.”
“For the avoidance of any doubt, the Government of Jersey is not seeking any change to our constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom or to establish Jersey as an independent state. The matter of independence has naturally not been raised either at the Council of Ministers or with Her Majesty’s government. I am not a champion for independence.“
Deputy Jackie Hilton also asked Senator Bailhache if he was considering a change in his title, to a seemingly more appropriate Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Ministry of Foreign Affairs reflects more accurately what the Ministry does than External Affairs. Externally, the term Foreign Affairs is more widely understood than the current title. It is a matter which is under consideration, but a decision has yet to be made”, he replied.
When Senator Philip Ozouf mentioned that such a title could, “…give an indication that we are a sovereign state, and therefore responsible for all our international affairs, and seeking more independence,” and that calling the UK “foreign” would be very damaging, the Minister replied:
“This is not my view, nor is it the view of the relevant Minister responsible for relations with Jersey, when I discussed the matter with him some months ago. It maybe interesting to recall that, for many many years, we had a Defence Committee that subsequently became named Home Affairs Committee. But I don’t think there was any question in the minds of officials at Whitehall or Ministers in the UK government that Jersey was as a result responsible for its own defence. I think people take common sense approaches to this, of course the UK is not a foreign country in relation to Jersey.”
Relationships with Guernsey were also mentioned, with Deputy Mike Higgins asking the Minister if he believes in better links:
“There is a possibility of resurrecting an idea about a confederation which had been floated some years ago but that is really matter for further discussion with our friends and colleagues over in Guernsey and indeed with ministers in Jersey. it is an idea but not more than that. At the end of the day, it really depends whether both parties wish to join together in this kind of way and I think we are a long way from that at the present time.”