Jersey and Guernsey need to identify ‘quick wins’ to save the islands’ time and money despite differing political systems, a business forum has heard – although longer-term ideas, including an inter-island tunnel that links with France, should be seriously considered.
Greater inter-island co-operation was the subject of a panel discussion this morning, organised by the Chamber of Commerce.
Two of the four panellists – Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel and Guernsey Chamber executive director Alice Gill – both espoused the tunnel idea as a bona fide long-term aspiration.
Deputy Morel admitted that when suggesting the idea, people often laughed, but he believed it was a legitimate aspiration, while Ms Gill described it as a “massive economic enabler”.
Looking to the nearer term, panellist Mark Cox, who runs the Coop across both islands, identified several areas where he thought greater co-operation between the islands should take place, including joint utility ownership, joint procurement and contracting, sharing costs and provision in healthcare, and greater collaboration in tourism marketing.
All panellists, and several members of the 160-strong audience, also expressed support for a joint-Channel Island work permit scheme, which would allow permit-holders in one island to plug employment gaps in the other.
However, Deputy Morel injected some political sobriety into the discussion by recalling some of the political difficulties he had encountered in his ministerial career, not least with the fractious ferry tender process that led to the islands choosing different operators in 2024.
“The journey I have been on at the political level has shown me that there is a vast difference between the political world and business world,” he said.
“The islands do have different interests and priorities, and there are some areas where we just do not think the same.
“However, we absolutely need to talk with Guernsey more than we do and identify two or three projects initially that have a good chance of working.”
Explaining one reason for Guernsey’s hesitance when dealing with Jersey, former senior politician Paul Luxon, who was in the audience, light-heartedly said that there was a genuine fear that the larger island would always want to label a joint project by combining the first three letters of ‘Jersey’ with the last three letters of ‘Guernsey’.
Deputy Morel hypothesised that Guernsey’s fears may be rooted in Jersey having a bigger population, so the relationship would be perceived as unequal.
He stressed that it was important to look forward – but without losing sight of the realities that the past had made clear.
He added that he would particularly like to see more shared services in healthcare, and the islands working closer together with Brittany and Normandy.
