Scathing attack on minister’s policies

Thursday 27th July 2006, 12:00AM BST.

THE Chamber of Commerce has launched a scathing attack on Economic Development Minister Philip Ozouf over his efforts to bring more competition to the Island.

Senator Ozouf is being accused of deliberately wanting business casualties and using poorly informed and dangerous strategies to stimulate competition ‘whatever the cost’.

It is the first time the Chamber, which represents 530 members employing nearly 20,000 staff in Jersey, has publicly fallen out with the minister.

It says that it has ‘serious misgivings’ about his vision for the retail sector.

The attack follows Senator Ozouf’s comments on the latest RPI figure, released earlier this month.

It showed that although it was the third quarterly increase in succession, the 2.9% rate was below that of Guernsey’s 3.4% and the UK’s 3.3%.

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