From Brian Frith.
DEPUTY Geoff Southern has recently made a high-profile attack on the 1(1)K residents of Jersey and their financial contribution to the Island’s economy.

He describes them as ‘people in mansions’, although he tells us he is not motivated by envy.

He cites a figure of £8m as the amount paid in direct tax by this group, which he feels is insufficient. I don’t know if this is an accurate figure, and it is unclear if he feels they are collectively ungenerous or certain individuals are abusing the system. If it is the former, then surely this is a subject for the States to debate; if the latter, he should be working with the Comptroller of taxes.

However, is it really necessary to provoke envy, and possibly hatred, via a letter to your newspaper, in particular when the facts, as presented, are misleading and incomplete and the outcome could do substantial harm to the Island’s economy and tax receipts?

If the 1(1)K population of Jersey were to apply to live in Switzerland, they would not only be welcomed with open arms, but their tax bills would, in the main, be substantially reduced. Similarly in the Bahamas, they would be welcomed at a nil rate of direct tax (which applies to all residents).

There are at least a dozen other countries lining up behind these two to similarly welcome this group into their community. The UK has, for a long time, acknowledged the benefits brought into the country by wealthy foreigners. The reason for this is that all the above recognise the spending power and spin-off benefits that accrue from most of these individuals and their families.

We are constantly being told, often by our politicians, that we must diversify our economy. Looking around the Island, I can think of over a dozen significant and diverse businesses (largely outside finance) that have been established by our 1(1)K residents and their families.

In trying to establish the ‘worth’ of these people to our Island, therefore, I think we need to add the tax bills of these businesses and the hundreds of their employees to the £8m figure cited by Deputy Southern, together with their collective spending power in the Island.

Finally, I have attended enough charity events here to know that many of the 1(1)K residents are constant and hugely generous donors. One cannot fail to remember David Kirch’s gift to all the Island’s older population just a year or so ago.

Many of the high-profile 1(1)K residents are also great ambassadors for our Island and, while we currently have certain politicians mindlessly trashing the reputation of Jersey around the world, these people frequently help our morale and our economy by portraying a somewhat more balanced picture of a largely caring and generous society.

I really do think our politicians need to make themselves aware of the basic economics of this Island before they start to publicly attack a particular industry or group.

I am not a 1(1)K resident and I do not have a privileged background, but I do feel that we will all be losers if we administer the Island on the basis of politics of envy.
Chapelle des Landes,
Mont des Landes,
St Martin.