From Senator Terry Le Main.
I OBJECT to the way that Deputy Breckon has unfairly criticised Deputies Huet and de Faye over their absence at the recent nomination meetings.

I am not here to defend politicians, but I do feel that in the public interest the reasons should be made public.
Deputy Huet, the chairman of the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission, had some 12 months previously arranged dates for the Jersey commission to interview more than 70 world aid agencies with more than 100 persons attending. This is a mammoth task, with booking and getting free-of-charge corporate banking boardroom facilities for interviews and arranging that the Jersey commissioners can attend.

With the arrangements in place for the Jersey Overseas Aid interviewing visit to London 12 months ago, the agreed dates did not clash with the nomination meetings. However, at a later date Privileges and Procedures altered the agreed nomination dates. Deputy Huet and her committee were not at fault because her arrangements were already in place and could not be changed. There was no discourtesy to the electorate or the public.

In regard to Deputy de Faye, the Council of Ministers were asked by Senateur Le Grand from Normandy — a great friend of Jersey — to attend and support our Chief Minister at this historical meeting in Paris, with some of France’s most senior politicians.

It was probably the most important meeting ever held between Jersey and the French government, and the Jersey delegation were finally able to convince the French politicians that Jersey has one of the most co-operative, transparent banking systems in the world, with the best of financial regulations and a first-class judiciary system to back it up.

This Paris meeting now places Jersey among the best suppliers of financial services in the world, and the message put across to the French parliamentarians was historically important. Deputy de Faye, with his fluent knowledge of the language and his experience in having worked in Europe with ITN News, was part of this hugely successful delegation.

These are the facts, and I hope this puts across how important these two unavoidable visits were for Jersey.
Outwood,
5 Rue de Maupertuis,
St Clement.