Democracy turns sour for Sark
Friday 12th December 2008, 3:00PM GMT.
A QUARTER of Sark’s workforce was laid off yesterday as the billionaire Barclay brothers shut down their businesses in protest against the result of Tuesday’s historic elections.
In the first full elections marking the end of 450 years of feudal rule, Sarkees overwhelmingly voted against candidates who backed the brothers’ modernising reform agenda. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, who are the owners of the Telegraph newspapers and who have spent a fortune challenging Sark’s traditions in the High Court, responded by closing all of their businesses.
The move left all the shops, restaurants and other businesses on one side of the Avenue closed as well as, among other firms, the Aval du Creux, Dixcart and La Moinerie hotels. Building work has also been suspended cross the island.
As a result more than 100 workers – a quarter of the workforce – were laid off and now face a bleak Christmas. There is no unemployment benefit or other state aid in Sark. One Islander said the Barclays’ action just before Christmas had left Sark devastated. Other were said to have been left crying in the street.
Sarkees went to the ballot box on Tuesday faced with a stark choice – to back candidates put up by the Barclays, who were pressing for modernisation at an unprecedented rate, or to vote for those wanting evolutionary and not revolutionary change.
• Picture: Shops, restaurants and businesses on one side of the Avenue have closed.
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I think revolutionary is how they voted (in the current climate). Well done to Sark, they will find ways to come through and will probably be stronger for it.
Worrying how Sark let itself get so monopolised. Maybe that will be one of the things that the new assembly should look at as soon as possible – could be legal grounds for forcing the Barclay Brothers to loosen their stranglehold and giving up some of their ownership over local business and the property market.
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I am genuinely sorry for those facing an uncertain future, especially at this time it must be heartbreaking. Having spent 8 years unemployed during the 80′s I can sympathise, hopefully the brothers will pick up their rattle and put it back in the pram.
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What an irony! They objected to feudalism, then act as truly petulant oligarchs, throwing their toys out of the pram when things do not go their way.
The people of Sark will rally round and support each other as always, emerging strengthened, although the road may well be a difficult one for a while. They have my support.
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Kasper – You say ‘Worrying how Sark let itself get so monopolised’
Maybe Jersey should take heed after what has happened in Sark.
I hope the folk in Sark fight this and get some hope before Christmas.
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Oh dear – so they could not get their way and have decided to take away their ball !!!
Hopefully the residents of Sark will not give in to this absolute intimidation.
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Now aint that funny, the feudal system worked for over four hundred years with nobody being out of work, along comes democracy and it all goes pear shaped!!
The UK courts were wrong to interfere, let them pick up the tab for this cockup.
As for the barclay bros.-sour grapes.
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Could the Sark government maybe ‘nationalise’ all the BB businesses in the public interest?
If and when anyone else comes forward to buy each business, that will be the time for the BB’s to be paid. I hope that no-one bids more than about 10% of each business’s value though!
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Is anyone going to organise a hardship fund for the people on Sark who have lost their jobs just before Christmas?
I suggest that readers of the Daily Telegraph should stop buying this Barclays brothers newspaper for say a month and donate the money saved to such a fund.
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The Barclay Brothers should be stripped of there Knighthoods, they are not fit to hold them.
While in past centuries knighthood used to be awarded solely for military merit, today it recognises significant contributions to national life.
They have the type of wealth and investments that a downturn in the economy will not affect to any great extent, and yet they choose to ruin the the lives of possibly 125 Sark Islanders these bullying tactics should not be allowed.
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All the barclays business premises would have closed anyway if they had got their way.This is plan B .If no employment there will eventually be less islanders.The properties that remain may be forced out or bought out.Just imagine it their own government,one big private estate
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When money dictates (no freudian slip with that word) a political landscape, don’t be surprised if they do not like progressive candidates and will do whatever it takes to change it.
In Jersey, at least we haven’t got a political system that bows to financial pressures…have we?
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sark has done fine over the years, these bully boys should be trown out!
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If it wasn’t so sad for the people of Sark it would be farcical.The barclay brothers are nothing but disgraceful bullies who think because they have money they can intimidate everyone around them. It was bound to end in tears. I hope the people of Sark pull through this. Sark is one of the most delightful places i have ever visited.
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I agree – perhaps an emergency charity should be set up in Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney to try and help the Unemployed of Sark out over Christmas ?
Everybody is tightening their belts but I’m sure I could contribute SOMETHING …
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Eric (8.) asks about a hardship fund. One has been started up by a group of business people in Guernsey. You can find out more at http://www.appeal.gg/appeal.aspx?appealid=42
I’m posting from Guernsey and it was good to hear your Senator Shenton call in the States today for a show of solidarity for the people and government of Sark. In situations like this we have to put the silly inter island rivalries to one side and stand together as Channel Islanders.
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All I can say is thank god Sark hasn’t allowed itself to be ruled by these arrogant brothers. It just shows that democracy cannot be bought. I wish the people of Sark good luck, and stand proud like they have.
Incidentally as asked before – there is a fund set-up to help the Sark people affected by this – it is set-up by the Vue Des Isles website forum
www,vuedesisle.com
Matt.
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Sark have the barclay brothers jersey has finance..
people had better wake up fast on this island.
yes we need finance but it is now a jersey cancer.
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I think a lot of people in the other Channel Islands would donate if a fund was set up.
I have spoken to a few UK resident friends and they view it as the bullying of a small and vulnerable island population.
Collections in Jersey and Guernsey would easily raise thousands for the people of Sark.
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An absolute disgrace !!!
How can 2 men put the lively hood of such a large percentage of a community at risk?
Eric, Post No 8, you are correct. Everyone should stop buying anything they own, not for a month but for ever. They are thye ones who need a lesson.
Come on everyone who live in The Channel Islands, help these poor people. In times like this we stick together.. Lets all dig dep in our pockets and give help when its most needed.
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Give us a break Rico, this bears no relation to the finance industry in Jersey.
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Rico how can finance be a Jersey cancer when it supplies so many jobs? You obviously dont work in this industry otherwise you would not come out with such a narrow minded statement. Sark relies on the Barclay brothers and thats that, so as the saying goes “dont bite the hand that feeds you”.
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Thank goodness that the ‘Sarkees’ have said a catagoric no to the ‘Barclay Brothers’. It is about time somebody stood up to them!
Typically though in a very childish manor, because they are not used to anybody saying no to them because of their wealth, they have decided to take their bat and ball (which is more than likely made of Gold) and try to bully the people so that they get their own way! How selfish! Go and buy another island somewhere else! And take your money with you and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine!
The moon sounds good!!
See if you can buy that, and leave people alone!
If this is what having money makes you like, thank goodness I have nothing, apart from a ‘Heart’
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I dont understand the problem; the barclay Brothers put their money into Sark they are perfectly at liberty to pull it out. the Sark voters were at liberty to vote as they wanted, they chose to effectivily vote the brothers out, I cant really see the problem.
If people in jersey want to start a hardship fund then do so for those people at Woolworths who will be thrown out of low paid jobs and face a bleak christmas and new year, or is this not a romantic enough cause to put your money into?
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When you get people making an immediate association with Jersey’s finance industry on a story like this you realise how silly these so called reform people are.
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Thank god for the sense of the Sarkees. It is hard now but as time goes on they will see that it was the only right thing to do. Then as one sees in Jersey too much big in the wrough hands just messes up the Island and the way of live for the real Islanders.
People of Sank–I just say do not be bullied around by two newcomers with too much money!!
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So, the Barkley brothers have spat the dummy (again). How dare they bully the residents of Sark and demand change to suit themselves. If they wish to own business’s and property in Sark then they should abide by the Govenment and laws of Sark, no matter how old. Sark has a beauty and charm all of its own and when money starts to dictate and over-rule the people, their culture and beliefs then the time has come to stand against this. I may live in Australia but I am a born and bred Channel Islander and this is a wake up call to all Channel Isanders alike. It doesn’t matter which Island you were born on we will stick together and give Sark every support possible.
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Money is power as the say……
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The people of Sark aren’t exactly poor. They have made millions from their little Sark Lark nominee directorships over the years. People should look at this a little more closely not forgetting their tax system which has always been a joke.
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Pru
Whilst I have every respect for your point of view it is a little ironic that you are supporting the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of Sark from a country thousands of miles away which has done anything but! I take it you are actively campaigning for the rights of Australian Aboriginal inhabitants against wicked invaders from overseas. It might even be the case that you have refused to purchase land in Australia from those who stole it from the original inhabitants. If so I salute you; it must be a difficult balancing act to talk of the rights of born and bred Channel Islanders whilst paying tax to a country that has trampled for generations on the rights of native Australians. Last time I looked all the brothers had done was close down their own business interests a little less than immigrant Australians have done to the Aborigines.
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Good point Sara.
If people don’t like finance tough.
It’s here to stay.
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With comment to the “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” quote -re. 21.
- What if the hand that feeds you has hidden agendas like:
wanting too much control – Sark.
Or becomes too overpowering – Jersey.
We should not be too reliant on one thing, reaching the stage where it calls the shots.
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Is Sark still for sale?
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Unbelievable. Well done to the people of Sark for standing their ground. Some rich people have far too much power on this earth and when that power is solely due to money and not in any way earned by intelligence, integrity or honesty then every move to bring such people down a peg or two should be welcomed. Money alone should never give you that much power over other people.
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JTM, I’m not sure it’s as straightforward as people not liking Finance. The problem is that we have clearly seen that the majority of people high up in Finance are incompetent (getting their position through brown-nosing rather than on merit) yet they were being paid ridiculously high salaries. People in other jobs would have been fired for the same level of incompetence yet these people (who it is worth remembering are really just lowly servants with the task of looking after other people’s money) got huge bonuses.
If anyone thinks they can justify this then might I suggest that the men in white coats will be coming for them.
Finance needs a huge reality check. It needs to get its feet firmly on the ground, realise that nobody needs (or deserves) the kind of salaries or bonuses it was giving out and that it is just a servant to its clients. Instead it has behaved like an assistant in a designer shop who turns her nose up at a client that doesn’t ‘look the part’ failing to realise that said client ultimately pays her wages!
It probably wouldn’t do any harm for (high up) finance workers to realise that a lot of people consider them to lack intelligence, integrity and morals. In fact, a lot of people have as much respect and trust for finance workers as they do lawyers!
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why don,t they ask them to vote again like they did in ireland when they voted no in the nice treaty made them vote again till they got yes and voted no for the lisbon treaty and now are talking about making them vote again till they get the right answer welcome to the EUSSR.
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Sara – that was Herm. Although, it seems the Barclay brothers thought the people of Sark could be bought.
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too true bella too true…
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Leah.
do I smell the green eyed goddess ?
You have made sweeping statements with absolutely no evidence to back it up
“majority of people high up in finance”
“brown nosing”
“A lot of people consider they lack intelligence”
“lawyers are untrustworthy “(dont know where that one came from )
Are the lowly in finance OK by your standards ?
who and where are you talking about ?
I do not work in finance, I am in the manufacturing industry (yes ! in Jersey), But without finance my standard of living would be much lower. Jersey is offering finance products that are respected world wide.
Please stop running it down with your ignorance.
The finance industry offers training and well paid, interesting jobs to our school leavers jobs that reward hard work.
We live in a democratic island where hard work is appreciated and rewarded, not some upstairs downstairs neo reality that you are talking about
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How can we not see finace and all the attendent baggage to service it as problematic. People talk of finance giving jobs – to whom? To all those who flock over here to work and what about local people? The finance industry has drawn our young into it at the detriment of our other industries (few that they now are) and certainly to the detriment of innovation and diversification in the Island. We are at risk. Our politicans talk of billions in the banks failing to acknoweledge that these are just blips on a screen. That can disappear as easily as the B Bros pulling out of Sark. We have sold out our heritage, our land and integrity. Good on the Sarkees for drawing a line in the sand. Its time someone in the Islands said NO enough to those who would use our Islands for their own money making profit and those who would come here to scavange at their tables while telling us its progress and we should be grateful. Boris talks of the right of indigenous people in Australia well let him chew on this. Apparently we are down to 5,000 in a population of 90,000+ indigenous Jersey people. What I’m talking about here is those who have it stamped in their pasports that they are not members of the EU and have no rights there. Those who have Jersey parents and grandparents reaching back in time. Those who have no special protection or rights in Jersey over and above those who have chosen to come here to live and make lots of money. Who don’t get priviledge housing or job oppotunities. Who are not even recognised as being what they are. And who certainly don’t have the same access and rights as their neighbours from the UK or Ireland or Europe. Those indigenous people who have no rights yet have to live with what the Island has become. How many times I hear people say ‘Oh if it all goes pear shape I’ll just go back to the UK.’ What percentage of the population I wonder needs to be indigenous before the European Union says enough – you are no longer a tax haven and everyone flocks back to their home countries because the benefits system is better, because there are work opportunities and cheap housing. What good then is the finance industry? Good on Sark, shame on us. Those who come to live here and benefit from our Islands tax position should surrender their rights to the EU and live as Islanders have to. Now that would be fighting for the rights of indigenous people Boris.
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Beth in case it passed you by:
(a) you can’t buy a house (J and 1k aside) until you have lived and worked here for 12 years;
(b) many many jobs can only be applied for if you have been here five years;
To my mind other than just giving Islanders a pot of cash so they can sit on their backsides doing nowt you would be hard pressed to come up with any more advantageous treatment. Come to think of it those Islanders who have bought property have in reality been given a massive pot of cash for doing nowt !
Also all Islanders have the right to go live and work and buy a house in the UK if they so choose.
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Beth
Thank you for your considered lengthy reply; I have to say that I have sat pondering your missive for some time and to be honest I am as confused as I am frightened. There is talk of privilege, opportunity, being recognised, having special protection and rights; what exactly is it that you want for the 5,000 pure bred over the other 85,000 people who live on Jersey?
Perhaps Durrell should have a special enclosure to protect the purity of the original inhabitants. If this sort of language was used in the UK there would be hell to pay. England (used deliberately) was built on waves of immigration and each one has enriched the country, I would argue that it is the same in Jersey. A lot of what I read on this site centres around the local population having a sense of being threatened by an influx of immigrants into the island (including me); but to narrow down the righteous to 5,000 excludes the thousands who have the fortune or misfortune depending on your point of view to be the product of a slightly wider gene pool.
At the very least it is divisive, what exactly do you want? Jersey has made a fortune from international finance and this is reflected in the price of your houses and the quality of your education, everyone in Jersey is financially better off due to this industry, how much do you think this island would have made on Jersey Royals and tinned cream? Not a lot!
Those 5,000 have that stamp in their passports because Jersey does not pay VAT to the EU. If Jersey had joined the European Union the 5,000 would have the right to roam all over Europe. However if you choose to go and live in the UK for 5 years you get that right of establishment (in the rest of the EU), you can even buy any property you like in less than half the time you can qualify in the mean time and whilst waiting you can buy a house in the UK and rent whatever you want.
Tell me exactly what is your heritage, land and integrity? Once you start discriminating in favour of a group you start discriminating against someone else; the flawed housing qualification system has created enough of a two tier system what would you like to add?
How far back would you like to go in history to establish who has the most rights? There are people living on this island who remember life and have relatives who died under a regime who took this just a couple of steps further; and I have seen racist graffiti still adorning the walls of St Helier.
I am rather concerned as it all sounds like a cross between Fascist Germany and Harry Potter; maybe I should wear a big ‘M’ on my suit jacket as I go to work in finance so that everyone knows I am not a pure bred but a Muggle.
Beth I am not for one moment suggesting that this is what you want, just be very careful what you wish for.
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The Sark saga, should act as a loud cautionary warning to all Channel Islanders.
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Jersey people generally, in my opinion, have a very selfish and backward way of looking at life and ‘their Island’. Foreigners are welcome but in no way should we expect the same rights to houses and self opinion as ‘beans’ until we have completed the Krypton factor of extortionate rental accomadation for 10,12,20,25 years- who knows!, prejudice from ‘Islanders’ – most of those who have commented above, a government that does not care, and small minded arrogant biggots who wouldnt last 5 minutes anywhere else in the world – most of those above.
I have a history going back hundreds of years on the Island. More so than most people. Because I have a diffrent accent and grew up in England, there are those that treat me as a complete outsider. I am more of a ‘bean’ than 99% of the Island. Its a vicious little Island at times, small-minded people are abundant, which is such a shame given the beauty of the island. Its called Rascism in the U.K, maybe Jersey should take heed and start educating its youngsters before its too late.
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Unfortunately if you are willing to take the money as wages every week and effectively stick two fingers up at the person paying those wages… then you have to expect that they won’t put up with it.
Having said that they should have stayed out of Sark! They have brought nothing of any use to the island except change for the worse and now misery and worry.
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Look why are people who work in finance so touchy you say one bad word about it and its like 28days later lol..I know we need it we have our eggs in your basket, but what would happen if the people started voting anti finance or we loose it because of outside forces.. Would jersey blow up no.would jersey survive yes.. So loosen up and remember frank has told you finance people how to vote reminds me of sark lol..
And may i wish you all a merry merry crimbo..
For the people who work in retail and woolies i hope all goes well for you..
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I’m fairly new to the island and am reaching my first year anniversary. Whilst I love the intimacy of the place, I am amazed at how “foreigners” like myself are regarded by Beans. Like has been said before, sub-standard and extrtionate accommodation are the prime money earner for Beans from those who choose to come and live here. To a degree I believe the property purchase system has a sound basis, however if permanent residency is intended – as is my case – then I see no reason why I shouldn’t be able to oay £300k for a poorly built shoe-box, if I can afford it. With regard to the racism comments mentioned earlier, then yes, it is a lot more noticeable here than anywhere in the UK. Every pub, restaurant and shop has Polish or Portugese staff, some are second generation to the island, who are on minimum wage (if that exists here?) and doing very long hours. Ultimately you are given a choice of who to vote for at election time, so you must choose the candidate who you think will act best for you, your community and your island. My opinion is that “you” should vote one of the people for the people.
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PJG, not green-eyed at all, I’m laughing at that comment, you have no idea clearly how little the average person (many of them highly intelligent beings) think of your industry and the immoral and incompetent people that work within it (not ALL of you obviously!)
You clearly don’t own a television and have not watched and investigated for yourself (remember that Directors salaries and bonuses are clearly stated in financial statements that are available to the public if they know where to find them). What has happened (multi-million pound bonuses and the method in which some people high up got their jobs) is FACT. That obviously upsets you greatly, which makes it all the more amusing.
I am actually very educated in finance but choose not to work in it, I use that knowledge for good and to hold people accountable that Maggie Thatcher tried to stop being held accountable.
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PJG, forgot to say…
It may seem completely alien to you, but there are many people on this earth, like me, who value family, friendship and experiences far above material things. I clearly just don’t have the love of money (or greed) that some people in Jersey do… it just isn’t part of my nature and I’m very glad for that as my parents did not raise me to be a selfish money-chaser. I have never envied anyone for being rich or for having more material items than me because even when I have spare money it wouldn’t cross my mind to buy these things, I would far rather take my friends and family out for an evening and have a laugh with them. I have lost many elderly relatives this past year, some rich, some poor, and what has stood out above all is how loved and treasured they were by their friends and family… it puts material things well into perspective!
Yet, so many rich people just assume that those not so well off are envious of them! In my case, and in many cases, nothing could be further from the truth and I think it’s very sad that some rich people just can’t see how little other people value money. I know many rich people. Some of them are people who just chase the money and possessions, they are mostly quite sad and lonely people. Others know they are lucky to be well off but use their money for good and strongly value their family and friends above material things. They are blessed because of who they know not what their bank statement says.
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