IT must be something to do with age, but it’s the little things in life that are beginning to annoy me now.

Yes, I still get upset about the big things as well. Politicians who still think they can cut public spending without damaging public services . . . The business leaders who think that just because they run a business they know how a public sector should be run . . . The people who pay lip service to the importance of the tourism industry, and then do nothing about it . . . An apparent enthusiasm for developing the Island’s international personality and then kowtowing to Westminster (or even Whitehall) . . . Those who talk about the need to diversify the Island’s economy, and do nothing about it . . .

Yes, there are quite a few big issues which I feel strongly about.

But just recently I have noticed that there are also lots of little, niggly things that have contributed to the raising of my blood pressure.

For example, it would now appear that concern for the environment is all about gimmicks.

Instead of making long-lasting changes to lifestyle and the way that we operate our businesses, all we have to do is turn off the lights at Elizabeth Castle for an hour and we can help to save the planet.
This gimmick is designed to show how concerned we are about global warming and send out a clear message that we want action.

I don’t know exactly who is going to get this message, but I presume that seeing (or not seeing) Elizabeth Castle in total darkness is supposed to make us feel good and help us think that at least we’re do-ing our bit.

Unfortunately, it’s not only pointless but dangerous. It’s pointless because unless it’s a permanent switch-off, it won’t save a lot of energy. It’s dangerous because it will undoubtedly give some of the phone-in moaners the idea that it should be permanent.

So why not get rid of the lights altogether?

Sometimes St Helier does in fact resemble a cemetery with lights, so we might just as well switch off all of the lights not needed for people to see where they are going. But hang on, quite a few of those people don’t need to be out after dark in any case, so perhaps we could save some real energy and impose a curfew and a blackout. Now that would really make a difference.

However, until someone is brave enough to do that, we must simply try to grapple with the very real problems of using energy sensibly and accept that a gesture is simply that.

Then there is States question time and the ability of some backbenchers to get right up my nose.
Asking a question in the House should be an effective way to raise awareness about a particular issue.
It is not about asking questions just for the sake of asking questions, even though some States Members treat the House just as they do directory inquiries.

A certain Member recently asked in the House whether Jersey imported electricity from Guernsey. No, came the simple reply, thus bringing an end to a particularly enlightening session of questions. Why hadn’t that Member picked up the phone and asked the JEC? He’s a States Member, after all, and they wouldn’t have been likely to ignore him. So why waste the time of the House in the hope that the answer would be something different so that he could then raise a genuine concern?

But then the arrogance of some States Members also annoys me.

Yes, we all know that they have been elected by the people, or, in the case of some, not elected by the people.

But that doesn’t give them the right to throw their weight around as some over-zealous politicians do . . . or even ignore laws that they don’t like. A little humility can go a long way.

Really, this is all part and par-cel of what annoys me most, and that’s people who aren’t genuine. It’s not only some States Members who can be phoney. Some of our most respected organisations like to claim that they are what they are not, and then fail to live up to the hype.

HYPE was very much in evidence at the recent Enterprise Awards. All the winners richly deserved their awards, but the impression that the Island is full of thrusting entrepreneurs who are ready to innovate and take on the world is perhaps a slight exaggeration.

Take the awards themsel-ves. The organisers, as with most other local businesses, are keen to show that they adopt the latest technology, in particular the internet. So when I turned to the internet on the morning following the awards ceremony, I was impressed to find that the awards have a dedicated website. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the website was hopelessly out of date and still included a welcome from the previous Minister of Economic Development.

Needless to say, there was no mention of the previous evening’s event.

Yes, it’s no doubt time-consuming and awkward to update the information just a few hours after the ceremony, but that’s what the internet is supposed to be about. There’s not much point in crowing about the quality of local companies and the entrepreneurial spirit to be found in the Island when you can’t even get that right.

Then among the category of ‘most annoying’ must be States Members who seem unable to accept previous decisions of the House.

We have just had another long debate about the energy-from-waste plant that might even put an end to the matter (fingers crossed).

But now we have another States Member who wants to debate exempting food and fuel from GST, yet again.

The Deputy says that this will keep on coming back to the States because several Members are opposed to taxing ‘life’s essentials’. Presu-mably they don’t think that clothing, books, furniture or housing as essential.

However, the Deputy feels that she has got a good case because on the previous occasion when her proposition was exhaustively debated, the House was split 50/50. Obviously if her proposition just scrapes through this time, she will be prepared to see it debated again and overturned at a future date.