A question of balance
Wednesday 19th August 2009, 3:00PM BST.
From Kevin Ward.
OH dear Chris Kisch (JEP, 15 August) thinks the UK has become a hell hole. Has it? Sounds like he has spent too much time reading the Daily Mail.
Perhaps he needs to get out a bit more. I don’t just mean out of Milton Keynes, I mean outside of the Home Counties. For sure, the UK has its issues, but a hell hole? Please!
Of course, it’s not the only set of countries that faces problems managing the night-time economy and the safety of citizens. Successive governments around the world have gone about trying to address this thorny issue. In some cases they have been successful, in others less so.
What is clear is that a range of policies have been introduced to try and improve the quality of life of those that live in the UK. Some of the initiatives have been thought up in the UK, others have been introduced on the basis of lessons learnt from elsewhere in the world.
Comparison is part of human nature. We all do it: comparing cars, comparing houses, comparing schools, comparing universities and so on.
Governments are no different, I would argue. The UK government has looked to elsewhere in Europe and to the US in trying to combat anti-social behaviour. And Jersey’s ruling elite are no different. They, too, have looked elsewhere to see what appears to be working, not to copy, but to learn. This means looking to the UK, but it probably means to other countries as well.
What the statement by acting Chief Officer of the States Police, David Warcup, appeared to reveal was a tangible example of how governments around the world learn from one another.
No point in reinventing the wheel, is there? What a waste of money that would be. So, the State Police are attempting to police the Island through looking to learn from the experiences of other countries. We would probably complain if this wasn’t the case.
This comparing and learning does not make it any more likely that Jersey will become more like the UK. Jersey remains truly unique.
I have been coming to Jersey for a month or so a year now for a decade. I have seen the Island change, but it continues to be different to anywhere else and this difference should continue to be celebrated.
However, this is not the same as saying that Jersey’s policy makers should act as if they live in splendid isolation.
There is a balance to be struck between acknowledging the Island’s unique history, that, of course, often connects it to the histories of France and to the UK, and acknowledging how some of the issues it may face in the future are similar to those faced by governments elsewhere in the world.
Getting the balance right remains one of the most important challenges facing Jersey’s politicians and policy makers as we approach the second decade of the 21st century.
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“I have seen the island change”
No comment about for the better or worse, though I know it is for the worse.
The UK has got a lot worse at the same time. You only have to speak to the locals who will fill you in on what is wrong with the UK if you have a day or two to listen that is.
I believe that as all countries are different that this means different methods have to be honed to combat crime in any given place. Copying other jurisdictions is not a recipe for success in my book. As Mr.Warcup is from the UK he will do his policing through UK eyes and from a UK mind set. How can it be any different, as this is what he is a product of isn’t he?
Indeed Jersey politicians need to start listening to the publics’ concerns and acting on them and not ignoring them thinking they themselves know whats best for the majority.
Hopefully at the next elections some of those who ignore the public or who go back on their election pledges will be thrown out. If not I expect things to get a lot worse for the average Joe over here. I just hope some of the 70% who are too disillusioned to vote will vote for change at the ballot box this time. It wouldn’t take too many of these types to effect big change.
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Thank you Mr Ward for pointing out that the entire UK is not a hell hole-maybe some pockets of it are but I get so angry when people make such sweeping statements as Mr Kisch does in his earlier letter.I left Jersey three years ago having been born and lived all my life there and I am now happy in a beautiful corner of the UK where life is peaceful and enjoyable.I have a job which I enjoy greatly,fresh open green space all around and the only noise that disturbs me at night is our resident owl.The people are friendly and community spirit is amazing.
The UK is a huge place (compared to little Jersey) and there are parts I would avoid for sure but since moving to the mainland I have started to appreciate what we have on our doorstep and it’s not all hooligans and crime ridden streets as some would like us to believe.
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you need to check out Guernsey’s housing minister the other day. third world and a laughing stock he called it. with crown dependencies like these who needs the turks and caicos?
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I personally certainly do not condone attacking the UK at all, as they are suffering on a larger scale exactly the same pressures we are on the individual Channel Islands.
The only difference is that being a much larger Island, they are dealing with far more subversive and ill informed pressure groups, both political and social, all beavering away to achieve their individual aims, not all of which have the best interests of the British people as their goal!
They also,like we do,have larger friendly countries who,if allowed, would love us to death as that “Cute little place with all that History” (Not just the USA) whilst at the same time inspiring us to build on a scale that wipes out the charm of what is already there.
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My last home was in the UK and it had 100% employment, unpolluted air, no crime to speak of… it is only parts of the UK that are bad.
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I was brought up in Jersey and left the Island on retirement in 2001. I have just returned from a week’s holiday in Jersey….my first visit in eight years. Notwithstanding all the negative comments I read on this site, I feel that inspite of the many useless politicians in the States, the Island seems to be doing rather well.
Jersey looks good and there were few visible signs that the economy was suffering. All of the restaurants in St. Aubin where I stayed, were full and it was hard to get a parking space in the village. The streets were clean and tidy and the grass verges in the countryside were mostly well trimmed. Many public buldings had lovely floral displays. You’d be hard pressed to find many places in the U.K. that look so good – there were few signs that the island was suffering too much. Lets stop all the whinging….. the glass is half full not half empty folks; count your blessings.
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Here we go again… the age old myth that things are getting worse and worse when evidence points to the contrary. Taking the basic measure that we are all living longer proves the underlying improvement to our lives. Generally everything life has to offer is improving and the further you go back in time the more miserable it was for us commoners, e.g. seeing a decomposing baby on the pavement wasn’t out of place even 150 years ago.
It is the likes of the Daily Mail and the fact communication is far easier (yes, another improvement) that the minority of bad news spreads quicker than the good news. Just have to face up to the fact that humanity can be rather pessimistic – a primeval survival technique I believe – and were so much more interested in the bad stuff that it distorts the reality of the facts.
For the majority of people the old days were not better, you’re being betrayed by your selective memory if you think they were.
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How can we possibly get this right when epople can swan in here with criminal records, some wanted by the authorities in their own countries, this open all hours policy is flawed ,we need to know who is here where they are from,what they are up to ,and refuse entry if they don’t pass muster.there are dangerous tooled up drug dealing eastern block and British desperado’s wandering freely here because of this slack approach to boundaries.
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I suppose Mr Ward lives in the green plush Chilterns.
I am only asking for policing on the St Helier streets at night. Not a lot to ask is it? Not reinventing the wheel. I am certainly not creating excuses, like some….
Oh by the way, I read the Telegraph, have travelled extensively and worked overseas.
Don’t avoid the issue and allow the policing issues to be “swept under the carpet”.
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I suppose Mr Ward is embarrassed by the statement and personal observations re St Helier at night.
I see no difference between St Helier, Leeds, Nottingham, London, Southampton or any large town.
Others that have commented, I notice, don’t say where they live in the UK- obviously able to afford to live in quiet leafy villages.
Do these people selectively read the JEP?
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Ah the comparison game,
Its is a wheel, there are always people I can feel superior to and those who are better off than me.
The comparison game is just a way of not looking at ourselves, I know what is good and bad better and worse, using others to distort the benchmarks is not helpful.
We need to look at ourselves and work with what we have here not look outside to deflect form looking inward.
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#7 Joker.
Nothing wrong with being an optimist, I suppose, but I’d love to see the evidence to which you refer (other than the dubious privilege of living longer and not seeing too many decomposing babies on the pavement)that everything that life has to offer is improving.
I won’t argue that a lot of things have improved since those days but I guess we are well past the peak of the cycle.
Off hand, apart from the emergence of broadband internet and the replacement of Bush by Obama, I can’t think of anything that I would class as an improvement.
In almost every other way things are getting steadily worse for most of us.
As for the Daily Mail, I have too agree with you!
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