I am convinced that it will happen again

Tuesday 23rd February 2010, 3:00PM GMT.

From Graham Butcher, Constable of St John.
SOME of your readers may already be aware that I was on the scrutiny panel that did the incredibly rushed review on the importation of bovine semen.

The panel were tasked to review this in a very short space of time. This review generated an incredible amount of paperwork and an enormous amount of public interest. I have never known a Scrutiny review to have so much interest.

I asked the chairman of the panel on a number of occasions to extend the time of the review as I felt that we were being pressured by the then Chief Minister, Senator Walker, who I presume was being pressured by the RJAHS to get this debated before Senator Walker left office.

I had my doubts as to whether or not impure semen could be guaranteed not to get into the Island and voted against importation.

Despite the protestations of the RJAHS I am still convinced that it will happen again. All the herd books and other documents in the world are kept by humans and humans make mistakes, so it is very likely to occur again.

Given what has happened at such an early stage, I wonder what the result would be if another vote was taken on the subject.

At least 15 of us in the States had the good sense not to support the importation.

1
Magnolia Man

February 24, 2010 at 8:30 am

Well that’s alright then; Mr Graham Butcher has covered his own back.

Now let’s sit back and wait for a spate of similar letters to tell us that it was not the authors’ faults.

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2
Albert Salmon

February 26, 2010 at 12:49 am

Does the Connetable of St John labour under illusions that this is (a) an election year, or (b) that the populace of Jersey were all born yesterday?

The fact that he has rushed into print to assure us all that sanctioning the importation of genetically impure semen had nothing to do with him smacks of a rat jumping off a sinking ship.

If Mr Graham Butcher (an unfortunately apt name, under the circumstances) had kept his own counsel he would never have run the risk of exposing himself to obsequy.

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