WITH a news agenda that rolls on day after day, you can easily become numb to it all: spending cuts here, tax rises there, new building allowed here, old problems with ferries there. But sometimes such a serious issue rises to the surface that you almost have to pinch yourself to make sure it is real.

One was a couple of years ago, when the boy Perchard from St Martin proposed moving the clocks forward so we’d all be watching the News at Ten at 11. I must admit, from the security of my Shed, I hadn’t paid much attention to the build up before the debate and then, all of a sudden, those in the Big House were debating something so fundamental that it felt that one of life’s certainties – the time on my wrist – was up for grabs. And it wasn’t just anyone fiddling with the clock, it was politicians, and not just any politicians – it was them lot.

I got the same feeling last week when I read about lots of academics and lawyers, led by our own Milibands, the Bailhaches, discussing independence for Jersey.

Now while I am quite happy to acknowledge that my world stops at the front gate, I also recognise that, as a proud crapaud, my relationship with Herself – she in the palace – is as important as my relationship with Herself, currently making jam next door, because being a Jerseyman means more than just coming from here, it is about shared values, a common history, and having a sense of where you fit in on this spinning globe.

• Read the full column in Monday’s Jersey Evening Post