Jersey will ‘steadfastly protect’ its sovereignty
Wednesday 23rd November 2011, 2:58PM GMT.
Senator Ozouf speaking at the conference yesterday
JERSEY will take a hard line on the protection of its sovereignty in its dealings with the UK government in future, says Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf.
Speaking at a major conference at the Hotel de France yesterday, the Treasury Minister said that ‘steadfast protection’ of Jersey’s sovereignty had to be at the centre of the Island’s long-term relationship with the UK.
And Senator Ozouf said that Jersey would not allow the coalition government to treat the Island as if it was part of the UK.
He made the remarks when he spoke at the Jersey International Business School’s annual leadership forum.
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A bit late to catch the train again.
Should go to Play.com with the same speech tomorrow…
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Took the words right out of my mouth Kermit. Well said.
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As long as this doesn’t mean that the place can continue to be run by a controlling self interest group who can dismiss the opposition through media management and even lock them up having disallowed their public interest defence.
Who watches the watchmen ?
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Its time the british goverment were put in its place.Jersey must stand up against them regarding the proposed vat on goods sent from jersey to uk.Ilive in the uk but shop at play.com for alot of things,mostly because its cheaper,but the other reason is music shops no longer exist in alot of places.ishop at hmv in jersey when on my holidays.This year i bought 2 cds for £10,did not play them till i got back home.Ihad a disc missing so took it back to the hmv store in belfast.yes i got the cd replaced and they gave me a reciept for £13.this was the cost of the cd here the same cd priced at £7.99.both shops had 2 for £10 offers.This is why i buy from play.com.vat added should have been £1.60.so where did the rest of the £13 go.Jersey is not part of the uk.Its got its own goverment.Its time to stand up to the uk goverment and say no to vat.Otherwise what will the british goverment have in mind next for Jersey.
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The UK hasn’t changed any of Jerseys laws. They are changing their own laws. They are totally entitled to do so. Jersey has no right to tell them they can’t dictate their own tax laws just because it’s bad for Jersey.
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Perhaps Joy nmay like to reflect it’s because Play.com gets away without charging VAT that music shops no longer exist in the UK.
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Actually Kevin the facts point to download sites like iTunes killing of high street music retailers and not the fulfilment industry.
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Mr Spinmaster Mandl sorry Ozouf strikes again
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The best idea is to try and work with or get around the UK.
The idea that the island is a small but proud nation that can punch its weight on the world stage, go head to head with the UK, etc is a idea that would be best left hanging where it belongs, between a dog’s back legs!
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Spot on Pip.If you venture outside Jersey’s territorial waters (!) no one knows the place exists.Try applying for jobs and when your asked on the international websites to identify your country, try and spot JERSEY.!
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This comes from a Treasury Minister who rolls over to the UK Government when they want to remove the VAT tax…….this guy is so two faced its unbelievable
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So we’ll soon be incorporated into the UK then.
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Better be nice to the UK government Mr O, they could soon be paying your salary if the current incompetance over spending continues.
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That’s quite a bold statement and surely something the chief minister should be responsible for.
How would this hard line be enforced?
What could we do to oppose a directive from the UK?
The only possible option I can conceive of is independence.
Is Ozo’s plan to just ignore Gorst and carry on as usual.
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I disagree with Mr Ozouf.
I feel our island is far too small to manage as an independent country, I always favour closer ties with the rest of the UK which I hope Jersey may eventually get integrated into the UK proper some point in the future.
Jersey already functions as part of the UK but in name & unofficially, I have lost count of the times I have heard of Jersey being described as part of the UK and lots of people coming over from the mainland seem to think it is.
Trying to explain the complicated situation of being a crown dependency to the UK can be confusing to a foreigner so it is a lot easier to simply say Jersey is in the UK.
If we do become a nation within the UK, then we may see our prices and costs come down on a similar level as other UK nations however slightly bit higher because of transportation cost and could get rid of the GST!
Also there’s the free healthcare if you have an accident in Wales or Northern Ireland.
If we are given a referendum to join or be independent then I will definitely be voting for Jersey to join the union.
Proud to be both British and a Jerseyman!
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How can you claim to be a proud Jerseyman when you would be willing to give up our independence and join the UK. I’m all up for British Citizenship and a shared head of State but if we joined the Union it would never become a nation within it, we’d simply be annexed into a County such as with the Isle if Wight and Hampshire previously or re-constituted as a ceremonial county of England.
If there were ever a referendum I would wish for us to vote to stay as we are or to become and independent nation within the Commonwealth. Maybe even as a British Overseas territory. Never as a member of the Union.
Because I am a proud Jerseyman.
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Get rid of GST – GST is 5% in Jersey – VAT is 20% in the UK – not really an improvement!
Costs would not go down if Jersey was part of the UK, apart from houses of course, which would plumet (no finance industry) but then there would be even fewer jobs than currently.
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At the moment, though, we often pay the UK price on goods, without the VAT taken off but with GST added. Worst of both worlds.
Taxes are higher in the UK but visiting a doctor is free and there are loans for university fees.
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I don’t support Jersey when it abuses it’s sovereignty.
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We just want our cake and eat it!
One minute, we are pitching our flag of independence into the sand. The next minute, we are going cap in hand…..please Mr Cameron, give us back our reciprocal health agreement, please, pretty please
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We are all very excited,just think Jersey
being a world leader Merkel look out
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Lots of loyal “Jersey” people placing comments on this thread.
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What sovereignty? Last time I looked, the United Kingdom was a sovereign nation, and the Bailiwick of Jersey just a Crown Dependency. If we go down the “Wot yer gonna do about that, then?” route, Mummy has both the right and the might to spank our backsides. Circumspect diplomacy from our Ministers would be a lot smarter than provocative posturing.
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Did you not know about King Ozouf the first?
I really believe this man has caught the Syvret virus and believes his own spin and importance.
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Spot on David. A lot of tosh from members who should know better. Jersey is just a small island in the English Channel. So speaks a loyal Norman islander.
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Finally, Mr Ozouf is talking sense. After Jersey’s 800 years of loyalty to the crown, it is a disgrace how Jersey folk are treated.
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# 10 ‘I have lost count of the times I have heard of Jersey being described as part of the UK and lots of people coming over from the mainland seem to think it is’
All the Polish workers KNOW it is!
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The big O will be on the phone to Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy directly to explain the situation. Then he will be ringing Obama to put him in the picture as well.
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We could join the Euro as well perhaps – because that has worked so well.
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No the big O will put them in their place so there’s no need.
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Surely the teminology is wrong here. Jersey should certainly defend its autonomy but it doesn’t have, and never has had, sovereignty. It is a dependency not a sovereign nation.
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Perhaps we should turn to France. Do they treat Monaco as badly as the uk treat the Channel Islands? I’ll bet they don’t.
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Monaco is a principality with its own monarchy. Jersey is not.
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Penny this is complex. The day there is no male heir Monaco will revert to France. Look at house prices, in Monaco, then!
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Knowing France they would probably just assimilate Jersey. All their overseas territories are treated as part of France whereas Britain has always given its territories an ability to run their own affairs.
While Jersey is not a British colony, the fact remains that France does not like its dependancies being independant – in other words, letting France in may screw us up badly.
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‘Passport to Pimlico’ springs to mind..
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Maybe the U.K goverment should let you drown in your believed self importance,Jersey is a tiny Island of unimportance only used for not to put it too bluntly,mainly wrong doing by big corparations,not that the average Jersey person is responsible for this i have met lots and lots of Jersey people who are very decent people,its just that your rubbish electorate are idiots,mainly some where down the line but never seen backed by a bussiness intrest,silent partner
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Who suddenly made Ozouf the mouthpiece of the Island all of a sudden or has he automatically assumed the reigns of Chief Minister in all but name?
Gorst needs to stamp this out before Ozouf starts upsetting too many applecarts.
How exactly are we going to fight the ‘good fight’ we are totally dependant on the outside world for everything including the finance industry and we are not unique. Plenty of other offshore finance centres waiting to accept Jersey’s.
Once again if we are independant fine. Let us be independant and no mroe talk of EU rules and regulation re immigration etc.
Ozouf is all spin and waffle. There is nothing we can do if an outside agency changes the rules to the detriment of Jersey.
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Ozouf is all spin and waffle.
More to the point Ozouf knows it and knows we know it, but the JEP goes along with all the spin. Ask the Editor.
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“And Senator Ozouf said that Jersey would not allow the coalition government to treat the Island as if it was part of the UK.”
No but he will allow the EU to send thousands of it’s people here to work whilst we have almost as many unemployed.
If you want to take a hard line start their Mr Ouzef and help the Jersey people get back their Island for their sons and daughters.
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Could not agree more!
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Dont make me laugh, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR CURRENCY DEVALUED AGAIN early 2012 (QE3) you get the inflation UK gets the cash, politicians puke puke. THe POlitical class wont see it til we’re busted cos they would have to admit they were too dumb to see it on the first two occaisions, but when it is finally laid bare that we MUST act the complete and utter folly of doing nothing will make them unelectable for the rest of their lives.
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We need more people to come the island and pay tax so cival sevants can get bigger pay offs.
Not a proud JERSEY MAN
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He what…? ha ha ha…no stop it don’t mock..ha ha ha ha ha…….
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And the UK will steadfastly portect its interests from being abused by Jersey which hoardes UK tax exiles and until recently was absusing a tax loophole which put UK firms at a huge disadvantage when selling online goods in competition with Jersey based firms.
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Hopefully Jersey will protect its sovereignty by introducing robust immigration policies and work permits as soon as possible.
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# 28 ‘And the UK will steadfastly portect its interests from being abused by Jersey which hoardes UK tax exiles’
Here we go again (hoards v. hordes), although it looks like Nick is hedging his bets on the spelling!
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grow up c le v
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It’s astonishing, reading so many negative comments above,so depreciating this island, albeit in a comments blog on a road to nowhere.Ozouf was re elected by both left,right and centrist(coined by the JEP) members of our Assembly. Despite all odds,he now has an increased mandate to act in the interests of Jersey over its hard won sovereignty, which has been lost amongst many in the UK government and its civil servants in Whitehall.
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Ozouf thinks Sovereignty is a small gold coin. Hence his interest..
Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money Money
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Senator Ozouf was only narrowly reelected to Treasury by 26 to 24 votes. The CoM have not made their political plan for the next three years yet but Senator Ozouf is making statements on sovereignty, etc that fall outside his Treasury brief as though he controls the CoM policy.
If he wanted to control overall policy he should have ran for the CM’s job and not Treasury.
If Ian Gorst is not careful he may find himself in the same position as Terry le Sueur, playing second fiddle to Treasury despite holding the top job.
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The big O out in 3 years put that in your pipe and smoke it Victor.
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