P&R President quizzed on Gatland visit as island hosts Any Questions?

Saturday 11 June 2022

The controversial visit to Guernsey of British Lions coach Warren Gatland featured on Any Questions? on Friday as the BBC Radio 4 programme was broadcast from St Peter Port.

Deputy Peter Ferbrache, who was on the panel, faced questions about the decision to set aside covid isolation rules to allow Mr Gatland to visit the island in April last year to assess prospective venues for a Lions training camp.

After the panel discussed the integrity and leadership of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the show's presenter, Chris Mason, turned to Deputy Ferbrache, the President of the Policy & Resources Committee, to ask him about "the whole question of straight dealing".

"The heart of the conversation we've just had related to the Prime Minister and his behaviour during covid. And there was the business here in Guernsey of the visit of rugby's Warren Gatland," said Mr Mason.

"He was invited here. You didn't tell anyone before he arrived. There was a suggestion that he was going to eat all of his food in a hotel room and he ate with politicians, civil servants and sports representatives, including you. You weren't straight, were you?"

Pictured: Presenter Chris Mason (inset) tweeted this view from his seat at St James before Any Questions? started.

In response, Deputy Ferbrache, pictured top left, said: "Yes we were, completely, and I take great objection to that comment. Listen to the facts. You can have your prejudices after. Let me tell you what the facts were. He [Mr Gatland, pictured top right] was given a specific exemption by the Director of Public Health. The rules were then obeyed.

"The meeting I had with him with about 10 or 12 others...social distancing took place...I sat, I think, two metres away - because that was the social distancing at the time - from the Director of Public Health, who has been an exemplar in relation to covid, as Guernsey has been an exemplar.

"We sat there. We dealt with it. We dealt with it absolutely appropriately. I know Private Eye and others have said things but then I don't think you take anything said by Private Eye as being too accurate.

"We complied. We were straight. We complied with every single rule. Everything was done appropriately. People can go 'oh, oh, oh' but I know the facts and those were the facts."

Mr Mason asked Deputy Ferbrache: "Did you tell islanders that [Mr Gatland] was coming before he came?"

In response, Deputy Ferbrache said: "I don't think I did. I don't think it was my responsibility so to do. It wasn't a government-organised attendance." 

Brilliant to catch up with so many Women in Public Life members at Any Questions last night. If you missed it, recording here: https://t.co/9Dq3BX8nG0. Don’t forget Any Answers at 2pm on Radio 4 today - @ChrisMasonBBC keen for Guernsey folk to ring in.#WomenStandGsy #bbcaq

— Women in Public Life Guernsey (@womenpubliclife) June 11, 2022

Pictured: Women in Public Life Guernsey was well represented in the audience at St James.

Another panellist, Guernseywoman Jayne Ozanne, an evangelical Anglican who campaigns for sexual orientation equality in the Church, challenged Deputy Ferbrache's version of events.

"What you told the public in the press statement was that [Mr Gatland] was going to have meals in his room and he had a dinner, as I understand it, with you," she said.

"It just seems so unfair. There are many people in this room who were not allowed to see their grandchildren being born or who weren't able to go to events in the UK or myself and others being able to come and see our loved ones."

In response, Deputy Ferbrache said: "He didn't have dinner with me at all. I didn't go to any dinner with Warren Gatland. The rules were complied with 100%. Nobody would have breached those rules. Whether you like it or not, whether your prejudices tell you otherwise, those are the facts."

Pictured: Panellist Jayne Ozanne (second from the left) tweeted this picture of presenter Chris Mason (far right) and other panellists (left to right) Lord Digby Jones, Deputy Peter Ferbrache and Polly Toynbee.

The other panellists were Lord Digby Jones, a former Trade Minister and now Chairman of the Guernsey Policy & Economics Group, and Polly Toynbee, a long-time columnist in The Guardian.

The programme was broadcast from St James. It was the first time since 1982 that it had been in Guernsey but the eighth time since it started in the late 1940s. It went live on Radio 4 at its normal slot - 20:00 on a Friday evening.

Any Questions? is always repeated on Saturday lunchtimes at 13:10 and is followed at 14:00 by Any Answers?, a phone-in which gives listeners a chance to join the debate by calling or e-mailing presenter Anita Anand.

Main image: St James as the audience arrived. Credit: Elis Bebb.   

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