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If an early general election is not possible “this side” of summer 2024 Policy and Resources will not pursue one, according to the President of the Committee.
After P&R’s preferred funding and investment package – that included GST and social security reform – was defeated in the States last week, Deputy Peter Ferbrache immediately said that his Committee would be pursuing an early general election.
He told Express that he would be meeting with the President of SACC next week to better understand how fast an early general election could be triggered, with the suggestion that anything later than “this side of the summer” would be pointless.
“We need to know what is possible before we ask the States for an early general election,” he said.
The possibility of this being realised is becoming increasingly unlikely however, as a motion of no confidence is now being circled by some deputies who think P&R should simply resign.
UPDATE: Deputy Charles Parkinson and six other deputies have now lodged a motion of no confidence.
The Committee has been very clear that it won’t resign and released a statement today (24 October) after its members met to discuss the possibility of a motion of no confidence.
“The members respect the right of Deputies to bring a motion of no confidence if they choose to do so. But they have agreed they will not resign and intend to continue in their posts, working towards improving Guernsey’s financial position, taking forward the resolutions of last week’s Funding & Investment Plan debate.”
Pictured: The resolutions that fell out of last week's debate.
The Committee is also trying to turn down the heat with Deputy Ferbrache throwing cold water on inflammatory public debate.
“While talk of resignations and motions of no confidence leads to exciting headlines, it’s important to keep some perspective,” he said.
“Guernsey remains an extremely safe, stable jurisdiction when compared to anywhere in the world. Day-to-day public services continue as ever, provided by our hardworking teams across the public sector.”
Pictured: All five members of P&R have discussed the possibility of a motion of no confidence being lodged against the Committee.
The Committee is arguing that the resolutions that fell out of the recent debate need to be expedited by P&R and any movement in membership would cause a delay.
Speaking to Express, Deputy Ferbrache said if P&R were to quit it would make no difference to the problems facing this particular tranche of deputies.
“The difficulty is – and I’m not blaming A or B, Gavin, me or anybody else – that we’ve got a States that is divided on any key issue, and I don’t see, however long this States sits, that this is going to change much,” he said.
“I don’t think [P&R quitting] would fix anything - let's say Deputy Ferbrache steps down and is replaced by Bill Bloggs... or Deputy Trott – it's just a different bum on the same seat.”
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