JERSEY: Stop Making Political Capital Out Of Suffering

Letter in Jersey Evening Post, 20 March 2008
from Richard Brocken, Craig Tara, Grande Route de la Cote, St Clement.

[ NOTE: The origins of the Jersey witch-hunt lie partly in bitter in-fighting among the 53 elected members of the Jersey legislature. Senator Stuart Syvret has frequently been at odds with most of his colleagues and the following letter reflects this conflict. ]

Senator Syvret was for eight years in charge of and controlled Jersey's health and social services facilities. Part of his responsibility was the welfare of vulnerable children and the facilities they were housed in, which he now blatantly uses as a political tool.

By his own admission, in his eight-year tenure he never visited any of the children's facilities or questioned the professionals who were running them, his reasoning for not doing so being that he did not want to get too close to the staff.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense, hearing this excuse, should recognise this statement as the action of a man trying to deflect attention from his own performance while in charge.

Senator Syvret, in acts of vengeful self-gratification, is using the national media to attack Jersey's government and its Chief Minster. He suggests that they covered up what happened at Haut de la Garenne decades ago. In his rants, he failed to mention that Haut de la Garenne closed in 1986 and Senator Walker didn't enter politics until 1993.

Meanwhile, an ex-Scotland Yard detective, interviewed on Sky News, has disclosed that he sent Senator Syvret a letter in 2002 identifying himself as a former leading detective in Scotland Yard's Paedophile Investigation Unit. He expressed fears that there were paedophiles active in the Island and offered to help expose them. Senator Syvret never responded to the detective's letter and after several months, being alarmed at the lack of or courtesy of a response, the detective wrote to Senator Syvret again. This time Senator Syvret did respond and his letter ended non-commitally. And this from a man carrying responsibility for vulnerable children's welfare.

The covert police investigation into Haut de la Garenne apparently began in November 2006. Senator Syvret, in June 2007 in my opinion, became aware of the investigation. He then went public, asking for witnesses. Why did he do so then, when he had been in charge for eight years?

Senator Syvret is a Jerseyman seemingly hell-bent on destroying his birthplace, otherwise why else would he visit a notoriously anti-Jersey MP (Austin Mitchell) and have him request that the English government remove the heads of our judiciary and replace them with English judges?

Your readers may also remember the revelation last year that Senator Syvret had made approaches to the Tax Justice Network, an organisation in constant conflict with Jersey's government.

In a recent blog by Senator Syvret, he described an incident at a States sitting where he was prevented from punching Deputy Troy because of the location of his seat, but then he declares that with hindsight he should have head-butted him, and this because Deputy Troy disagreed with his behaviour. This is a man being paid £43,000 a year from taxpayers' money. He has progressed from the literary bully to a physical one. Any States Member wishing to disagree with him in the future could be in fear of a physical attack.

This man is a danger to his fellow politicians, a danger to the public and a danger to the Jersey way of life which he quite obviously seeks to destroy.

In comparison, we have Senator Frank Walker, who has driven the Island to its present prosperity - low unemployment, fantastic economic growth and acceptance worldwide as an honest place to do business, yet he is being castigated by left-wing elements and a minority of people who will never be satisfied with any member of government. These people are being encouraged by a disaffected and bitter individual.

The existing Jersey police force, including indigenous policemen, will bring to justice any individual who has perpetrated crimes against the children of Haut de la Garenne, and they should be left alone while carrying out their investigations.

They do not need a politician attempting to make political capital out of the suffering of the child victims.

Then, the accused, if found guilty, will be dealt with by our local judiciary, despite Senator Syvret's interference.