Friday 23 September 2011

Soapbox in the Royal Square - Report from the campaign front

Here are two videos. One is an assessment of the campaign so far, the difficulties I face and the successes. As I note the other 7 candidates in this election in No.1 St Helier are not the enemy, they are just competitors, the real enemy is voter abstention.

We know statistically that 75% of St Helier No.1 district does not vote. These are mainly working people, whose standard of living and jobs are degrading on a daily basis and will get worse under the new government being formed by Ozouf, Le Marquand, Bailhache. The Cuts and austerity plans will bite.

The second video was recorded in the Royal Square at lunchtime today as I mounted my soapbox to discuss the implications of the Corporate Services Scrutiny sub Panel Report on Lime Grove House. It should be debated on the Senatorial Hustings as it is an indictment of the reckless amateurs that will be mis-managing  the island during an unprecedented economic crisis.

The gentleman in the background who was gesticulating behind my back whilst eating in the Cock and Bottle complemented me on the performance. He lives in St Ouen. I wonder if his Deputy and Constable candidates will be practicising their oratorical skills in a central location somewhere near the Parish Hall?

Deputy Trevor Pitman, a fellow candidate in the No.1 District election, his wife and supporters were in the square having lunch in Le Petit Greek and I challenged him to join me in a debate on any issue he chose. He declined. All looked on with a mixture of insecurity and bemusement. Clearly Mr Le Cornu is fearless and formidable. So he will be in the States.


                                                                         Indomitable



Rough seas ahead








8 comments:

  1. Thank you for some political analysis. How strange it should be so rare in an election. The senator hustings at St Clement was a total disappointment. The core social and economic issues were skated over. Most didn't even mention them. It chokes me to say this as a long time socialist. The green bloke was far the best talking about food and fuel price rises and their causes.

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  2. "Deputy Trevor Pitman, a fellow candidate in the No.1 District election, his wife and supporters were in the square having lunch in Le Petit Greek and I challenged him to join me in a debate on any issue he chose. He declined. All looked on with a mixture of insecurity and bemusement"

    Up to this point you had my vote. How dare you challenge someone in public whilst he was clearly having a private lunch with his family and friends to a verbal duel! Totally underhanded.

    YOU HAVE LOST MY VOTE

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  3. Nick.

    Sarah Ferguson talks about Lime Grove, Scrutiny and the MEDIA

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  4. "You have lost my vote"

    You seem to be very intimate with this knowledge and perhaps a litte too intimate to be wholly objective.

    One has to have a bit of fun sometimes in politics and retain a sense of humour. I suspect Trevor and I would be in agreement on most issues.

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  5. Hairdressers are skilled.

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  6. Agreed, Hairdressers are skilled. I hope to have an interview with one who has just established her own business and is trying hard to make a go of it. She has a space in a barbers shop and is trying hard. Watch this space.

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  7. There is a great deal of misconception about people who work with their hands. Very often the quiet skills are not appreciated. The Marxist historian who wrote about the shepherds in the Alps who moved their flocks around to secure grazing and safety according to the seasons realised this. Can't recall his name today but he was all the rage a decade or two ago.
    The professional classes have an inflated view of their own value and abilities. The lowly esteemed builders' labourer is, in fact a very skilled person with a great deal of practical hands on knowledge of building methods, drain-laying, levelling, setting-out, concrete mixes and suchlike. The average professional put on a building site would not last five minutes. When Mr Gorst and his friends talk about putting people into such labouring jobs as a means of reducing the SS welfare expenditure they hardly have a grasp on reality.
    Be careful not to fall into the same concrete Nick.

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