Wednesday, 1 June 2011

The Havre des Pas Monte Carlo Rally - speeding deterrant at last

Several months ago BBC Radio Jersey’s Talkback programme had as their theme of the day the issue of speed limits across the island. I rang in to the programme to speak on air about the situation at Havre des Pas and in particular the way drivers tend to speed down Mount Bingham, especially at night. Living as I do on the front at Havre des Pas,  I was not aware there had been any speed enforcement in the area.

Behold, this afternoon a Police officer was situated on the road opposite the swimming pool armed with a speed gun. He caught several vehicles speeding, amongst them two BMWs and a Mercedes. The officer duly took the details of the offending drivers, who one imagines will be summonsed in the Magistrates Court.

As the weather improves, more children will be using the pool and elderly taking to the promenade. Consequently, I am pleased to see that the issue of speeding is being taken seriously. The knowledge that there have been Police at the bottom of Mount Bingham and along Havre des Pas may act as a deterrent to speeding drivers in the future.

4 comments:

  1. Hope that you are supporting the old cars racing up and down Mount Bingham and other places this coming week!
    Personally I think it's great that St Helier can play host to this display of old vehicles with a bit of controlled racing. There are very few places left in Britain where such an event could take place. That it can be put on right in the heart of our town is brilliant. Congrats all round, may it be a great success and not cause any bother.

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  2. We have had 3 "illegal immigrants" pop up in Jersey in a year and the call is for the public to expose any suspects to the authorities!!!

    Oh come off it - the Silvertide police have gone home and taken their racist policies with them. Or have they? Should we be opening all containers of M & S/Waitrose food looking for hidden stowaways?

    Who precisely fed this latest scare to the media? Who wants to stimulate "anti-immigrant" feelings in Jersey and shall the Home Affairs Minister have any words to offer? What do you say Nick?

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  3. We certainly do not wish to raise the specter of racism. It is divisive and pernicious. It is easy at a time of social and economic difficulty to seek simple explanations and causes. There will be populist politicians abusing immigrant communities for political advantage.

    I frequently hear arguments that Poles and other immigrants are undercutting wages and rates by being in the island, especially in the building trade. I try to take those making such statements to a discussion of the labour market. No one quite grasps that it suits business to have cheap labour.

    Here is what I put in my 2010 Senatorial election Manifesto on this issue. It is based on an analysis of the UK labour market, but it applies equally to the island, as we are part of that larger structure.

    "Immigration, migrant labour and a casualised labour market

    The existing working class population perceives that it has lost out to migrants; but there is a more complex picture. Government has used immigrants to bring about a diminution of resources for the working class and at the same time transformed the labour market so it can be so called “flexible”.

    There has been a demand for short term non binding sub contracted workforces which can be hired and fired at will and are constantly threatened by replacement of cheaper labour from elsewhere. This has resulted in the casualisation of the labour market and is the reason for the increase in immigration we have seen over the last decade.

    What is required is reform of the deregulated labour market into which migrant workers are recruited. Strengthening rights of all workers, bringing real change in such issues as health and safety, working hours, trade union rights and a living wage, has advantages to both migrant workers and the exiting low paid workforce. Otherwise the impression will persist of a downward spiral of intense competition between these different groups, dividing people who have a shared interest in transforming the way the labour market functions for poor people."

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  4. I did notice how the JEP lead with an article from Customs and Immigration the other night saying that they need help from the public fighting illegal immigrants in Jersey!

    The first and obvious question is, why would (illegal) immigrants want to come here rather than the UK? They can get no benefits until they are here 5 years, and if they turn up at the hospital without papers, they will get found out.

    It seems that this was just an exercise in rousing the latent daily mail type hatred towards immigrants, making them scapegoats and deflecting attention away from the conscious misdirection of the money men in Government, who are ruining the island and crushing decent, honest folk with it

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