Jersey says it’s a country this morning. There’s just one problem for them. It isn’t.

Posted on

Jersey has published a statement on External Relations this morning. Whilst its near neighbour Guernsey begins to realise just how fragile its economy (like Jersey's) is Jersey does instead decide its time to play fantasy politics.

And this document really does come from the realms of fantasy. For those old enough to recall the era, much of what Jersey claims would have seemed familiar to those used to the claims of the late Idi Amin of Uganda. Let's start with some of the corkers, like this:

Let's ignore 'Jersey: it's part in the submission of England' for a minute and lets turn instead to 1204. Who 'elected', might I ask? And what was the mandate? And could we have the election result? Even more important, can we have any evidence for this claim? (For those not familiar: there is not a shred of evidence that any of this is true. Jersey claims there is a 1204 Treaty of King John, its only problem being no one has a copy and no one has any evidence it ever existed). And as for the Seal - hasn't every market town got one of those too?

But let's move on to the next whopper:

Hang on! Jersey's a country? A quick check of the Oxford on line dictionary suggests a country is:

a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory

Now I don't dispute Jersey is an identifiable territory. Unlike Sandy Island it does exist. But the claim that it has its own governemnt is a joke.

Jersey has a Bailiff appointed by the Crown (which is, of course, the UK government). And its attorney and solicitor generals are UK appointments - making clear where its judicial system is really located. Its supreme court is the Privy Council. It cannot pass any law without the permission of the UK, which is withheld when it so chooses. That's not a self governing place.

More than that though, Jersey is not democratic, It does not hold general elections. There is no party system, which is a sign of a democracy. There can be no change of government as a result of an election. Terms are not consistent between States members. This is no democracy as anyone would know it.

So is Jersey a self governing democratic country? No way!

Which makes all it says about its foreign policy a complete joke. As anyone from a real country reading these claims will realise.


Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:

You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.

And if you would like to support this blog you can, here: