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I will be out on the campaign trail every week until the 29th April listening to you, refining my proposals.
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My proposals are, and will, be based on research using government data, discussion with government stake holders, discussion with you the public and discussions with business leaders. My proposals will be designed using my skills as an asset manager to structure efficient ways to allocate capital, grow the economy and implemented using political strategy gained as a lobbyist.
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I have some plans of my own. I am out, speaking too as many of you as will listen so I can build on that. I know how our government and political system works and have worked with it for over 10 years.
WHY VOTE FOR ME?
GST PLUS CASE STUDY
Let me give you an case study, let’s take GST Plus.
I know it is the most important issue for many of you in this election, so I will use it as a case study for why you should vote for me.
The big question many of you ask immediately, will I vote yes or no to GST Plus?
I will say first, that I am not, in principal, against GST Plus. Guernsey does need to diversify its tax base. It does need to make changes to social security. It does need to raise tax revenue to support investment in infrastructure and growing healthcare and social costs. GST Plus can and would be a good way of doing that.
The issue that many people have with GST Plus is that the cost of living is already so high that many people are struggling to make ends meet. The plus bit, designed to help with that, whilst positive, won’t make enough of a difference. And there is no clear plan to point too for addressing that fact.
Add to that, there is significant distrust of government post the IT failures and costs issues of the last States Assembly.
As such, whilst I fully understand all the benefits of GST Plus, I will vote NO to GST Plus, unless:
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My proposal for investment in locally owned small, medium and social impact businesses is adopted.
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My proposal for an economic health check protocol is adopted to ensure that the tax can never go live unless (a) all tax payers can afford it in real terms (not theoretically) and (b) businesses can afford it and are ready for it.
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My proposal for non-critical service savings and operational savings is adopted by all Principal Committees and the CEO of the States, and savings start to be delivered, before the tax goes live.
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My proposal for operational readiness at the Revenue Service is adopted and there is a clean bill of health before the tax goes live.
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My proposal to ensure that the Chamber of Commerce’s concerns regarding small business protection is adopted, before the tax goes live.
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My proposal to help manage imported inflation from the UK by investigating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a currency de-peg from pound sterling is adopted.
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My proposal to investigate the restructure of regulation in the house building industry to make building houses cheaper and faster are adopted.
Full details of these proposals (and many more) are/will be set out in more detail here on the website. These will not all be immediately available as I seek to shape my full policy platform through discussions with the public. But all policy positions will be up and live by April 4th with finalized ones added between now and then.
Let’s Work Together
The only way I could be convinced to change my position on my proposals is by modeling from the Civil Service that demonstrates Guernsey’s economy would be in impending (within the next 12 months) severe financial distress if my proposals were enacted (i.e. Guernsey, as an Island, really has no choice). I would want that documented, reviewed by a third party accounting firm under agreed upon procedures for validation and a public statement made setting out why Guernsey is in such a dire short term financial position.
I am open to further proposals to protect the economy and individuals and also open to outright rejection of GST Plus if there is a credible alternative to raising tax revenue for infrastructure investment and balancing the budget another way.
My proposals will seek to limit implementation of GST Plus until the risks to the economy, individuals and businesses are mitigated and Guernsey as a whole is economically able to absorb it. The proposals also seek to grow the economy (adding revenue) and explore options and tools for inflation management.
If you have an alternative way to raise revenue, manage inflation, or mitigate the risks of GST Plus please let me know, I want to hear from you.
In Conclusion
I have some plans of my own. I am out, speaking too as many of you as will listen so I can build on that. I know how our government and political system works and have worked with it for over 10 years.
I can work hard. I can represent you.
But I need your vote to be your Deputy and to get everyone’s voice heard.