Encourage the Entrepreneurs to move to Jersey...

...if the UK doesn't want them.

Given the recent budget and the Labour party announcement that they are to tax earners whose income exceeds £150,000 it is surprising that Jersey has not announced a welcome to such wealth creators and entrepreneurs. They should be actively encouraging such people on the basis that they could contribute to the local economy.

Instead we already hear that they are looking to head to Monaco and to Switzerland. Jersey needs to up its game here. If the finance industry is to moderate because of international pressures it is essential that Jersey is seen to be a nice place to live for wealthy entrepreneurs and successful business and a tax climate and more should be done by our government to take advantage of the current situation rather than be seen to be running scared of a UK government which will not be in power in 14 months time.

Further, why are tax incentives not encouraged for those who want to start new businesses or industries. In a recession we all have to have new ideas. Things don't have to remain the same.

Just an idea but for starters maybe Jersey could have a couple of call centres. These would be ideal employment opportunities for locals only. It could add a new meaning to offshoring in Jersey.

Also for locals who have suffered unemployment or are trying to start businesses but struggling to obtain bank finance why not have a business expansion scheme or start up fund to lend to locally residentially qualified entrepreneurs to start their business. I know Jersey Enterprise were looking for business angels but these funds could actually come from States funds currently earmarked for construction projects.

If States members ever look at this blog perhaps they could take some of the ideas and at least attempt to act on them. There are ways forward out of the economic gloom by way of stimulus which do not necessarily involve the finance or construction industry.

Swine Flu Panic

It seems a little odd that the current outbreak of swine flu is causing such hysteria in the media. It is yet another matter that self perpetuates as the media seek yet another story be it of someone suffering from a mild form of the illness or simply by hanging around at airports to hear the hard luck stories of holidays cancelled.

Flu kills each year. Some commentators are of course saying it is too early to say as to the severity of the outbreak.

Not that I subscribe to conspiracy theories but in the press over the past 5 years we have been told to prepare for an inevitable bird flu pandemic. How strange it is that some 4 weeks after the G20 meeting on the economy a possible flu pandemic has arrived. Does it divert attention from world economic woes?

We shall all have to wait to see how this grade 4 situation pans out and of course one hopes it is no more than a flash in the pan or that even if there is a pandemic that the symptoms are less dramatic and dangerous than being touted in the media.

Equally one cannot really agree with the reported obnoxious comments of Michael O'Leary of Ryanair. Why does anyone fly with this airline? Fortunately Ryanair don't fly to Jersey either.

Blogging Gets Them Going

I don't understand why the traditional media and some politicians regard blogging as a danger to them. Is it because many bloggers tell it like it is rather than skirting around issues so as not to offend bosses and political masters. A lot of ex-journalists are politicians. Witness this article in the Scottish Sunday Post by Margo MacDonald worrying about bloggers not being professional and a danger or threat to traditional journalism. That of course is the nature of business. Things change.

Well so be it, if the press only touts what the government of the day wants it to say, then eventually people will get fed up with it. Not only that, but the press can then also seem like the government of the day. Do as we say and do. Do not think for yourself. The trouble is, and it can be seen from the article, that press and politics are becoming more intertwined - Margo MacDonald admits that by accepting that Politicians need to work with newspapers to their point of view across and newspapers need the stories produced by politicians. So that to any blogger would suggest each is the pocket of the other. Hardly a healthy situation.

Yes there are blogs that are full of rumour, in some cases lies, and in some cases ill researched and reporting rumour as fact. However many blogs give us access to sensible thoughts that we would not otherwise be privy to, people who would never enter our social circle. I don't think bloggers in particular pretend to be the new journalists. A blog was a "weblog" for people to put down their own thoughts on any subject matter. If it is upsetting established newspapers and politicians then that is putting the freedom of thought on the road to censorship.

If journalism involves building up individuals such as Susan Boyle and then the very next week cutting them down with bilious stories just because she has had her hair coloured then I would rather read blogs than the bile published by some newspapers manned by professionally trained journalists.

A Freedom of Sorts

One of the freedoms of the lack of employment is that one no longer has the worry of work. I realise this may sound at odds at the difficult plight through which we are currently going. What I mean is that the worry of going into work, wondering what employers, managers and bosses are thinking is gone. There is less stress. No more Human Resources people. What a horrible term "human resources" is and in some cases, not all, the people that man these departments are the very worst of people. It is a term a generation fought the second world war to avoid. Yet slowly democracies have become subservient to these sort of people, to health and safety, rather than using common sense.

In the days of employment each meeting I had with fellow workers or clients always seemed onerous. There was the preparation, the worry that if the meeting didn't go well, however unlikely that it was, that a client would complain or an employer wouldn't be happy with the way you had conducted the meeting or that you hadn't followed some procedure. Of course you did all this to ensure your appraisal was good and that you would not end up in a situation where you had no means to support yourself and your family. But, the fact is, no matter who you are working for, in these straitened times, and for many years to come, it doesn't matter how well you do your job, how conscientious you are, you can still be thrown onto the scrap heap by your employer with very little recourse. A States sponsored redundancy scheme doesn't go very far if there are no middle earning white collar jobs available particularly if you are approaching middle age.

Now I find I have to make my own decisions, attend various departments and have my own meetings. It doesn't feel like work but a lot is achieved. It is immensely liberating. So whilst I have to find tax payments and Social security payments I think it is preferable to having to toe the line of some corporate edict.

As to the future, perhaps I should prepare for the elections in the autumn of 2011 - best be prepared with sensible policies and start early!

Chelsea Friday

The media, be they the written press or radio, seem to think it has the right to comment and to castigate anyone over their lives and to write down or publish rumour or the rantings of ex-spouses or soon to be ex-spouses and to take one side of the story as fact. The fact that some sections of the media have become so used to and gullible spouting this sort of rubbish is no doubt why political parties were ready to spin stories about opposition party politicians.

It so happens that newspapers had been running the story of Frank Lsmpard and the breakdown in his marriage and this on the anniversary of his mother's death. Not only that, but as is so prevalent these days, the radio show on LBC had a phone in and was discussing the matter. Then they got a call from Frank Lampard.

All I can say having listened to the call from Frank Lampard on the Times website is well done to Frank Lampard. These programmes, be they television or radio, that rely on audience participation are boring in the extreme. Have people nothing better to do than to believe what they read in the papers and then phone up for their 15 minutes of fame and to discuss something that should not be in the public domain.

Not So Bad

Looking at the UK budget yesterday and the current political impasse in the UK until the next election, even though many things could be improved particularly with a slimmed down efficient local public sector, perhaps things here are not so bad as they sometimes seem.

Bingo!

Not that I would want to encourage bingo but here is a link to a couple of bingo cards playable by everyone!

Of course you are onto a winning start because you can cross out 24/7 straight away!

Unemployment in Jersey

One of the troubling things about unemployment, other than the worry, family upheaval and personal trauma for the sufferer and the initial lack of self worth, has to be the social security and tax implications.

Aside from having no regular income one has to come to terms with the fact that a large tax bill from last year now has to be paid towards the end of the year in a lump sum rather than from ITIS. Will the tax department still impose a 10% surcharge for those that now cannot afford it. Is the treasury minister listening.

As for redundancy, it is that in name only, because frequently employers do not couch it in such terms and agreements are entered into with the employee to ensure no one goes to the tribunals. Unfortunately in doing this Social security will not contribute to 13 weeks social security contributions because they have not seen the word redundancy in any dismissal letter. Thanks to the Social Security minister for that one. Also there is no provision concerning class 2 contributions. Having formerly been a relatively high earner, now with no income, Social security have informed me that I must pay at the full rate. There is no assistance or concession whatsoever. So despite having a family and mortgage I must find the full rate contribution every quarter at rate apparently based on what I earned in 2007. Wouldn't it be sensible for Social Security to base current contributions on current income i.e. a big zero. No it doesn't and it is not fair. I suppose I could submit to means testing but then having been relatively prudent no doubt I will have too much to fall back on. So basically I have to whittle any cash we possess down to zero and sell assets until I have nothing. So in a year or so, if we can last that long financially without employment, I presume I would go to Social Security and say I have nothing. No doubt there would be an excuse for having spent savings so that no claim could be made. Basically you spend thirty or more years paying your contributions and get little or nothing in return. So many thanks to Social Security and to the minister, Deputy Ian Gorst, not elected on an island mandate.

Someone recently wrote to the JEP saying official employment statistics were wrong. That would appear true from my own experience. I didn't register as unemployed because it was not worth it. The other fact is that there are less jobs than there are unemployed. This is easy to gauge having registered with various employment agencies or written to various jobs. I wouldn't say there was "ageism" at work but for jobs which I would consider myself fairly well qualified to do one doesn't even make it to the interview stage.

One of the other more troublesome aspects of the unemployment situation, and as I have said before, somewhere in these posts, and this is anecdotal, are the stories that some of the larger banks are making locals, i.e. schooled and grown up here redundant at the expense of imported workers who remain. Not forgetting that in some cases as part of the package banks sometimes paid for accommodation of its essential employees. So what does that do - it keeps the tax take from the remaining employed - but the damage is done to the local who then has to sell their home and possibly leave the Island.

Poor Politicians

There is something unseemly at the moment in Jersey politics and as i have referred to before rather than the emergency sitting of the States this week. It is the self obsession of some of the politicians in our midst that we have elected or in the case of some Deputies and Constables not had the chance to elect. Then there is the paranoia of some politicians. There is the apparent arrogance of others towards their electorate and even toward business. There are those who have been anonymous since their election or those who have reneged on their word. Politicians in Jersey at present seem to be ineffective and not looking after their constituents. Maybe this has all occurred since politicians were salaried - at the expense of the taxpayer.

A Spin on a Couple of Things

Perhaps the affair that is occurring in UK politics should be a lesson learned for all politicians everywhere.

Do they not realise that the public are not fools and that a time has come to stop all the spin and get on with real politics and dealing with the issues that affect the electorate.

It is not all about the politicians - what it is about is the people who elected the politicians. Politicians should be seen to be helping the local individual - their constituents and should not be seeking every publicity seeking opportunity for self promotion and some cases denigrating island we live in or the businesses that provide employment to some in the Island. That shows a lack of concern for constituents.

Incidentally an anecdotal tale I heard recently about redundancies at one of the major banks was that a local person with a house and mortgage had been made redundant whilst the bank retained staff who were effectively imported labour. Whilst the retained staff may be better qualified it doesn't bode well for the local economy if local people are the first to be thrown out and those on a licence retainted. As I say, it is anecdotal and may be misconstrued, but if there is truth in it, then the bank would appear to be retaining those for whom it already has a licence.

Self Interested Politicians

Wondering what our politicians do for their constituents. Are any of them doing anything for the increasing unemployed of Jersey. Apart from injecting £40m into the economy it doesn't do anything for the majority. Re-training or re-skilling doesn't bring money in.

We see them in the press carping at each other and complaining. But there is a distinct lack of interest in the people who elected them any effectively pay their wages.

Disgrace

To those new elected politicians of Jersey who voted against GST on food and energy having told the electorate that you would not do so - you are nothing more than a despicable disgrace to your position - you do not deserve to be in the States and have been elected on a false premise.

It is a shame that the taxpayer pays your wages. Any way any explanation for your actions or is it a case of again - sod the proles!