PART ONE: THE CURSE OF THE CRIMSON HORSE-BLANKET
‘‘I remember on my very first visit to Jersey
coming away from the Island telling friends that it was a cross between the
English seaside town of Bournemouth and the corrupt, highly repressive West
African state of Equatorial Guinea.”
Nicholas Shaxson – Journalist & Author of ‘Treasure Islands’
In politics we on the Left are always told evolution not revolution
is the way to go; how positive change is best served slowly. In reality
this has always been an argument for dragging out the status quo to the
advantage of those in power – invariably the wealthy elite. Nowhere in the
political world demonstrates this better than in the British Crown Dependency
Tax Haven of Jersey with the rotten-to-the-core rein of its unelected Bailiffs –
the true cornerstone of the now globally infamous ‘Jersey Way’...
For here, to the complete indifference of Queen Elizabeth II
and UK governments alike, 250 years after the 1769
storming of the corrupt Royal Court and its hand-in-glove faux ‘government’ to
demand reform the island’s unelected Chief Judge – the Bailiff – still presides over both
Judiciary and legislature; able to exploit each as and whenever he sees fit.
Indeed, he is able to stop elected politicians questions and propositions - even ones relating to himself!
A new Royal Court - The same old abuse of the law
Now let us reflect for just a moment upon the reaction from
the neo-liberal governments and MSM of Britain, America and so forth if this was happening
in Socialist States like Bolivia,
or a Venezuela
with its huge US-coveted oil reserves? What if it was happening in Nicholas Shaxson's brutal Equatorial Guinea?They would be screaming from the
rooftops demanding sanctions or even direct intervention to ‘restore
democracy’.
When this is occurring in the City of London’s favourite Off-Shore finance jurisdiction
however the roaring silence is simply deafening.
Appointed by the British Monarch, Jersey Bailiffs, we are
told in defence, are always individuals of the very highest moral and
intellectual fibre. I say such assurances are utterly bogus and demonstrably
so. As such set out below, in just a tiny handful of randomly selected
historical ‘snapshots’ over two posts I illustrate why having control of both
Judiciary and Legislature in the hands of one; always white, always
mid-to-aged, always highly wealthy, ex-public school boy (there has
never once been a female Bailiff!) must be consigned to the dustbin of history
and a true Separation of Powers imposed.
And why international pressure must be applied to bring this
about.
It is a narrative, I suggest, of regular incompetence, turning a blind eye, dishonesty, and abuse of office - all the way to downright corruption on behalf
of Jersey’s ‘Party That Doesn’t Exist’ the wealthy elite: where to protect the
generations-entrenched ‘Jersey Way’ time has effectively been allowed by
successive British Monarchs and governments to stand still.
The ‘Curse of the
Crimson Horse-blanket’ indeed…
Jon lost the plot - again - and finally Normandy
Stressing again that this blog post does not in any way
attempt to set out the root and branch development of ‘government’ as a whole
in Jersey; but simply illustrates the process and consequences of huge power
being hoovered up by just one figure it is still worth noting that the
spectacular loss by King John of the province of Normandy in 1204 is pivotal for any
reader wishing to understand more of the strange development of ‘governance’ on
the island.
Suffice to say that as Luke Le Rendu suggests in his 2004
study of possible full independence for Jersey,
the events of 1204 essentially necessitated the English Monarch ‘granting Jersey political and judicial autonomy in exchange for
the loyalty of the Island’s elite.’ If there
was indeed any plan for eventually enforcing something better - something for the many, not just the few - there exists not
a trace within the history tomes.
As such, certainly by as early as 1497, the
prototype medieval States Assembly – a body both government and court –
though patently unfit to be either - had stumbled into infancy.
Yet for the true cementing of the Bailiff Office to the
destructively dystopian ‘dual role’ pre-eminence we know today in my opinion we
really now need to jump forward another 120 years or so and this then is where
our historical ‘snapshots’ begin.
Jean Hérault – The coming of ‘the cloak of power’
Come on boys - Let's suck the lifeblood out of democracy!
Becoming Bailiff in 1614 Hérault it appears was a vain and
vitriol-tongued little bully seemingly driven by a colossal inferiority
complex; a trait which sadly was to overcome other urges he appeared to possess
– at least originally - to reform positively. Nevertheless, having previously
curried favour with English Monarchs Elizabeth and James as a minor court
official on the mainland Jean Hérault would subsequently shamelessly manipulate
this relationship to his advantage to obtain promise of the Bailiff post he so
craved.
To this regard the great Jersey
historian Balleine even reports that Hérault went as far as actually bribing
his predecessor to stand down early! This then was clearly a little man in a
big hurry. And by his actions we surely know the reason?
For of far more significance study of history denotes that
Hérault undoubtedly bears most of the credit for the absolutely crucial, final
sidelining of the Bailiff’s original rival for power – the former military
governor: this success in my opinion truly clearing the path for the out of
control, Untouchable that the Office of Bailiff has become today.
Just like
the Kurgan in
the famous Highlander fantasy films Jean Hérault surely understood that ultimately there could be ‘only one’!
Yet could Hérault also really have foreseen at the time just
how important one of his two most infamous little ego trips upon becoming the
Bailiff would become to the history that would follow? I must admit that I am
not sure.
Hérault would quickly demand to be addressed within his
isolated little de facto principality of the Island
by the wholly invented; and frankly quite ludicrous title of ‘High
Bailiff. This move would ultimately fail but – intended or not - his second
ploy was a true masterstroke having huge ramifications right up to the present
day.
For next Bailiff Hérault assumed for no good or justifiable reason
surely other than pure, vain, self-aggrandisement, the wearing of the
ridiculous red cloak of a Judge within political meetings of the States:
the ‘Curse of the Crimson Horse-blanket’ had officially begun.
It is a ‘tradition’ still loved and desperately clung to by
Hérault’s strutting successors to this day.
The significance of what might at a first cursory glance be
considered a triviality can in fact simply not be overlooked. For even faced
with independent inquiries either side of the Millennium supporting the
contention of political Progressives like me that the ‘dual role’ really is no longer
tenable in the 21st Century Bailiffs such as Sir Michael Birt and
the Bailhache brothers all continue to claim that no, they certainly do not
sit in the States as Judges; but rather as impartial ‘Presidents’ or Speakers
of the Assembly. But more on this in Part 2.
Former Bailiffs Sirs Philip Bailhache, Michael Birt & a man with half an ostrich on his head
The wearing of the crimson Judges’ cloak however shows this for the
bear-faced lie that it is.
Barely remembered now by most I believe that Hérault, even if
somewhat unwittingly, set the path for everything that followed. Certainly the
modern day Bailiffs we examine in Part 2 – Coutanche, Birt and
the Bailhache brothers in reality have all understood only too well that the wearing
of the cloak is a subliminal statement of overruling power demanding immediate, unquestioning deference.
Unfortunately 95% of all elected States Members even today –
having little understanding of politics or history in my experience - fall for
it; tug the forelock and comply. It is a visual setting apart – or rather
‘above’ that has likely, when one further considers the impact upon the wider
populace, done more to cement the Bailiff’s position than anything short of
military force.
This leads us neatly to our next ‘snapshot’.
The Bailiffs de Carteret
– Nepotism & Intimidation run wild…
A far nicer memorial than George (de) Carteret merits
Only a few years later in the 17th Century we
discover the even more unpleasant Bailiffs de Carteret: George and his odious
old predecessor uncle, Philippe – a man whose nepotism was so finely honed that
he had filled court and government alike with more family members to ensure his
‘Jersey Way’ than any other Bailiff in history before or since.
He appointed his favourite cousin as Attorney General; a
nephew and three cousins were Jurats; a very handy seven of the twelve armed
Militia Captains were de Carterets; while last but not least one of his very
own sons was made Colonel of the brooding stronghold of Mont Orgueil Castle
with its dank and notorious dungeons!
Not surprisingly perhaps a shameless de
Carteret ploy as the English Civil War unfolded was to tour the Island with
armed troops to try and implement mass, ten-at-a-time swearing of allegiance to a highly unpopular King; an allegiance strategy surely not a million miles from what
Adolf Hitler would be so criticised for doing in Nazi Germany three centuries
later?
Yet in many ways his nephew and successor George was even
worse. Like both his uncle and Bailiff Hérault before him ‘Boy’ George was also
hugely ambitious – if a whole lot more successful in achieving his aims in his
lifetime. Undoubtedly highly capable Carteret
was nevertheless also a brazen chancer and a violent thug to boot with a barely
disguised contempt for those of lower station. That he could get away with both
was largely due to his friendship and ability to financially exploit his
desperate-for-funds King.
Effectively a violent Crown-endorsed pirate at one point, hostage
taking; false imprisonment and even death in Mont Orgueil Castle’s dungeons
were all standard practices for both Bailiffs de Carteret to get their way and
George raised this to an art; likewise the slightly more subtle but equally
cruel sanctions of the confiscation of property and manipulated bankruptcy of
would-be opponents.
More than 300 years later if Carlsberg made States Assemblies finally, probably...
Manipulated bankruptcy? Now I’m sure that at
least couldn’t happen to a political opponent under a modern Bailiff today either –
could it?
Such was this chancer’s lack of ethics that George also saw
no hypocrisy in on the one hand shamelessly ditching the French ‘de’ from his
name to bolster his apparent Englishness at one point; yet on the other hand
also be a proclaimed Royalist who, upon finally being forced out of his
Elisabeth Castle bolthole after a siege by Parliamentarian forces, would
subsequently join the French navy to become an Admiral to pursue his
longer game.
And historically it would be a long game indeed for this
well-to-do spiv.
For having ended the Civil War holed up like a rat in the
aforementioned castle (de) Carteret’s typical Bailiff’s gift for looking after
himself at the expense of others would, by negotiation, see all of his own
personal lands and vast wealth protected; while in stark contrast all those of
his loyal Royalist troops and friends held up in the castle beside him would be
betrayed without a blink in exchange.
George (de) Carteret would finally die
just as he had lived a very wealthy and famous man indeed; having even, upon
the Restoration, been given the huge swathe of land now known as New Jersey in
America as Royal thanks for his skulduggery.
A hero still to the Jersey Establishment however three centuries
later in 21st Century St. Peter,
George’s old home parish, a statue would finally be erected to the ‘great’ man
outside a pub bearing his name. Given the undoubted cosy, niceness of the pub itself it is all probably a far nicer memorial, in my opinion, than (de) Carteret
really deserves.
After all, this Bailiff’s only interest in both his people and his
position was surely in how much he could exploit them for personal gain. That history would show him not be alone in this attitude is irrelevant.
Charles Lemprière & the ‘Airbrushed’ Revolution
Historian Mike Dunn in 1769 attire
Our third and final snapshot of 'dual' duplicity in Part One begins
in the autumn of 2012, when in my second term of office as an MP for St. Helier
No. 1 district, I managed to bring a successful proposition to the States
securing official recognition (or so I thought!) after 243 long years as to the
hugely important events of September 28th 1769 touched upon earlier.
It was on this date that hundreds-upon-hundreds of ordinary
islanders sickened by the corruption of the Royal Court and its hand-in-glove
‘States Assembly’ – all now overseen by acting* Bailiff Charles Lemprière –
finally marched upon the capital and stormed the court in the name of greater
democracy to demand, amongst other things, an immediate end to the exploitation
of the export and import of wheat/corn and its manipulated price as the most
important tithe or tax of the day.
Things, it must have seemed to those brave and long-suffering men and women, were finally beginning to change?
The hard truth of the matter was that thanks to the disgusting
actions of Lemprière whose degree of ‘dual role’ nepotism was second only to
that of Philippe de Carteret himself - his brother was Attorney General, his
father, father-in-law, several cousins and brothers-in-law all being Jurats -
many poor and lower class working islanders were actually on the point of
starvation at this time; and understandably increasingly desperate.
Bailiff
Lemprière had even had foodstuffs that could have alleviated the people’s
suffering somewhat diverted to France
where it could fetch a better profit!
Hundreds descended on the corrupt Royal Court from all over the island
A full account of what transpired that fateful September day
can be found on the excellent website: tomgruchy.blogspot.com run
by the tireless local historian and social justice campaigner Mike Dunn (pictured above) – Tom Gruchy being
the name of the man attributed with leading the Uprising.
Suffice to say here that what is most pertinent to this blog
are the actions taking place immediately afterward. For having agreed to the
demands of a huge, but remarkably restrained crowd, Bailiff Lemprière and his motley gang
of corrupt toffs instead quickly locked themselves in the same stronghold of
Elizabeth Castle; before scuttling off undercover of darkness to the UK
mainland where Lemprière then fed the King a pack of lies about brewing ‘rebellion’
against the King himself.
The key consequence that still remains without remedy to this
day is that the subsequent scribbling out of the entire court record of the day
denies us precise knowledge of precisely what demands for greater democracy had
actually been agreed. Over time it effectively thus became the ‘airbrushed
revolution’. In my proposition I also asked for the very modest funding needed to remedy this - but was voted down.
250 years have now passed
and perhaps the one positive is that this event admirably illustrates perhaps
more than any other – for those few who actually know about it – the seemingly
‘hardwired’ willingness to misuse, abuse and manipulate through both Judiciary
and Legislature in order to retain power that seems to reveal itself time and time again within the Bailiff role.
And by extension why it needs to be ended.
Indeed, as both an interesting footnote in itself and yet
another example of just how much power the Bailiff holds through the ‘dual
role’, Lemprière’s own son William Charles, who would be handed the Bailiff
role himself in best ‘Jersey Way’ tradition when his father finally gave up the
struggle faced with growing political opposition in 1781 would manage to put
yet another spin on manipulating democracy.
For though the Royal Court itself had eventually lost its
right to legislate as a consequence of the above Uprising, faced with the
States fledgling ‘independent’ government appearing to be on the verge of
passing a motion he disagreed with, or which threatened his or his cronies
interests, still straddling both functions Bailiff William Charles Lemprière quickly came up with a cunning Plan B.
He would ensure ‘political stability’ or the status quo remained by simply rising
to his feet and marching from the Chamber – thus bringing the government
sitting to an abrupt end! Brave people with little more than nothing had risked their lives. But in reality very little indeed had actually changed.
As to my successful
2012 proposition itself, an outcome that should have at least seen the anniversary of the
‘Airbrushed revolution’ finally become officially recognised as Jersey’s Reform
Day and thus the Union Jack proudly flown atop Mount Bingham to signal it –
this has never once happened.
The Union Jack flies over Jersey on all Official days. Sometimes...
The flag's raising has been consistedly blocked ever since by the Bailiff Lempriere's modern day successors, first Sir Michael Birt and then the current incumbent Sir William Bailhache. Men of course awarded Knighthoods for their ‘service’ to the
British Crown.
Whether Queen Elisabeth II has ever pondered what Her 'subjects' think of all this is sadly not known...
***
"Well, there goes the half-time whistle!" as Match of the Day's John Motson might have said. You would have to concede that so far there has been a whole lot of self-agrandizment, nepotism and blatant abuse of Office. Not a lot of fighting for the rights of people and democracy though. Not a lot of honesty either. None in fact. But can the Crimson Horse-blankets turn it all around in the second half?
"Bailiffs?" Churcill remarked in 1945, "Should we honour or hang them?"
Join me after the half-time pina coladas on Sunday evening when I will be posting Part 2. Find out if those good old 21st Century Boys - Bailhache, Birt and Bailhache can turn the 'Dual' role End Game around before even the Queen gets embarrassed at the duplicity.
Maybe there will even be a surprise second half substitute? One thing is surely certain on the evidence so far. They'll need veteran Crimson Horse-blankets' captain and Nazi Occupation Bailiff Lord Alexander Coutanche to get them all collaborating as a cohesive unit quickly - or else defence of the 'dual' role and 'the Jersey Way' will all be over bar the shouting...
