:00:08. > :00:14.Hello, good evening, Welcome to BBC Channel Islands. Our top story
:00:14. > :00:20.tonight: Why a change of heart over business tax leaves Guernsey with a
:00:20. > :00:25.deepening financial black hole. Plus, Jersey's fibre optic future -
:00:26. > :00:30.how faster internet speeds could give the island the edge.
:00:30. > :00:40.And how wartime evacuees are passing their stories on to new
:00:40. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:49.The way Guernsey taxes its businesses will be reviewed by the
:00:49. > :00:55.European Union. The island's corporate tax policy is coming
:00:55. > :01:00.under increasing scrutiny say. Guernsey intends to keep its
:01:00. > :01:08.current zero ten policy which means many businesses will continue to
:01:08. > :01:11.pay tax rather than a 10 % tax on all businesses. Without that, the
:01:11. > :01:15.Ireland's black hole will continue to grow.
:01:15. > :01:20.Guernsey may not be in the EU or the UK, but when it comes to tax,
:01:20. > :01:25.their influence can be felt across the water. Zero ten was meant to
:01:25. > :01:29.give the island a tax advantage but the EU thought it was unfair. So,
:01:29. > :01:36.what is zero ten? At the moment, companies in the Channel Islands do
:01:36. > :01:39.not pay tax on their profits, apart from banking and some business
:01:39. > :01:44.deals. This makes the island very tempting to new business deals.
:01:44. > :01:48.Something the EU has never really liked. Jersey and the Isle of Man
:01:48. > :01:53.made some changes to their tax policy early in the year. Guernsey
:01:53. > :01:59.had planned to scrap its tero ten policy and introduce a tax on
:01:59. > :02:04.businesses. Now it has changed its mind and planned to keep it. It
:02:04. > :02:10.will lead EU approval but it could create a black hole in Guernsey's
:02:10. > :02:13.finances. There is a structural deficit in Guernsey, black hole. If
:02:13. > :02:18.this is approved and we have to make that black hole bigger, we
:02:18. > :02:24.have to look at how we will make up the revenues to make up the
:02:24. > :02:29.shortfall. This, it will affect our deficit. But we will take other
:02:29. > :02:34.action alongside that. In particular, we would probably widen
:02:34. > :02:37.the 10 % tax rate band to include other businesses. Given that Jersey
:02:37. > :02:41.and the Isle of Man have already had their policies approved, it
:02:41. > :02:46.should be fairly straightforward for Guernsey to do the same. What
:02:46. > :02:51.will not be easy will be filling that black hole.
:02:51. > :02:55.Jersey will start making fresh water from sea water on Wednesday.
:02:55. > :02:59.The island's desalination plant will be switched on for the first
:02:59. > :03:04.time in five years. It is due to low rainfall this autumn and the
:03:04. > :03:08.closure of the main reservoir. Jersey Water says the plant will be
:03:08. > :03:14.producing under a third of the daily supplies. Our reservoir
:03:14. > :03:19.levels are down to 36.5 %. We are concerned that while there are some
:03:19. > :03:23.rainfall forecast, the amount of rainfall we will get is open to
:03:23. > :03:28.debate. We have prepared the plant to run and now we are ready to
:03:28. > :03:34.press the button. On Wednesday, we decided to give the Plan A test run
:03:34. > :03:40.of running on 50 % of capacity. There are plans to tighten up rules
:03:40. > :03:42.about bringing in endangered species to Jersey. The rules will
:03:42. > :03:48.be in line with international standards. If passed by the States,
:03:48. > :03:52.the rules will better list the movement of some species like
:03:52. > :03:55.reptiles. Some pet shops are concerned about the cost of
:03:55. > :03:59.licences which are currently free but bosses say there will be
:03:59. > :04:02.consultation on the charge. We want to make sure it is a fair and
:04:03. > :04:07.proportion of charge. We are not looking at anything to owners. They
:04:07. > :04:09.are looking at working with potentially endangered species so
:04:09. > :04:13.we think that is a reasonable expectation that people will pay
:04:13. > :04:18.for the licences. Jersey's government is poised to
:04:18. > :04:23.invest tens of millions of pounds to bring super-fast broadband to
:04:23. > :04:29.every home in the land. A fibre- optic cables will replace copper
:04:29. > :04:33.telephone wires. It is hoped it will make Guernsey a global leader.
:04:33. > :04:37.Whether it is downloading, social networking or shopping, the
:04:37. > :04:43.internet is increasingly a part of our lives. Now in Jersey it will be
:04:43. > :04:47.faster than ever before. These workers are replacing the old
:04:47. > :04:53.copper network with the latest technology offering gigabit
:04:53. > :04:57.broadband. Every home in the island has a copper network -- a copper
:04:57. > :05:01.connection to our network. That will change to fibre. What that
:05:01. > :05:05.means is we will be able to develop faster speed broadband services
:05:05. > :05:11.directly to our customers. They will be able to enjoy anything from
:05:11. > :05:16.their current speeds up to gigabit speeds. But this latest technology
:05:16. > :05:19.comes at a price. The BBC understands that will cost �40
:05:19. > :05:23.million. A vital investment according to the Treasury Minister.
:05:23. > :05:27.The internet is going to continue to accelerate change and I one
:05:27. > :05:31.Jersey to be at the forefront of that change. I do not think there
:05:31. > :05:36.is any jurisdiction in the world that has its whole community with
:05:36. > :05:41.fibre optic networks. We could be the first. We are small enough,
:05:41. > :05:45.nimble enough and we do not have the debt that other countries have.
:05:45. > :05:50.They do not have a publicly-owned telephone service like we did.
:05:50. > :05:54.the States will pay for it, the cables will be routed direct to
:05:54. > :06:00.homes. That means a high-definition film will go from two hours to
:06:00. > :06:05.download, two under a minute. means you will be unique in Europe.
:06:05. > :06:10.You're the only area that has total fibre and that is the biggest draw
:06:10. > :06:16.for businesses, for people and for existing residents. It means you
:06:16. > :06:24.have something unique that you can utilise, track services and enjoy
:06:24. > :06:28.the digital technology -- as it has grown. Today, British Telecom said
:06:28. > :06:36.they would be speeding up the roll- out of their fibre optic network in
:06:36. > :06:40.the UK. The race for the fastest broadband is speeding up.
:06:40. > :06:46.You are watching the BBC in the Channel Islands. Later in
:06:46. > :06:52.Spotlight: Spooking goings-on at an old museum hoping to cash in on its
:06:52. > :06:56.wanted reputation. Now some sport. The Guernsey man
:06:56. > :07:00.who took on the challenge of running 40 marathons in 40 days, is
:07:00. > :07:05.back in the island but he has still got one marathon to do. This
:07:05. > :07:09.amateur footage shows Stuart Hardie completing just a few of his 39
:07:09. > :07:14.marathons which she has run in recent weeks. Doctors advised him
:07:14. > :07:20.not to run on one day so he is now planning to run his final 26 miles
:07:20. > :07:26.next weekend. The you quickly forget the pain and you do remember
:07:26. > :07:30.the glorious days. Day 3 was just a beautiful day. Coming through the
:07:30. > :07:35.Midlands of England, coming through Cumbria, even though the weather
:07:35. > :07:39.was fairly unkind. Lots of lovely bits.
:07:39. > :07:43.Tonight, the stories of the children evacuated from Guernsey to
:07:43. > :07:46.the north of England during the Second World War were brought to
:07:46. > :07:50.life at a special event this weekend. It was organised by a
:07:50. > :07:53.historian in Manchester who spent years researching it and this was
:07:53. > :07:57.her chance to show her work to the public.
:07:57. > :08:02.It was a chance to reflect and share memories of an event which
:08:02. > :08:06.shaped the life of so many people in Guernsey, as former evacuees
:08:06. > :08:11.gathered here in Manchester. This event was also about passing on
:08:11. > :08:17.those stories to younger generation. Children would go on an evacuation
:08:17. > :08:21.ship. We have wartime music, a film on. We want to show all different
:08:21. > :08:26.aspects so people can engage with the story. Stories like this little
:08:26. > :08:31.girl's, who was one of hundreds of children evacuated from Guernsey.
:08:31. > :08:35.This is a picture of camera. This what she was allowed to bring with
:08:35. > :08:41.her, this little case. She had a photograph of her mum and dad and
:08:41. > :08:45.cousin, a toothbrush, her mum's perfume bottle, a bar of soap and
:08:45. > :08:50.this little spare dress which she had with her. There were many other
:08:50. > :08:56.items on display to paint a picture of life for the evacuees and there
:08:56. > :09:03.were many more memories. We had no money. We had only the clothes we
:09:03. > :09:08.stood a pin and a change of clothes. We were allowed to go and see that
:09:08. > :09:12.film in the cinema every month, used a bath every month, and so on.
:09:13. > :09:16.They could not do more for us if they tried. For the researchers
:09:16. > :09:20.behind this event, it is not just about giving people a chance to
:09:21. > :09:30.learn about an important part of history, it is also about ensuring
:09:31. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:38.it is not forgotten. Hello, good evening. If you are out
:09:38. > :09:44.trick or treating this evening, expected to be showery, if not with
:09:44. > :09:52.persistent rain. Quite a white knight. Quite breezy, too. This
:09:52. > :09:57.rain band will come in this evening. It moves away fairly steadily.
:09:57. > :10:01.Tomorrow is probably the best day of the week. A new area of low
:10:01. > :10:07.pressure chases in hard to give us even more wet and windy weather as
:10:07. > :10:11.we get into Wednesday. Initially dry across the islands but then the
:10:11. > :10:17.wet weather turns up. It is quite steady fall while and then it
:10:17. > :10:22.begins to peter out by dawn. 11 or 12 degrees will be the minimum
:10:22. > :10:26.temperature. Tomorrow, we will have some morning showers. Then, some
:10:26. > :10:36.sunshine in the afternoon. With light to winds we should see
:10:36. > :10:57.
:10:57. > :11:07.More waves coming later in the week. As for the forecast through this
:11:07. > :11:10.
:11:10. > :11:20.week, it does stay rather unsubtle. It will be windy on Wednesday. By
:11:20. > :11:26.
:11:26. > :11:31.Thursday it the winds starts to Have a good evening.
:11:32. > :11:38.We have some nice pictures To finish. Jersey's beaches were
:11:38. > :11:41.transformed this weekend as sand artists took part in the inaugural