28/03/2017 Channel Islands News

Financial blacklisting - the biggest threat to Guernsey

A Jersey politician says the BBC is discriminating the over 75s

Financial blacklisting is the biggest single

threat from Brexit - that's according to Guernsey's

It comes as a new report from the Ministry of Justice urges

the UK Government to clarify the position of the Crown

Dependencies during Brexit negotiations.

Guernsey and Jersey are neither part of the UK nor the EU.

But they are part of Europe's Customs Union, allowing

But this formal relationship with the EU will end with Brexit.

So work's under way to ensure the Crown Dependencies

are represented in the tough negotiations ahead.

The main priorities for the Channel Islands are

protection of the financial services from EU blacklisting,

retention of the Common Travel Area and

continued export opportunities in agriculture, fisheries

This company in St Peter Port provides consultancy services

Its boss says the interests of Guernsey and the UK

If you look at the investment management fees being earned in the

UK from managing people's money internationally, approximately 10%

And when you consider how big the industry is,

Today Guernsey's most senior politician admitted that financial

blacklisting is the biggest single threat from Brexit.

I think probably the most important is self evidently the point they

make in relation to blacklisting, that the UK will not be at the

Instead of there being 28 nations, with the UK speaking and

acting on our behalf, there will be 27.

What that is likely to mean is we are going to have to ensure we up

Today the Justice Select Committee published this report, recommending

the UK Government clarifies what happens in Brexit negotiations

when its interests differ from the Channel Islands.

The Committee's Chairman says it'll be important to keep up the pressure

I think the sense is so far the engagement with the British

Government is very good, one of the key

recommendations in our report is

to remind them that has to be kept up right the way through the

And tomorrow the Islands will hope the Prime Minister remembers them

when she sits down to begin to negotiate divorce

A car and electrical items were stolen from a house in Jersey,

while the homeowners were asleep upstairs.

Thieves broke into the home in Gorey Village in the early

A laptop, two guitars, cameras and car keys were stolen.

The person's car was later found submerged on Ouaisne beach.

Jersey police want anyone with information to contact them.

A fraudster who conned the States of Guernsey out of ?2.6 million

has been ordered to pay compensation of ?68,000.

John Woodhatch is currently serving a five-year jail sentence

for scamming the States Treasury by pretending to be

from Lagan Construction who were working on Guernsey's

Woodhatch has six months to pay the compensation,

or another year will be added to his jail term.

More people in Jersey under the age of 75 die of cancer

compared to people of the same age in England.

That's according to figures released by the Statistics Department.

Half of all cancer deaths here are in patients aged 75

or under, with lung cancer being the biggest killer.

Earlier I spoke to our reporter Julie Flanagan who has been

Well some areas are better than others.

Overall compared to the average for England, the Statistics Unit

found many more people in Jersey are living beyond the age of 75

but cancer is a big factor in whether or not people

Lung cancer is significantly worse in Jersey than in England

with the disease here compared to 59 per 100,000

people in England but other cancers, including pancratic

Cancer has overtaken heart disease and stroke as the major

cause of death among people aged 75 and under?

Yes, but as Marguerite Clarke from the States Statistics Unit says

that is to be expected in a population with

we have a greater proportion of deaths they are living longer and

are likely as they age. Cancer is now our main cause of death in

These figures are important because our policy and decision

makers can use this information to decide where they should invest

public money and see what has worked well in the past.

there is the alcohol side of our strategy. I am not giving neighbours

did not understand why we wanted to do it. It wasn't about raising

taxation, it was about a healthy community.

So the Minister's message is that information and education

is working and long term, we'll all benefit.

A plan to make all over-75 year olds in Jersey exempt from TV licence

fees has been rejected by the States.

A politician said the BBC should cover the costs,

But the move was defeated 22 votes to 19.

Give me a gin and tonic. Make it a double. I have just bought

It's the BBC's first ever licence fee advert.

The fee is no longer ?58 a year - it's around ?150.

But today in the States, the question was who should

In the UK, the BBC will be covering the licence fee costs for everyone

over the age of 75 - it'll be phased

In Jersey, the States pays for licence fees

for those eligible over 75 - it's means-tested.

In the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the States closed their "free

licence fee for over 75s" scheme six months ago, to save money.

But after negotiations, the BBC will pick up the tab

from the year 2020 for over-75-year-olds across

the Channel Islands - only if they're eligible under

A Jersey politician argued in the States today that this

It's up to the BBC to apply the same rules to all over 75s

They should'nt be discriminating against a minority in Jersey, or

in the other crown dependencies for that matter.

I'm from England anyway so I was always used to having free

television so I feel for these people.

If they don't get it there missing out.

I think it should be free and available to everyone and

less they feel they've got plenty of money and can well afford it.

I suppose at the end of the day it may

be easier, never mind about what you've got what you haven't.

But the States narrowly voted against renegotiating the BBC deal,

with Ministers arguing the deal is likely to change in the UK

Bus fares in Jersey will increase from the 3rd of April.

A single journey will increase by five pence to ?1.55

and a student price will increase by two pence.

Liberty Bus say the rise is in line with inflation.

However, the bus operator is freezing the price

of its monthly and annual fares for the fourth year running.

this was the start of the day. Glorious sunshine to start the day.

That producing some rain overnight. There is the risk of showers

tomorrow and we will get some sunshine and it will feel miles.

Wind from the South lifting the temperatures. This was earlier

today. That weather will produce rain over the next few hours and it

leaves by the middle of the day tomorrow. We end up with a dry day

tomorrow. Because of that high pressure, we could hold onto right

up to. Satellite picture. This rain is and we will see some of those

outbreaks of rain. Patchy at first but widespread for a while. It

becomes mainly dry in the small hours of the morning. Temperature is

no lower tomorrow, I am hopeful it wind from the South will give some

good temperatures. We may get up even the chance of some sunshine

there is plenty of warmth to the south, spring weather. Paris is up

to some of that warmth getting to That's your news this Tuesday

evening, BBC Radio Guernsey BBC Radio Guernsey and Jersey

will have bulletins from six tomorrow morning and I'll be back

at six thirty tomorrow night, times, but fairly mild for the time

of year. This stay tuned for the national weather forecasts with John

Hammond. Good evening. Your parents might

have told you once that life 's not fair and they were right. He is the

proof. Over the next few days some of us will enjoy some lovely

sunshine, temperatures in the low 20s. It will feel like early summer.

For others, quite a lot of rain around and it will feel like late

March. This is showers earlier on today and dampness this evening in

the West Country and Wales. That is heading north eastwards. A different

sort of night. A lot of cloud around, quite damp and misty in

places. Cloud cover will prevent temperatures falling much at all. A

much milder my than we have seen recently. Except for the North of

Scotland, but elsewhere in double figures. It will be a Graeme Murty

start of the day for most of us, not much in