I'm here to nominate Sam Mézec of Reform Jersey for the candidacy of Senator.
Well here we are. A mid term by- election has been thrust upon us, and now gives us a golden opportunity to deliver a verdict on the government of our island.
And what a damning verdict we can now deliver.
Let's make no bones about it ladies and gentlemen. The public of this Island have been taken for a ride.
Ministers stood at the last election, in the full knowledge of the impending fiscal deficit that was looming over us, a deficit of their own making.
Did anyone of them have the honesty or integrity to stand up at the time and warn us?
No.
Not one of them.
We were duped.
Duped into believing everything was fine, our finances were the envy of the world.
Turns out the truth is a whole other ball game.
We are now facing tax rises, health charges, swingeing cuts to our public services, vicious cuts in support for the sick and vulnerable, and wholesale job losses and privatisations.
The medium term financial plan is a veritable smorgasbord of pain for the average Islander, while the wealthy are once again given preferential dispensation and exemption.
Its time for a change.
A real transformative change.
And there is literally only one choice that can deliver that transformation.
Sam Mézec and Reform Jersey.
Anything else will send a clear message that its business as usual, and the last thing this Island needs now is business as usual.
Sam Mézec represents the future, his track record speaks for itself.
He has consistently opposed the regressive policies of this Council of Ministers, taking them on and calling them out at every opportunity.
His live debates with ministers have been brilliant examples of how to deconstruct official narratives and expose them for what they really are.
We need Sam Mézec and Reform more than ever.
We need somebody to win who is clearly standing on a platform of opposing the regressive policies of this Council of Ministers, who has a proven track record of standing up to them and who also has a proven ability to work with others to achieve positive changes.
Sam and his Reform colleagues have been tireless campaigners for the voiceless and the vulnerable.
They have brought proposition after proposition to the assembly to attempt to hold ministers in check.
For example:
- Equal marriage
- Nursery funding
- Free bus passes for the disabled
- Minimum housing standards
- Stopping lower minimum wage for the under 25s
- Online voting.
We need to send a clear, unequivocal message to the government - they must change direction.
Sam Mezec will deliver that message.
We reject the Medium Term Financial Plan
Reform will lodge amendments and a vote for Sam is a vote to endorse those amendments.
Sam Mézec will stand in the assembly and say the public have given him a mandate to reject their plan.
He will pledge to
- Stop the stealth taxes
- End the civil service gravy train and golf jollies
- Protect vital front-line public services that so many rely on
- Reconfigure our tax model into a more progressive one that actually delivers for all Islanders and not just those at the top.
- And to deliver meaningful electoral reform that produces real democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most out of touch and unaccountable government Jersey has had in decades.
We need a government that works in the interests of our whole community, not just those at the top.
Electing Sam Mézec as a Senator would be just the political earthquake this Island needs and would force the States of Jersey to change the way they do politics.
