Virgin voters on Sark won’t be bullied

Seneschal (chief judge) Lt Col Reg Guille said: “The last time the people of Sark were told how to vote was in 1940.
“We got our independence back in 1945 at the point of a bayonet. The people have voted. They’ve chosen their government.”

Democracy especially when new minted is a beautiful thing but less so when it returns the “wrong” result, as all Irish voters know. On Sark, old money but less of it seems more preferable than pots of new money. The Daily Telegraph carefully reports the failure of their proprietors to win the first Sark elections on their own terms which seem precious like a takeover and not democracy at all. The immediate closure of the hotels looks like a severe case of intimidation. If they made money, what did they have to lose, except their pride and lust to dominate? The virgin voters of Sark have decided not to swap rickety feudalism for economic dictatorship. The Barclays are exposed as bullies. I hope their wider reputation suffers.

The BBC have opened one of their new local interactive websites on the Sark issue. The comments should be interesting because very local.

Brian Walker

Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London