Jersey tightens its entry rules to local authority or London council level – I can go, Rhys can’t

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Brian P says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:54

  When the governnent test and publish an infection rate by local authority they are doing it for residents who sleep over night in that council area. Statistically you are more likely to be infected if you live in an area with a high infection rate.

  Travelling thru another area, buying a coffee, living close to a border, having a friend across the border is completely irrelevant.. The governnent doesn’t capture infection statistics relating to any of these..

  Jersey’s policy is complete common sense, rational, based on statistics. I would assume they will check your home address. Trying to pull out contrived situations, doesn’t make it less rational (typical of the UK MSM).

  • planeconcorde says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:04

    +1

  • Anna says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:45

    I live at the far edge of a northern ward which is in local lockdown. I don’t even know anyone who’s been infected, and across the road from me is a different borough with no restrictions. I don’t pose any more risk to anyone than the people across the road yet I can’t even sit 2 metres apart from anyone in my garden unless it’s my OH or my son! It’s utterly ridiculous, especially as we are expected to go to work, school, shopping et.c. as normal.

    • John says:

      3 Sep3 September 20:06

      Just been to Konstanz in Germany. Went for a walk and if I went one metre further I would need to self-isolate on return to the UK. The point is there has to be some cut off, you can’t do it by individual property….

  • Brian says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:25

    You think basing anything on statistics is rational and common sense???

• Alix says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:58

  As a shielding Jersey resident we do NOT want tourists as they are the only ones bringing in Covid 19. Please stay away so we can get our island back and safely go out and about. A holiday is not a necessity, staying safe is.

  • Arnie says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:28

    Well I very much hope that your tourist authority and the individual business owners affected will agree with you. I actually agree and frankly if I lived in a tax haven in the Atlantic I’d feel exactly the same. Be happy on your island that you are not being inundated with small boats arriving unannounced With visitors that you can do nothing about Once they are there.

    • Anna says:

      3 Sep3 September 08:48

      I wonder if the tax avoiders are going to bail out these islands when their economies tank? I’m guessing not, as these are the same people who were shamelessly asking for government handouts from the outset!

      • Rob says:

        3 Sep3 September 08:50

        Raising cash on Jersey wouldn’t be hard given VAT is only 5% and tax is very low (and capped).

        • TGLoyalty says:

          3 Sep3 September 09:52

          Raising cash by virtue of tax hikes (on business which rely on tourism and globalisation?) not the generosity of people to just donate to the cause?

          Honestly, this has got to be the best comment out of the lot. Tourists stay out .. except when we need you then come back and save our economy.

      • Alix says:

        3 Sep3 September 13:21

        We certainly are not ” Tax Avoiders” we pay a great deal of tax to the UK Government which benefits UK residents. Our businesses have received NO government handouts of any kind. If all the shielders in Jersey could go out and about in our own island we are very likely to spend much more in our restaurants and shops than tourists do.

        • ChrisC says:

          3 Sep3 September 14:29

          What taxes do you pay to the U.K. government?

        • John says:

          3 Sep3 September 20:07

          Jersey pays a contribution for the things that the UK does on its behalf, I don’t think individuals pay anything directly

        • TGLoyalty says:

          3 Sep3 September 15:49

          While it’s not a subject I have great knowledge in I find it hard to believe a nation with a $5bn GDP 5% VAT, maximum 20% Income tax and 0% corporate tax makes a significant contribution to £800bn tax the UK collects.

        • Elizabeth says:

          3 Sep3 September 20:24

          Jersey probably contributes more than most other UK dependencies. Pro rata per head of population we probably do contribute very handsomely to the UK exchequer.

        • Lady London says:

          3 Sep3 September 23:10

          This would certainly be the case otherwise it would not be one of the tax havens most tolerated by the UK.

    • Elizabeth says:

      3 Sep3 September 21:27

      I believe we have also had unannounced visitors which has been kept under wraps but certainly not in the numbers the UK has had. Although living in the Channel Islands does have some advantages there are also many downsides, like anywhere there are pluses and minuses.

• Sue says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:38

  As a small business owner in Jersey who has suffered greatly since lockdown and in fact now trades online instead of in a shop on the high street, tourists this year are pretty much non existent. We relied on tourists to keep our business afloat during the summer months! There is a limit to the amount of chocolate locals can/want to eat, but tourists loved our little shop and took souvenirs home. If we don’t have tourists in Jersey the whole economy will collapse. Hotels are struggling, retail is struggling. Even restaurants to a point are struggling. People are losing their jobs.
  I am currently in Slovenia where there are tourists. Everyone is sensible in what they do, and things are done safely – why can’t we do the same in Jersey? If we don’t support the airlines then Jersey may lose the lifeline link to the UK. It’s just a case of being sensible – in my opinion. And yes, I am high risk

  • TGLoyalty says:

    3 Sep3 September 10:01

    I really do hope things improve for you and your business.

    People need to accept that this is here for good, it’s not going away and there will be no silver bullet vaccine to ensure no one will ever catch it again. Hopefully rapid testing allows more movement to begin as while you can;t catch everyone atleast you’d catch those that are already ill/contagious.

    The world is living in fear from something that eventually become like Norovirus, cold, flu. I don’t think anyone can hand on heart say what an acceptable level of infection actually is right now. However, I’m not seeing many reports of chaos in hospitals around European mainland following this recent ‘spike’.

  • Elizabeth says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:37

    Tourism is no longer the powerful force it was in Jersey several decades ago. Many hotels and guest houses have closed in the last ten/twenty years, nothing to do with pandemics but low cost travel to warmer and cheaper destinations. Many tourist attractions, in the last decade or so, have also closed due to fewer tourists, again not due to the pandemic. I believe the finance sector is Jersey’s largest provider of income. Our economy will certainly not collapse and our flights to the mainland will also continue. We all need to stop scaremongering.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      3 Sep3 September 15:51

      Just to be clear I was just hoping Sue’s personal circumstances improved.

      My other comments were about the effect of the pandemic on the globe

      • Sue says:

        4 Sep4 September 20:52

        Thank you TGLOYALTY!

• Stuart says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:38

  How ridiculous, South Tyneside where I work is on the Green list and is the 8th highest in country at the time of writing with 41.1 cases per 100k. But my home county Newcastle is amber with 14.2 cases per 100k

• Chris Wollen says:

  3 Sep3 September 09:34

  wow – does bring it all into focus totally But what should councils do… The next Few Weeks We Should get some proper idea of the pandemic’s current reality. Is the only answer. France’s Levels have gone through the roof but quite a bit of belief that the covid19 has mutated to weaker… ?so will the ICU bed occupation jump.. They also test more than the (rather) inept UK govt (Ie higher Figures as a result). Channel Isles pretty intolerant historical outlook (my family comes from there vs St. Tropez (where I live/work) – which has had to suffer all of the ghastly world Over the last 2 months (but they were desperate to get the shekels in). So – look at France’s figures over these
  Next two weeks – we are in a Red zone now from being green… Personally I think you have to hold a common line/outlook with other areas/countries

• Harry says:

  3 Sep3 September 12:17

  Imposing restrictions of any kind will adversely affect those whose business comes from tourism. The Government of Jersey is like every other Government, in a heads you win tails we lose situation. There is no solution to this pandemic at present. In time I suspect that it will come to be accepted as part of daily life. Until that time comes, however, the statistic based decision of Jersey is no more or less foolish or wrong than a “let everyone in, we need tourists’ money” approach. Heads you win, tails we lose or heads we win, tails you lose, which seems better?

• Glasgowgirl says:

  3 Sep3 September 13:25

  I live in Glasgow so subject to the new lockdown rules but I’m green on the Jersey list 🤷‍♀️

• ADS says:

  3 Sep3 September 13:28

  From the latest figures, the 7 day per 100k rate for Kensington & Chelsea was 24, and for Wandsworth it was 23

  I think Rhys should complain to Jersey !

  https://twitter.com/avds/status/1301195092569526273

  • Rob says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:54

    I’m guessing those 24 are in Chelsea Westminster Hospital 🙂

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.