Jersey government undecided on banknotes with King's image
A decision on whether to use an image of King Charles III on new Jersey banknotes has not been made due to a "significant stock" of currency featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II, the government says. Bank of England notes featuring the King went into circulation in June 2024 and Jersey's treasury minister said the creation of new Jersey notes had been explored. However, Deputy Elaine Millar said stock levels of current notes meant no decision had been made on the introduction of new currency or what it would look like. "This approach ensures that unnecessary costs are avoided and that value for money is maintained on behalf of the public," she said.
Deputy Helen Miles submitted a written question to the treasury minister asking for an estimated timeline for new notes and coins featuring the King. In response, Millar said the government held a "significant stock of banknotes featuring the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II". "This is due to the need for large minimum print runs, which are required to achieve value for money in a smaller jurisdiction such as ours," she said.
The Government of Jersey has updated its banknotes twice in the last 36 years, once in 1989 and again in 2010.In April, the States of Guernsey announced it would not include a portrait of the King on updated currency for the island. Millar said a decision on including the King on Jersey currency had not been made."While the introduction of a new series of notes has been explored, current stock levels are such that it shall be some time before any final decision is made on whether a new family of notes is required, and which design options may be preferred," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Inside the election where everyone gets 38 votes
Heading to the polls voters often have in mind who or which party they plan to vote for - but what if there are 82 candidates and you have up to 38 votes? This was the issue for Guernsey voters last week as they decided who would run their government - the States of Guernsey - for the next four years. First-time voter Harry Snell, 19, said he chose to use all 38 of his votes as it was important to vote for the selection of candidates "that you want".While voting itself took "five minutes", Mr Snell, who is home from studying theatre at university, spent three nights deciding who to vote of those nights were spent reading the 276-page manifesto booklet, a process he described as a "real drag".He also listened to interviews and podcasts with candidates as well as researching issues he cared Snell brought a handwritten list into the polling booth of the candidates he planned to vote for, but felt having so many on the ballot was "just ridiculous". While some chose to use all 38 of their votes like Mr Snell, the average number cast was 22 - down from 26 at the last Doug Perkins, 82, said he used 23 of his Perkins co-founded opticians Specsavers in the island in 1984 with his wife, Dame Mary felt the process was "clear" and "efficient" but he had to do "a lot of reading" to inform his choices."I was wondering how well the election would be delivered, but I don't think it could be delivered better than it has been," said Mr Perkins. International observers backed up Mr Perkins' assessment of the election process, describing it as "smooth, efficient and calm".Until 2020, Guernsey elected its deputies to represent seven districts - with each voter getting six or seven votes for the candidates that chose to stand in their the votes under island-wide voting takes "an army of people", according to Keith Bell, Guernsey's returning said the votes were counted by four automated scanning machines - each counted batches of 100 votes in just a over Alvina Reynolds, from St Lucia, said: "While no election is perfect, this one had no major faults – remarkable for a state that has only recently undergone a major change in the way it votes."However, observers drew attention to declining voter registration, with 52% of eligible voters registered before the election, the lowest since 2020. The rising cost of living, an acute housing shortage and the long-running debate about whether to introduce tax reforms based on a goods and services tax (GST) were among key issues for voters. Without traditional political parties facing off - only six candidates stood under the banner of new party Forward Guernsey - some voters found it hard to work out what candidates stood wine expert Aurelia, 42, said while it was her first time voting in Guernsey she would like to see a party system established to improve representation. She said: "It would be easier if people could choose what sort of decisions they want to make and what the focus of each party is."I worry [politicians] lose focus and there's a lot of people arguing over decisions and it slows down the decision-making process." At 38 choices per person, voters in Guernsey may have the most votes per ballot of any nationwide general election, according to political marketing expert Dr Christopher Pich, from the University of Nottingham, has studied Guernsey's political system since 2017 and said island-wide voting had changed the public's relationship with politicians as there was less "direct contact".He said an "interesting new feature" of this election was the "number of creative ways candidates tried to stand out from the crowd"."But this time there were battle bikes, speed dating, a stand up comedy night, even a 'Plunge and Politics' event where people could swim with candidates and ask them questions," he Pich said podcasts had also become "important" this election."Politicians in the UK are always looking for ways to increase engagement with politics - I think they could learn a lot from Guernsey." Overwhelming Political scientist Prof Thomas J Scotto, from the University of Strathclyde, said nation-wide constituencies like Guernsey's were "rare".Other countries - such as Israel and the Netherlands - also have nation-wide votes, but Guernsey stood out because voters can select so many individual candidates, he Scotto said voting was a "demanding task" with so many choices."Without those labels, voters must work hard to understand where candidates stand on key issues," he said."With so many names, it can be overwhelming."Prof Scotto said voters often expressed "distrust" in political parties, but "from a political science perspective parties play a crucial role"."They help simplify complex choices and allow voters to hold elected officials accountable as part of a shared programme." For Prof Scotto, Guernsey's system means "success may rely more on personal ties than policy positions", compared to other is something Forward Guernsey leader Gavin St Pier said he wanted to see for the party agreed to share positions on six key policies, like housing and GST, but are free to vote how they choose on other of its six candidates were Pier said: "The electoral system is a reflection of our history and experience, but the reality is we have produced something that is extraordinarily difficult to navigate. It requires real tenacity from the electorate."How do we get more people involved in the democratic process? We think offering a policy choice is one way to address that issue." Despite some people's frustrations with the voting system, turnout was nearly 20,000 registered voters, 72% is down on 2020's record-breaking election, the first under island-wide voting - with more than 30,000 registered voters and an 80% it is significantly higher than typical UK elections - the 2024 general election had a 59.7% turnout according government voter registration overall was down, with 52% of eligible voters registered before the election - about 3,000 fewer on the roll than in 2020. Peter Fisher, 73, was among those who thought the system should be Fisher said the process was "a lot harder and more time consuming" than voting in the UK, where the main candidates stand for parties in a first-past-the-post voting system."If you only vote for one [candidate in Guernsey] you only get one vote. I don't like it at all and I don't think it's as democratic," Mr Fisher said."There's too much to read." Deputy Lindsay De Sausmarez has been a States member since 2016 and topped this year's poll with more than 10,000 votes - the only candidate picked by more than half of said Guernsey's politics could work better "under a party system", but the "transition to it" would be challenging. De Sausmarez said: "On the plus side it gives everyone who is on the electoral role the opportunity to vote, or not, for every single candidate. "But on another when it comes to the quality of information to inform your decision it is a little bit disenfranchising." Deputy Yvonne Burford was also re-elected after she came second the said island-wide voting made traditional canvassing, such as door knocking, said she it would have taken more than six months to visit all 17,000 households on the electoral register if she spent "seven days a week" on it. However, she said she had visited "a cross section" of voters to understand the issues that mattered to them. Regardless of how many votes they got, Guernsey's 38 deputies - joined by two Alderney representatives in making up the States of Guernsey - have some big decisions ahead this another change to Guernsey's electoral system be one of them? Only time will tell.
Daily Record
6 hours ago
- Daily Record
Labour must stand up for the vulnerable and not pander to Reform's selfish rhetoric
Keir Starmer believes his government has a 'moral imperative' to fix the welfare system. The problem is that the practical application of this is cutting disability benefits from thousands of people. The PM has now had to back down from £5billion of proposed savings in the face of a rebellion from his own MPs who can see the plans pose an existential threat to their chances of reelection. Starmer has also been forced into a screeching U-turn over his policy of cutting the winter fuel payment to pensioners. He also seems likely at some point to reverse a refusal to abolish the two-child cap on benefits payments. While the Prime Minister is still not quite in the same league, the number of policy reversals is beginning to feel reminiscent of the chaotic years of Boris Johnson's premiership. When Labour came into government it promised stability and a laser focus on 'fixing the foundations' of Britain's economy. There was a feeling that this lacked the transformative ambition a Labour administration should aspire to, but at least if it could be achieved that would be an improvement. But with the Bank of England warning of a slowdown in the jobs market and inflation continuing to outstrip wage increases for thousands of Scottish workers, Starmer is in danger of appearing to fail on the economy front. There is a growing feeling that chief of staff Morgan McSweeney – a key architect of former leader Jeremy Corbyn's downfall – has been responsible for many of these tactical blunders and has pulled Starmer too far to the right. Nobody joins the Labour Party to cut benefits from disabled people. The Prime Minister may well believe there is a moral imperative to cut welfare, but many of his MPs believe the exact opposite and that protecting spending on the most vulnerable is central to the party's values. Starmer is right that more has to be done to help people off benefits and into work, and that young people especially should not be abandoned to a life on handouts. Likewise it is the case that while many pensioners desperately need the winter fuel payment there are also many others who neither need or particularly want it. Labour government's job is to stand up for the most vulnerable and Sir Keir needs to make the case for a society that does this rather than pandering to Reform's selfish right-wing rhetoric.
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: If ever we needed an effective opposition to rout Labour, it's now
Is there no limit to the price Britain must pay for having given Keir Starmer 's Labour Party a chance a year ago? This is rapidly becoming one of the worst governments in modern history. Some of its hopelessness and nastiness was predictable. Labour signalled loudly to its more militant supporters that it planned a class-war attack on private education. Other plans were buried deep in the small print. Or they were hinted at by the choice of ministers to carry them out. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, for instance, had disclosed to all who paid attention to her writings that she was gripped by Left-wing dogmas. She professed to revere the Cambridge eccentric Joan Robinson, who spent much of her career admiring the disastrous policies of Maoist China and North Korea. Later we discovered that she was inexperienced as well. Did Sir Keir Starmer realise this, or was he also beguiled by her dubious claims that she had spent a decade working as an economist at the Bank of England? It appears he has now decided to leave her in place to absorb as much as possible of the derision and dissent which her policies have brought about – a cruel revenge, if so. As her next duty will almost certainly be a huge stealth tax rise, achieved by failing to raise thresholds in line with inflation, he will no doubt prefer to let her take the punishment for that too. But this will not protect him from the general civil war which he began by permitting ill-planned attempts to slash the winter fuel allowance and cut welfare payments. Did he really not grasp that his huge new parliamentary party was full of men and women who are profoundly, emotionally committed to spending other people's money on a grand scale? Perhaps not. Sir Keir's own politics are something of a mystery, even to him. The sense of a man floundering between vague principles and a definite desire to stay in office is very strong. For example, he now says that he deeply r egrets describing Britain as an 'island of strangers', which many took as an echo of the late Enoch Powell's 1968 speech about immigration. He claims not to have read it properly before delivering it – a ridiculous thing for a Prime Minister to say. This retraction of his own scripted words must surely be the end of his attempt to save his bacon by trying to copy Reform UK. He also claims to be sorry about an earlier pessimistic speech about the economy, saying: 'We were so determined to show how bad it was that we forgot people wanted something to look forward to as well.' But do they have anything to look forward to, apart from an intensifying civil war between Sir Keir and his traditionally Leftist deputy Angela Rayner? Sir Keir and Ms Rayner are like two opponents grappling with each other on the edge of a precipice. The danger is that they will both fall together, leaving the country to suffer. As things stand, we could have four more years of this unsuccessful and increasingly divided government. It is vital that those who are opposed to its policies coalesce quickly into a coherent and effective opposition, which can both hold Labour to account and prepare to replace it with a competent pro-British government ready to step in, stop the rot and undo as much of the damage as possible.
