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STATEMENT TO BE MADE BY DEPUTY GERARD CLIFFORD LEMMEN S BAUDAINS ON 25th OCTOBER 2005
With regard to the Committee of Inquiry to determine who was responsible for the attempt to distort a JEP telephone poll, I was dismayed by the initial remarks of some members during the ensuing debate, when it was suggested this matter was not worthy of debate.
I was always of the view that the attempt to manipulate public opinion so that acceptance of a development might be seen to be endorsed by the public when, in my opinion, the public were overwhelmingly opposed, must surely rank as a serious issue. For this Assembly to leave such a matter without attempting to discover the culprit would, in my view, and those members of the public who contacted me, amount to an endorsement of such practices. I therefore thank members for their patience and eventual adoption of my proposition.
As will be obvious from recent media coverage, the company responsible for the attempt to manipulate the telephone poll on the waterfront schemes has now admitted its part and therefore the need to proceed with the Committee of Inquiry drops away.
Clearly the fact that the Committee was about to start work in a matter of days must have some bearing on the admission. I do not believe it would have been forthcoming had this Assembly not decided to set up such an inquiry.
It would like to thank all those who suggested possible candidates for the Presidency of the Committee, and also those who expressed an interest in carrying out the work.
I would especially like to thank Mr. Sam Le Breton, who allowed his name to go forward and was, in fact, due to be proposed for the position today. Clearly there is no requirement for that proposition any longer and I therefore wish to withdraw it.