The Vaudin Manifesto

A New Guernsey for All Guernseypeople

“The arc of history bends toward justice – but only when ordinary people grab it and pull.”

PREAMBLE: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Fellow islanders, we stand at a crossroads.

For too long, we have been told that Guernsey is a success story. That our finance sector prosperity, our tax haven status, our constitutional arrangements with the Crown all serve our interests. That if we just trust the market, trust the establishment, trust the system that has enriched a few while pricing out the many, everything will somehow work out.

This is a lie.

The truth is that Guernsey has become a colony of global capital. Our housing belongs to speculators. Our politics serve bankers. Our young people become economic refugees in their own homeland. Our democracy has been captured by money, and our island’s future has been mortgaged to maintain the comfortable present of those who already have enough.

But this moment is also our opportunity.

Real change doesn’t come from above – it comes from below. It comes from working families who’ve had enough. From young people who refuse to accept exile as their inheritance. From islanders who remember that this rock belongs to us, not to whoever can pay the highest rent or the biggest political donation.

This manifesto isn’t just a political program – it’s a declaration of independence. Independence from the systems that exploit us, the politics that ignore us, and the economics that exclude us.

Guernsey can be better. Guernsey will be better. But only if we make it so.

I. HOUSING JUSTICE: THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

The Crisis

Housing isn’t a commodity – it’s a human right. But Guernsey has allowed international speculators to treat our homes like poker chips in a global casino. The result? Local families priced out, young people forced off-island, teachers and nurses unable to afford their own communities.

Immediate Emergency Measures

  • Rent Control: Maximum 25% of median island wage for any one-bedroom rental
  • Speculation Tax: 10% annual tax on any residential property left vacant over 12 months
  • Right of First Refusal: Local families get first option on any residential property sale
  • Requisition Powers: States authority to compulsorily purchase vacant luxury properties for affordable housing

Long-Term Transformation

  • Community Land Trusts: Take development land into public ownership, lease to affordable housing cooperatives
  • Cooperative Housing: Support resident-owned housing cooperatives with favorable loans and planning priority
  • Build-to-Rent Public Program: States directly builds rental housing, charges cost-recovery rent only
  • Housing as Infrastructure: Treat affordable housing like roads and hospitals – essential public infrastructure requiring public investment

Constitutional Change

  • Housing Amendment: Constitutional right to affordable housing for all legal residents
  • Local Residence Requirements: Priority housing access for anyone born on-island or resident 10+ years
  • Democratic Planning: All major development decisions subject to local referendum

II. ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY: WORK SHOULD PAY

The Problem

Guernsey’s economy serves capital, not community. Profits flow off-island while workers struggle with rising costs and stagnant wages. The finance sector extracts wealth while creating few meaningful jobs for ordinary islanders.

Worker Power

  • Living Wage Guarantee: £15/hour minimum wage, indexed to housing costs
  • Four-Day Work Week: 32-hour standard work week with no pay reduction – share productivity gains with workers, not just owners
  • Worker Ownership: Right of first refusal for employees when businesses are sold
  • Cooperative Development Bank: Public investment in worker-owned enterprises
  • Union Recognition: Automatic recognition rights for any workplace where workers vote to organize

Community Wealth Building

  • Local Procurement: States spending prioritizes local businesses and cooperatives
  • Community Investment Fund: Channel finance sector profits into local economic development
  • Social Enterprise Zone: Special economic development area for cooperative businesses
  • Local Currency System: Guernsey pound that stays on-island, builds local economic resilience

Finance Sector Reform

  • Windfall Tax: 50% tax on finance sector profits over £1 million annually
  • Public Banking Option: States-owned bank offering basic services at cost
  • Financial Transaction Tax: Small tax on all financial transactions to fund public services
  • Transparency Requirements: Public reporting of all tax structures and beneficial ownership

III. DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION: POWER TO THE PEOPLE

The Democratic Deficit

Guernsey’s political system was designed to exclude ordinary people from real decision-making. Committee government obscures accountability. Corporate interests have more influence than community voices. Major decisions are made behind closed doors by people who’ve never worried about rent or waited months for healthcare.

Immediate Reforms

  • Open Government: All committee meetings public, all documents freely available online
  • Conflict of Interest: Complete divestment required – Deputies cannot hold financial interests in property, finance, or major island employers
  • Recall Elections: Voters can remove any Deputy who fails to fulfill campaign promises
  • Referendum Rights: Citizen-initiated referendums with 1,000 signatures

Participatory Democracy

  • Citizens’ Assemblies: Randomly selected islanders deliberate on major policy questions
  • Neighborhood Councils: Local democratic bodies with budgets for community improvements
  • Participatory Budgeting: Communities directly allocate portion of public spending
  • Digital Democracy: Online platforms for proposal development and community consultation

Constitutional Convention

  • People’s Constitution: Elected convention to write new constitutional arrangements
  • Independence Referendum: Full independence vs. reformed Crown Dependency status within 5 years
  • Democratic Oversight: Elected oversight of all public appointments and major contracts

IV. ISLAND INDEPENDENCE: SELF-DETERMINATION NOW

The Colonial Reality

Guernsey’s relationship with the Crown and UK isn’t partnership – it’s dependency. We cannot set our own tax policy, control our own immigration, or make our own international agreements. Our laws can be overruled, our democratic decisions can be vetoed, our economic future can be sacrificed to London’s political needs.

Constitutional Transformation

  • Full Sovereignty: Complete independence with elected head of state
  • Economic Independence: Full control over taxation, spending, and economic policy
  • International Relations: Guernsey representation in international bodies, ability to make treaties
  • Migration Policy: Community-controlled immigration serving local economic and social needs

Transition Strategy

  • Phase 1: Renegotiate Crown Dependency status – maximum autonomy short of independence
  • Phase 2: Develop independent institutions – central bank, civil service, defense cooperation
  • Phase 3: Independence referendum with clear options and implementation timeline
  • Phase 4: International recognition and EU membership application

V. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUALITY

Climate Reality

Climate change isn’t a future problem – it’s happening now. But environmental destruction and environmental protection both affect working families first and hardest. Any environmental policy that ignores economic inequality will fail.

Green Transformation

  • Renewable Energy Cooperatives: Community-owned wind and solar with profits funding public services
  • Public Transport Revolution: Free electric buses connecting all parishes hourly
  • Active Transport: Protected cycling infrastructure, walkable neighborhoods, car-free zones
  • Rewilding Program: Restore natural habitats, create green jobs, improve flood resilience

Environmental Justice

  • Right to Clean Environment: Constitutional protection for environmental quality
  • Community Environmental Control: Local veto over polluting industries or environmentally destructive development
  • Green Jobs Guarantee: Public employment in environmental restoration and renewable energy
  • Environmental Health Service: Free environmental health monitoring and remediation

Sustainable Development

  • No Net Loss: Any development must create more environmental benefit than damage
  • Circular Economy: Waste reduction, repair cafes, tool libraries, sharing economy infrastructure
  • Local Food System: Support for local agriculture, community gardens, food security planning
  • Carbon Neutral by 2030: Aggressive decarbonization with social justice at the center

VI. SOCIAL SOLIDARITY: HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION FOR ALL

Healthcare Justice

Healthcare is a human right, not a market commodity. Guernsey’s two-tier system creates inequality, rationing care based on ability to pay rather than medical need.

Universal Healthcare

  • Single-Payer System: Free healthcare at point of use, funded by progressive taxation
  • Community Health Centers: Neighborhood-based primary care with social services integration
  • Mental Health Priority: Same-day access to mental health support, community-based treatment
  • Preventive Focus: Investment in health promotion, environmental health, workplace safety

Education Revolution

Education should develop critical thinking, not just compliant workers. Guernsey’s education system should serve local communities, not global capital.

Democratic Education

  • Free University Education: For any Guernsey student committing to 5 years island service after graduation
  • Community-Controlled Schools: Parent and community governance of local schools
  • Critical Curriculum: Local history, cooperative economics, environmental science, media literacy
  • Lifelong Learning: Free adult education, skills training, community learning programs

VII. IMPLEMENTATION: HOW CHANGE HAPPENS

Electoral Strategy

This manifesto isn’t just about winning elections – it’s about building movements. Real change requires:

  • Community Organizing: Building grassroots power in every parish
  • Electoral Politics: Running candidates committed to this program at every level
  • Direct Action: Community campaigns, protests, civil disobedience when necessary
  • Alternative Economics: Building cooperative economy alongside political change

Year One Priorities

  1. Housing Emergency Declaration: Immediate rent controls and vacancy taxes
  2. Democratic Transparency: Open all government meetings and documents
  3. Living Wage: £15/hour minimum wage for all island workers
  4. Constitutional Convention: Begin process of democratic constitutional reform

Legislative Program

  • Housing Justice Act: Comprehensive housing reform package
  • Worker Rights Act: Union recognition, four-day week, cooperative development
  • Democracy Act: Open government, conflict of interest rules, referendum rights
  • Environmental Justice Act: Renewable energy, public transport, community environmental control

Community Power Building

  • Neighborhood Assemblies: Monthly community meetings in every parish
  • Issue Campaigns: Housing, healthcare, education, environment – organize around what matters most
  • Cooperative Development: Support worker-owned businesses, community enterprises, social economy
  • Cultural Change: Art, music, media that imagines and builds the Guernsey we want

VIII. THE CHOICE BEFORE US

Fellow islanders, we face a choice that will define Guernsey for generations.

We can continue with politics as usual – the comfortable arrangements that serve the few while excluding the many. We can accept that housing costs will keep rising, that young people will keep leaving, that our democracy will remain captured by money, that our island’s future will be determined by forces we cannot control.

Or we can choose transformation.

We can choose an economy that serves community over capital. Politics that empower people over profit. A society that prioritizes human needs over market demands. A Guernsey that belongs to all Guernseypeople, not just those who can afford to buy it.

This choice is not between left and right, progressive and conservative, change and tradition.

This choice is between democracy and plutocracy. Between community and commodity. Between a future we control and a future that controls us.

The establishment will tell you this vision is unrealistic, impossible, dangerous. They will say that radical change threatens prosperity, stability, our way of life.

They are wrong.

What threatens our prosperity is an economy that prices out workers. What threatens our stability is a housing crisis that forces families off-island. What threatens our way of life is a political system that treats islanders as customers rather than citizens.

Real security comes from community ownership, democratic control, and an economy that works for everyone. Real prosperity comes from cooperation, not competition. Real tradition means preserving what’s best about Guernsey while transforming what’s worst.

CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN

This manifesto is not a promise – it’s an invitation.

An invitation to imagine Guernsey as it could be: a place where everyone can afford to live, where work provides dignity as well as income, where young people see a future instead of exile, where democracy means more than choosing between different managers of the same broken system.

An invitation to organize: in your workplace, your neighborhood, your community. To build the power necessary to make change, not just demand it.

An invitation to act: to vote, to volunteer, to protest, to build alternatives, to refuse to accept that things must always be as they are.

The future is unwritten. But it will not write itself.

The choice is ours. The power is ours. The time is now.

Join us. Not as followers, but as leaders. Not as subjects, but as citizens. Not as customers, but as comrades.

Together, we can build a new Guernsey. A democratic Guernsey. A Guernsey for all Guernseypeople.

The revolution starts with us.

For more information, to get involved, or to help build the movement for change:

VaudinsViews.gg
info@guernseydemocracy.org
#GuernseysChoice #IslandIndependence #HousingJustice

“Another Guernsey is possible. Another Guernsey is necessary. Another Guernsey is coming.”

– Deputy Marcus Vaudin, 2025