Sven Hughes

British politicians have some lessons to learn from Jersey

From our UK edition

Let’s be honest: when most of us think about Jersey the words ‘tax’ and ‘avoidance’ come quickly to mind. Okay, so maybe Bergerac, cows and potatoes first, but financial chicanery certainly isn’t far behind. That was certainly my association when I got a call from Jersey Finance Limited (JFL), the financial sector’s industry body. They were looking to review how they communicated the Crown Dependency’s financial services offering and wanted a strategic partner to help share these messages. I have to admit that I knew next-to-nothing about the largest of the Channel Islands, nestled between England and France. A year on, I know a little more about the Bailiwick of Jersey, to give it its proper name.

Donald Trump can teach Theresa May how to listen

There’ll be talk of trade tariffs, Iranian nuclear weapons, Brexit and the embassy in Jerusalem. Of that you can be certain. There’ll be the awkward press questions about the inflatable ‘orange man-baby.’ No doubt.But I’m hoping that The Donald has one more conversation this Friday: a discreet word in the ear of our Prime Minister. Not about policy, but about listening. The fine art of hearing the voice of the public. Because this has been at the root of all of her recent problems. She stopped listening. She was so focused on what she wanted to sell, that she stopped listening to what the audience wanted to buy. You can accuse Donald Trump of many things but being disconnected from his base is not one of them. He listens.