Falklands : Falklands General Services Committee Brief (25/07/08)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.08.2008 (Article Archived on 16.08.2008)
A meeting of General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 and on Friday, 25 July Cllr Mike Summers briefed the Media on what happened during this important Committee meeting.
GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE BRIEF (25/07/08)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 and on Friday, 25 July Cllr Mike Summers briefed the Media on what happened during this important Committee meeting.
Cllr Summers said the agenda was short and included Stand-ins for EXCO, the Air-bridge, British Antarctic Survey, a briefing for people from Mount Pleasant and Constitutional issues.
The MPA brief was given because there is a significant turn-over at the base and Councillors thought it good to give a standard Government briefing to them. Cllr Summers said it was important to remind the Military from our point of view why they are here. A paper for MPs about the cost of defence in the Falkland Islands was also presented to run it past them before it was presented. Also in the brief was the role of Fisheries Protection and the Defence Force in relation to our overall defence.
Meetings on the Constitution are still going on with meetings being planned for the Chamber of Commerce and at Goose Green.
Councillors have done a “U” turn about the Employment tax. They want to see what the tax review will bring. Cllr Summers said there is nothing wrong with a short-term deficit in the budget and everyone agreed that MSL was not the way to go at this time. MSL would make employers think about pay raises and employees would be 2% worse off.
Cllr Summers said that Government Expenditure helps drive the economy including private businesses. When money is taken out of the system the economy suffers. He pointed out that some countries running on deficit budgets have good economies.
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