This letter really encapsulates the absurdity that is politics in Jersey. Reform, a painstakingly moderate social-democratic party (you know, the sort that's perfectly normal in pretty much every Western jurisdiction except Jersey), being described as communist is, frankly, utterly hilarious. RJ are so far from any communist party that has ever existed - even more moderate, "Eurocommunist" strains in parties such as the former Italian Communist Party, that there's simply no comparison. One interesting point that this John Davis makes is that he was a candidate for the Australian Labor Party, which he describes as "progressive socialist". Ignoring the fact that Reform is social-democratic - an ideology usually placed to the right of socialism - I thought it'd be interesting to compare and contrast the two parties. As can be seen in ALP's policy document, "Practical Policies That Put People First", the party stands for - among other things - higher taxes on the rich, no increase in regressive taxes such as GST, funding for students to go to university and investment in renewable energy. A bit like, er, almost exactly like the what's in Reform's manifesto, something I'm sure Mr Davis would've noticed if he had actually taken an unprejudiced look at the party's manifesto. Unless, of course, Mr Davis willingly stood in Australia for a party whose policies, by his own standards, are communist? Is Mr Davis a communist? I mean - many would call me communist - I wouldn't hold it against him if Mr Davis was a communist. But it's just a wee bit hypocritical for him to call a party with policies identical to his own "communist" - wouldn't you say?
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