Row after Guernsey Sunday trading debate cut short

Deputy Jan Kuttelwascher has faced criticism for cutting short a debate on Sunday trading

The use of the "guillotine rule" to cut short a States of Guernsey debate on Sunday trading has come under attack.

The special procedure was enacted by Deputy Jan Kuttelwascher to force an immediate vote on the controversial issue.

Deputy Al Brouard has called on the States assembly and constitution committee to review the procedure.

Culture and Leisure Minister, Deputy Mike O'Hara, said the episode represented "very poor democracy".

Mr Brouard said there should have been time allowed to have "all the arguments put on the table".

'Painful repetition'

He said the use of the guillotine rule meant the States could not "give the subject its full airing".

States members voted by 25-19 to end controls on which shops can open and what goods can be sold on Sundays.

Defending his actions Mr Kuttelwascher said members had voted to implement the guillotine and he had used "one of the tools in the democratic box".

He said the debate up until his intervention was "assumption, presumption, speculation and rather painful levels of repetition".