Jersey should prepare for independence from UK, warns minister Sir Philip, the assistant chief minister, wants officials to begin preparations for severing links with the UK, claiming the largest of the Channel Islands was getting a "raw deal"." Sir Philip, speaking to The Guardian before the comments were made, said: "I feel that we get a raw deal. I feel it's not fair ... I think that the duty of Jersey politicians now is to try to explain what the island is doing and not to take things lying down. I hope that the constitutional relationship with the UK will continue. But if it becomes plain that our interests in fact lie in being independent it doesn't seem to me that we should bury our head in the sand and say we're not going to do that."" Should Jersey be granted independence? Sir Philip added: "We want to educate. We want to explain what the island is doing. We understand that the movement is towards collecting as much tax as the UK legitimately can do and it's not part of our function to help UK citizens to avoid paying their dues in the UK. Ian Gorst, the chief minister, has already attempted to separate the island from the issue of tax avoidance, saying: "There is no wish or need to accommodate or give encouragement to those who seek to involve Jersey in aggressive tax planning schemes to avoid UK tax." In response, the Treasury minister Philip Ozouf is said to have posted on the social network Twitter: "I don't think it's the place of our government to comment on the moral application of activity which is legal."