Claim OwnershipAgenda - Manx Radio
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Phil Gawne offers a weekly insight into Manx politics, interviewing current and former politicians about issues in Tynwald and the House of Keys, while exploring the broader world of politics and government operations.
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The Legislative Council considered four Bills at it’s sitting last week including Bills covering Gambling Legislation, Public Records, Income Tax and Employment. Legislation tends to be the poor relation of all the duties performed by Tynwald but it really does influence all our lives. In an attempt to bring these Bills alive to you Agenda spoke with MLCs Gary Clueit and Tanya August-Phillips. E-gaming represents a big part of our economy so it’s important Tynwald gets the regulation right and what’s not to like about cementing Income Tax rules so that large international companies based here pay a bit back to fund government services?
Fed up with all the hype and spin surrounding last week’s budget? Still not entirely sure what the budget was supposed to deliver? Agenda caught up with the Treasury Minister before his budget was debated in Tynwald to find out what he hoped it will achieve and why it was formed in the way we eventually saw last Tuesday. To find out what he thought before he had to react to public comment listen to this week's Agenda. It’s understandable that Chris Thomas maybe isn’t fully behind a budget that was largely constructed before he got there but he puts on a pretty good show of sounding convincing.
Agenda 16.2.26 - Chris Robertshaw and Future IoMFormer Douglas East MHK Chris Robertshaw has a new political vision for the Isle of Man. Describing itself as a movement towards good governance, Future Isle of Man has three core pillars to its thinking. ‘The Democratic Process’, which introduces the concept of holding Referenda into our existing system; ‘A Unified Government’ which bring government operations together under a single legal entity; and the introduction of high level cross-departmental strategic thinking. Is the Manx political system fundamentally broken or have we just been the really, really unlucky victim of events over the past few decades?
The Isle of Man’s native language and status as the world’s first whole-nation UNESCO Biosphere Reserve were highlighted at the Celtic Forum in Scotland this month. It was the first time the Isle of Man has attended the forum, which brings together Celtic regions to collaborate on shared interests. Education Minister Daphne Caine tells Agenda all about this relatively new Forum and how the Isle of Man could benefit from it. The Forum appears to offer some big opportunities for Manx musicians and linguists but could it provide invaluable links for Manx business. Oh yes, … and how’s the new Castle Rushen High School progressing
Legislative Council sittings are generally quite brief affairs but lately they have been stretching out as Keys and Council of Ministers have finally realised that part of their role is making good laws to assist society. In last week’s LegCo sitting the Extradition Bill, the Safeguarding (Amendment) Bill and the City of Douglas Bill completed their passage through Council, the Public Records (Amendment) Bill was read for a first time and the Elections (Keys and Local Authorities) (Amendment) Bill almost made it through its Clause Stage. Find out how these Bills will impact on you on this week's Agenda. And why have the Captains of the Parish been sharpening their pitchforks and raising the militia?
Depending on which side of the growing divide in Manx politics you sit, last week was the best of times or the worst of times. As the old Treasury Minister faced the Cannan guillotine a new Treasury Minister rose back up from the political abyss. So what can Chris Thomas really achieve in the relatively short eight months he has as new Treasury Minister? And was departing Treasury Minister Alex Allinson naively persuing his personal ideology or pragmatically implementing what Tynwald thought it wanted? Find out on this evening’s extended Agenda. Are we heading to a political winter of despair or is a spring of hope just round the corner?
They say that a week is a long time in politics well, if today is anything to go by, it’s going to be a long week! Just after 8am this morning we learned that Alex Allinson had stepped down as Treasury Minister and then shortly after Michelle Haywood had left her role as Minister of Infrastructure. The new DoI Minister is Tim Crookall (this is his third time as Infrastructure Minister since the 2021 election) and as Chanelle Sukhoo was getting Lawrie Hooper’s reaction to the departures we learned that Chris Thomas takes over as Treasury Minister.
The Tynwald Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice is reviewing the Manx Ministerial System which has been in place now for nearly four decades. So far the Committee has heard plenty of evidence to suggest that in good times Council of Ministers works very effectively but when circumstances are difficult CoMin has struggled to take the tough decisions. On Agenda we hear part of the evidence given by Chief Minister Alf Cannan who seems keen to focus more power in the Chief Minister’s hands. Is that good for democracy and will it help get things done, or is this returning us to the days when the governor had absolute power to rule?
Onchan MHK Rob Callister was in the Falkland Islands last month as part of a Commonwealth Parliametary Association team of election observers. You’ll be pleased to know this visit was not funded by the tax payer but you may be interested to know what the Isle of Man can learn from such trips. Mr Callister tells us all about the trip on Agenda. With a 90% turn out in Falklands elections it seems trust in politicians is much higher there than it is here. Unlike here they don’t call each other clowns in the Falklands government but is it ok for us to call Tynwald members clowns …. or just think it but don’t say it out loud?
As 2026 splutters into action this evening’s Agenda takes a look at the year ahead and offers a few predictions and insights into the year that lies before us. This year will see 24 members elected to the House of Keys for a new 5 year term so will any of the current members who stand again fall victim to public dissatisfaction. Also, with the Treasury Minister being stretched in all directions will he be able to deliver a popular budget to help sitting Keys members retain their seats? Will our political crystal balls prove to be accurate? Hmmm - Probably not!
Just over sixty years ago the BBC produced an extraordinary film which couldn’t have been more critical of the Isle of Man had it tried. If you think Donald Trump was hard done to last year by the BBC well this short documentary the Other Island is a master class in how to destroy a country’s reputation. Was it a coincidence that Manx Radio was established the year before much to the BBC’s great displeasure?
Stu Peters tried to persuade Tynwald to ask the public what they think of Tynwald and government’s net zero policies. As the overwhelming majority of Tynwald members back the net zero initiatives they rejected the referendum call and suggested this will be better settled at the 2026 election. Chris Thomas narrowly missed out on persuading Tynwald to reopen gas exploration and John Wannenburgh succeeded in persuading Tynwald and government to do more to back Manx produce. Was Tynwald right to reject the referendum call and instead rely on who you choose as your MHK to make the right decision?
The Extradition Bill 2025 is making its way through the legislative process and for all but a handful of people its impact on our lives will be minimal. So why do we need this legislation? Well, according to the notes on the Bill, no one should be able to escape justice simply by crossing a border, and our current extradition law relies on a largely repealed piece of dated UK legislation. In other news the electricity inter-connector is 25 years old and during its life 25 billion units of electricity have been exported to the UK providing the MUA with an £80 million profit. Exporting electricity and criminals - some good news at last.
There are two new Bills progressing through the House of Keys at the moment and on Agenda we find out what the motivation is for bringing them forward and what their impact will be on our lives. The Education Bill is a mere shadow of the Bill which had previously been brought forward by the education department but it will have a significant impact on home schooling and children with additional educational needs. And do we really need a law to give women access to free period products? The Education Minister has taken her department back to school to produce the slimmer Bill but will the Keys give it ten out of ten or a “see me after the lesson?”
The Area Plan for the North and West would have completed the planning picture for the Island but it was defeated in and extraordinary vote in Tynwald with both Keys and LegCo tied - 12 - 12 and 4 - 4 which meant the President of Tynwald had to use his casting vote which by convention means voting against change? So what happened in Tynwald and why did Tynwald vote to defeat this plan which was the result of around five years hard work by officers. On Agenda we hear some of the highlights of this unprecedented debate. Was there some filibustering going on? Was government complacent? Were the Tynwald members who voted against right to demand facts and detail to back up the shaky housing figures?
The Bishop’s vote moved a step closer to extinction last Tuesday when the Bill which seeks to abolish it finished its passage through the Legislative Council. The Bill had been paused for some time while a LegCo committee considered the impact of this measure but despite setting out clearly that the loss of the Bishop’s vote would most likely result in the loss of a Bishop of Sodor and Mann LegCo supported Key’s resolve to remove what many see as an undemocratic vote. Two of the more prominent speakers in the debate Gary Clueit and Paul Craine explain the process and the two sides of the debate on Agenda. With the Bishop’s vote all but gone will Keys shift their attention to the undemocratic Legislative Council next?
Agenda 10.11.25Is government’s whistle blowing policy fit for purpose? Well a new Tynwald Committee has been set up to answer that very question? Should concerned government employees be able to take their concerns directly to an MHK or is this best left to HR experts to handle? Also, there were several questions raised in October Tynwald about young people not in work or education, is government flip flopping on apprenticeship support, are reservoir repairs over the top and concerns in the south over changes in the rating system. Agenda blowing the whistle on the big political stories of the day ........ or was that just the kettle boiling?
The Government’s Transport Strategy was considered by Tynwald last month and while there was no request for it to be supported it was merely noted by our politicians. Where does leave the strategy if it’s not supported by Tynwald? Also why did Tynwald pick one of the highest year’s for green house gas emissions as the base line on which future emissions reductions are referenced? Has Tynwald done a disservice to itself in not acknowledging significant impacts of previous political actions to reduce climate harming emissions? Is our transport strategy on a road to nowhere and should emissions reduction targets be allowed to go up in smoke?
The Area Plan for the North and West was defeated by three votes in last week’s Tynwald sitting and while it remains possible that it could scrape through in the November sitting it will require all of Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford’s political guile to make that happen. So why has it failed? On Agenda this week Chris Thomas and Paul Craine explain what their concerns are and even the Treasury Minister acknowledges weaknesses in the process. With no plan B, defeat of the plan means the north and west are relying on plans now several decades old. Is Tynwald playing high stakes poker with our planning system?
Would party politics work in the Isle of Man? Lord Finkelstein thinks that on the one hand it might and yet on the other hand it might be no better than what we’ve got! Mitch Sorbie on the other hand seems keen to establish his new party Isle of Man First which, at first glance would substantially reduce government income while being rather vague on how expenditure reduction would be delivered. Mr Sorbie suggests “where there’s a will there’s a way” while Lord Finkelstein notes the only thing the public hates more than a politician is a politician who’s rubbish at politics.
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