Peter Gilmour

Indeed...but they are becoming more real and difficult as Brexit beds in. Government has a responsibility to monitor the situation and protect and warn businesses. The last thing we need is a lorry load of rotting shellfish at Calais or a company losing business because we had our eye off the ball. Being in Europe nearly 50 years, it might not all be 'new' but it is new to most business people under the age of 80.

If I get elected - the first thing I will do is arrange a large meeting for people in Douglas East to hear the various contender policies and give their opinion as to whom they think would make the best Chief Minister. Thanks to Chris Thomas, we have a little more time to decide who that should be. So it is perfectly reasonable for those in the constituency to expect to express their thoughts and have their say. I think all elected should do that in their own constituency.

Yes, there are a number of reports I have read that cover not just potential strategies but the need for digital upskilling. The problem is not that we are short of reports and strategies, but of people to move these forward. That's where I think my background will be of significant use. Most MHKs/MLC themselves need digital upskilling. At 59 I am still studying for work (8 modules into a 9 module Harvard University Professional Cert in Data Science currently). During the next five years, together we need to be as creative in expanding the island’s Digital and Green industries and protecting the many jobs that will rely on them, as we were when we created the finance sector in the 1980s. If we are not, we will fall behind many of our competitor jurisdictions and miss some golden opportunities, as entrepreneurs and business people move forward elsewhere without us.

Yes. It has been tested on several potential voters - outside of Douglas East of course. If you look VERY closely at the picture (in the background by the bench on the path) you can see just how effective it is.

1. No. (My response to the Brexit question in the IOM Newspapers questionnaire was: "No, purely for economic reasons"). 2. No. But IOM government need to concentrate on making life easier for businesses in terms of dealing with most of the administration and barriers to trade that the EU is erecting. We also need to be very aware that the UK, in terms of trying to compete, might change some VAT rates (dangerous for us as VAT share is a large chunk of our income). 3. Many and numerous in my opinion, particularly in terms of the digital and green economies. Most IT people have known for many years that staff could work from home or indeed anywhere in the world. The game changer has been Covid - it now means many more business people and investors realise it. We are in a unique position here, and have the expertise (legal, tax and accountancy) to quickly set up such companies here operating using that model. One of the major reasons we lose so many young workers every year is given as the lack of diversification of the economy, and not being able to choose the types of job they actually want nowadays. So just one example - imagine a fashion house headquartered on the island with people working here and around the world - so if a young fashion student born here wanted to travel and work elsewhere for a while after studying - they could, but would have the opportunity to return here. We need to develop the diversification of the economy and models for its working - around the needs of our younger workers. If we don't start doing that, who is going to be paying the taxes in future? These models are complex - but the majority of the components are actually in the control of government.

Hi There I'm Peter Gilmour. Here is my manifesto - and I hope you will take the time to read it. Any questions - fire away 😀 Happy to answer. Peter Gilmour Manifesto_East.pdf