code99

This is not the first time he has gotten into a spat with kiwis. Last year he upset his local councillors when he said: “You two need your heads cut off and your brains replaced.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/03/noel-edmonds-spat-with-council-new-zealand IMHO, he behaves like a self-entitled spoilt brat – is he moving to the Isle of Man? Jeremey Clarkson has left behind ‘big prat’ shoes to fill; I can imagine Noel fitting in with other crass HNWIs here perfectly well. If he had the cojones to intimidate NZ Govt officials, he will find our lot a doddle.

but they have, e.g.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_passport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_passport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_passport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_passport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_passport etc, etc, etc

Thank you for your reply. You are of course entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to mine. Purely coincidentally, I am sure, Sunak’s father-in-law’s company has performed tremendously well since Brexit. Some well-known British industrialists, who voted for Brexit, have subsequently moved their manufacturing facilities abroad. Nigel Farage did his best to scaremonger the British public into believing that the EU was an ‘evil empire’ (yet he seemed very partial to Putin’s Russia where anyone who openly disagrees with the regime risks ending up dead), has obtained a German passport, giving himself the right to live in said ‘evil empire’. I can’t wait for BoJo to get stuck in some foreign airport with his British passport’s invalid dates because he “forgot” that courtesy of his malign political ambitions ‘we’ have left the EU. Mind you, Boris probably does not fly with the plebs on budget airlines, but instead on some partly-sanctioned Russian oligarch’s private jet (possibly a particular Tory Party ‘legitimate and above board’ donor). I too have had discussions with several EU citizens who were bemoaning all sorts of issues, but the misguided notion of ‘sovereignty’ has never cropped up in our conversations. If anything, they want more political unity to withstand Putin, the rise of the far-right across the whole of Europe, and the potential second coming of Trump.

Anyone doubting the damage and the stupidity of Brexit should look at the morons who promoted it. E.g., Nigel Farage is now campaigning against a “draft deal to improve global cooperation against (pandemic) outbreaks” on the grounds that such cooperation will cause the UK to “cede its sovereignty”, whilst Richard Tice has provided about 70% of the funding for the Reform Party which promotes Trump-like right-wing hysteria and continues to love Brexit, etc. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/16/who-accuses-nigel-farage-of-spreading-misinformation-about-pandemic-treaty What is becoming clearer on a daily basis, is that Brexit has been an act of delusional self-harm for ordinary Brits whose quality of life is rapidly going backwards – the only people who are benefiting from Brexit are a few rich elites.

i thought fleetingly the thread was about our Government - massive balls of steel attached to a brass neck.

1. This is exactly the sort of thing the IOMG’s shills trot out after every failure (I bet that several similar narratives have already been prepared and rehearsed to justify future failures). Unfortunately, it is the taxpayers who will have to ultimately pay the bills. 2. Why? Because our most senior politicians have been in power for the last 10 years and the responsibility for the current sh*tshow lies squarely with them - they, and senior civil servants are getting away with failures. They have embraced, in earnest, the concept that one can have 'responsibility' without accountability! 3. The only way to sack this Government is by the people via a GE.

Anyone representing a ‘faith’ (someone who is driven by personal biases) must surely become somewhat conflicted when participating in a decision-making process that is based on certain facts, e.g., the Assisted Dying Bill. Even if a Bishop is sincere and well-meaning person, their participation in the Legislative Council is an old tradition with the ‘use by date’ is well and truly expired. The bigger problem is that our appointed Legislative Council is little more than a pathetic appendage to Government, and is not a ‘check on’ Government. Given that the CM Cannan has voted against the change, the MLCs are likely to derail any changes that they perceive as a challenge. Jeebus, the next thing plebs will demand is to democratically elect the CM and the LC!

Today was an excellent day for UK Labour!

nobody's perfect!

"As of 1 January 2021, VAT is charged at the zero rate on supplies of WSPs (women's sanitary products). https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-womens-sanitary-products-notice-70118 "Sanitary products are free in England. These include leisure centres, libraries and community centres. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, people can get free period products in schools and colleges. Some universities and students unions will also provide free sanitary products." "male razors and condoms are not subject to luxury tax".

Indeed, e.g.: "...group operates almost exclusively in territories where it is unlicensed and where online gambling and sports betting are illegal, i.e. China and the Far East." That is definitely a red flag (no pun intended) for the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission when they issue licences to (any) companies with customers based in the jurisdictions where gambling/ online gambling is illegal, IMHO.

££££££££££££££££££.... When the Power Station was completed in 2003 there was an overspend of and unauthorised borrowings circa £135m (presumably, that debacle was not meant to be a standard that subsequent IOMGs should aspire to repeat). More recently we have had the Liverpool Landing Stage, Douglas Prom, Net Zero, etc. They think new projects/ new residents will make current CS/PS affordable...This idea is a bit like the need to extend Douglas harbour so that it can accommodate our new oversized ferry.

During recessions and times of general economic malaise, one of the tried and tested methods used to shore up the private sector is to increase governments spending, especially on new infrastructure projects. Even when money is spent wastefully, large economies often borrow and spend themselves out of a ‘problem’ (the USA, European Union, Japan, and the UK, all use this method). The alternative route i.e. austerity does not work (as the UK’s Tories recently learnt) because austerity ushers in a smaller economy, greater inequality with ubiquitous social problems including greater levels of crime and higher social welfare costs, etc. The IOMGs do not have the same market power to being able to borrow large amounts of money from financial markets to fund; big lapses in fiscal discipline, profligate pipe-dreams, hypocritical expensive token gestures, duplication of roles at DHSC and Manx Care, and to remodel harbours in order to accommodate our new ferry. When the VAT farrago occurred 10+ years ago, our then Government did not tighten its ‘financial belt’ but instead kept on spending and expending the public sector - no one has seriously reviewed and challenged the Government as to whether current CS/PS numbers are justifiable and are still needed (the latest whim is the sketchy plan to increase the size of the population to 100,000). The public is disgruntled and whilst the Government says it is ‘listening’, they are diving ahead with their obscure ‘tax strategy’ as a sign that this Government has given up on growing the local economy. Unfortunately, our incumbent political leadership does not seem to understand that it must do better than squeezing more taxes from residents. The risks are that they could deplete the private sector or that the private sector will become unwilling to stump up more money for diminishing services.

I generally agree with you and largely disagree with Juan Turner, but this is not the issue. The issue is that Manx politics does not encourage differences of opinions and challenges to Ministerial decisions. Imagine living in the Thatcher’s world without the likes of Hardie, Attlee, Wilson, Benn, Blair, Starmer, etc., to counter her views. If you are a Tory, and say Jeremy Corbyn became the UK PM, if there was no opposition then there would be no one to represent your views and to challenge his policies. Putting this into the IOM context, Cannan, Allinson and Hooper are in the business of deflecting the blame and defending their agenda/ plans. Even if you come to them with a brilliant proposal that would benefit the Island as a whole, they are unlikely be interested in what you have to say if your proposals differ from theirs. Regardless of which end of political spectrum you are on (I am center-left), democracy without scrutiny can work for some people some of the time, but eventually it will fail most people most of the time. The accumulation of incompetent unchallenged decisions made by successive IOMGs has weakened the entire Manx edifice. If this situation continues without proper questioning, it could unravel the remainder of what we have, thus proving Juan Turner right.

Personally, I am gutted about The Tea Junction closing because it is one of my favourite places to go for a bit of niceness. When listening to the owner being interviewed on ITV, I was genuinely disappointed to hear that they are not making enough money to stay in business. I would have thought they could try to raise prices, as most of their clientele seem to be well-off and might be able to afford price increases. So, what can be done? I have a plan. As a taxpayer, I want MHKs, MLCs and all non-frontline service CS/PS desk jockeys earning north of £70k pa to eat out for a minimum 6 nights a week (or alternatively, with special permission, they can substitute breakfasts and lunches for evening meals). I know that that suggestion might sound a bit dictatorial, but Cannan seems to like a bit of totalitarianism (not so much criticism) and those dictatorial tendencies could come to our hospitality industry’s rescue... These people are among the most highly paid residents, and if they can’t help local economy, who can? By dining out and not sitting at home and counting their endless pennies (their incomes have been gifted to them by taxpayers) they can give something back to the community, i.e., it is only fair that these better-off establishment residents give a little bit back. I reckon this idea would be an easier option for Treasury than lowering the VAT rate. ETA: Try to think of this idea as ‘taxes with benefits.’

The IOM Climate Change Team at Net Zero , etc are just some examples of 'greenwashing' : "is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or policies are environmentally friendly". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing#:~:text=Greenwashing (a compound word modeled,or policies are environmentally friendly. Let's see their business case...and then compare to the actual outcomes/ results.

or Mike Proffitt. He has "a £200m turbine and hydro pumping scheme" because he would like "to be part of the government’s policy to decarbonise the network by providing carbon-free electricity through the construction and operation of a wind farm, primarily to deliver base load electricity." What could possibly go wrong... said Tynwald, before MEA Board saddled them with unauthorised loans from Barclays Bank.

"to tap into the uk grid...?" Seemingly not until they make sure the UK grid can cope (and what about MUA capacity to cope with intermittent electricity generated by our wind farm(s)?): "Billions of pounds' worth of green energy projects are on hold because they cannot plug into the UK's electricity system. Some new solar and wind sites are waiting up to 10 to 15 years to be connected because of a lack of capacity in the system - known as the "grid". National Grid, which manages the system, acknowledges the problem but says fundamental reform is needed." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65500339 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62687064

Less than 6 months ago Dr Allinson bragged about the IOM economy being in a “better position” than the UK’s. Since then, the UK’s Tories have been on a tax-cutting spree (which of course are pre-election bribes), while our Government (central and local) raised taxes, rates and other charges (to-date the IOMG has plans to introduce two more taxes – the 15% multinational corporation tax and the NHS Levy). Cannan talks about his newly acquired appetite for fiscal discipline, but refuses to address the ever-increasing number of civil servants. Back in 2021 he announced that the DOI “was not fit for purpose”. Presumably he now thinks the DOI is exemplary? The Government bureaucracy on the Island has become unsustainably disproportionate to the overall population and the size of the private economy. I do not agree that it is beneficial for a country with 85,000 residents to be administered by multiple legally separated Government Departments (entities) each with its own executive structures, CEOs, etc. Hooper may be willing to pay more taxes (e.g., the proposed NHS Levy), because he earns enough to afford to pay more. However, some residents, without enduring personal hardship, are simply be unable to do so, and less and less residents will go along with it - because, at the same time they are paying more taxes, they won’t see any significant improvements in front line public services! Instead, the IOM residents see the proliferation of Government non-jobs, Manx Care non-jobs that are not making the lives of ordinary people any better. But this Government has not seriously listened to residents’ concerns for two and half years and still does not want to listen. The IOM political establishment has a system in place that works for them, that perpetuates ‘them’ as they are, and has everyone else held by proverbial ‘cajones’. How much longer this inequality will drag on for, is anyone’s guess.

Don’t get me wrong, as an art installation, Gaia creates a wonderful ambience and an awe-inspiring experience. It is a privilege for us to have such a world class artwork on the Island, and I am sure you and your family will enjoy your visit. But, promoting this art exhibition as part of the Island’s Climate Change events, to educate the public about climate change and lecture people how they should be “mindful about what they buy and consume, what materials it’s made of, how it got here…” is sadly not much more than a hollow and disingenuous PR exercise. E.g., if the IOM Climate Change Team are really concerned about those things, then why are they not banning the cruise-ships and/or motorsport festivals? If David Attenborough’s impassioned programmes about saving the planet can’t change people’s behaviours and habits, etc., why would a big inflatable balloon made in the shape of the Earth, which is travelling around the world and thereby producing huge amounts of greenhouse gases, be any more persuasive? In and of itself, this balloon is nothing other than a pretty piece of visual art. It does not convey a message about the threats posed by climate change/ global warming.

Now we know what the mysterious Climate Change at Net Zero Isle of Man Department does: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/iconic-giant-illuminated-globe-now-on-display-in-douglas/ Aly Lewin, the Head of Climate Change Team, who are responsible "to ensure delivery of the Climate Change Plan (stop press the IOM has a plan to fight climate change!)...helped facilitate the globe's visit to the Island". Incidentally, this artwork has nothing to do with Greta Thunberg’s The Gaia Project. Yes, as an object of art Gaia is rather beautiful, but Gaia is a touring artwork i.e. this artwork has been touring since 2018 and in 2019 alone Gaia "had 117 exhibitions in 22 different countries", hence emitting large quantity of CO2. Never mind, Aly Lewin hopes that "the exhibition will help inspire people to take action against climate change...” You couldn’t make it up.

Within the UK’s corporate structure, the key responsibilities of non-executive directors include: Strategy, Performance, Risk and People. A NED job is by no means a Mickey Mouse job and is worth every penny IF it is performed to a high standard, otherwise it is pretty useless/ pointless. NEDs are not supposed to be involved in the day-to-day management of the company. That is the theory, but in practice the job could be somewhat different. The two non-executive appointments (finance and marketing) also remind me of an episode from “Yes, Minister/ Prime Minister” where a soon-to-be-retired senior civil servant is planning his retirement, consisting of a string of non-executive directorships, which were helpfully facilitated by Sir Humphrey. In other words, NED roles can be an extension of same old ‘network of chums’ who collect part-time jobs (with guaranteed income) to keep themselves busy when they are not playing golf and tennis. The subsequent Company Act(s) made NED roles more legally accountable and less of a stuffy ‘boys club’, with an obligatory quota of diversity such as ethnic minorities, gender, etc. Of course, some NEDs join charitable causes in order to give back to the community, in altruistic ways. Others take on these roles because they are passionate about a particular line of business and/or genuinely want to apply their specialist knowledge/ expertise to make improvements. Hopefully, our Airport NEDs will fit that profile - the public is yet to learn about the value of their contributions. We will eventually see how the Steam Packet NEDs will turn out, and whether their presence is a positive for the Board, for the company, and consequently, for the Island.

It appears that some people in the community agree with you. In the audio clip one woman said “...the government needs a kick up the backside…”. IMHO, that would be a very good starting point. https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/public-disappointment-after-decision-to-sell-ex-newsons-buildings/

Misogyny has been entrenched in society for so long that when the attitudes began to reform, good intentions occasionally swung too far in the ‘mollycoddling’ direction. Nevertheless, I agree that the difference between criticising and harassing is a fine line. Ever since the Greeks have invented democracy, satire has been an essential attribute of the free speech. In Britain, mocking the powerful, especially political elites, has been an indelible fixture of British culture for centuries. To now drop that splendid tradition and to instead excuse incompetent politicians (both male and female), by saying things like “it’s a difficult job they have to do, …. blah, blah, blah” would be a travesty. The public must maintain the right to criticise their politicians, but not the right to verbally and physically harass them. The IOM political system is particularly flawed by a design that enables mediocre opportunists to get into power and then effectively absolve themselves of accountability and responsibility. The Island faces difficult challenges, if some our politicians are not up to the job then we should not pretend that they are. Until the public finally gets to grips with this fundamental problem, we will continue to elect individuals with limited abilities and skills who are making decisions (on our behalf), which are not necessarily in the best interests of the Island.

I’d hazard a guess that Dr Ranson found her dealing with Manx bureaucracy protracted, frustrating, absurd and (occasionally) frightening. If the latest HR-inspired initiative/ strategy that Manx Care is rolling out is something that our medical professionals welcome, then I am all for it (happy staff = happy patients). But I am not popping champagne just yet - we need evidence this will bring some tangible benefits.