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The Isle of Man government and its Chief Minister have been shown to be inept and marginalised following comments from the United Kingdom Prime Minister and his Chancellor Alistair Darling over the past few weeks.
The current crisis of confidence in relations between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom began three weeks ago when Alistair Darling, MP, appearing before the Treasury Select Committee investigating the banking crisis, said that the UK government would need to have a 'long hard look' at the relationship between the UK and the Isle of Man, which he described as a 'tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea'.
This provoked an immediate response from the Isle of Man Chief Minister who at a hastily convened press conference described Alistair Darling's comments as 'unfortunate' and 'ill-informed'. The Manx government subsequently sought a meeting with Lord Chancellor Jack Straw from the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) this being the UK Ministry with responsibility for the dependent territories. Manx Chief Minister, Tony Brown, MHK said the urgent meeting was needed to clarify matters and ensure relations between the Isle of Man and the UK remained mutually positive and productive.
Tony Brown's return from the meeting was eerily remiscent of Neville Chamberlain the British Prime Minister who returned from Munich in 1938 gushing about 'categoric' assurances he had received. Similarly, the Manx Chief Minister was effusive with reassurance. He told the Manx public:
"From the Isle of Man's point of view, the Chancellor gave a categoric assurance there was no provision of the United Kingdom Government looking to re-examine our constitutional position. He said it's as strong as ever."
However, the assurance has proved worthless as this weekend the UK Prime Minister singled out the Isle of Man specifically in a TV interview. When asked about the Islands role in recent banking turmoil he said:
"This is something that we'll have to pursue internationally and I think we may have to look at the relationship between the Isle of Man and Britain in this respect because I think it's sad when people are effectively, an island that is operating in a different way from the rest of Britain."
His Chancellor once again returned to the attack today and in his pre Budget Report UK Chancellor, Alistair Darling, said that one of his priorities is reviewing the crown dependencies and overseas territories and their roles as finance centres.
The Manx government is putting a brave face on events saying that they 'welcome' the news. However, the whole episode reveals the empty nature of their diplomatic initiative via the DCA and the worthless assurances received previously from the Lord Chancellor.
The Manx governments obvious failure to influence decisions being made the Islands future at No 10 and the UK Treasury is probably the worst humiliation suffered by a Manx government at the hands of the United Kingdom in living memory.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League 24/11/08
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