Isle of Man General Election Special The Politics Show North West

Welcome to the Isle of Man. This is one of the best but turfed medieval

castles in each Europe. For hundreds of years it was the seat

of power here on the islands. This was the old capital. Now it has

moved to the Tynwald building in Douglas. It contains the upper and

lower houses of parliament. On 29th September, the Ireland goes to the

polls to elect the eight members of that house. Election comes at a

crucial time for the Isle of Man. We will be looking at the major

issues and asking some of the candidates how they would tackle

. When this castle was built and the Middle Ages, the Isle of Man

was rolled over by the Norse King's. It has been fought over by the

Scottish and the English and eventually became a British

dependency in 1765. How has it done since then and how does it compare

to the North West of England? His our look at the vital statistics.

1.9% of the population is unemployed. North West unemployment

is a 0.1%. The average house price here is nearly �289,000. The North

This here her national income is expected to be �535 million. We are

expected to spend 533 million. is spent on benefits and nearly 31

% is spent on health. Nearly 22% of the population are employed by the

Government. 23 % and employed by insurance, banking and the finance

business. Those are some of the statistics, but what are the big

issues? Possibly one of the biggest issues at the moment is VAT. I am

in the north of the island. Back when the Isle of Man was a major

smuggling centre boats from here supplied Scotland and Cumbria with

contraband. In the last two years the UK has changed an agreement

costing islanders around one-third of their income. Since the 13th

century the Isle of Man has enjoyed a variable relationship with its

neighbour across the Irish Sea. For the past 250 years the Isle of Man

and the UK has had an agreement which means neither pays import

duty. The VAT is divided out between both jurisdictions. That is

all well and good until 2009 when the UK Government decided the

calculation needed looking at. That resulted in the island having its

share reduced, this year it again took another 75 million, altogether

around one-third of the annual budget. It is a lot of money.

think it is unfair and the UK seems to regard the Isle of Man as fair

game for raiding their reserves. have to challenge the British

Government and come to a proper agreement on VAT. It is like when

we had reads from the Vikings. At least the Vikings settled here and

into married. A survey was commissioned on key election issues,

one of them is the relationship with the UK. Half of the people

felt we had the right amount of independence, the other half felt

we should have more independence. We asked about the quality of the

relationship with the UK and overall it was slightly better than

before. We asked if it had got better, worse or stayed the same,

it was said to have Beattie related. The Channel Islands have their own

sales tax. The business community here says that would not work.

of the things that makes the Isle of Man a good place to do business

is our VAT arrangement. If it was discarded we would have to look at

what was in its place. Here in the Manx Museum the island's history is

laid out. It is largely independent but still with important links. In

recent years the UK has faced calls from Scotland and Wales for more

independence. Is it time for de Isle of Man, too, to loosen those

ties. People are British and happy to be part of the British Isles.

They want to remain so. With me is the man who presided over at those

two Cannes adjustments. When you got back where you two week? -- two

VAT adjustments. I do not think so. The basis of the agreement goes

back some time. The UK was keen to readjust the aid payment due to

changes in the economy of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man fought its

case and we argued our. Very firmly, we have been able to get to a State

of agreement. It is difficult but we will deal with that and our

economy continues to develop. It could have been worse if the UK had

made a decision to end the customs agreement. Some people clearly feel

there should be a referendum on the Isle of Man before that deal is

formally expected, do you think that is at goal were? No. I think

they would have to explain to the people the complexity of the

agreement. -- goer. We hear that we are lacking commercial ability and

strong leadership, what has gone wrong? I do not think anything has

gone wrong, those are the views of a few individuals. The Isle of Man

economy has continued to grow year on year. I think we have been very

effective especially in the current global economic situation. What

will you be doing in your retirement? Hopefully not too much

but I will have interests in my local community and continue to be

involved fear. The biggest employer on the island is the Government.

Because of the VAT deal, tens of millions of pounds have to be saved

and a debate has begun on whether the Government should be scaling

back. It has become a difficult journey for Protours, a travel

company that can trace its ancestry to the 1920s. We go back to what

was tour's Isle of Man. Now its future is in doubt after losing a

valuable Government contract. is a slogan, Freedom to Flourish.

It is not helping us to flourish. Some of the dead wood should be cut

out and we should get a new Government with commercial ability

which I think has been lacking in this last one. It is not just

private sector worries but unions to. As ministers retune the

economic engine 400 posts have so far been closed. Unions question

the plan. What we need to see from the Isle of Man Government is some

strong leadership. We need a strategy to deal with common

problems. Those things have been absent. Both unions and business

will be expecting a lot from whoever takes over here at

Government House. The Treasury is going to be driving through a one-

third cut in public spending. Things will have to come into

consideration, for example, whether we should carry on running our

local bus service, should we done our airport, should we be running

leisure centres? It may not be a case of cutting those services but

finding a commercial way of being able to deliver them. Those

decisions will change the way the next generation of islanders live

their lives. Charities and voluntary groups are likely to

become more important. Small island, Big Society. In the last few years

we have worked very closely with the Isle of Man Government. They

are much more savvy about what the third sector does and how much we

are putting into the economy. Together we are working side by

side which is actually a real first for the Isle of Man. There are a

lot of churches on the island? churches. I hope very much that the

people who are elected will not only be those who are worried about

the prosperity of the island but are actually bothered about

individuals. For this bishop that means cuts would be balanced with

tax increases. Isn't it almost morally obligatory that richer

people pay more tax? Simply for me to say that without knowing how far

you could call with increasing the taxes without effectively telling

the goose that lays the golden egg, I don't know. The island has a

major advantage, reserves of about �1 billion. Unlike the UK, they

really did save up for an rainy day. The trouble is, nobody knows how

This is Cregneash Folk Village. The place to come to come to get a

taste of what rural life was like here in the 19th century. Back then

if you wanted a house you built your own. These days, it's a bit

more expensive. House prices here are around 75% higher than the UK

average. This is undoubtedly a beautiful place to live. Norman

Wisdom, Jeremy Clarkson and Nigel Mansell just a few who have made

the island their home. But these days, many born and bred Manx are

having trouble doing the same. The Isle of Man has some of the highest

house prices in the region - the average �288,000 - and politians

realise this is an issue that can't be ignored. Paul and Jessica Norman

moved into their house in Douglas with their 18-month-old daughter

Rebecca a year ago. It's brand new and spacious, but most importantly

it's theirs. There is a primary school and park and it is all

within 10 minutes' walk. We can be happier, very lucky. When I left

school and started work and time was burning, I was looking into

properties and I thought that is not even in reach, the price. It

was very intimidating, so to speak, the housing market. They were held

by something called the first time by a scheme, and grants and loans

scheme to help them get on the property ladder. Over the last 10

years the island government has also funded and invested in housing.

To have waiting list has risen and there are more than 900 people on

the first time buyers register. Then there are those who are not

even on a list. Shaun and Hannah are just two of the many who've

sought help from the island's homeless charity. Different stories

that brought them to the same place. Shaun had his own business, a home.

But circumstances meant he ended up in a guest house. Hannah and her

family were evicted when she was 15, they ended up on the streets, then

she was taken into care. We ended up one day at the autumn of

Broadway with the back, in the rain with my mum and step dad who are

both registered blind. And nowhere to go. Both have now got

accommodation, but the charity believes the island's homeless

population is bigger than people like to think. It needs to be

excepted as a social issue and with a new administration coming in

September it needs to be on the agenda and we need to discuss the

causes of homelessness and what we can do to reduce to Lovells. Much

of the homelessness that people refer to would be called so for

certain. It is people that have a room over their head due to the

generosity of friends and family but don't have a permanent place of

residence. We have to prioritise resources to where everything we

can make most benefit. But even with budgets squeezed, the Manx

Labour party believes a large scale building programme is the answer to

the island's housing problems It's called the Jewel of the Irish Sea.

We cannot budget for a deficit. There are sectors of the economy

which are presently having a difficult time, such as

construction, and they could not be a better time to continue a

programme of housebuilding and improving the infrastructure.

called the jewel of the Irish Sea. But for many, owning a bit of this

precious island is still just a little out of their reach. This is

the old House of Keys whether politicians sat until 1874 when

they moved to their current premises in Douglas. I am joined by

six of the candidates contesting the seat in the constituency. They

are Treasury minister Anne Craine, economic to the German minister

Alan Bell, former MHK and pharmacist, Leonard Singer, John

McDonough, Business woman Linda Bowers-Kasch, and accountant Lawrie

Cooper. The island faces difficult times, I think he would all agree.

The cut in budget of around a third. The big question is how we is to

Ireland go to deal with that? Anne Craine, as Treasury Minister, the

burden falls upon you. Is it time that taxes need to be raised on the

island? We did raise taxes 18 months ago and I think that we need

to bear in mind very clearly that the Isle of Man knees to retain a

competitive tax rate so I do not personally think it is time to

raise taxes again. Readjusting our budget will be addressed by many

strategies, raising taxes is one of them, contracting power capital

programme is another, reducing government expenditure is yet

another. Alan Bell you are also a former Treasury minister. If you're

not going to raise taxes, it looks tours job losses, doesn't it?

worth reflecting that we have already embarked on replanting

programme. I started it when I was Treasury minister some 18 months

ago. We have a five-year recovery plan which has included tax rises.

We have already bought that in. We are already substantially reducing

public expenditure. We are looking at all ways of raising funds and we

must not lose sight on the fact that we have strong reserves and no

external debt. Linda Bowers-Kasch, you have worked in the banking

industry, do you think the government is going down the right

route? I think we do need to stay competitive. What I would like to

see more of his driving value-for- money. What do you think they

should be doing? A think it is well known to people in business that

there are ways to work more efficiently. Looking at the way

services are provided. If you can drive economies and deficiencies in

that way that will help us to protect impact on frontline

services. The difficulty here it is that this Government, or to last

government, did not prepare properly. They knew that they were

getting far too much in the VAT agreement and yet instead of

putting money aside trying to us news that the economy, it did not

happen and money was allocated. We're dipping into the researchers

now. No, we are not. You have said you're going to. That was an option

and we have not dipped into any reserves and we are ahead of

programme. Are you going to have to? The that may well be the

situation. We had 140 million taken from us and before the Budget

everyone had to pull in their belts. We then had a budget which was all

smoke and mirrors are. And then the UK took another 75 million from us.

In two years' time we'll be 200 million shorten this island and we

have to try to replace that. you get the figures right in the

first place because we were not talking about 140 million, we were

talking about 100. It is to just put in the VAT level. Lawrie Cooper,

you're an accountant. How would you deal with this? We have to be ready

to consider everything. The right approach is to look at the current

taxation system and say is this right for the Isle of Man? This is

the proper on the previous administration has that they have

things that they want to investigate. They like things the

way you it is you have to look at everything government is doing.

would companies queue this if they change the way there tax was done.

It is such a large part of the island's business, with companies

setting up on the island. We cannot afford to scare them off so we need

be very careful what we do. We are seen as a low-tax jurisdiction and

we don't want to upset that. this economic climate can you

afford still live like that. Let us face it, we should build on the

things that work for us as well. should look to how we improved in

other areas, such as smarter working practices, but also, when

we look at the groom is that we have in place, how robust is a

review process of those agreements internally? Is there room to

improve upon that? Learning lessons from the passer that in the future

we are better prepared and we have better contingency for that.

need more government scrutiny. There has been very little if any

Cubbon scrutiny. We are not going to have that money in the future

and I really believe that we have to look at economies, we have to

look at savings. Should any of these responsibilities be put out

to the private sector? government here on the island to

be? Does it need to be scaled down? Do you need to be contracting out

services? I have warned on the number of occasions that government

was getting to pick. We employ something like 20% of the Ireland's

workforce. That is unsustainable in the long term. The government is

not like a private company. It to shed staff in one sector of

government than the bill is passed on to social security or other

areas. I should just picking up about zero rate of corporation tax.

We would lose a substantial part of economy and it would derail any

balancing that we were doing. This is why people are asking the

question, people on the street asking are we doing what is right.

Government continued tells us to trust us in what we're doing.

very clear and when we refer back to the comments about greater

scrutiny, let us look at the record that the Isle of Man has had over

the last 25 years of economic growth. The spending that we have

made into the infrastructure, new hospitals, a new sewerage system.

John, how do you think all of this with the VAT agreement has

effective relationships with UK and how can the island go for it?

danger it is, I feel, that the case is a Sussex certain to them. Do you

think the Isle of Man has been hit unfairly? Yes, I think we should

stand by our ground. We'll have to stop it there - thank you very much.

And you can get a full list of all the candidates by going to our

website - that's bbc.co.uk/isleofman - and clicking

through the links. Now let's go to Arif - who's at Tynwald Hill in St

John's. This, of course, is the site of the

old Norse Parliament and on July 5th, the site of Tynwald Day, the

big national day for the Isle of Man. One of the annual rituals is

the laying down of the petitions of redress. Members of the general

public can walk up this path and lay down a petition asking their

Government to right a wrong. Gill Dummigan has been to meet some of

those who've done it - with varying degrees of success. If you've got

something to say, Tynwald Day's is your big chance to have it heard by

the law-makers. Marjorie McMullen and her neighbours put their

petition in in 2009, asking for more rights for freehold home

owners. We had explored every other avenue to sort out the dispute that

we had. This was a last resort. year before, Rob Farrer's petition

was accompanied by demonstrators. Rob was forced to retire from his

job as a painter and decorator because of Parkinson's Disease. He

wants the benefits system improving for the long term sick. People who

were chronically ill with no chance of working should be on a higher

benefit. The process is that they march up ceremonially and hand it

to me and I handed to the Governor he formally handed over to the

standing orders committee and they formally refer it. To be successful

your petition has to be taken up by a Member of the House of Keys, and

discussed in committee. And then it might pass. But the odds are not

great. This is the list of petitions submitted since 2006. The

vast majority of them got absolutely nowhere - including

Rob's. However, he's still a fan of the system. I think it is such a

unique and wonderful opportunities to present a problem in society,

which you cannot do any other way. Marjorie and her friends were more

successful. Theirs might even lead to a change in the law Direct

democracy in action there. We are quite proud of the fact we have