Perspective - Manx Radio Manx Radio

Council of Ministers met the people this week and after a few teething problems with the first session the initiative was generally considered a positive one. So what did they learn? Did they listen? Will policies and strategies change following the feedback received, or will the same story be repackaged to better reflect public concerns? Perspective tries to find the answers but perhaps time will be a better judge as to how meaningful this listening exercise actually was. You wait around for a Minister to speak to for two and a half years then they all turn up at once!

Housing, NHS dentistry, government handling of Covid and the Dr Ranson appeal, cheaper internet services, and greater fiscal responsibility were just a few of the items discussed in Tynwald this week. Perspective tries to squeeze all this and more into the program. There was some quite heated debate and political rifts becoming more evident but one thing which Tynwald unanimously agreed was to condemn the violence which has caused so many innocent deaths in Gaza and Israel. A £2.3 million overspend dressed up as a good news story and a u-turn on the southern pool. Tynwald certainly creating some great headlines if nothing else!

Manx Care’s ambition is to become the best small Island health and social care system in the world and Manx Care’s Chief Executive certainly has the passion and commitment to try to deliver that very worthy aspiration. So why have we not seen  that ambition being delivered so far? What obstacles lie in the way of Manx Care delivering health and social services to help us all live long and healthy lives. Find out when Teresa Cope joins Phil Gawne on Perspective. If strategies, reports and plans cured illnesses we’d all be a lot healthier - so when will we start to see the real change and improvement that significant budget increases appear to promise?

Are you happy with your energy bills? Do you like the uncertainty of how much your next fuel purchase is going to cost? Are you a gardener or farmer concerned about the past four months’ above average rainfall? Is it possible to mitigate against the problems climate change will bring or has that boat already sailed? Energy and Sustainability Centre Directors Ralph Peak and Adrian Cowin think they have some of the answers, and they share their thoughts on this week’s Perspective. Whether you accept man-made Climate Change or not, cheaper, cleaner energy must be a good thing? Or do you think it’s just an unnecessary drop of Manx Green Wash in a mighty overheated global ocean?

Great opportunity to represent the Island both here and abroad, good people skills required, must be able to please all the people all the time, while taking the really tough and difficult decisions. You’ll be working with a great team, many of whom want your job, and all of your 86,000 stakeholders expect you to be instantly available to answer their call. This is a five year post provided you don’t upset too many people! Who’d want to be the Chief Minister? Well Alf Cannan seems keen and he joins Phil Gawne on Perspective. How does he think he’s doing half way through his term in office? Any green shoots waiting round the corner or is that just MHKs wielding long knives?

On last week’s Perspective the Treasury Minister made a valiant attempt to defend the Isle of Man Government’s Tax Strategy. The Strategy was presented to Tynwald this week, not for approval but merely to be received, but even that modest objective came close to being derailed by an amendment from David Ashford. On Perspective we hear from several disgruntled Tynwald members who had hoped for much more in the strategy. We also hear why Tynwald members didn’t think that it was necessary for international standards to be applied to the size of Keys constituencies. Tynwald was certainly sailing through troubled waters this week.