Candidate Views - Michael

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Our healthcare service is falling well short of what we should be getting. If you are unfortunate enough to fall ill you should be able to see a doctor the same day and this is the target I believe we should be achieving. Meanwhile, waiting weeks to see a consultant in this day and age is unacceptable. Often prolonging suffering not to mention causing people to take unnecessarily long periods of time off work there are obvious reasons why we should be demanding better. I feel that too much of our resources are being wasted on pointless politics and needless bureaucracy and not enough being delivered in front-line hands-on healthcare. The decision to place a new doctor's surgery and community centre in Jurby is great news for Jurby. However it leaves me asking the question “When are we going to get something similar in Kirk Michael?” and this is something I would continue to campaign for. Meanwhile, people who let themselves down and inconvenience others by not turning up for Doctor's or hospital appointments might be persuaded to buck their ideas up if the department were able to issue fines in the same way as fixed penalty notices! Although I have no doubt more people would turn up for their appointments if they didn't have to wait such a long time to get one in the first place.

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The Island has a very good Education Service. However, it is vital that our Government continue to fully support and fund all aspects of education. It is essential that we have the necessary skills amongst our future work force to full fill the requirements of what is likely to be a more diverse economy. It concerns me that we have a very well educated young population that in the event that we fail to provide local business and employment opportunities, will chose to leave our Island in search of a better future. Education doesn't just stop when you finish school, Education is the foundation we use on which to build our lives and continues throughout.

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Personally, I doubt that we would benefit from being entirely independent of the United Kingdom. However, we do have the ability to be different from the United Kingdom and that is our biggest advantage. It is increasingly important that we seek to differ from the United Kingdom on many policies that are not beneficial to our unique culture and economy. We must defend our differences and stand our ground as a self-governed democracy with a fundamental right to exist without fear of undue influence.

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I feel uncomfortable with income tax capping. However, I acknowledge the fact that high-net-worth individuals who take advantage of this limit to the amount of tax they pay might contribute significantly to the Island's economy and help keep income tax bills lower for the rest of us. As for VAT it is my belief that we should be re-negotiating the arrangement as a matter of urgency and not accepting what has been handed down to us. Even if we are successful in negotiating a better package we should move quickly to make our public spending more efficient to help protect our services and funds held in reserve. Ultimately I think that when the time is right we should be looking to leave the VAT sharing arrangement.

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In a word. Yes. But there is little that we can do about it due to main factors being outside of the control of the Isle of Man.

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In most cases I favour free market competition. But our Island is unique and occasionally vulnerable when private companies end up with a monopoly. On the other hand state owned facilities tend to be run badly because they are not required to make a profit and usually keep losing money. I would prefer to see joint ventures where the state is a share-holder in a company and where the board of directors are ultimately more accountable than if it were entirely state owned.

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The Steam Packet Company is a major reason we see a declining tourist industry and a reduction in manufacturing, not to mention adding a premium to the price to most of our imported goods. Any notion that we can't live without the Steam Packet and we cannot afford to lose them is wrong. The fact is we lost them a long time ago and today's Steam Packet Company is a badly run, debt laden organisation that operates with the sole priority of paying dividends to its foreign shareholders. The Isle of Man could benefit massively with a new sea transport provider and I would welcome one.

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We could all do more to protect our environment. But we should be striving to improve our environment and there is little to suggest we are making headway with this. I would like to see sustainable reforestation of the low land areas for example, and more land being actively farmed. I would like to see areas of the hillsides designated for recreational use while maintaining environmentally sensitive areas for the development of wildlife. There are massive areas that we could develop our environment for the mutual benefit of us all and create an even more valuable asset for future generations to enjoy.

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In the short term we depend massively on the finance industry. But this has undoubtedly a finite life expectancy, at least in its current form. The finance industry, given the correct support will re-invent itself and do it's best to stay ahead of the game long into the future. However, now is the time to look at our other resources and see the opportunities around us. If we are to support any industry, whether it be space, manufacturing, tourism or farming the Island needs a reliable and sustainable source of energy. We should be investing heavily in renewable energy technology. Not by 'buying it in' but by developing it ourselves. Perhaps with a view to selling this technology around the globe. It is a massive future growth area in itself and by pioneering it here in the Isle of Man we could generate the required low-cost energy to support any number of industries.

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I think employment opportunities could be created in Aviation, Tourism, Engineering, Technology, Telecommunications, Media, Marketing and further jobs in the Financial Services Industries.

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Without doubt the MLC's should be publicly elected. But why have them at all? I'm not in favour of a publicly elected Chief Minister unless the vote was separate to the House of Keys. For example: Candidates would stand either to be elected to the House of Keys or to be elected as Chief Minister. One or the other, not both.

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