Letter to the editor
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Letter to the Editor : (12/10/10) Dear Sir Representation
at Party Conferences I have long been struck by the fact that the Isle of Man seems to have no apparent representation at any of the party conferences. There may sometimes be the odd Tynwald member in attendance but, compared with Gibraltar and even the Falkland Islands who have stands and hold receptions, we are sadly absent from these influential gatherings. We have over the years become
very friendly with the Gibraltese as a result of their representation
at party conferences. Indeed in addition to this they hold a Gibraltar
Day annually in London as well as having strong lobbying links to Westminster. The last two years or so have sadly shown the disdain with which the UK Government treats the Isle of Man. As one of the most important off shore centres under the UK Crown surely the time is right for at the very minimum far better representation in London and cooperative representation in Europe, from where sadly more and more of our legislation and regulation seems to flow. In the meantime the time must be right to hold at the very least a reception at the major party conferences or, better still, man a proper stand. If cities like Manchester and Birmingham can fund a shop window surely we should be able to do the same. Whilst at the conference my wife and I were able to network with not only the Gibraltese Chief Minister but also William Hague the Foreign Secretary, Jim Paice Minister of Agriculture and Gerald Howarth from the Defence Ministry among others. Whilst we have no official capacity it was good to be able to bring the Isle of Man into the conversation and suggest that whilst our non-independent equivalent on the South Coast, the Isle of Wight, requires subsidies from the UK Government we are a vibrant nation state worthy of preservation and should not be treated as an inconvenient annexe to the North West.
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