Rob Callister

[b4mbi]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

 I reckon Rob just likes sitting in meetings.

Ah. You get absolutely loads of productive work done that way.

Very important to have lots of important meetings so you can talk (and talk) about all the important issues and hence feel important.

[b4mbi]

15 minutes ago, skins said:

How could you do that? Thought they represented different constituencies?

It's not that difficult to check. They both stood in Garff, and I also voted for both of them. Wisely or unwisely I don't know.

[skins]

53 minutes ago, b4mbi said:

It's not that difficult to check. They both stood in Garff, and I also voted for both of them. Wisely or unwisely I don't know.

Ah sorry I’d misread as voting for RC and DC!! 

[2112]

I think Rob Callister may have bitten off more than he can chew, in his guise of Children’s Champion and Onchan MHK. Sadly Onchan has a anti social behaviour issue with some of its youth running amok. Rob knows the answers (plenty of waffly and psychological bullshit) but he will get any help from PC Plod? As per the Nations Propoganda Mouthpiece - 

Callister believes number taking part is small but a nuisance

An Onchan MHK believes peer pressure within a group of youngsters is one of the drivers behind the recent spate of antisocial behaviour.

Rob Callister says other factors include drink, drugs, poor education and family issues.

He believes the number taking part in such activities is small, but the nuisance they can cause is high.

Mr Callister has been told about members of a group being challenged to carry out tasks, with serious consequences if they fail or refuse to do so:

[finlo]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

I think Rob Callister may have bitten off more than he can chew, in his guise of Children’s Champion and Onchan MHK. Sadly Onchan has a anti social behaviour issue with some of its youth running amok. Rob knows the answers (plenty of waffly and psychological bullshit) but he will get any help from PC Plod? As per the Nations Propoganda Mouthpiece - 

Callister believes number taking part is small but a nuisance

An Onchan MHK believes peer pressure within a group of youngsters is one of the drivers behind the recent spate of antisocial behaviour.

Rob Callister says other factors include drink, drugs, poor education and family issues.

He believes the number taking part in such activities is small, but the nuisance they can cause is high.

Mr Callister has been told about members of a group being challenged to carry out tasks, with serious consequences if they fail or refuse to do so:

It's not a recent spate though it's been a hotbed of thuggery for many year's!

[Southfork]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

Mr Callister has been told about members of a group being challenged to carry out tasks, with serious consequences if they fail or refuse to do so:

Maybe one will be made to stand for MHK? 

[Neil Down]

33 minutes ago, finlo said:

It's not a recent spate though it's been a hotbed of thuggery for many year's!

Talking through your hoop. There was more criminal damage done in and around Douglas than Onchan

[finlo]

14 minutes ago, Neil Down said:

Talking through your hoop. There was more criminal damage done in and around Douglas than Onchan

Nonsense! 

[WTF]

2 hours ago, finlo said:

It's not a recent spate though it's been a hotbed of thuggery for many year's!

especially in the commissioners offices.

[slinkydevil]

Quote

MHK Blog 1st to 7th March 2021

There was a moment last weekend when the entire Isle of Man collectively held its breath for a period lasting more than 24 hours…..

Just after 13.30 last Saturday afternoon the Manx Government published a press release confirming that an extra nine new cases of Covid-19 had been identified, which brought the total number of active cases on the island at that time to 49.

More importantly the Government published precautionary advice after two of those cases were unexplained, which pointed towards a possible community spread of the virus. This meant that the advice published asked the public to stay at home and to avoid household mixing.

In his statement, the Chief Minister Quayle, MHK also asked organisers of events to postpone them, which meant that many sporting and other events just about to start on Saturday afternoon were suddenly cancelled with little or no notice.

I even received a phone call from a very concerned couple who called me just 15 minutes before getting married, asking if they had to cancel their wedding. Fortunately, they didn’t have to do that, and I believe they tied the knot just after 14.00 – congratulations to them both.

I continued to receive various messages and emails from concerned businesses and constituents throughout the afternoon, and going into Saturday evening.

There was definitely an air of uncertainty and confusion especially for public houses and within the hospitality sector who were allowed to stay open on Saturday afternoon and evening, but the general public were advised to stay at home wherever possible – it really was a confusing message.

Unfortunately, the next formal press release wasn’t published until around 13.30 on Sunday, which confirmed that the island had no new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. Therefore island life would continue as normal with no restrictions, but the message at the time was for everyone to continue to be extra vigilant and to follow all the usual guidelines.

Since writing the above paragraphs late on Sunday evening things have since deteriorated, especially now that we know that the Isle of Man has just entered into a further “21 Day Circuit Breaker”. I guess the question being asked by so many people this week is what information was actually given to the Council of Ministers throughout last weekend going into Monday morning, and was the island far too slow to introduce a further lockdown based on all the information we now have available.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing especially in politics, but public opinion around the Government’’s handling of this latest Covid-19 cluster and the rolling out of our vaccination programme is changing very quickly – but more on that in a moment.

As for the rest of my weekend, we needed to clear a load of branches from two trees that we brought down over Christmas in the garden. In total it took us around 9 hours to tidy everything up over the weekend, and although I started at 8.30am on Saturday morning I had to stop once news broke that we had nine new cases of Covid-19 at around 13.30.

I am glad I did, because I received various messages and a number of calls throughout the afternoon. On Saturday evening Ellen and I were due to attend the “Red Ball” for the Mannin Cancer, but that event was also cancelled.

On Sunday morning I continued to work in the garden until around lunchtime again, but always keeping one eye on my emails and messages throughout the day.

Given the strange events over the weekend, I was glad to be able to get back into the office just before 8am on Monday, and I guess many people felt the same, but that positive mood would quickly change this week….

I was also meant to have a tour of Hospice Isle of Man first thing on Monday, but that meeting was also cancelled, which is not surprising.

Therefore, I spent part of the morning going through the House of Keys Order Paper and the Adoption Bill 2021. I also had to deal with a couple of very complex Constituent issues that were far from easy.

I then spent the next 2 or 3 hours going through the amendments in relation to the Landlord Registration (Private Housing) Bill 2020, along with the amendments being tabled by my colleague Lawrie Hooper, MHK.

From there it was straight down to the Sea Terminal just after 14.00 for a meeting on the Landlord Registration Bill before a Tynwald Members briefing on Thursday lunchtime. I managed to get back to the office just after 16.00 and the last hour was spent in the office catching up with correspondence and calls.

Once home I needed to go through a couple of DfE papers relating to the TT, but slowly during the evening more and more messages were being exchanged amongst backbench Tynwald Members desperately trying to find out what was actually unfolding within the corridors of the Manx Government over the past 48 hours.

Just before 23.00 on Monday evening a press release was published confirming that there were further unexplained cases of Covid-19 on the island, and that measures will be brought in from 12 midnight on Tuesday evening going into Wednesday morning. No further details were published at the time other than asking all pupils in Year 8 St Ninian’s Lower School (Bemahague), Onchan and everyone they live with to stay at home and wait to be contacted by the COVID-111 service.

As for Tuesday, up early and into the office just after 6am in order to collect my House of Keys paperwork and other documents that I might need throughout the week. Once home I started going through a few department papers before a Tynwald Members briefing at 9am.
This was followed by a media briefing at 10am in which the Chief Minister, Howard Quayle, MHK confirmed the worst possible news, that the Isle of Man would be going into a further 21 day circuit break lockdown. This meant that school and non-essential businesses would have to close once more, along with the re-introduction of social distancing and the public being asked to stay at home wherever possible.

Just after 11am we had this week’s House of Keys sitting virtually, which started with statements from the Treasury Minister and the Chief Minister on the latest information on the new 21 day circuit breaker, which generated a considerable amount of questions from Members.

Again, with everything that had happened over the weekend and going into Monday and Tuesday, I have to question the timing of such a key decision, especially when thousands of children still attended school on Monday morning and non-essential businesses were open for a few hours as normal before the latest circuit breaker came into force.

Once the statements had been read out and questions asked we then turned our attention to the main question paper, which had 11 oral and 16 written questions. This was followed by the first reading of the Adoption Bill 2021 and the third reading of the International Co-operation (Protection from Liability) Bill 2020.

The sitting finished towards 13.30 and the rest of the afternoon was spent either on the phone or responding to various correspondence until around 17.00, along with trying to get through a few department papers.

Late afternoon one particular House of Keys written question certainly generated a considerable amount of social media comments. The question was from Lawrie Hooper, MHK who asked what was the protocol for any surplus vaccine doses, and in his response the Health Minister, David Ashford, MHK confirmed that fifteen vaccine doses were wasted in one week during February, because “it was not possible to find people who were willing to come to Chester Street Hub, at short notice for them.”

I can’t remember another single moment during Covid-19 events on the island since March 2020 in which a Department response generated so much outcry and comment on social media. During the Wednesday press briefing, both the Chief Minister and the Health Minister tried to defend this decision saying there was always going to be an element wastage, but I think at the heart of this is the wording used by the officers within the Department – especially, when so many people are pushing for the vaccination programme to be rolled out faster.

On Tuesday evening details emerged that the island had eight new cases of Covid-19, which brought the total to 58 – but that figure unfortunately would continue to increase throughout the week.

As for Wednesday, Ellen and I headed out for a quick walk first thing before I went through the two DEFA agenda packs, along with picking a various messages. The number of calls being received continues to increase this week, especially from concerned parents and businesses etc.

At 11am I joined my DEFA colleagues online for the Policy & Strategy meeting, which was followed by the Department meeting that didn’t finish until after 14.30. Again, throughout the day I received various calls from Constituents asking a range of questions and requests for help, especially around the support schemes.

I finally finished for around 17.30, but I did tune into the media briefing at 16.00, which confirmed a further 17 new cases of Covid-19 had been detected on the island, which goes to show how quickly this virus can spread amongst the community.

As for Thursday I was in the office before 7am to collect a couple more files and to print off a few reports. It was then a mad dash through Tesco before getting home just before 9am, in order to dial into the latest Tynwald Members briefing.

Unfortunately, the briefing was limited to just 30 minutes, which was far too short given everything that is happening at moment. There are occasions in this role when I feel like an opposition party member trying to get information out of the Government in power at the time, which is disappointing.

Unlike the UK political system, all 24 MHK’s are elected on the same equal platform, but I think that is forgotten by a few elected Members at times. That said, I fully understand the difficulties facing senior officers within Government and the Council of Ministers as they try to work through this current Covid-19 Cluster, and the strain it is putting on infrastructure, health and the community.

Once the meeting finished I needed to return around 25 missed calls, mainly from people desperately trying to get though to the Covid-19 111 Helpline, which was unable to cope with the volume of calls being received this week.

Towards lunchtime I started to go through several DOI pink papers, along with drafting suitable responses. At 13.15 there was a Tynwald Members briefing on the Landlord Registration (Private Housing) Bill 2020, which lasted almost 90 minutes.

Back on the phone for the next hour or so before the media briefing at 16.00, in which the Health Minister, David Ashford, MHK confirmed that a further 36 new cases of Covid-19 had been detected on the island over the past 24 hours. This brought the current number of active cases to 106, with two people in hospital.

I finished for around 17.30, but I continued to receive the odd bit of correspondence throughout the evening.

Friday was a strange day, because I was planning to take the day off if possible, and it started with a few messages before the latest Tynwald Members briefing got underway at 9am. Again, it was limited to just 30 minutes, in order to give us the latest information, which is very concerning for our island.

I then managed to get a few hours to myself working in the shed starting to build the frame for a new summerhouse, in order to try and switch off for a couple of hours. That said, it isn’t easy because you are always on standby for briefings, meetings and phone calls etc.

At lunchtime I was back into the house, catching up with a few emails before a DfE political catch up. This was followed by an urgent Tynwald Members briefing that got underway at 14.00 and lasted over 30 minutes.

The rest of the afternoon was spent working on next week’s House of Keys order paper and a few department papers until around 16.00, at which time I tuned into the latest media briefing.

During the briefing the Health Minister, David Ashford, MHK confirmed an additional 59 cases of Covid-19 had been detected on the Isle of Man in the past 24 hours, which brought the total cases on the island to 163 with two in hospital, which is very concerning.

As for the weekend, I will continue to be on standby for any Tynwald Members briefing and any constituent calls.

Looking back over the past week, it has definitely been a very difficult period for this island – let’s just hope that we can turn this difficult situation around over the next couple of weeks.

I'm really looking forward to how this Summer House is going to turn out.

[thommo2010]

5 minutes ago, slinkydevil said:

I'm really looking forward to how this Summer House is going to turn out.

To be fair hes managed to convince loads of people he does stuff. Everytime I see him asked a question on social media he never actually gives an answer or says nothing to do with me I was against it. Baffling

[joebean]

One of the many good things to come from deleting Facebook is the lack of exposure to drivel that does nothing to inform you; enhance your understanding or inspire. Time spent wandering through other people's mental meanderings and self-publicity is just minutes of life wasted. Just a thought...apologies for wasting your time.

[ManxTaxPayer]

[Dave Hedgehog]

26 minutes ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

He's clearly got the DoI in to build that. I demand an investigation.

[Albert Tatlock]

33 minutes ago, Roxanne said:

I could be wrong, but I think I've just worked out who writes HQ's briefing statements.

I heard in the pub that HQ had picked up an old 1950s random word generator off ebay.