Alf Cannan's I Have A Dream

[The Phantom]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

It's worth pointing out just how dramatic this is.  Here are the figures for number of people by age from the May 2021 Census:

Age	Total
0	657
1	674
2	699
3	728
4	725
5	790
6	810
7	819
8	890
9	936
10	945
11	979
12	1025
13	919
14	918
15	884
16	901

Since then the number of births has continued to fall down to 586 in 2022.  So there are around a thousand 14 year-olds at the moment, and they must be panicking about what to do when those reach A-levels.  But the number then falls every year from then on. 

And of course families with children in education try not move to new areas if they can help it anyway, so all the blathering about the 'safe' Isle of Man is likely to attract is more grumpy pensioners demanding services and raising house prices so as to put off people with young families.

The really interesting thing I get from the census figures is that we now have more people dying than being born, by a significant margin.  The increase in population over the period is purely down to immigration. 

Admittedly it's not a fast fix, but Govt should probably be doing something to try and increase the birth rate.  Apart from offering my services for impregnation, they should consider consider cranking up allowances and payments for maternity/paternity to make it actually more attractive and financially viable to breed. 

The housing situation has something to do with this too, gone are the days of one ok salary being able to afford the mortgage on an ok house and pay for the kids. 

But again this would have a knock on to the already stretched maternity ward.  Somebody might need to make a serious call in due course regarding where resources at the hospital are allocated.  To the start or end of life. 

 

[english zloty]

2 hours ago, Omobono said:

Never mind ,  apparently  Government is  currently  considering  having an Education   management board , based on ,  and following the excellent example shown by the success of Manx  care to run and govern  the schools , 

I guess it will have the same credibility as the Health service has  this years exam results have already  lifted a few eyebrows ,and yet we are blindly following  the same mistake as heath and removing  the ministers and so called professionals  at the top  who literally have abrogated their responsibility  to someone else 

hence the  complete lack of decision making and failure to deliver a decent service 

I'm Chairman of the bored.

Let's hope it's more successful than the Housing and Community Board whose only action appears to have been the resignations of the Chair, most of the Board and the officers advising it.

Perhaps it can copy the Manx Care/DHSC model, also a great success 😂😂

[2112]

The NPM (MR) announced this evening that Professor Ashford MBE MHK has appointed to the Cabinet Office as a political member, and is the new Chair of the Housing and Communities Board. Presumably he still remains chair of the Planning Committee? 
 

Im sure Professor Ashford will be giving the MDC the benefit the of his wisdom, and extensive experience in housing. I’m sure he will do a fantastic job of screwing up the establishment of a housing association. 
 

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by 2112

[2112]

On the NPM (MR) this morning is a report saying how there are lots of people requesting assistance with energy bills. Graih report that many of those are new residents who have come over to work and think they can get help from the benefits system. An unintended consequence of CM Cannans policy?

[Meoir Shee]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:27 PM, CrazyDave said:

If they want to keep away from a sixth form college then they need to sort out the shit show that is the way they do things at the moment.

Kids expected to attend lessons at schools miles away from their own school but not allowed to drive themselves or get lifts with friends are regularly missing lessons because the schools can’t organise a bus, or even getting to a school miles away and finding the lesson is cancelled or there is no teacher.

It shouldn’t be difficult.

Kids aren’t expected to attend lessons at another school, they choose to do so.  There are plenty of option choices at each school.

They aren’t allowed to drive themselves as they are still children and technically under the direction of the education system.  Parents are fully aware of this.

Schools don’t organise buses, Isle of Man Transport does, schools simply book them.  Sometimes buses don’t turn up, that isn’t the fault of schools.

Occasionally lessons are cancelled, often due to staff illness.  That is unfortunate but does happen.

[CrazyDave]

40 minutes ago, Meoir Shee said:

Kids aren’t expected to attend lessons at another school, they choose to do so.  There are plenty of option choices at each school.

They aren’t allowed to drive themselves as they are still children and technically under the direction of the education system.  Parents are fully aware of this.

Schools don’t organise buses, Isle of Man Transport does, schools simply book them.  Sometimes buses don’t turn up, that isn’t the fault of schools.

Occasionally lessons are cancelled, often due to staff illness.  That is unfortunate but does happen.

Lol

”schools don’t organise buses”

”schools simply book them”

So if the school don’t book the bus, and admit that to the kids then whose fault is that?

 

 

[code99]

On 10/1/2023 at 2:57 PM, TheTeapot said:

They will. The opposition parties are all shit.

Prior to Brexit, it would have been almost unthinkable for any ethnic-minority, especially female members of the UK Government, to share views which reflect Enoch Powell’s xenophobic rhetoric. The speech made by Braverman aka Suella the Cruel at the Tory Party Conference (I noticed that she was only heckled by one Tory backbencher) has left me feeling unsure about which is more morally reprehensible – the content of her speech or her contemptable supporters. Rees-Mogg, a dead-ringer of an apparition of a dead slave-owner, and Farage who looks more and more like an overused dildo and says he’s thinking about re-joining the Tories, were beside themselves with excitement. I admit that the current Labour leadership are not perfect, but the political “sh*t” that the Tories are currently embracing and will undoubtedly unleash with terrible force if they win next GE, will be an historical tragedy for Britain. Unfortunately, many ordinary British folk don’t seem to understand what the consequences of electing an ultra right-wing government will be e.g., widespread intolerance, censorship, victimisation, poverty, the loss of the personal freedoms for those who cannot defend themselves, etc.      

Recently Dr Alex said on Manx Radio that the value of available/ spendable/ cashable Reserves are now £600m. He also said that the Treasury would draw-down this part of the Reserves by £150m in the current financial year. Anyone who hopes that Tory victory in the UK will be a direct or indirect benefit for the Island will likely be disappointed. IMHO, the upcoming changes to the International tax rules for multi-national corporations could potentially boost Treasury revenues. But by how much? Millions or tens of millions? If our large gambling and insurance companies pay the agreed rate of tax (presumably 15%) on their profits, that could perhaps be a game-changer for the IOM Treasury. If not, then in a couple of years’ time our Chief Minister could be toddling off to London with a cap in one hand and the keys to the Treasury’s empty safe in the other. Regardless of who the occupant of Number 10 is, what would happen next is anybody’s guess.

[CrazyDave]

CoC press release re temporary scrapping of work permits.

We absolutely need to do this, but it will be an interesting test of some of the MHKs who might feel social media pressure from the old school stick In the muds to vote against

”

Date: Tuesday 03 October 2023

IOM’s leading business network backs move by Enterprise Minister to cut ‘red tape’

The Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce is backing a move by the Enterprise Minister, Tim Johnston MHK, to temporarily suspend the need for work permits.

Chamber says feedback from its members and the wider business community clearly indicates a strong consensus in favour of relaxing the rules in order to help address the labour shortage affecting most sectors of the economy. The Enterprise Minister’s proposal follows a public consultation earlier this year and seeks to make it easier for employers to recruit employees from off-Island, especially those with essential skills or experience.

In a radio interview this week [w/c October 2nd] the Enterprise Minister said: “At a time when 99.9% of work permits are actually passed, it is just seen by business – in the present climate – as red tape and an unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Chamber CEO, Rebecca George, commented: “This view is shared by a majority of our members and the wider business community. Concern about work permits is an issue with a long history as one of several significant, longstanding, barriers to economic growth – so it should have been addressed several years ago. In this context Chamber sees this reform as one that’s long overdue, so we urge MHKs to support the work permits proposal. However, it’s important to note that this is just one example of unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy which need to be addressed in order to help employers recruit the employees they need to grow their businesses. It’s also one of several barriers to business growth which Chamber has been calling on the current Government to tackle for several years – so it’s important to remember the urgent need to address these issues too.”

Reducing red tape was one of the points raised in Chamber’s ‘Business Manifesto’ which was announced in the run-up to the 2021 IOM General Election. In recent months the Island’s biggest business network has called for urgent Government action to restore business community confidence and support economic growth. This followed a Chamber survey published in June in which businesses gave a massive vote of no confidence in the Government’s handling of the economy. 93.55% of respondents said they did not believe that the Economic Strategy would be completed as promised. In the same poll 83.61% said red tape was preventing them from investing and hindering growth.

The Enterprise Minister’s proposal to change the work permits system is scheduled to be put before Tynwald in the next sitting (October 17th to 19th).

In addition to relaxing work permit rules, Chamber has been calling for several years for reforms to the structure of Government, plus a raft of measures to encourage inward investment to the Island, and to increase the Island’s economically active population.”

[Roxanne]

2 hours ago, code99 said:

and Farage who looks more and more like an overused dildo

 

I didn't think anything much could make me laugh today, but you just made me do it. I shall NEVER unsee that image. NEVER! 

[TheTeapot]

5 hours ago, code99 said:

Prior to Brexit, it would have been almost unthinkable for any ethnic-minority, especially female members of the UK Government, to share views which reflect Enoch Powell’s xenophobic rhetoric. The speech made by Braverman aka Suella the Cruel at the Tory Party Conference (I noticed that she was only heckled by one Tory backbencher) has left me feeling unsure about which is more morally reprehensible – the content of her speech or her contemptable supporters. Rees-Mogg, a dead-ringer of an apparition of a dead slave-owner, and Farage who looks more and more like an overused dildo and says he’s thinking about re-joining the Tories, were beside themselves with excitement. I admit that the current Labour leadership are not perfect, but the political “sh*t” that the Tories are currently embracing and will undoubtedly unleash with terrible force if they win next GE, will be an historical tragedy for Britain. Unfortunately, many ordinary British folk don’t seem to understand what the consequences of electing an ultra right-wing government will be e.g., widespread intolerance, censorship, victimisation, poverty, the loss of the personal freedoms for those who cannot defend themselves, etc.      

 

I agree with all of this post, they're absolutely fucking awful, all of them. 

The bit i've bolded,, this shows how well decades of propaganda has worked. Many ordinary British folk don't understand, you're right, but what they do understand is that the alternative is socialism, and socialism is communism and communism is evil and no one wants that, so they keep voting for the actual evil ones.

It should be incredibly easy for a well motivated opposition party to take the next election with a massive landslide. But they won't. They'll keep getting dragged down by utterly pathetic nonsense like they always do, and people won't turn out for them in the numbers needed. The conservatives will scrape home.

[Andy Onchan]

What Labour needs is another "call me Tony"!  

[forestboy]

1 minute ago, Andy Onchan said:

What Labour needs is another "call me Tony"!  

The country doesn’t. 

[Fred the shred]

Blair the liar, hopefully not.

[Andy Onchan]

Just now, forestboy said:

The country doesn’t. 

The comment was rather tongue in cheek!

[code99]

17 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

What Labour needs is another "call me Tony"!  

17 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

The comment was rather tongue in cheek!

Personally, I would much prefer Clement Attlee but I don’t have time-machine/ TARDIS which I could use to bring him back.

Under the current leadership, the Tory Party is increasingly swinging towards the far-right. With Farage supposedly coming back to the Tory fold that movement could accelerate. I expect when Farage rejoins the Tories, he will bring with him his putrid sack of even more extreme right-wing policies and also his legions of followers. I believe he is determined to transform the Tory Party the same way Trump has transformed the Republican Party into a right-wing populist cult. Anyone who is concerned by the far-right taking over American politics must understand that the same process is also taking place in the UK. The only way to prevent this impending political hell, to stop the UK becoming a far-right country, is to vote Labour at the next GE i.e., if you don’t like Donald Trump and how he is tearing up American democracy, you must vote for Labour.

That’s is all I have to say on this issue.