Mini reshuffle

[asitis]

10 hours ago, Gizo said:

but because you call it road tax doesn't mean it exclusively gets spent on roads. Thats your second lesson

It seems blindingly obvious it doesn't get spent on the roads ! with the exception of the TT circuit !

Edited October 18, 2022 by asitis

[Holte End]

What happened to smaller smarter Government ?

Mr Hooper was a big supporter of the Lord Lisvane report but like Mr Callister when the time suits, ignore what you said and believe, I love hypocrisy.

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/mlcs-not-needed-in-government-departments/

 

[Roger Mexico]

11 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

No, it's been rebranded as VED or RFL to suit the current mood. Fact is, 95% of us call it Road Tax.

Well a quick google tells us that it's Vehicle Duty "sometimes known as 'Vehicle Tax' or 'Vehicle Licence Fee'".  Of course we all know what you mean, but that's not really the point.  It's that you are telling us and the civil service that you can't be bothered to look up even something really simple and easy to find.  That means the bureaucracy can feed you any old rubbish and you will repeat it rather than checking it out and questioning what they are up to.

I really do wish you well in trying to cut back on all these grandiose, unnecessary and downright ugly schemes that they impose on the Manx public, but you won't be able to do so unless you do the research and ask the right questions.  Otherwise they'll just tell you that we need a new sea wall to keep out the greenies and you'll agree to it because it's 'anti-woke'.

[Apple]

8 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

really do wish you well in trying to cut back on all these grandiose, unnecessary and downright ugly schemes that they impose on the Manx public, but you won't be able to do so unless you do the research and ask the right questions. 

As above. Suggestion - always get advice and answers in writing. Don't always believe what you hear. Good luck with the PO.

 

[Stu Peters]

11 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well a quick google tells us that it's Vehicle Duty "sometimes known as 'Vehicle Tax' or 'Vehicle Licence Fee'".  Of course we all know what you mean, but that's not really the point.  It's that you are telling us and the civil service that you can't be bothered to look up even something really simple and easy to find.  That means the bureaucracy can feed you any old rubbish and you will repeat it rather than checking it out and questioning what they are up to.

I really do wish you well in trying to cut back on all these grandiose, unnecessary and downright ugly schemes that they impose on the Manx public, but you won't be able to do so unless you do the research and ask the right questions.  Otherwise they'll just tell you that we need a new sea wall to keep out the greenies and you'll agree to it because it's 'anti-woke'.

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax, and I'd rather use language we all understand than have to Google for the latest iteration. It's like objecting to being called the 'Chair' of an organisation, which is in widespread use but horrid when you're more Laz-E Boy recliner than Bauhaus sleek.

[Andy Onchan]

14 hours ago, Mr Helmut Fromage said:

Lots of reshuffling going on Island wide - hearing words from The Mitre that a bit of a Kirk Michael reshuffle happened in the  previous few days.

Is this anything to do with throwing your car's keys on the table?

[Omobono]

9 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax, and I'd rather use language we all understand than have to Google for the latest iteration. It's like objecting to being called the 'Chair' of an organisation, which is in widespread use but horrid when you're more Laz-E Boy recliner than Bauhaus sleek.

Stu I wish you well in your new role , at least  make an effort  to bring some common sense to  this department , and try to stop them wasting money on vanity projects we don't need  while the highways and drainage  infrastructure and the rest of their  empire  continues to decline at an alarming rate , Just drive up York road in Douglas ,if you want an example  and be satisfied  there are people  heading up divisions who are capable  and in some cases suitably qualified to do the job ,

[P.K.]

18 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax, and I'd rather use language we all understand than have to Google for the latest iteration. It's like objecting to being called the 'Chair' of an organisation, which is in widespread use but horrid when you're more Laz-E Boy recliner than Bauhaus sleek.

@Stu PetersTo use a famous mock-Latin aphorism:

"Illegitimi non carborundum"

[HiVibes]

26 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax.

The vast majority of thick taxi drivers perhaps, but everyone else knows it is just a tax on vehicles, whether it is spent on roods is nothing to do with it. Looks like the DOI got another 'Cabbage'

[Declan]

45 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax, and I'd rather use language we all understand than have to Google for the latest iteration. 

But it's tax for using a vehicle not for using the roads - not all road users pay the tax. So you're actually being less clear. 

Not that vehicle or road are particularly difficult words, so it doesn't matter much what you use. So knock off the "plain speaking - cutting through jargon" bullshit until you actually do that. 

[Non-Believer]

57 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

The government website calls it vehicle tax I think. Doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of us refer to it as road tax, and I'd rather use language we all understand than have to Google for the latest iteration. It's like objecting to being called the 'Chair' of an organisation, which is in widespread use but horrid when you're more Laz-E Boy recliner than Bauhaus sleek.

Plus some time ago you were good enough to post some figures up here that indicated that only a relatively small percentage of the tax take for this particular duty was actually spent on the roads. Figures also since backed up by statements from Tim Crookall during his brief DOI tenure.

[Asthehills]

Blimey.  If you chat about the tax you pay to run your vehicle then the majority of people just call it road tax.  Everyone knows what is meant, and most people know that it technically it has another name and that it isn’t necessarily spent on the roads.

The fact that people are picking up on the fact someone used the term everyone uses in day to day language rather than the technically correct one, is a bit pathetic really.

It doesn’t cause any confusion or misunderstanding, it’s simply a common term that everyone uses and understands.

If someone stood in the pub and said they had to pay their road tax this week everyone would know exactly what the meant.  There would also be one pedantic sad act who pipes up to correct them.  Nobody wants to be that bloke, and nobody wants to spend an evening with that bloke.

[HiVibes]

Most people call it car tax, seeing that is what it is. Only bellends insist on calling it road tax

[Roger Mexico]

3 hours ago, Holte End said:

What happened to smaller smarter Government ?

Mr Hooper was a big supporter of the Lord Lisvane report but like Mr Callister when the time suits, ignore what you said and believe, I love hypocrisy.

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/mlcs-not-needed-in-government-departments/

Actually that was one of the things that Lisvane (and Callister) got wrong.  Lord Lisvane wanted to turn LegCo into a copy of the House of Lords, mainly scrutinising legislation, but even that has to have the equivalent of Departmental Members in it and of course it is much (much) bigger, has its own committees and so on. 

LegCo can't work in the same way, not least because it has had so little to do.  It's only met four times this year, every time for less than half an hour.  Not because its members are lazy, but because they've had no primary legislation (ie laws)[1] to examine except stuff that was straightforward.  Of course LegCo members can scrutinise via Committees or Tynwald, in the same way that Keys members can, but there's not been the extra workload to justify the separate role.

So it's a good thing that LegCo members earn their keep by working in Departments.  Indeed until very recently it was assumed that every Department would have a member of LegCo in it, who would be responsible for steering any legislation through the Council and representing it there.  Now far too much is put forward on LegCo by the Attorney General, another example of the AG having conflicting roles.

 

[1]  There are a number of reasons for this.  Out of general laziness, the Quayle administration produced less law than was needed, (so there's a backlog of things to do) and there were few new 'oven ready' ones for the incoming government to put forward.  There's also been a shift from primary to secondary legislation, which only gets considered once by Tynwald (if that) rather than several times each by Keys and LegCo.  This is partly because of Covid, but mainly so that scrutiny is avoided.

[Asthehills]

17 minutes ago, HiVibes said:

Most people call it car tax, seeing that is what it is. Only bellends insist on calling it road tax

What sort of bellend calls the tax on their van or motorbike car tax?