Tynwald Questions July 16th

[Moghrey Mie]

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/opqp/opqp/2024-PP-0094.pdf

[Roger Mexico]

As today is the last sitting of Tynwald/Keys for the parliamentary 'year', it's clearly time for my round-up of who the most prolific questioners are.  Here are the numbers asked by each MHK/MLC in Tynwald/Keys from last October till now, as recorded in Question Papers etc:

	2023-4	2022-3
Moorhouse	174	182
Thomas	125	0
Ashford	103	91
Edge	39	0
Christian	25	28
Glover	24	31
Caine	19	20
Faragher	13	10
Watterson	10	19
Wannenburgh	9	9
Haywood	7	11
Maltby	4	5
Corlett	3	4
Mercer	1	0
Johnston		3
Crookall		4
Sharpe		3
Peters		2
Total	556	422

Now this doesn't mean that they actually got asked in person (never mind answered), but the collapse of the Hansard system from March onwards means you can't really tell without a lot of extra work to duplicate something that Tynwald should be doing anyway.  Occasionally questions are withdrawn because they become obsolete or have been effectively answered in the meantime.  Sometimes the questioner or the person they are asking is ill or otherwise unable to attend and it's agreed to move to question to a later time.  So there will always be some duplication. 

This has been made worse in recent months by a reversion to the old Bell tactic of refusing to extend question time, so that those at the end of the list are never considered.  Usually these then get put down for the next session, so again there's going to be some duplication in the numbers.  Certainly I saw the same questions reappear when going through the Papers.  But the numbers should be too inflated and I don't think it meant any particular MHK was singled out so the 'League Table' won't be affected.

To get to the rankings, Moorhouse dominates as ever, though he is slightly down in his total.  but he asked at least four questions in every one of the 10 Tynwald and 20 Keys sessions, except last week when he fell back to 'only' three.  Usually it's even more than four.  The big change this year comes from the sacking of Thomas and later on Edge (as it did in the previous year from Ashford losing his CoMin place).  Thomas was free to ask awkward questions for the whole of the year and he certainly did.  Edge was only 'let go' in February but has been busy in her shorter time.

It's worth pointing out that before they became Ministers Thomas, Edge and indeed Ashford were all among the most prolific of questioners in Tynwald - and always willing to add supplementary questions to that of others.  So this is more a reversion to type than trying to get revenge, though there is also clearly a determination from Thomas and Edge to deal with 'unfinished business' in some of their more persistent lines of questioning.  Of course it may be that insisting on questioning things was one of the reasons that got them sacked in the first place.  Ashford we know went because because he refused to question what he was told by civil servants and sometimes his Oral Questions (and indeed supplementaries) seem to be more about showing off than trying to get any useful information.

[Non-Believer]

Wouldn't you think that in the "oldest Parliament in the world", a basic democratic institution such as Hansard to record the goings on would be maintained as a priority?

[Roger Mexico]

4 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

Wouldn't you think that in the "oldest Parliament in the world", a basic democratic institution such as Hansard to record the goings on would be maintained as a priority?

Well quite.  They do seem to try to get the sound files up fairly quickly, but that means a lot of transcribing and checking, even if you can find the right one - and sometimes you can't.  And of course it's not the 'official' record and you can't use search and so on.  They do seem to have started to catch up in recent weeks and most of April is now done, but these things are meant to be done in days, not months.

[cissolt]

32 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well quite.  They do seem to try to get the sound files up fairly quickly, but that means a lot of transcribing and checking, even if you can find the right one - and sometimes you can't.  And of course it's not the 'official' record and you can't use search and so on.  They do seem to have started to catch up in recent weeks and most of April is now done, but these things are meant to be done in days, not months.

Quite surprised to see Sir Rob of Onchan not even making the table. Has he really failed to ask a single question in the last two years?

This does show that he's more a glorified Onchan commissioner rather than a national politician.

[code99]

Some MHKs don’t ask questions, others do, but most of them rarely ask anything of substance. Acquaintances of mine went to Tynwald Day and were unimpressed by a small number of new laws read out. Admittedly, they are new to the Island and they came from a much larger jurisdiction. Nevertheless, this sort of ‘paltriness’ makes it somewhat difficult to explain to new residents what our MHKs actually do to deserve their £70k annual pay, plus pension and free parking. 

[Roger Mexico]

41 minutes ago, cissolt said:

Quite surprised to see Sir Rob of Onchan not even making the table. Has he really failed to ask a single question in the last two years?

This does show that he's more a glorified Onchan commissioner rather than a national politician.

It's even odder than that.  Even the localists such as Corlett manage a few every year, but Callister hasn't asked a single Oral Question since he was sacked as Minister.  He's asked Written Questions and supplementary ones to other people's OQs and he used to ask a fair few before his few weeks at DHSC.  There seem no reason why he's not bothered since except some sort of prolonged sulk that only he understands the reason for.

[Roger Mexico]

47 minutes ago, code99 said:

Some MHKs don’t ask questions, others do, but most of them rarely ask anything of substance. Acquaintances of mine went to Tynwald Day and were unimpressed by a small number of new laws read out. Admittedly, they are new to the Island and they came from a much larger jurisdiction. Nevertheless, this sort of ‘paltriness’ makes it somewhat difficult to explain to new residents what our MHKs actually do to deserve their £70k annual pay, plus pension and free parking. 

I think that a bit unfair on those who do ask questions, which are often good ones.  Sometimes there's not enough precision, sometimes it's pure grandstanding, sometimes they haven't prepared well enough to follow up, but there's a lot of useful info that comes out.  The problem is that too often it isn't picked up by the media and it's very rarely followed up by them with further investigation.  And the lack of a written record in recent months - and it was increasingly slow before that - has meant that that is hard to do.

Your friends were perfectly correct to pick up on the lack of new legislation - I put up data that showed it was at an historic low under Cannan earlier in the month.  The real question is that if your friends could see the lack straight away, how come none of the people paid to pass, examine and monitor legislation can do so or try to solve the problem..

[Moghrey Mie]

5 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

I think that a bit unfair on those who do ask questions, which are often good ones.  Sometimes there's not enough precision, sometimes it's pure grandstanding, sometimes they haven't prepared well enough to follow up, but there's a lot of useful info that comes out.  The problem is that too often it isn't picked up by the media and it's very rarely followed up by them with further investigation.  And the lack of a written record in recent months - and it was increasingly slow before that - has meant that that is hard to do.

Your friends were perfectly correct to pick up on the lack of new legislation - I put up data that showed it was at an historic low under Cannan earlier in the month.  The real question is that if your friends could see the lack straight away, how come none of the people paid to pass, examine and monitor legislation can do so or try to solve the problem..

Lots of committees, reviews, reports and assessments though.

We're still waiting for any real action on poverty and  housing.

[code99]

43 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Lots of committees, reviews, reports and assessments though.

We're still waiting for any real action on poverty and  housing.

Apparently, luxury flats in Port Erin !

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/government-backing-for-luxury-flats-would-generate-positive-return-on-investment/

[Moghrey Mie]

That's part of the problem. Housing is all over the place.

Jersey has a Minister for Housing and a Housing Policy. We have neither.

https://www.policy.je/papers/housing

 

[Non-Believer]

59 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Lots of committees, reviews, reports and assessments though.

We're still waiting for any real action on poverty and  housing.

They're still talking about how to even define poverty. Assuming that they are actually talking about it.

[Albert Tatlock]

Just now, Non-Believer said:

They're still talking about how to even define poverty. Assuming that they are actually talking about it.

Ironic, since it's political policies that create poverty in the first instance. 

[cissolt]

Some fiery exchanges around the appointment of Mr Shimmins to the board at the steam packet.

Mr Thomas suggesting that Treasury appointed a friendly face in the role who would do their bidding. 

 

[2112]

16 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Ironic, since it's political policies that create poverty in the first instance. 

IOMG and many of its cheerleaders on here, will have you believe that there is no poverty, the island is booming, money is no object and the island is paved with gold, and is the land of milk and honey.