Glenfaba and Peel MHK Daniel Davison has pleaded with his political colleagues not to call him a “poster boy” for the younger generation.
He spoke out during the Chief Minister hustings debate for MHKs last week, when candidates Kirrie Jenkins and Chris Thomas were put on the spot.
It came after Jenkins used the term during a discussion for what opportunities there were for younger people in response to one of the first questions raised.
Davison had already asked one question of the candidates, about crisis management, before he made his point when he had the microphone to pose another query.
He said: “Earlier it was suggested I would be the poster boy for young people.
“To be honest, with full respect, I was not elected to be a poster, I was elected, by the people in Glenfaba and Peel, like everyone else.”
Davison, who at 18 is believed to be the youngest elected MHK in history, said the question he was about to ask at this point was not about him but all young people that would be affected for the next 50 years by decisions made now.
He wanted the candidates to say what they would do to ensure those young people had a real say before such decisions were made.
We Have Got Ambition Because of You
Jenkins said she had “total respect” and added: “We have got ambition now because of you; because of what you have done.
“We do need to play to our strengths of this House, we have got a younger House. People are excited.
“I know my children were excited that you entered this race.
“Whether you like it or not, you have inspired a generation, Daniel, and that is the important thing.”
She said he had created something for young people to aspire to.
“Yes, you are equal to everybody in here but you have also been an inspiration to a generation. I thank you for that.”
Turning to the question, she to referenced work experience and apprenticeship opportunities and commented that there used to be a “young people’s champion” in Tynwald, but little was heard of that role these days.
Powerful Point
Thomas said Davison had made his point “powerfully” and that he regarded the Glenfaba and Peel MHK as an “equal Member” of the House of Keys.
“We are all here to represent everybody,” said Thomas, adding that everyone was different.
“Therefore our job is to balance ambitions and balance interests and that is what the parliament is for.
“We can never have complete unity of purpose because lots of people want different things. That is the whole thing behind the inter-generational issue.”
He said the administration had to make sure it created opportunities “that address young people’s desires and wants” where they coincided with the national interest.
“For instance, we don’t need to continue paying people grants for people who have hardly lived in the island and won’t come back to the island necessarily,” he added.
“We want to rebalance our funding system so that we have a deal with people. They do that in Wales. Why can’t we have some sort of tax system or loan system to help everybody get opportunity rather than just the ones that we thought of before as traditional ones?”
Towards the end of the meeting, Davison also questioned the candidates about pensions and National Insurance.
You can watch a re-run of the livestream of the hustings meeting below. The exchange reported in this article comes just after the one hour 30 minutes mark.
