Alistair Ramsay is a journalist and political commentator – his latest piece exposes the problems with the governments economic strategy.
He has 45 years experience of Manx politics, both as a journalist, commentator and as a government press officer.
Economic Strategy
The most striking thing about the final government conference of the Cannan administration, held last week at the Comis Hotel, was how very different it was from the first one.
Back in 2022 the event was a boosterish celebration of the new long-term economic strategy, aiming to create 5,000 additional jobs in ten years and to prepare for an increased population of 100,000 by 2037. The necessary infrastructure development was to be led by a massive investment of public funds, somehow.
Optimistic expansion became national policy when the strategy was endorsed by an enthusiastic and gullible Tynwald. In the subsequent drive to get the numbers up the Department for Enterprise even went so far as to propose suspension of the work permit system, and there was widespread exploitation of weaknesses in the Island’s immigration laws.
By the 2025 conference the gung-ho mood had long gone. After just three years the long-term economic strategy is to be reviewed, we were told. This is to take account of the implications of Artificial Intelligence, a global phenomenon apparently overlooked by government’s horizon scanners.
Hard to See
The Chief Minister said the foundations of the strategy remained valid. But it is hard to see how a focus on growing the size of the working and general population is at all sustainable in the age of AI.
If the priority shifts, will the official goals of 5,000 more jobs and 100,000 residents be formally revoked or will they continue to feed into planning policy?
Other items on the conference agenda were welcome but should have been addressed at the outset of the administration, not towards its end. These included strengthening the immigration system, tightening border security, improving government efficiency and, at long last, taking action on affordable housing.
Note the contrast with the open door and open wallet approach of the early years. If the Cannan regime has been on a journey, it is in the shape of a U.
The government seems to have spent much of its term of office trying to work out what its actual policies are. This is not unusual in the Isle of Man, where general elections produce no direction of travel and the new House is like a party of tourists without a map.
The next election, just one year away, has to be different. We need candidates who can offer clear national policy orientation on the big issues, such as the future of our welfare state.
If September 2026 turns out to be just another local popularity contest, then the island will continue to go round in circles.