Chief Minister: 'AG not out to silence debate'

Concerns over wind farm guidance issued to HoK candidates  

The chief minister says he doesn't believe the attorney general wanted to silence debate on the proposed Moor Vannin Offshore Wind Farm. 

Walter Wannenburgh KC has previously advised General Election candidates on the subject saying any future ministers who have already made public statements supporting or rejecting the proposal, prior to a formal decision, 'would need to declare a conflict and recuse themselves'.

In a letter Mr Wannenburgh added that this means anything that gives 'impression to the [decision-maker] may be, or has been, influenced for or against an application for reasons extraneous to the legal or factual merits of the application'.

He concluded by saying that 'if a decision maker has made public statements which plainly support or reject this particular application prior to it falling for formal determination, the suggestion of pre-determination and/or appearance of bias would mean that they would need declare a conflict and recuse themselves from participation in the decision-making process'. 

That approach has been met with criticism from some candidates, and the NOT4IOM pressure group, who claim those seeking election are 'effectively being silenced' by the advice. 

However, speaking to Manx Radio's Perspective programme, Alfred Cannan says he does not believe this is the case, nor was it Mr Wannenburgh's intention. 

He said: "I don't think the attorney general intended to silence public debate. 

"I think the attorney general was probably right to say that if you choose to engage on this, and it's not stopping people engaging, it's not going to stop people making declarations, it's just that it makes it difficult for you to be in in the Council of Ministers."

Mr Cannan added that due to the way the project is structured 'Tynwald will have to vote on this' adding 'once it hits the floor of Tynwald in that form, people can express and say exactly what they think in any format'.

However members of the last administration voted down the option to require ministers to put the final decision onto the floor when they rejected an amendment from former Glenfaba and Peel MHK Kate Lord-Brennan. 

Under the Marine Infrastructure Management Act 2016 the Council of Ministers will decide the fate of the project and Tynwald may only get a vote if its implementation forces government to introduce new statutory legal orders or secondary regulations, rather than on the core planning decision itself.

Alfred Cannan is seeking re-election in Ayre and Michael in September's General Election. 

The other candidates standing are Julia Bell, Stephen Broad, Phil Corkill, Steve Curphey, Tim Johnston, Mary Philips and Paul Weatherall.