Reform proposals for parliament received

April 2017 deadline for Tynwald debate

Ground breaking proposals to reform the workings of the Manx parliament have been received by Tynwald - but they will not be debated until a new house is in place following September's General Election.

Tynwald today (Wednesday) unanimously backed Chief Minister Allan Bell's call for the recommendations in the Lord Lisvane report to be discussed after the election.

He said at this stage it was of limited use given there will be a new-look to parliament in two months time.

Among the proposals to be debated, Lord Lisvane has recommended members of the Legislative Council are no longer popularly elected but nominated through a special independent committee; that MHKs should not be elevated to the upper house and that MLCs should not take part in voting for a new Chief Minister.

Onchan MHK Peter Karran hailed the report as a 'great step forward in the right direction' and successfully asked for an April 2017 timescale to ensure the report was not 'thrown into the long grass'.

Mr Bell believed this was quite acceptable