THE Isle of Man could have the support of as many as 600,000 people in the UK, according to the findings of a survey before the House of Keys General Election.
The Manx People Power survey included a question about UK contacts, because the response to the Reciprocal Health Agreement began to show the potential of the Island’s supporters’ group.
The question asked in the Manx People Power survey was: “Imagine that an occasion arose when you cared about a particular issue to do with the Isle of Man's relationship with, or treatment by, the UK Government, and that you wanted people in the UK to write to their MP or newspapers about it, how many friends, relatives, work colleagues do you have in the UK who might do this?":
Hugh Davidson, who commissioned the survey, conducted by HPI Research, among a representative sample of 1055 Isle of Man residents, said, “The average number of active UK contacts per IOM person was 10.4.
“Multiplying this by 65,000 adults in the IOM, we have a potential supporters club of 670,000 UK people. Contacts per person did not differ significantly by demographic group, but were highest among 25-34 year olds (11.7 contacts), IOM residents born elsewhere (11.4), and the AB social group (11.9).”
He also pointed to the success of the battle to save the Reciprocal Health Agreement which demonstrated the impact a single MP, convinced about a just cause, can have: by asking questions, stopping Ministers in Westminster corridors and making our case heard.
“Other responses in the survey show that Manx people feel that their politicians and civil servants lack strong relationships at top level with the UK Government, and favour the recruitment of a specialist lobbying company to help correct this.
Mr Davidson added, “To make their voice heard in the big corridors of power, small countries like the Isle of Man need to make exceptional efforts, and use every resource at their disposal.
"A big problem for the Island today is its lack of political bargaining power with the UK at the top level. To avoid being pushed around by the UK in future, we need to dramatically improve our negotiating position at the top.
“We have some talented senior civil servants in the Treasury, who have served the Island well in the past, and won many of the detailed arguments. But they need to be given a more favourable political landscape to operate in, rather than playing uphill, against the wind. We can then work like a small smart Island, moving with speed and imagination."
A copy of the full HPI Research Report (80 pages of bar charts) will be made available to the Tynwald Library and Manx Museum Library before the end of September.
