A candidate for the forthcoming general election says the Manx government must be prepared for tough negotiations with the United Kingdom, in a face of a possible further reduction in the Isle of Man's share of the VAT revenue sharing agreement.

Onchan commissioner Brian Stowell says the Island should be ready to end the agreement, or abrogate, if it is forced to do so, and should know on a day to day basis what the implications would be.

He says a further reduction of the scale being suggested would be a huge blow (listen to audio file below):

The Isle of Man has already seen its share of the 'VAT pot' reduced by around ?140 million a year, although some of that was offset by an increase in VAT to 20 per cent at the start of this year.

Five other people have so far declared in the three-seat constituency of Onchan, the others being sitting members Peter Karran and David Quirk, Mr Stowell's fellow commissioner June Kelly, James Corrin and Zac Hall.