BUSINESSES have been doing their bit to raise money and awareness of prostate and testicular cancer as part of the Movember campaign.

Each November sees clean shaven men pledge to grow their moustaches for a month.

Staff at Panacea Pharma Projects, a pharmaceutical company based at Peterson House, Middle River, Douglas, raised more than £1,400 with funds still coming in.

Managing director Matthew McSevney, who is still sporting the moustache he grew for Movember, said: ‘We had around 20 people taking part in Movember this year and, as always, it was a fun way to raise funds for a very good cause.

‘We hosted a Movember Party at the Liverpool Arms which included friends and family of Panacea staff, as well as Mo Bros and Mo Sistas from the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture, The Children’s Centre, and KPMG.’

Meanwhile, Abbey Dental staff raised £475 with the help of barber Ron Smith in memory of a close friend.

Dentist at the Ballasalla practice Mark Hepworth, his dad Peter and Ron all grew moustaches.

Mark and his wife Tracie, who is the manager at Abbey Dental, became more aware of the devastating effects of prostate cancer when close family friend Ted Gould, from Ramsey, was diagnosed six and a half years ago and died earlier this year.

‘It was a really good way of raising awareness because everyone was asking why they’ve got a moustache,’ Tracie said.

‘Everyone was very generous and very supportive. We even had patients come in who were growing moustaches.’

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with one in nine men being diagnosed with the disease.

Risk of prostate cancer increases over the age of 50, and in men whose father or brother had prostate cancer. Early symptoms include an increased need to urinate more frequently and problems with starting and stopping urination. Movember’s main aim is to raise awareness of men’s health issues, specifically cancers affecting men.

It wants to spread the message that most cancers– including prostate and testicular – are highly curable if caught in the early stages.

SHAMELESS star Ciaran Griffiths was a special guest at the Isle of Man Acting Academy’s recent workshop in Douglas.

In addition to Mr Griffiths, those taking part had the chance to meet writer and film director Simon Powell.

Students used script work and improvisation to learn about television and film acting while Mr Griffiths offered insights into his experience as a professional actor.

Tutor and co-director of the academy Carl Parker said: ‘It has been a brilliant opportunity for local actors in the island to meet and learn from industry professionals.’

In February the academy is welcoming ITV casting director June West to hold the next workshop.

‘This will be an amazing opportunity for Island actors to learn first hand from one the UK’s leading casting directors,’ said Carl.

The academy hopes to offer master classes and workshops every quarter next year to complement the acting for television and film course that starts in January 2012.

The academy has a free ‘introduction to acting for television and film’ seminar at the Empress Hotel, Douglas on Thursday, December 8, 7.30pm to 9pm. See {http://www.iom-actingacademy.com|www.iom-actingacademy.com} or call Carl Parker on 241191

AN incomplete picture of the cost of health treatment for prisoners has emerged after a question was asked about it in the House of Keys last week.

In a question for written answer, Zac Hall (LibVan, Onchan) asked Health Minister David Anderson MHK how much was spent on the provision of health services to prisoners each financial year between 2003/04 and 2010/11.

He also asked how much was spent on Methadone and the treatment of addiction to banned substances in those years.

Mr Anderson explained that providing healthcare to prisoners moved from the responsibility of the Department of Home Affairs to the Department of Health in 2008 with the move to the new prison.

He said that in 2006/07 the DHA spent £144,317 on prisoner healthcare and £85,264 the following year. In 2008/09 the DoH spent £305,500, in 2009/10 it was £322,000 and in 2010/11 it was £267,832.

Explaining why the costs had risen so sharply in recent years he said there had been a ‘very considerable increase’ in the healthcare resources dedicated to prisoners as a result of a prison inspection report in 2006.

But Mr Anderson said the DHA was unable, within the time given, to provide figures for the first two years requested.

He also said missing from the totals was the cost of mental health services, which are provided by the Department of Social Care.

Addiction

And Mr Anderson went on to say that figures for the amount spent on Methadone and the treatment of drug addiction were not obtainable in the given timeframe because treatment takes place in a number of settings, including via GPs, mental health nurses, the Drug and Alcohol Team, psychiatry and psychology.

‘Extracting the requested costs from the various areas would be a protracted process,’ said Mr Anderson, offering Mr Hall a comprehensive briefing on the subject if he contacted his department.

THE Ben-my-Chree is set to go into dry dock next week to get its bow thruster repaired.

The announcement was made by the Steam Packet as the latest cancellations due to the weather were confirmed.

The overnight sailing from Heysham to Douglas was cancelled, as is this morning’s sailing from the Isle of Man to Heysham and the subsequent return this afternoon. It is not clear whether tonight’s sailing will go ahead from Douglas to Heysham

It had been thought the Steam Packet would have to wait until April before it could get the Ben’s bow thruster repaired, but now, following numerous cancellations due to the weather, that has been brought forward to the end of next week.

Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward said: ‘We are suffering an unusually prolonged period of consistent gale and severe gale force winds at present. To make matters worse these winds have been from an unusual direction which makes berthing in Heysham more difficult.

‘The lack of a second bow thrust, in conjunction with these other factors, has contributed to the higher than usual level of cancellations we have been suffering. However, given the severity of the weather, it is clear that we would have lost some, but not all, of the sailings even if both bow thrust units had been functioning.’

He added: ‘We have been working as hard as we can to put pressure on the bow thrust manufacturer, Wartsila, since the early summer. We have made clear to them by every means possible the need to urgently repair, rebuild and re-deliver the replacement bow thrust.’

Wartsila twice failed to deliver the repaired unit, blaming problems with subcontractors and difficulties in the casting.

The repaired unit is now due to be delivered next Wednesday.

Mr Woodward said: ‘A dry-docking date for the Ben-my-Chree has been reserved for December 16-18 in order to refit the second bow thrust unit. Provisional arrangements for the charter of a freighter to cover the dry-dock period have been made, and we are awaiting final confirmation.

‘Manannan is being readied and will be used to provide a passenger service with a single daily crossing to the UK, and will also be used to operate the Dublin sailing on December 17.

‘We will confirm final arrangements for dry-dock and freighter charter as soon as we can.’

DESPITE protestations to the contrary, Jeremy Clarkson must be quite popular in a lot of the corridors of power.

Not that they would agree with his humorous suggestion of having strikers shot.

It was a bad taste joke, but not particularly one that should have caused surprise, given the teller, and those who listened to the remainder of his comment on the strike – in that it made him feel like we were back in the seventies, which made him feel at home – will realise that, love him or hate him, Clarkson doesn’t take himself too seriously either.

No, what they will love about it will be that it has deflected attention from the issue of the strike and the real reasons and the real issues behind it.

So David Cameron and Nick Clegg will be rather pleased about the fact that people have stopped thinking about how their coalition government isn’t doing particularly well.

Ed Milliband will be grateful because it deflects from how the Labour party, and Red Ed in particular, seems to be trying more than ever to distance itself from its trade union roots.

The Daily Mail will be delighted because fewer people will have noticed how, on Wednesday, it was forced to push its online poll further down its website when it became clear that the vast majority of Mail Online readers actually supported the strikers.

Unison, however, was not happy and called for Clarkson to be sacked.

Jeremy Clarkson himself is probably reasonably happy that there’s been a lot of publicity for him on a week when he was promoting a new product.

The problem being, the humourless overreaction of its leadership to a tasteless comment by a media personality who has a DVD out this week, has played right into the hands of those people wanting to move the debate on from issues behind the strike and the hardship being faced in the UK.

Presuming that, between the time of writing this column and the publication of our newspaper, the BBC doesn’t do anything so silly as sack him (and that’s not as safe a presumption as you might imagine considering the snowball effect of Daily Mail indignation at Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand), then it’s not been a bad week for Mr Clarkson.

I have to say I admire him.

Firstly, he’s always come across as a much beter advert for the Isle of Man than the protest group PROWL.

I’ve been a seasoned walker across the Isle of Man’s beautiful hills and shore paths for 20 years now.

I’ve never felt outraged that I couldn’t look through the window of a cottage nearby any path.

Nor have the many walkers I have traipsed the same beautiful land with ever felt a similar outrage to those members of PROWL.

Obviously there are people in PROWL who are genuinely concerned about the protection of Rights of Way, rather than in it for a spot of celebrity-bashing, but it seems odd that it took Jeremy Clarkson to cause a real campaign.

That’s the lot of Jezza. Put his name to anything and it can become controversial.

The next thing you know, he’ll cause outrage with some militant walkers because he draws the curtains in his Langness kitchen in a disgraceful attempt at privacy.

Anyway, the truth is I envy Clarkson and his ability to cause a storm.

The most I’ve ever achieved is second-hand grumbles from MHKs unhappy at something I may have said, usually relayed to me via another reporter.

There was an occasion I upset fell runners, though, in an ill-advised suggestion to push them off the top of peaks – it came purely from envy that I could labour for hours to get to the top of North Barrule, only for some kind of fitness monster to skip past in shorts, vest and trainers and tell me that I must be mad for being up so high.

Once, and only once, David Cannan apologised to me when I complained about his tone, but he’d probably deny it now.

And I also survived a full hour-long debate with the political force that was Pamela Crowe, on the merits of her proposed changes to the rules for the Manx brewing industry.

But I’ve never invoked the level of invective Clarkson has achieved.

The truth is, that while our trade unions over here may have some faults, they appear to have a little more sense than some of the leaders of the bigger versions in the UK.

Prior to the moral indignation at Clarkson’s silly remark, it appeared to me that the unions were winning the PR battle over Wednesday’s strike and politicians on all sides of Westminster were looking like weasels for not having the guts to come out and show support because they weren’t sure what the opinion of the majority was.

And that’s why Jeremy Clarkson will have been very popular on all sides of the political spectrum last week.

I hope they all buy his DVD.

A DOUGLAS man will be scaling Mount Kilimanjaro for charity after having a crisis about nearing age 40.

Stuart Clifford, of Glen Falcon Terrace, will be taking part in the seven-day trek to the 5,895-metre summit of the world’s largest freestanding mountain – which is located in Tanzania, East Africa – for charity.

The 39-year-old hopes to raise at least £4,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), a children’s hospital in London, after his niece Tyler spent two months there in 2008, receiving life saving chemotherapy treatment and a bone marrow transplant.

‘During what was a difficult time for Tyler and the whole family the help and support provided by everyone at the hospital was truly amazing,’ he said.

‘The work the hospital does is supported a great deal by fundraising efforts and I have decided it is time to do my bit.’

Stuart, who will celebrate his 40th birthday during the 77-kilometre trek in February, said: ‘This whole thing sort of came about as I was having a crisis about hitting 40 and wanted to get away.

‘One of my friends then told me I should do something for charity “before I was past it” – nice friend – so over a few glasses of wine one night I took a look at what Great Ormond Street were doing around the time of my birthday.

‘After a few weeks of getting up the courage, I went ahead and signed up.’

Speaking about his training, he said: ‘It is going okay but, if I’m honest, I should probably be doing more.

‘I am pushing myself more and more each week with a combination of walking, running and the use of Wii Fit.

‘The Wii Fit is quite annoying as it keeps telling me I am not losing much weight, but I am working on the principle that the fat is turning into muscle which weighs more!’

Stuart, a principal at Baker Tilly Isle of Man, moved to the island from London in 2002 for work. He said: ‘Anyone that knows me will understand that walking – unless on the golf course – is not something I am keen on and as for sleeping in a tent without air conditioning, a mini-bar and room service... But, if Chris Moyles can do it, so can I.’

He said he hoped people would sponsor him even though Great Ormond Street Hospital was not a Manx charity. He added: ‘With the specialist services that GOSH provides, I have no doubt that island residents have, and will benefit from, the work the hospital does.’

To sponsor Stuart, visit his JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/Stuart-Clifford

A DECISION by European finance ministers on whether to endorse the island’s zero/10 tax regime has been delayed.

It had been hoped that following the Manx Government’s move to scrap the anti-avoidance measure ARI (Attribution Regime for Individuals), zero/10 would be formally deemed a non-harmful tax policy by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) at its meeting this month.

But the item has now been taken off the agenda for this month’s meeting and it is now expected to be considered instead early in the new year.

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK suggested that the move was not a major setback and the delay was the result of ECOFIN being distracted by the turmoil of the European debt crisis.

LAST Thursday morning, as I drove to my place of work, I was thinking almost non-stop about sex.

Now please don’t get me wrong.

I wasn’t, you know . . . thinking about doing it. I was thinking about thinking about doing it which, you must agree, is a different thing altogether.

The reason for this apparent aberration was that the boys in the white lab coats have been at it again with their research projects and getting themselves written up in the newspapers, which I suspect is what they want in the first place.

Thursday mornings are when I write, for the Examiner, these insightful analyses of the human condition in the early years of the 21st century, and last Thursday I had read in the Daily Telegraph that scientists in America at the Ohio State University had been carrying out a study into how many times a day people think about sex.

This topic drew me inexorably into its intellectual coils which is why last Thursday morning I was thinking creatively about it before getting to my office premises and sitting down to the keyboard.

Let us now get on with what the scientists have discovered.

They recruited 163 people aged 18 to 25 and asked them to count up and report how often they thought about sex in one day.

Men, we are now told, think about it an average 19 times a day. Women don’t have it on their minds so much. They think about it only 10 times.

What this tells us about women, especially those aged 18 to 25, is not explained and it’s no business of the likes of me anyway.

I have also been curious about the way in which the 163 (and why 163 for goodness sake?) men and women provided the information required. I picture the scene.

They are sitting round the lab doing nothing much and then one man stands up and shouts: ‘Hey Prof. I’ve just thought about sex.’

Prof smiles with approval. ‘That’s great son,’ he says. ‘Just write it down on the pad I gave you.’

Then a pretty girl does it. ‘Now then my dear,’ says Prof. ‘Just come into my private rooms and we can talk about it.’

Now that really would be useful scientific research.

There was another story of academic endeavour in the same newspaper. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh (it always seems to be Americans) have found that eating baked or grilled fish at least once a week can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, loss of memory and dementia.

But I went straight back to the thinking about sex piece.

You must admit, it’s a lot sexier than baked fish.

MANX Radio newsman Howard Caine tells me he had to think quickly when he was confronted live on air with a story about a man’s car being swept away in the River Neb.

It read: ‘He was attempting to cross the water splash on the Brack-a-Broom Road near Tynwald Mills but his Citroen Picasso was swept nearly quarter-of-a-mule downstream.’

This must have caused the emergency services a lot of donkey work.

BRENDA Cretney was upset by the spelling in an advertisement in the Isle of Man Courier saying: ‘Win four tickets to see Blake or one of two runner-up prizes of there latest album.’

Their their Brenda.

STARTING your own business may not be easy but it can be tremendously exciting, according to The Apprentice’s Nick Hewer.

Lord Sugar’s right-hand man on the BBC TV show was in the island at the invitation of Junior Achievement Isle of Man to talk to students from King William’s College and Ballakermeen, Queen Elizabeth II and Castle Rushen high schools taking part in the charity’s company programme.

During his 36-hour visit the former public relations consultant turned TV personality also addressed two packed audiences of business leaders.

Sponsored by Capital International, Celton Manx, Manx Telecom and OSA Recruitment, the events provided an opportunity for Nick to share his love of business – its highs and its lows – with his signature wry style enlivened by pithy observations and candid remarks about the exuberantly entrepreneurial Alan Sugar and the making of The Apprentice and spin-off series Junior Apprentice.

The Manx Telecom-sponsored session with year 12 students included a presentation by Junior Achievement’s Company of the Year 2011 winners, Cahoots from Castle Rushen High School, who had won the competition with their in-school stationery vending machine.

The team – Grace Costain, Ruby Callister, Katie Danes, Sarah Reeday and Katie Gilson – outlined the process of identifying their product, devising a business plan and bringing their product to market, and also offered tips on presentation.

Amid the private jets, mansions in Marbella and meetings at London’s Dorchester Hotel, Nick was eager to bring home to young people the importance of ‘gravitating to the gunfire because that’s where the excitement is’ and going all out to enjoy the thrill of business and entrepreneurship which, as The Apprentice has succeeded in demonstrating to monumental success, ‘should always be fun’.

He advised his audience of would-be entrepreneurs ‘never to fib on your CV’ and, importantly, to show integrity and loyalty, values he said his ‘boss’ Lord Sugar – the man who started in business aged 17 and who ‘killed off the typewriter’ – had in abundance.

In closing Nick – soon to be seen on TV as the host of Channel 4’s Countdown – said that although self-confidence was essential in business, he cautioned against over-confidence, saying: ‘Remember what happened to Icarus.’

Junior Achievement’s chief executive, Sue Cook, said: ‘Nick is an inspirational speaker who really brought home to young people that business can be exciting.

‘His behind-the-scenes insight into the making of The Apprentice and the show’s various personalities was fascinating and very witty.

‘But importantly it brought home the fact that anyone can succeed in business if they approach it with a mix of self-confidence tempered with humility and honesty and a sense of humour.

‘Nick’s entertaining account of working alongside Alan Sugar for some 30 years will, I’m sure, have struck a chord with the students who are taking part in the Junior Achievement company programme which is devised to help young people acquire a broad range of career and life skills through hands-on learning. And, in the spirit of The Apprentice, we’ll be holding a series of Dragons’ Den sessions later this year when our aspiring entrepreneurs will be pitching their ideas to a panel of business advisers and taking another step closer to the Company of the Year challenge.

‘The three events have been an unqualified success, only made possible thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, Capital International, Celton Manx, Manx Telecom and OSA Recruitment, together with the support and tremendous hard work of the Junior Achievement team.

‘Given the economic downturn and the contracting jobs market, it’s more important than ever that young people are equipped with the skills to prepare them for the world of work. I believe that people like Nick Hewer and Lord Sugar, TV shows such as The Apprentice and Junior Apprentice and Junior Achievement’s innovative programmes offer compelling ways to inspire young people to become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.’

Junior Achievement Isle of Man is a Manx-registered charity. In the 2010-2011 academic year Junior Achievement Isle of Man ran 150 classes in 18 schools, reaching more than 4,000 young people.

Each year the charity needs to raise £300,000.

For more details email Sue Cook at suecook@jaiom.im

www.jaiom.co.im

MORE than 50 trailers of freight are set to be shipped into the Isle of Man overnight on the Ben-my-Chree.

The Steam Packet has issued a statement in response to growing concerns about possible shortages in supplies due to thenumber of sailing cancellations in recent days.

Chief executive Mark Woodward said: ‘Despite the cancellations towards the end of last week, we had almost cleared the port of standard freight traffic by Monday (December 5). All urgent freight traffic had been shipped.

‘Today (Wednesday), we have around 60 trailers in Heysham bound for the Isle of Man. The Ben-my-Chree will sail for Heysham this evening as scheduled at 7.45pm, returning at 2.15am. We will be able to ship in excess of 50 trailers tonight, together with some other freight traffic and passenger vehicles.’

He added: ‘When there are weather issues, our freight customers do prioritise what is urgent and what is not within the space allocations they have.

‘A number of stores have confirmed that they make provision for such eventualities by utilising on-island warehousing and this is reflected in the fact that shelves in local stores are not uniformly empty, as has been claimed in the media.

‘In response to calls for us to charter another vessel, we have looked at this possibility. However, given the current weather patterns, it is difficult to see how chartering another vessel, even if one was available, would help the situation. Any vessels that are suitable in terms of size for Douglas harbour are typically older freighters with limited manoeuvrability themselves.

‘However, of much more relevance is that they are simply not readily available for short-term charter.’

Mr Woodward said: ‘Thankfully, the Ben-my-Chree is a very large capacity vessel allowing us to quickly catch up with any freight requirements, so minimizing the potential for disruption.’

The Ben-my-Chree is set to go into dry dock next week for repairs on a bow thruster which was damaged earlier this year and as a result has exacerbated recent problems.

CHEAP alcohol, poor regulation of housing standards and decreasing financial resources in the Isle of Man are all contributing to poverty in the Isle of Man.

That was the view of delegates at a conference called Is There Poverty and Neglect in the Isle of Man? The conference was held at the Sefton Hotel, Douglas, and attracted 160 people, including charity workers, social workers, Isle of Man College students and other child and adult welfare organisations.

It was organised by The Children’s Centre (CC) and saw opening addresses being given by President of Tynwald Clare Christian MLC and John Knight, CC chief executive. There were also speeches by Jo Thomas, head of safeguarding for the Isle of Man Government, motivational speaker Richard McCann, and children’s welfare lecturer and author Patrick Ayre.

Mrs Thomas gave a Manx perspective on how poverty and neglect affected children in care and reminded the audience the two social issues are not necessarily linked. Mr Ayre focused on the causal factors of neglect in families. He challenged the audience to retain their focus on the child’s perspective rather than simply the mechanics of social work referral processes. Mr McCann spoke about growing up in poverty and neglect, telling the moving story of his mother’s murder and the subsequent years of abuse he suffered within and outside of his family.

The audience was invited to question the speakers and a panel of experts including Stephen Carse, government’s economic adviser, Jed Bibby and Phil Drowley from the police and the Reverend Bill Platt from Broadway Baptist Church. Mrs Christian chaired the debate.

Mr Knight said several key areas of concern emerged: ‘The availability and pricing of alcohol was viewed by many delegates as a major contributor to poverty in the island, and perhaps neglect. Housing standards, and particularly the lack of enforcement around minimum standards and control among private sector landlords, was also cited as a major causal factor.

‘The debate also raised concerns about the need to retain focus and funding for early intervention with vulnerable children and families. Several delegates took the view that this is being damaged by decreasing resources in the current financial climate. Linked to this was the view that short-term planning is a concern as government is pressured to look at and manage the here and now rather than invest in preventative action which has the potential to save funding and prevent social hardship.’

Mr Knight said the view emerged that relatively low-level investment now could save the island future expenditure and support the most vulnerable members of the community.

SHOULD the Gaiety Theatre and Villa Marina be privatised?

That’s the question set to be raised in Tynwald tomorrow by David Callister MLC. He will ask Community Culture and Leisure Minister Tim Crookall whether, ‘in order to remove the £1.3 million annual deficit’ of the complex, which is run by the government, he would examine ways in which it could be ‘privatised or corporatised’ and be run by a ‘professional theatre manager’.

CHIEF Minister Allan Bell says he is hopeful that the foundations can be laid for a new and better understanding between the Manx and UK governments.

He was speaking following a visit to London where, together with Chief Secretary Will Greenhow and Director of External Relations Della Fletcher, he held talks with Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice, the new Lord Mayor of London Alderman David Wootton and Cities of London and Westminster Conservative MP Mark Field,

Mr Bell said the aim of the trip was to support his strategy of improving political relations with the UK in the wake of previous tensions over issues like the Reciprocal Health Agreement and the VAT revisions.

‘We now want to draw a line under those problems and lay the foundations for a new and better understanding,’ he said. ‘Lord McNally strongly supported that view.’

He said that the Justice Minister had promised to work closely with the Manx Government to ensure that where difficulties did arise, we were given sufficient warning to prevent them becoming a future crisis. But he added: ‘He assured us that there are no immediate pressing problems.’

Mr Bell said the meetings in London on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week were an opportunity to raise the profile of the Isle of Man, promote a deeper understanding of its value to the UK economy and discuss ways of strengthening political and business alliances.

He said: ‘The Isle of Man is an important trading partner of the UK and we share the same vision of growing our economies in a balanced and sustainable way. These are challenging times, but there are also opportunities and by working together the Isle of Man and UK can explore areas of mutual benefit.’

The island’s position as a core asset to the City, and its value to the North West of England, were highlighted during a meeting with David Wootton, Lord Mayor of London.

Mr Bell said: ‘We spoke how UK markets and financial institutions benefit from the island’s success as an international business centre.

‘One of the problems of the financial services industry is liquidity and the Isle of Man plays a vitally important route for liquidity into the UK banking system.’

He said David Wootton, who was elected as the 684th Lord Mayor of the City of London in October, was keen to work with the Manx government and was delighted he had accepted his invitation to visit the island in January.

As a keen railway enthusiast, the Lord Mayor will be looking forward to visiting the Isle of Man Steam Railway, said Mr Bell.

Mr Bell discussed the current crisis in the Eurozone and its implications for the world economy when he met City MP Mark Field.

BUSINESSMAN Tony Wild has been voted into the Legislative Council.

The election took place this morning, and saw Mr Wild receive 16 votes from MHKs.

Weatherman and Arbory commissioner Brian Rae, who also allowed his name to be put forward, received five votes.

There was one spoilt paper.

Mr Wild, aged 53, of Laxey, said: ‘I am absolutely delighted and honoured to achieve something I’ve really wanted to do - join Tynwald.’

He said he would ultimately like to see MLCs elected by popular vote.

It was Mr Wild’s second attempt at securing a seat in LegCo, having unsuccessfully stood for election last year.

He was nominated by Douglas North MHK John Houghton who said he was a ‘man of integrity who has the skill set to hit the ground running’.

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK, who seconded Mr Wild, said the vote had come at a ‘critical time’ for the island as it faces ‘unprecedented economic challenges over the next few years’.

Mr Wild began his 33-year career in banking as junior cashier at the age of 19 in the Lloyds Bank in Ramsey and rose to become island director of Lloyds TSB Offshore Limited.

He left in March last year and since then has been interim manager for Standard Bank Isle of Man Limited.

Mr Wild has worked with the government through the Isle of Man Bankers’ Association (president 2006-8), as a committee member of the Institute of Financial Services and through numerous working parties and consultancy groups.

He is married to Janet, who was in the public gallery in the House of Keys to see him win his LegCo seat. They have two children, Richard, 22, and Hannah 20.

The election was to fill the vacancy caused by Clare Christian’s elevation to President of Tynwald.

DETAILS of the annual rent that would be charged for a proposed subsea cable that would run through Manx territorial waters were not disclosed in the House of Keys as negotiations were ‘commercially sensitive’.

Infrastructure Minister David Cretney was questioned over proposals for a Western High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) link, a marine cable that would run between Ardneil Bay in North Ayreshire in Scotland and Leasowe in the Wirral.

Kate Beecroft (Lib Van, Douglas South) asked how much the government would receive by way of capital payments and annual royalties for approving the application by NGET/SPT Upgrades Ltd.

Mr Cretney replied: ‘With the completion of the first UK to Ireland gas interconnector pipeline in 1993, the department ceased to charge a single capital payment for a lease of easement through territorial waters for such infrastructure projects.

‘Since 1993, all subsequent cables and pipelines have been charged with annual rent for the necessary lease of easement and that would be the department’s intention for this cable, should matters progress.

‘The rent that will be charged for this cable, should the application be progressed and be approved, would be based on available, comparable commercial rents, including those already being paid for existing cables and pipelines.

‘Negotiations are some way from being completed with representatives of the applicant and, as these negotiations are commercially sensitive, it would be inappropriate to disclose the department’s position at this time.’

The minister said there Tynwald approval was not needed for the application but he was happy to privately brief members about details of the proposals ‘so as not to expose the commercial confidentiality aspect’.

Mrs Beecroft asked: ‘This represents significant opportunities for our future economic development. Has his department been involved in negotiating any planning gain from this application for the 72km marine power cable to run, buried in our rocks, beneath our sea?’

The minister said he was not in a position to answer about planning gain.

Preliminary results from the census carried out in March show that the island’s resident population has grown by 5.5 per cent since 2006’s census to a higher-than-expected 84,497.

More details in this week’s Isle of Man Examiner, on sale from this afternoon (Monday).

A WAR of words has broken out between the chairman of the Civil Service Commission and a union boss over claims that a proposed reform of Tynwald members’ pensions will lead to politicians’ pay going up.

Tynwald members are to be consulted over proposals for them to contribute 5 per cent towards their pension. Also under review is the £6,178 tax-free lump sum paid to MHKs and MLCs to cover expenses incurred while carrying out their parliamentary duties.

The plan is for that lump sum to be scrapped but added on as taxable income to the basic salary.

Angela Moffatt, president of the Trade Union Council, told Isle of Man Newspapers this would amount to a pay rise of 17 per cent and branded such a move as ‘outrageous’ at a time when many workers were facing a squeeze on their real incomes.

But this prompted an angry exchange with Alf Cannan, chairman of the Civil Service Commission, who dismissed her claims as ‘ludicrous’ and said the changes would result in a net decrease in pay.

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Read the full story in the Isle of Man Examiner - in shops from this afternoon.

I was astonished to hear that Angela Moffatt, of Prospect and the Manx TUC, thought she wasn’t speaking on the record to our reporter last week.

The story was about the idea of potentially adding £6,178 to Tynwald members’ salaries. They’d also lose the £6,178 they get in an ‘allowance’ for expenses.

We had heard from a source it was a suggestion that was being looked at by the emoluments committee.

Indeed, the Speaker of the House of Keys, Steve Rodan, confirms in this week’s Examiner that that is a possibility.

Adrian Darbyshire, one of most experienced and trustworthy reporters, wanted some reaction to that idea, so phoned Ms Moffatt and the story went in the Manx Independent last week and appeared online later.

When a reporter speaks to a contact, they can have ‘off the record’ conversations. That means that the person who is talking to the reporter won’t have his or her name attached to information supplied by them.

You see wording such as ‘the Examiner understands’ or ‘a source said’ in such cases.

Of course, the fact that a conversation is ‘off the record’ is spelt out clearly.

As far as Adrian is concerned, his conversation with Ms Moffatt was on the record. It happened to be about information he had gleaned off the record elsewhere.

Ms Moffatt accuses us of ‘creative journalism’. I’m not sure if that’s praise or a dig.

Anyway, we like to keep reporting and our own opinions separate in our news coverage. We reserve our comment for our editorial leader. And in the Manx Independent’s comment last week, Ms Moffatt earned some praise.

We agreed that when members of Tynwald have access to the members’ secretary and so on, it does seem odd that they think they should also be entitled to £118 a week tax-free expenses (they can claim for petrol etc on top of that).

What do they use it for?

This was the Independent’s comment column last week:

WHEN respect for politicians – not just in the Isle of Man but throughout the Western world– is so low, it’s hard to imagine a suggestion more likely to induce the ire of the electorate.

The committee looking at Tynwald members’ pay and pension is considering adding the £6,178 lump sum tax-free allowance for expenses to members’ pay packets.

It would be part of a reform programme that would see members contributing to their own pensions.

At least it would be taxed then.

As we mentioned in this column last week, the allowance is arbitrary and arguably unfair as it stands.

Angela Moffatt makes a good point in our page 5 story. She asks why members need an allowance for this sort of thing when they already have the members’ secretaries.

The committee should address why the members need an allowance in the first place before adding it to their wage packets.

l In the Keys this week Leonard Singer suggested that mud caused a road accident and asked questions on that basis.

We asked the police about it. As we reveal on page 8 the police say there was nothing on the road.

Did Mr Singer just rely on hearsay before he tabled a Keys question?

Often, if an MHK simply had a word with the minister or a relevant civil servant about any number of subjects and discovered the truth that way rather than grandstanding in Tynwald or the House, it could save our parliament a lot of time.

A DEMONSTRATION by Margaret Ecclestone for the Onchan Flower Club has been cancelled.

The event was due to take place tomorrow (Tuesday).

Instead, the club will hold a social evening tomorrow from 7.30pm at Onchan Methodist Church Hall.

A club spokesman said: ‘Due to the ongoing disruption to sea travel and the unfavourable weather forecast for the coming week the club, after discussion with Margaret Ecclestone and considered all realistic alternatives, have regretfully decided to cancel the event.

‘Margaret had intended to drive from her home in Stoke crossing to the island by sea bringing her equipment and most importantly the comprehensive selection of flowers required for her demonstration.

‘No alternative to this plan is available at such short notice.’

IT’S revealed in early census results that there has been a rise in the number of unemployed.

A Coronation Street soap star opens the new Dealz star in Douglas, we report.

The week starts with more ferry disruption, we report.

Tribute is paid to the former Mayor of Douglas George Chatel.

There’s a picture spread on schools’ festive shows.

Sport reports the island’s victory over Yorkshire in the football.

North News reports on the new performing arts academy that’s to open in Ramsey.

South News details what’s planned in the south for the New Year’s Day dips.

West News reports on the Peel Dip planned for January 1, 2012, and also reports on QEII High School’s green award for projects.

The Isle of Man Examiner is in shops from this afternoon.