The possibility of people in the Isle of Man having a vote in the referendum determining the UK’s membership of the European Union will be discussed by top UK politicians today.
A petition to the Privy Council will be heard today (Thursday).
Campaigners have argued that the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey should have a say because of the effects of EU membership on them.
However the Isle of Man did not get a vote in 1975 when the UK confirmed its membership of the then European Economic Community.
The Privy Council is a formal body of advisers to the Queen. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.
If the Privy Council recommended that the Crown Dependencies should get a vote, it would be a significant development.
The islands’ trading relationship with the UK is governed by Protocol 3 of the treaty that the UK signed for membership. But they remain outside the EU.
If the UK votes to leave the EU, the islands’ relationship with the EU will be uncertain.
Former Guernsey politician Anthony Webber said; ‘Many people apart from the petitioners have stated that the UK EU membership is a matter of major concern to the Crown Dependencies.
He added: ‘The three Chief Ministers of the Crown Dependencies have engaged in a policy of deception and disengagement with their public on this exceptionally important issue.
‘The people of the Crown Dependencies have been lulled into an illusion of security on this matter.
He said that for the Channel Islands it was ‘the most serious political issue they have faced since the German occupation’.
He added: ‘The deception has even been used on the international financial stage with the grossly misleading impression being given that Guernsey [and Jersey and the Isle of Man] will not be affected by the results of the UK EU referendum.
‘I point out that whilst those of us involved in the campaign have strong views about whether the UK and thus the Crown Dependencies should remain in the EU, the campaign has been supported across the Crown Dependencies by those on both sides of the argument.
‘The campaign is all about the right to vote on our future, and the outrage at that right to vote being denied by the respective authorities in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.
‘We feel these three Chief Ministers, acting in unison, had absolutely no mandate to refuse to ask the UK government for our inclusion in the referendum.’
Voters in the UK will decide whether to leave the EU or remain in it on June 23.
An online petition asking for a vote for the Crown Dependencies on the UK parliament website had attracted 1,754 signatures by the time we went to press.
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