Backbencher Alfred Cannan said he is disappointed Tynwald didn’t support his call to have a select committee inquiry into proposed state pension reforms include the breaking of the reciprocal agreement with the UK.
The Mr Cannan was narrowly defeated despite the Council of Ministers block vote against the motion.
There was majority support in Tynwald for scrutiny of the proposal to break the reciprocal agreement, but this motion too was lost by two votes in the Keys.
Mr Cannan said: ‘I am disappointed that this committee will not be set up as this matter deserves full and proper scrutiny.
‘Nevertheless I do believe that a firm message has been given to the government that breaking the reciprocal agreement with the UK will be viewed with great concern and I am pleased that Tynwald gave majority support on this specific matter.’
During the debate, Mr Cannan highlighted the fact that we had paid £0.75m for a report that gave a set of proposals for reform of the National Insurance Fund that almost exactly mirrored those applicable in the UK from April 2016.
Mr Cannan told Tynwald: ‘This process needs proper structure because at the moment, as far as I can see, this has been unilateral action by the few on behalf of the majority and unilateral assumptions by the few on behalf of the majority.
‘We need to calm this down, get our facts straight and more importantly get our framework straight for future reforms.
‘This should be done by Tynwald and done in a controlled manner based on facts and evidence.
‘Ci65 suggest that if we push ahead with their suggested reforms and go it alone we could have a state pension that would be the envy of the OECD. We could also be the laughing stock of the OECD. I urge members to support considered reform that is subject to full parliamentary scrutiny.”
Mr Teare has promised a set of proposals on the matter to be placed before Tynwald in July.