Mr President
Thank for you the opportunity to provide a statement at this time. It has become traditional to make a statement on the anniversary of the elections to the House of Keys.
It has been four years since I was given the honour to serve as Chief Minister. Each year I have stood at my place in this Honourable Court to deliver a state of the nation address. An address before you – my colleagues and peers - that looks back to the achievements of the previous year and forward to the challenges of the next.
I welcome and value this tradition. We – who have the honour to sit in this place - must never forget why we are here.
We are here at the behest of the Manx public. We are here to serve them to the best of our abilities. We are here to make our beautiful Island the best possible place to live and to work. To make it as safe as we can to allow our loved ones to thrive. And to create the opportunities for everyone to fulfil their dreams. The Great Manx Public has entrusted this to us.
This is not always easy. All of us - in this place and in government - are so often called upon to make decisions based on incomplete information, to deliver certainty out of uncertainty. 2020 has shown us how anything can happen at any time.
We have had to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty on a daily basis. Where one day we found a patch of solid ground, the next day we found it crumbling underfoot.
Without the benefit of the hindsight that we enjoy today, we had to listen, consider and decide. To innovate, adapt and overcome. We have had to revisit and re-explain as the situation has evolved.
Members of this Honourable Court scrutinised, challenged and questioned. For that I am genuinely grateful. Diversity of thought is what leads to the best decision making.
At times it was not easy. I know that we didn’t get everything right. But I do believe that as a legislature, as a government and as an Island we did our best in the extraordinary circumstances we faced.
In doing so, we have a responsibility to be as transparent as we possibly can. As we act and legislate in their name, the public should be able to see what we are doing and understand why.
I made a personal commitment to the Great Manx Public. To tell them what’s what.
This is something I have endeavoured to do throughout my time as Chief Minister. And this is something for which I would like people to remember this administration.
We do not always get this right. I know that. But we should certainly not stop trying.
This annual statement is an important part of that. It should be a moment to be candid about our challenges. To be frank about our shortcomings. But also to be proud of our achievements.
Mr President
This will be the last of these annual statements from the current administration. But I hope that this is something that the next administration will continue.
When I started to think about this statement, what was clear to me was what I did not want it to be.
I did not want to stand here and read a long list of everything that together we – that is the Executive and the legislature – have done.
Nor do I want this to be a compendium of clever metaphors or analogies. The last six months has I think exhausted them.
Indeed, I think the word “unprecedented” has been used by politicians and the press more times than we would care to remember.
This is not the moment for cleverness or complexity. What I want to do today is to speak from the heart.
You may not escape a quotation or two. But I hope you will excuse me this.
I was not born to be a politician. I know people may tire of hearing me say this. But it is true.
I am just a Manxman. I came into politics wanting to do the best for our Island. At the time, our Island was facing a set of particular set of challenges. These were mainly economic. I thought I had some skills and experience to share. I came into politics to play a part in helping to shepherd our Island through those challenges.
At the start of this administration, I am not sure we could ever have anticipated what we saw, experienced and endured.
Mr President
Before I get into the detail of my statement, I would like to beg your indulgence on two issues.
Firstly, I would like us to remember some friends who joined us at the start of our journey but are not in the chamber today. A deeply loved colleague sadly passed away in February this year. Bill Malarkey will always be remembered as a hardworking, conscientious parliamentarian who cared deeply about both his constituency and government duties.
I was honoured to know him as a friend. I know many of us here today have equally fond memories. He is sorely missed.
And Ms Costain, who also departed this Honourable Court this summer. I am sure you will join me in wishing her well.
But as the sun sets, the sun rises. And I would like to offer my own personal welcome to the two new members representing Douglas South in this Honourable Court - Claire Christian and Paul Quine. I know that both of them have joined us with a passion for public service. I wish them both well and look forward to working with them.
Mr President
Back to the matter at hand.
The last twelve months has proved to be a challenging context for the work of government. During the emergency, we had to pause work on the Programme for Government – the ambitious challenges we set ourselves four years ago.
Despite this, we have still achieved much. We have had to amend and fine-tune the Programme for Government. And I remain determined – working with you - to deliver as much of it as we possibly can in the time that remains.
At the start of 2020, we saw the Equality Legislation come into full effect. This has been something always close to my heart and an important indication of what kind of a nation we are.
We broke ground on the new Ferry Terminal in the heart of the city of Liverpool – a concrete demonstration of our links to the North West of England and an enduring facility for our people and our businesses.
Just before the arrival of COVID into our lives, the Treasury Minister delivered an ambitious budget for the future with measures to support low to middle-income earners, develop vital infrastructure and boost business and jobs.
Other change is underway. We have major transformation programmes in progress on climate change, health, and now education. We have not been afraid to ask the difficult questions. Or to ask others to tell us the difficult truths.
Mr President
The Council of Ministers made a commitment to designate a Minister with responsibility for Justice. I can confirm that I will be designating the Minister for Home Affairs as the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs. I will also be creating a Council of Ministers sub-committee with responsibility for justice policy, chaired by the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice.
This will start the transition towards a more centralised approach to policy making. I can further confirm that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will be requested to undertake an inspection of both the Constabulary and the Fire and Rescue service. The terms of reference for the inspections will include operational performance, effectiveness, policy and governance.
These reviews will help inform the future structure of the Department of Home Affairs and the functions beneath it.
Mr President
The decision of the people of the United Kingdom in June 2016 took many people by surprise. The effects of that decision have consumed time and created uncertainty throughout this administration. The aftershocks have continued throughout the four years that have passed since then.
I will be making a statement on this later in the Order Paper, so shall not dwell on it at this moment. But I mention it here as an important piece of context.
Mr President
Whichever way we look at it, this year has been dominated by COVID. We saw the earliest signs of it at the end of December in Wuhan, China. We felt the worst of it here in April. And it is still a real and significant threat to our Island and our way of life.
I did not want the year we have just had. There was so much suffering. People lost livelihoods. People lost loved ones. Our nation has mourned. We must never forget that.
We had to set aside swathes of normal government business. We had to learn quickly to deal with something none of us had encountered before.
From the start of the year, the Council of Ministers set a clear priority – the preservation of life. And this is what defined our thinking. From the confirmation of our first positive case on 19 March, we had to take a series of difficult decisions.
We constrained the lives of our people. We came between our people and their loved ones. We imposed restrictions on our people returning to the Island. We required our businesses to take steps to protect their staff and customers.
But the Great Manx Public rose to the challenge. They chose to make the right decisions for themselves, for their loved ones and for their Island.
We found PPE. We built an oxygen plant. We established a contact tracing service that works. We developed our own 111 clinical advice line. We brought testing on Island. And the list of achievements is more than I can do justice to today.
Our public service worked day and night to reinforce our health and care sector, to ensure that other essential services continued and to provide support to our economy. Thank you.
Our private sector played an incredibly important role underpinning essential services and supplies.
Our third sector stepped up - with an army of community volunteers – to help those who needed it most. Thank you.
This was a team effort. A national achievement. Because of that, we find ourselves in a position envied by many other nations.
And because of that in May, we were able to start reinvigorating our economy.
And in June we were able to lift all social distancing requirements.
We only have to watch the news coverage of our near neighbours to realise how fortunate a position we find ourselves in. But we must not forget how we got here. Yes there was an element of luck. But as General MacArthur said: The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.
We are not free of the threat of COVID or the risk of it returning to our community. But it is right that we look to the future.
Sadly, none of us has a crystal ball. But the worst decision we can make at the moment is no decision. We cannot let our inability to see the future and the uncertainty this brings slow us down and prevent us from moving forward.
There are certainly challenges ahead.
A priority has to be our economy. I applaud the efforts of the Treasury Minister, the Minister for Enterprise and their teams in dealing with the incredible pressures on our economy over the last eight months.
We are not out of the woods yet. Far from it. But there are encouraging green shoots. Unemployment is steadily decreasing. Not yet to pre-COVID levels but far better than we might have feared.
At the start, we had to focus our efforts on protecting jobs and business as best we could.
While we continue to support certain sectors and stimulate others, our focus is now firmly on the future.
To quote the late Tom Petty – whose birthday it happens to be today: “it is time to get going. What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing”.
It is time for us to move forward as best we can. And we need to do that together.
Mr President
There are things that we do know and things that we don’t know. I will not succumb to the temptation to quote Donald Rumsfeld’s famous “known unknowns” speech at this point.
What do we know?
We know that we can’t keep the borders closed for ever.
We know people have suffered.. The mental health of our nation has been put under extreme strain.
We know there remains a great deal of anxiety among our people.
Yes we need to be bold and confident about the future. But we need to be mindful that people are still worried. Another Tom Petty line reminds us that “you belong somewhere you feel fine”.
And there are things we know that we don’t know
We do not know when the world around us will return to normality.
We don’t know the extent of the scarring of our people.
We do not yet know the impact that global economic events will have on our economy and our way of life.
I am proud of where we are. Pride is often taken as a negative quality. And the proverb warns us that it comes before a fall. I am aware of that.
I believe it is OK to have pride. But is important to set that against humility.
There are things that we have not got quite right over the last year. Things that we could have dealt with better.
There are things that we might have wanted to be different.
Might we have done better preventing in the Laxey floods? Yes, maybe we could have.
Did we get absolutely everything right in our dealing with COVID ? Maybe we didn’t.
Is the development of the Prom quite where we would want it to be? I know everyone on the Island has a view on that!
But seriously on the Prom, I know it will be worth it in the end.
Mr President
People – including those lucky enough to be in these seats after the next general election - will look back on this last period. With the benefit of hindsight, there will of course be things that will be easy to criticise.
I hope too that when we look back at all that we have been through, we will remember the sacrifice made by so many, the dedication of our public sector, the resourcefulness of our private sector and the heart of our third sector.
I hope people will remember how this hardy band of people - the Great Manx Public – rose to the challenges we faced.
I do need to be clear that when I talk about the Great Manx Public, I do not mean that you have to be able to trace your family line back to King Orry or to have farmed the plains of Sandygate for 500 years.
If you have chosen as your home our own dear Ellan Vannin, with its green hills by the sea, then this means you.
Whether you are from Ballasalla or Burnley, Kirk Michael or Krakow, Crosby or Cork, you are part of the Manx family.
Mr President
We must look ahead and together move forward.
As Ban Ki-moon said: “It is only through seriousness of purpose and persistence that we ultimately carry the day. We might liken it to riding a bicycle. You stay upright and move forward so long as you keep up the momentum”.
The last year before an election inevitably leads to a desire for members to campaign and distinguish themselves in the eyes of the electorate. I understand that.
I would argue that right now, the electorate expects us to act in the national interest. We must not let them down.
We must continue to make decisions and progress.
There is so much still to do. There are more than twenty pieces of legislation that will be coming before the Branches.
All are important. But some are fundamental to our society. Climate Change, Domestic Abuse, the Capacity Bill, Landlord Registration and the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications are all issues that will be before us.
We can only deliver the rest of the legislative programme, if we work together. To quote Helen Keller: Alone we can do so little: together we can do so much.
Mr President
In conclusion, together we have achieved so much. But there is still so much to do.
We must embark on the last year of our terms with positivity and purpose. For our people, our community and our Island.
I leave members with the words of Shelley that seem so appropriate at this time.
“Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.”
