Chamber Distances Itself From Petition

The Chamber of Commerce says it has been ‘misquoted and misrepresented’ by the creator of a petition calling for a no-confidence vote in the gov.

That petition, which now has over 1,300 signatures, referred to the Chambers’ members saying they had no confidence in the gov’s latest Budget.

The Chamber members had said the gov is ‘in denial’ and said the Budget was ‘yet another missed opportunity’ to address many long-running issues that it has highlighted as being ‘barriers to economic growth’.

The founder of the petition on change.org, Jonathan Smith, said: ‘This week 200 Isle of Man business owners or operators who are members of the Island’s Chamber of Commerce voted overwhelmingly against the Isle of Man’s Budget and publicly expressed absolutely no confidence in the Islands tax strategy and its Council of Ministers.’

However, the Chamber says this didn’t represent its views and was ‘deeply concerned that this could cause damage to our members and all local businesses’.

It did not clarify why it felt that being connected to a petition calling for a vote of no confidence in the gov could cause damage to its members and businesses, or what discussions had created this impression.

Chamber added: Secondly, we want to make it clear that the reference to a vote of no confidence in our open letter was only in relation to the Budget and was representative of our members’ feedback. At no point have we called for a vote of no confidence in CoMin or any MHKs.

‘Chamber’s priority is, and always will be, to represent our members’ interests when it comes to building a robust and sustainable economy for the island.’