Alastair Kneale's blog

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The French government terrorist who led the attack on the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, New Zealand in July 1985 has a spoken publicly about the attack.

Jean-Luc Kister has apologised for the first time for the incident in an interview with TVNZ. He admitted the action "resulted in the accidental death of an innocent man", photographer Fernando Pereira. He also confirmed that the orders for the attack came from the French President.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

‘What we need is a broadcast media on the Isle of Man which is ‘fit for purpose for the next thirty or more years’. Convince the public that what it is getting is truth and not rehashed sanitised government press releases and the trolls will go away.’

The Manx Chief Minister has been speaking about the road ahead he said:

‘I’m committed to change the culture of government and the traditional way of doing things. We have to continue to do this if we are going to provide a modern government fit for purpose for the next 30 or more years.’

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

‘Although one cannot be certain from the time line the CM gives in his reply it would seem that the records were destroyed before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda had completed its work (and indeed some indictments are still open via the MICT). This also would seem to be not only an affront to the victims but a slap in the face to the United Nations’

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

When Allan Bell MHK the Manx Chief Minister came out and attacked those who troll and spread malicious rumours on the Internet I personally applauded his stance and remarked that it complemented efforts being made in Ireland by Senator Lorraine Higgins to tackle cyber-bullying.

The Chief Ministers full interview with Paul Moulton can be seen below and I’m pleased that he does qualify his remarks by saying that he does not want a crack down on social media.

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Isle of Man Examiner breaks the news today about the extent of prosecutions brought under the TV broadcast licence laws. The story is self explanatory.

The paper quotes extensively from Caroline Levesque Bartlett a campaigner against the levy across the UK and in the Crown dependencies.

Ms Bartlett has amassed a wealth of statistics which are well worth a look (link):

The disastrous proposals being put forward on mass population growth on the Isle of Man need to be fought by all possible means. Comments in favour of population expansion are being put out by the likes of Micky Swindale of the Chamber of Commerce and her ilk. They do not have the best interests of the Manx people at heart. They are proposals driven by greed and self interest. Swindale and KPMG her employers only see the Isle of Man as something to be used to increase their profits, regardless of the destruction they cause to this island in the process.

News from Mannin Branch Celtic League

The Chamber of Commerce were recently waxing lyrical about the need for the Island to grow its workforce with as many as 15000 extra workers needed according to them. However you can bet your bottom dollar the Chamber will not be insisting appropriate rights be afforded for those workers to organise themselves in Trade Unions.

News from the Celtic League

What was described as ‘a landmark agreement on sharing tax information was signed on Friday 13 December 2013 by the Isle of Man and the United States.

The Isle of Man Chief Minister Allan Bell and Matthew Burzan, US Ambassador to the UK at the US Embassy in London signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries.

At the time Allan Bell, the Isle of Man Chief Minister, said:

News From The Celtic League

The Manx Chief Minister has said that the Island does not need an expansion in population but an increased workforce taken with recent comments by the Infrastructure Minister it seems to be a change of tack from the previous announcement about freeing up land for ‘development and growth’.

It also seems to contradict statements from the Chamber of Commerce about the need for another 15,000 workers. That number together with families would involve a seismic increase in the population.

Adam Wood is about to finish his term as  Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man. Many Manx people would be forgiven for not having a clue who he is. Certainly he has been rarely seen out in public since he took the position in 2011. The Lieutenant Governor is the representative of the British monarch, who acts as the Manx head of state. The Isle of Man is an internally self-governing Crown Dependency. In reality the Lieutenant Governor represents the interests of a foreign power, the United Kingdom, in its colonial possession the Isle of Man (Mannin).