NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
The Celtic League has written to the Manx Chief Minister (CM) asking if past protocol in respect of the establishment of British military forces in the Isle of Man, as laid down by the ‘Lord of Man’ many years ago, was adhered to prior to the decision to raise and station ‘reserve forces’ here.
The League has asked for the relevant correspondence to be published so that the formal agreement of the Isle of Man Government to ‘promote’ the move can be established (text below):
“The Chief Minister
Allan Bell MHK
Chief Minister Office
Government Buildings
Douglas
Isle of Man
13th May 2015
Dear Chief Minister,
I am sure you are aware of news reports that the British military are to raise ‘reserve forces’ on the Isle of Man and promotional work surrounding this seems well in hand.
I refer you to a copy of royal instructions given by the Lord of Man (Elizabeth R.) to the then Lt. Governor in 1966.
I quote:
“and should it become expedient for any of Our Armed Forces or those of Our Allies to be in Our said Island you are to establish contact between their Commanding Officers and other Civil authorities there and to request such steps be taken by those authorities as are necessary to promote the purpose for which the said Forces are in Our said Island”.
I appreciate that since that time the role of the Lt. Governor has been considerably reduced but he is still the representative of the Lord of Man and I would presume the diplomatic norms were observed and the Islands government was consulted fully about the ‘reserve forces’ initiative.
Can I ask when those discussions took place and if the content of same will be published?
Yours sincerely,
J B Moffatt (Mr)
pp Celtic League”
Earlier this week Nationalist Party, Mec Vannin, condemned the ‘reserve forces’ initiative.
J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League
13/05/15
(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues
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