New Government Global Relations Strategy: Reayrtys analysis and comment

It’s nearly four years overdue, but the Isle of Man finally has an international  - or ‘Global’ - relations strategy.

This is something Reayrtys has long been pushing the Government for so we certainly welcome the creation of a strategy document, approved by Tynwald.  But the devil is in the detail - has it been worth the wait?

We’ve taken an initial review and the tl;dr summary is: there’s some strong and good sentiment framing the jobs to be done, which we welcome.

When it comes to the actual delivery plan we believe that the powerful sentiment fizzles out somewhat into a more typical set of actions focused on the UK.

However, this could be partly a consequence of the current Government’s immediate priorities, general lack of aspiration and vision and the UK-centric background of key internal players.

On the whole, the strategy’s overall tone and stated direction leaves us feeling more positive about the genuine global possibilities and opportunities afforded by the new strategy.

Here’s our deep-dive analysis:

Strong ‘big picture’; less strong action plan

Firstly, the new Director of External Relations, Chris Brannigan, is to be commended for an important reset on Manx international relations. The Chief Minister’s foreword to the report acknowledges the complex reality for the island in a “changing global environment … [where] the pace of change is being driven by technological advances, shifting international alliances, and an increase in conflict and its consequences.”

However, this ‘big picture’ view is arguably undermined somewhat by the Government’s response. For example, we believe that it is too narrowly focused on a strategically limiting “narrative that the Isle of Man is a successful international business centre”.

We believe that it is - and should be positioned - much, much more than just this. Indeed, if anything, our prowess as an international business centre is being eroded.   

The Strategy also highlights the opportunities afforded by alternative diplomatic networks, such as “environmental diplomacy”; but again the routes alluded to for this is Westminster 'All Party Parliamentary Groups'.

While they are a valid route (and no doubt one familiar to the architect of the strategy) this UK focused approach risks missing out on cross-Irish Sea Space initiatives, such as DISC and Agile Cymru. Again, keeping  the bigger picture in view could provide more opportunities here.

Reset on messaging

One key development in this new Strategy document is a clear reset on the messaging around the Isle of Man’s position in the world.

Reayrtys has been calling out the tone and language adopted by Ministers and senior civil servants towards the island for many years. Compare for example the line taken by Chief Minister Cannan around the Island’s influence in a written answer to Tynwald in August 2024, where he claimed: “As a small Island community, and as a dependency of the British Crown, the Isle of Man Government operates within certain constraints.”

Fast forward to his opening statement in this report where he tells us, the Isle of Man is a “small but influential nation”.

Combined with the strategy’s belief that “Isle of Man is a globally recognised nation with a visibility that extends beyond its geographical size” and has a desire to “leverage its available soft power” then it’s fair to see a clear shift in sentiment and aspiration around the island’s pace in the modern world.

Reset on diaspora

The strategy also sets out a clear intention to engage the Manx diaspora around the world to support the achievement of policy goals.

This is something that Reayrtys has been promoting within political and policy circles for several years. It presents a huge opportunity and it is an extremely welcome addition to the Government’s policy levers.

Going beyond the UK; but need to look further

One further distinct shift is the apparent dropping of the concept of the ‘British Family’ from messaging. This is welcomed by Reayrtys. That isn’t to say we object to the notion set out in such a statement, but rather felt that its repeated use by Government and civil service was, at best, limiting in terms of what could be achieved in terms of strategic objectives, and at worst unnecessarily sycophantic reinforcing the misguided idea of ‘dependency’ that CoMin has used in the past.

Moreover, the Strategy also identifies the importance of engaging politically and economically with the EU and other “neighbouring” countries, such as Ireland.

While we fully support deeper engagement with Ireland, the inclusion of Ireland as simply a “near neighbour” rather than recognising the significant shared historical, linguistic and cultural history, might overlook the potential for mutual projects.

Likewise, the omission of Scotland and Wales (and other nearby Celtic countries/regions in the EU) as priority opportunities for the Isle of Man is a missed strategic opportunity.

Immediate priorities still UK focused

As we alluded to in the summary, this is really a Strategy of two halves: some powerful and welcome sentiments around the Island’s future opportunities leveraging our untapped global influence, leveraging our global diaspora and extending political and diplomatic engagement beyond Westminster and the NW of England.

The second part of the Strategy, however, focusing on the priorities for the next 12 months, is rather a weak retort identifying rather basic and time worn engagement with Westminster and the UK.

For example…. “Maintain and develop positive relationships with… UK Ministry of Justice… Authorities and areas inside the UK, particularly the City of London, and North West of England”. While relevant, this should be table-stakes for the Government. Where has the vision and aspiration gone in delivery?

Outsourced delivery

One non-policy point, but a critically important one for the Manx people, is the size of the civil service’s external affairs directorate. The Strategy itself acknowledges that the size and structure of the directorate “constrains” our ability to deliver international relations activity and Reayrtys has (again!) called for increased external affairs resource for several years.

A related consequence of this is the reliance on the Government’s UK public relations consultancy, Lexington, for supporting implementation of the Strategy.

This is effectively outsources the international relations of the Manx Government to a commercial entity based in the UK, with a distinctly UK focused (if global) outlook.

This, we believe, is substandard in terms of lacking a truly Manx-first approach and takes taxpayer resource away from the island. We will continue to argue for the development of a Ministry for Global Affairs within the civil service and a transfer of global relations activity from a UK-based commercial entity to the Manx civil service.

Timeframe

One minor (but important) quibble is that while the plan clearly blends some longer term aspirational aims with immediate priorities, beyond the 12 month tasks there is no indication of when any of the bigger picture opportunities will be brought to life.

Not to mention the Strategy is dated 2025 and we are pretty much at the end of the year, so will the 12 month action plan begin in 2026 or is this a back-dated document?

On both counts, only time will tell!