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No 'whitewash' in select committee debate

A Manx government minister says an MHK who called for a Tynwald investigation into events surrounding the saving of the Reciprocal Health Agreement knew in advance the idea would be rejected.

Phil Gawne says there was no way the agreement could be renegotiated while Labour's Dawn Primarolo was minister for health in the United Kingdom, because of her publicly stated aversion to the Isle of Man.

However, things were different when Andy Burnham took over in the summer of 2009, and the change of government in May this year made it possible to put a new agreement in place.

Mr Gawne is unimpressed by the claim by fellow Rushen MHK Quintin Gill that the vote against a select committee amounted to a 'whitewash':

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