Isle of Man election: Mental health at heart of Ramsey meeting

Candidates standing in Ramsey in the House of Keys election have debated a range of issues at a public meeting.

Alex Allinson, Robert Cowell, Lawrie Hooper, Jonathan Kinrade, Simon Mann, Luke Parker, Leonard Singer and Erica Spencer are all vying for a seat.

Cannabis decriminalisation, local infrastructure and affordable housing were hot topics at the meeting held at Bunscoill Rhumsaa.

But it was suicide rates and mental health that took centre stage.

An emotional question from an audience member sparked a discussion about what could be done to prevent suicides.

Alex Allinson (independent), who has been the education minister since 2020, said people needed "easy access to early intervention, so when people are struggling, when they are in crisis, they know where to go".

He said: "One of the aspects of that starts from a very young age, in terms of building resilience in schools and using the third sector to go into schools, such as Isle Listen."

He also called for a return of "practice-based counsellors" to provide local support for people.

Robert Cowell (independent) said it was the "number one crisis on the Isle of Man" and the government had to "right now, sort it out".

"It is a massive problem. Looking at everyone's faces, everyone can relate to what's been said."

He said it was a "current issue" that needed to be dealt with urgently, adding: "They have to sort it out before people kill themselves, it's a life and death situation."

Lawrie Hooper (Liberal Vannin party leader) said mental health had "always come second to physical health", which needed to change.

"It is about funding, it's about talking to the Manx public and being honest about the situation our health service faces, and saying we need more money."

He also encouraged people to hold whoever they voted into government "accountable" to ensure "some kind of change" was delivered.

Jonathan Kinrade (independent) said calling it a mental health crisis was "underplaying it".

He said: "I'm not going to say I know how to fix it, it needs a total overhaul of the entire mental health system, right from the ground up.

"Everybody needs to really get together and pay so much attention to it. Immediately, but especially over the next few years."

Simon Mann (independent) said the island was "losing young people" because of the issue, "particularly in Ramsey".

"Where our mental health services fail, our police force takes over and is at the sharp end, and I have personally seen over many years this problem developing.

"We need a mandate from everybody in Ramsey to say 'we've got to do something about it'."

Luke Parker (independent) said the island had always had an "underlying mental health issue that's been brought to the surface since Covid unfortunately".

He said: "We've miraculously got this fund for Covid for supporting businesses and individuals. We could use that fund to save lives on a mental health basis, not just a Covid basis.

"We are on a wealthy island and government does have funds. They should've dipped into reserves."

Leonard Singer (independent) said mental health had "always been a Cinderella service of the health service".

"We need the determination and timely intervention of mental health doctors and specialists in order to note the early signs in people, and give therapeutic and psychiatric treatment as soon as possible.

"The thing that is needed most is adequate funding and it's just not been given to them."

Erica Spencer (independent) said there were "huge waiting lists" for appointments to see counsellors.

"We could possibly turn our thoughts to what is possibly causing mental illness, what is making people feel so isolated and so unhappy.

"I think it's very important to teach people from a very young age that there shouldn't be a stigma with mental health."

The eight candidates also discussed first time buyer housing, protecting Manx wildlife, climate change and renewable energy.

The two seats in Ramsey have been held by Alex Allinson and Lawrie Hooper for the past five years.

Polls will be open between 08:00 and 20:00 BST on 23 September.

BBC Isle of Man will be featuring all 12 of the constituencies for the House of Keys in the forthcoming general election during the run up to the poll on 23 September.