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Isle of Man government to challenge age discrimination ruling

BBC Isle of Man government officesBBC
The government said the appeal was needed to clarify "important matters"

The Isle of Man government is set to challenge a finding that it broke equality laws by failing to compensate two ousted MHKs due to their age.

Martin Perkins and Geoffrey Boot were awarded more than £33,000 after arguing they were discriminated against after losing seats at the 2021 election.

The pair were ineligible at the time for resettlement grants as they were both over 60.

A Treasury spokesman said the tribunal decision would be appealed.

This was justified due to the "significant expenditure of public funds" involved in the payments given to MHKs who lose their seats, he said.

There were "important" legal matters to clarify around the Employment and Equality Tribunal's decision, as well as a "significant level of public interest", the spokesman added.

Tynwald voted to remove the age limit in October, and cut the resettlement grant from half an MHK's annual salary to a third for those who lose their seats.

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