MHK resigns from education department

Claire Christian has left her role at the Department of Education, Sport and Culture

An MHK has said she resigned as a member of a government department due "recent events".

Claire Christian said she made the "difficult decision" after a number of changes in the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc).

The resignation follows the replacement of Julie Edge as education minister with Daphne Caine, in a move the chief minister called a "mid-term review".

In a letter, Ms Christian said: "I am concerned the policy direction and funding decisions may now be influenced more heavily by those not responsible for the department." The Desc has been contacted for a response.

She said one of the key reasons for her resignation was the "level of criticism levelled" at the former minister over the near-closure of the Southern Swimming Pool in Castletown.

'Concerned'

Ms Christian said a decision to shut the facility, which was later reversed, was a Council of Ministers decision, but it was Ms Edge who had faced calls to resign over the issue.

Praising the work undertaken by the former minister during her tenure, she said she had fostered a "collaborative and supportive environment".

However she said, after recent events, tt was in both her own and the department's "best interest" to "part ways".

Mr Christian remains the chair of the Economic Policy Review Committee, and a member of both the Public Accounts Committee and the Standing Orders Committee of Tynwald.