Tynwald voted by a comfortable majority to support Dr Alex Allinson’s third Budget in a debate lasting more than three and half hours.

But there were many members who expressed concerns at how reserves are still being raided to balance the books.

There was drama earlier as a number of MHKs led by former ministers Lawrie Hooper, Julie Edge and Chris Thomas, attempted to prevent standing orders being suspended in a bid to stop the Budget being heard.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said there was nothing to be achieved by this. ‘It’s simply destabilising and frankly irresponsible to prevent the Budget being heard,’ he told members. ‘Let’s hear the Budget.’

In the end, MHKs voted 18 votes to six, with a unanimous vote by MLCs, to suspend standing orders to allow Dr Allinson to give his Budget speech.

The Chief Minister welcomed the tax cuts that have been brought forward and urged people to get behind the Treasury Minister.

He said: ‘All of this means our people will have more money in their pockets this year. This is a Budget for working families.’

But he acknowledged there are challenges: ‘We know we are running a budgetary deficit. The NI Fund clearly needs resolution.’

He said ‘something has to give’ regarding healthcare funding, pointing out that the Manx NHS has seen an average budget allocation of 7% per annum from 2021 but in that time the real costs of healthcare have been shooting up by 14% per year.

Education Minister Daphne Caine welcomed the increase to her department’s budget but said it would be ‘irresponsible’ not to acknowledge that they would face another financially challenging year ahead.

Manx Labour Party MHK Sarah Maltby (Douglas South) said money was being taken from the NI Fund but they were being told it would not be depleted.

‘It all seems too good to be true,’ she said. ‘I’m not raising a red flag yet but it’s in my back pocket,’ she said.

Fellow Labour MHK Joney Faragher (Douglas East) said she would struggle to support the Budget which she said was one of ‘good ambitions but flawed execution’.

She restated her concerns that Budget process needs to be more inclusive and transparent.

Former health minister Lawrie Hooper said: ‘Some of it doesn’t quite add up. It doesn’t quite make sense.’

He said: ‘Treasury are raiding the NI Fund so that the Treasury Minister can announce a reduction in income tax by 1%.’

Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse voted against the Budget last year.

He said there were positives in this year’s Budget that would be welcomed by constituents. But he said: ‘Reserves are still be emptied. We are using the family silver to fill potholes.’

‘The squeezed middle have been squeezed even tighter,’ he added.

Former Cabinet Office minister Kate Lord Brennan said that Budget was financing the system ‘as is’ ‘Government must live within its means,’ she said. She called for a cap on pay awards in the public sector and said the ‘superfluous’ Net Zero policy should be abandoned.

Onchan MHK Julie Edge suggested the Budget was neither ‘responsible and sustainable’ as billed.

She described it as ‘financially reckless’. You should not be spending more and using our reserves. It should be a “no, no” from the start. This is not sustainable.’

Tim Glover (Arbory, Castletown and Malew) said it would be ‘irresponsible’ to vote for the Budget when members did not have the details they needed. He noted progress is being made with a new Castle Rushen High School but added: ‘My goodness, this is painful.’

Chris Thomas (Douglas North) said that in the last three years, the island’s gross national product growth has been negative in real terms. ‘It’s not a swimmingly successful economy,’ he said.

Replying to the debate, Dr Allinson said there had been no raid on the NI Fund and insisted that reserves are being topped up, not emptied. He joked that MNH was ‘not letting him anywhere near the family silver’. ‘This is a Budget in a difficult time,’ he said.

Tynwald voted to support the Budget by 16 votes to eight in the Keys and by eight votes to zero in LegCo.