A right-leaning news website’s article questioning whether the Isle of Man is the ‘wokest place in Britain’ has been widely criticised - by its own readers.

Mail Online published the piece on Sunday, following the recent approval of the island’s Assisted Dying Bill. The article, by ‘Senior Home News’ reporter John James, included a video package featuring interviews with people shot on Strand Street in Douglas.

However, it was the accompanying text that drew criticism from many readers.

The opening line asked: ‘With the news that assisted dying, votes for 16-year-olds and legalised growth of cannabis have been passed on the island, is the Isle of Man the wokest place in the UK?’

Many islanders - and Mail readers - were quick to spot a number of inaccuracies. Chief among them were that the Isle of Man is not in the UK. It is a self-governing Crown Dependency, like Jersey and Guernsey.

In addition, the opening salvo implies that votes for 16-year-olds are a new development. In fact, the Isle of Man lowered the voting age to 16 in 2006.

It also refers to Douglas as the island’s ‘main town’, despite the Manx capital being granted city status in 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee honours.

The piece goes on to describe the Isle of Man as the ‘first place in the UK to pass legislation that would permit assisted dying’, repeating the geographical error.

The article also claims the island’s legalisation of medicinal cannabis is one of its ‘wackiest policies’, incorrectly stating that it is ‘the only area of the UK where medicinal cannabis is legal’.

Medicinal cannabis has been legal in the UK since 2018, under specific conditions and via prescription.

The story quickly attracted hundreds of comments - many of them pointing out the factual errors.

One reader wrote: ‘The IoM is NOT in the UK. It's a self-governing British Crown Dependency, just like Jersey, Guernsey etc.’

Another added: ‘Medicinal cannabis is legal in the rest of the UK, isn't it?’

A third commenter said: ‘As always in the Mail, manufacture a faux-outrage first and worry about facts afterwards.’

Not all commenters were critical of the Isle of Man - some expressed support for its policies.

‘Lack of speed limit is as far from woke as you can get. Cannabis and assisted dying are libertarian policies. Just the opposite of woke,’ said one reader.

Another added: ‘Assisted dying is woke and liberal? Who writes this nonsense?’

And one simply concluded: ‘That's not woke. That's sensible.’

What does ‘woke’ mean?

Originally African American slang for being ‘awake’ to social injustice, especially racism, woke has more recently been adopted, often pejoratively, to describe progressive or liberal political views, particularly around issues such as gender, climate action, and minority rights.