Chief Minister Howard Quayle has given evidence to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee in Westminster this week.

The meeting on Tuesday was centred around the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies.

Chaired by Conservative MP Sir Bob Neill, also in attendance were Jersey’s external relations minister Ian Gorst, and Guernsey’s deputy external relations minister Jonathan Le Tocq.

Among the issues on the agenda for discussion were Brexit, fishing and cooperation with the British government during the pandemic.

To begin the session Mr Neill asked the crown dependency representatives how they would describe the constitutional relationship.

Mr Quayle talked about how the relationship had ’intensified during the Brexit and Covid era’, and said that he hoped that they could ’take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit has presented’ by maintaining this closer working relationship with Whitehall going forward.

Mr Le Tocq echoed his sentiments as being the same case with Guernsey.

’We feel that across Whitehall there is now better understanding of the Crown Dependencies than there had been in the past,’ Mr Quayle added.

He said he was ’very eager’ for the Isle of Man to be included in the UK’s new free trade agreements.

Mr Quayle was then asked how ’well consulted’ the Isle of Man felt when it came to forthcoming UK legislation and policy changes that would have ramifications for the island.

Mr Quayle responded: ’In the majority of times we are well consulted. ’Obviously with some of the Brexit negotiations, especially on fish, it really was last minute - and it was a take it or leave it sort of thing.

’But you have to accept that the UK was in major negotiations with the [Brexit] treaty, and the fishing element was a last minute agreement.

’On the whole we are well informed of what’s happening, which we appreciate because the sooner we’re told we can the discuss it in our Council of Ministers and then take it to our Tynwald should there need to be any legislation approved.’

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for managing the UK’s constitutional relationship with the Crown Dependencies including key Crown Appointments (such as the Lieutenant Governor), processing legislation for Royal Assent and authorising Crown Dependency Governments to negotiate international agreements. The UK government explained that though the relationship is not enshrined in any formal constitutional document, in the past the Justice Committee has played an ’important role’ in examining and clarifying the constitutional relationship and its boundaries.

Mr Quayle described the island’s relationship with the Ministry of Justice as ’positive’ and said that they are ’always there when we need them’.