On his first visit to the island, Lord Chancellor David Lidington said he was impressed with the diversity of the Manx economy.

And the Aylesbury MP, who has political responsibility for the Ministry of Justice which manages the UK’s relationship with the Crown Dependencies, said he would work hard to represent the island’s interests in Westminster.

His visit came at a time when offshore finance centres remain under the international spotlight, the island being one of 40 or so jurisdictions that have been placed on a EU grey list, with a year to implement promised commitments on fair taxation.

During his trip last week, Mr Lidington, who was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in June this year, visited the Swagelok factory and Isle of Man Creameries.

The Conservative MP also met with the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers and had a tour of Tynwald.

The Lord Chancellor, who admitted his first visit was a bit of a whirlwind, said: ’What has become apparent is the diversity and high quality of business here.

’It’s not just about tourism, it’s not even just about the financial services sector, important though that is. You have companies like Swagelok which is a world-class manufacturer.’

He said it was not prudent for any country to become reliant on any one sector and diversity and high quality were key.

Outlining how he sees his role in Westminster in relation to the Isle of Man, he said: ’I want to make sure my cabinet colleagues know about the particular concerns of interests of the island and make sure those are taken into account.

’We are working to make sure the island’s interests are taken into account on key issues, including engaging with the Isle of Man as the UK prepares to leave the EU.’

He said that there was a small group of MPs who follow events in the Crown Dependencies but most were unaware of the issues affecting us.

Mr Lidington said the island had a ’pretty good track record to talk about’ when it came to tax transparency and complying with international standards.

He said: ’The island is not on the blacklist and that tells me that the evidence that was presented to the EU, and supported by the EU, was persuasive.

’What has become clear to me is that the island meets international standards in terms of transparency and governance.

’It was the second jurisdiction anywhere in the world to sign up to BEPS.

’Financial services as a sector keeps on changing.

’No jurisdiction can be complacent.

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) is an OECD measure designed to combat cross-border profit shifting by multinationals.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’If there were only two on the grey list it might have been cause for concern. We worked hard behind the scenes to ensure we weren’t on the blacklist.

’I’m very confidence we will come through this in 12 months’ time.

’We are one of only three countries to go through the second phase of OECD inspections with a fully compliant rating.

’That shows we take our international responsibilities and tax transparency very seriously indeed.’