Health and Social Care Minister Kate Beecroft explains her position on the abortion debate to PAUL SPELLER in the latest one-to-one interview with the Isle of Man’s MHKs. The minister also resists attempts to scrub out the line she has drawn under the controversy surrounding Rob Callister’s resignation, while arguing that the growth of Liberal Vannin would be good for the island.

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Leader of the only functioning political party in the House of Keys, health department critic turned minister, advocate of caution on abortion reform - Kate Beecroft often divides opinion.

If her first six months in the cabinet are anything to go by, that is unlikely to change.

We meet after an eventful few weeks for Mrs Beecroft, which saw a department member resign and her department on the backfoot, following criticism of the change in provider for the taxi transfer service taking patients from airports to hospitals in the UK.

Prior to the 2016 election, Mrs Beecroft was one of the stronger critics of the department she now helms. Has it been a tough task to win over her team?

’I could be wrong, but I like to think just about everybody I come into contact with I get on well with,’ she says. ’I think they have certainly seen that I am committed to making the improvements that I have wanted to see for quite a long time.’

This brings us neatly to Rob Callister, who resigned last month.

He has not stated publicly the reason, other than he was unhappy with Mrs Beecroft’s course of action about something, but it is no secret he quit after the minister asked department members to sign a letter relating to chief executive Malcolm Couch, widely believed to have been an effective vote of no confidence.

’I am not going to comment further, really, on the Rob Callister situation,’ she says. ’He has said quite publicly it was for personal reasons and I do not think it is fair for me to say anything more.

’Malcolm and I - and the other departmental members - are working very hard to take the department where it needs to go and the other department members are picking up the responsibilities and the workload that Mr Callister had.

’We are all working as a team.’

It is easy to read that as a dig at the former department member, whom she confirms will not be replaced.

But, could things have been handled better?

’Everything in life can be handled differently.’

I ask her about the direction she is taking the department.

’The big one for me is an independent health regulator. That has been in our Liberal Vannin manifesto for quite a while.’

She wants it set in law and would like the process completed before the review of Manx health services by the West Midlands Quality Review Service is finished next year.

That we do not have the space to dwell on the controversy on the switch in the taxi transfer service provider and the dissatisfaction of some patients indicates just how much often a Minister of Health and Social Care will find themselves embroiled in political debate.

There is one particular issue for Mrs Beecroft that is likely to run.

Her stance on the abortion debate has disappointed those favouring reform of the law in the Isle of Man.

Mrs Beecroft was one of three who voted against Dr Alex Allinson’s successful motion for leave to introduce new legislation to modernise the current law, which his supporters say is unfair and too restrictive, forcing some women to travel away for the procedure.

The sense of dismay at the minister’s stance - from one side of the debate, at least - was palpable.

But she insists she is neutral on the clinical issues and her decision had nothing to do with religion.

’We have got two arguments and the clinical evidence does not come down in favour, particularly, of either of the two arguments,’ she says.

’I still think that the best way would have been for it to go to a committee first. I still think it is being done the wrong way.’

A committee investigation would have given a stronger basis of evidence to prepare any legislation, she says.

’At the moment, we have got anecdotal evidence, which is very different.

’It is nothing to do with religion. I am saying there is no clinical evidence that has been presented to me at the moment to support the change.’

I push further, asking what her position would be once Dr Allinson brings forward a bill.

She points out that we do not know what form the draft legislation will take.

But, what if a law is brought in that she is not happy with? Would she feel comfortable being the minister of the department that would have to implement it?

’I cannot say I would be comfortable, because we do not know what is going to be in it,’ she says. ’I would have to take advice.

’It hasn’t happened. We don’t know what the bill will say. I really think that is jumping the gun.’

Mrs Beecroft, 64, comes across in the interview as quietly spoken but switched on. Just as with some of her comments in Tynwald, it is when you reflect on her words - or read them in black and white - you get a true sense of the steel.

That is not to portray her as a polemicised Miss Marple, but it is a style that needs to be used sparingly in the arena of parliament, now that she is a minister.

If relied upon too frequently when answering questions in the House of Keys, backbenchers will find a way unlock the defence, in the same way that in football an offside trap rarely works for 90 minutes.

The Liberal Vannin leader is comfortable in her new role as a member of the Council of Ministers.

The departmental boat may have rocked, but she has encountered nothing to compare with the stormy seas that Peter Karran sailed into during his brief spell as education minister.

’Nobody has asked me to go against a pre-stated position yet,’ she says. ’I suppose if they do it could be a very different story.

’Collective responsibility has been relaxed since Mr Karran was a minister.’

Having been one of the strongest critics of the previous administration and a champion for many social media warriors going to war with the establishment, Mrs Beecroft now finds herself on the other side of the fence.

It has not fazed her.

’When I was a backbencher, some people loved me and some people hated me, so you get used to criticism.’

She still believes that party politics has a place in Tynwald, pointing out that it would see continuity in government rather than a merry-go-round of individuals who often spend their time undoing the work of predecessors.

’It must be soul-destroying for the civil service if they spend all this time working for one minister, then a new minister comes in and changes everything.’

Mrs Beecroft, who stood against Howard Quayle and Alfred Cannan in a bid to become chief minister is optimistic at the direction the current government is taking, however.

The Programme for Government, she says, is crucial, in ensuring a government has a clear route towards its aims and the public knows what it is.

’Until we get political parties going - if we ever do in the Isle of Man, and that is up to the public - then the Programme for Government is what we should be doing.’