Ministers have warned of a ’constitutional crisis’ if the Legislative Council bounces back the Communications Bill again.

Each time LegCo makes an amendment to a bill, it has to be returned to the Keys for consideration before it can move up to Tynwald, which has already happened with this Bill. Currently the chairman of the Communications Commission is Home Affairs Minister Bill Malarkey.

One of the LegCo amendments would have seen him removed and a chairman ’who is not a member of Tynwald’ chosen.

Discussing the amendment in the Keys,Lawrie Hooper (Lib Vannin, Ramsey) said the island is ’unique’ in having a political chairman of a regulator. This was a point Mr Malarkey later denied but he did not provide an example of anywhere this is the case.

Mr Hooper said that if the MHKs didn’t back the motion then it risked ’parliamentary ping pong’ between MHKs and MLCs if the upper chamber refused to back down.

He asked Mr Malarkey if he was ready for the Bill to become ’dead in the water’ over the issue and risk a long delay to the Bill’s passage.

Mr Hooper said: ’I’d like a very good explanation from the chairman of the commission as to why this issue is his "die in the ditch" issue?’

Health Minister David Ashford said if MHKs passed the amendment, it would be telling the commission where it wanted it to be looking as it reviews its own processes.

Attacking LegCo, Mr Ashford said that the issue of a non-political chairman has now been before the Keys twice and warned MLCs it could be a ’constitutional crisis’ if it returns again.

Mr Ashford warned: ’If they’re sensible, that is a battle they would not pick.’ Mr Malarkey agreed and said: ’Who is the elected people around here? We are.’

Before the vote, which saw 10 backbench MHKs oppose the motion, Mr Malarkey asked members to send MLCs a message that ’this is the will of the House of Keys and you should respect it’ before saying he would ’lose respect’ for LegCo if it didn’t back down.

During the debate, Mr Malarkey said: ’The commission does not agreed with the proposed amendment to put in place a sunset clause in respect of political chairmanship.’

He said that the commission is happy to carry out any changes which ’are in the best interest of the Manx consumers and the industry as a whole’.

But he said the move was not necessary as there was ’no evidence’ of political interference in the work of the commission.

Bill Shimmins (Middle) agreed there was no evidence but that he would vote against the motion as it would remove ’any scintilla of doubt’.