Rushen MHK Juan Watterson has accused Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas of patronising him.

The accusation came in Tynwald but could make things awkward at the next sitting of the House of Keys.

Mr Watterson, as Speaker, is the presiding officer of the elected chamber, so is in a position of power in terms of what others may or may not say when that branch of Tynwald sits.

The spat came about during a discussion about the ’living wage’, which has just been increased to £9.76 an hour.

But the living wage is an entirely voluntary recommendation for employers.

The minimum wage, which is legally binding, is £7.85 for workers aged 18 and over.

Mr Watterson asked Mr Thomas whether he hoped that in the future the gap between the living wage and the minimum wage would ’close’.

The Minister said Mr Watterson needed to ’revisit his understanding of what the living wage is and what the minimum wage is’.

The minimum wage was ’calculated in the light of the domestic economy factors’, said Mr Thomas, while the living wage was an ’aggregate of all the different household items’.

Its purpose was to understand the cost of living in relation to ’minimum income standards’, so there was no ’necessary’ connection between the two, ’despite some views to that effect across and in this place in the past and, I hope, not so much in the future’.

Mr Watterson was unimpressed. ’I would just like to thank the Minister for his patronising remarks about the difference between the two measures,’ he retorted.

’If only I had spent some time looking at the definition of poverty over the last couple of months, I would perhaps be better informed.’

The Minister said he had not intended to be patronising.

In a completely unpatronising manner, Mr Thomas further replied to the man who is responsible for ensuring proper procedures are followed in the Keys: ’It is just the duty of an answer to a question to actually help the questioner with all the information.’

Mr Thomas should probably not bother looking for any favours from the Speaker at the next Keys sitting.