The Budget has been approved following a five-hour debate by Tynwald members.

In the Keys, there were 20 votes for and four against.

There was a unanimous vote in Legislative Council.

Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson was one of those who voted against, describing it as a ’Budget of disappointments’.

Mr Watterson (Rushen) said Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan’s Budget measures had not met his expectations in many areas and did not do enough to help people who were struggling.

But the main reason for voting against the Budget later today, he said, was because of the lack of public engagement.

The former home affairs minister has previously argued that there should be time for the public to examine Budget proposals before a vote is taken.

In the Isle of Man, a vote on the Budget is taken the same day that the measures are unveiled to the public.

’My biggest disappointment is the lack of engagement around the Budget that is so much yearned for,’ he said.

’I am not going to support the Budget until we stop having one of the most non-participatory Budget systems in the Commonwealth.’

Chief Minister Howard Quayle, responding to Mr Watterson’s criticism of government spending, accused him of having a ’selective memory’ of his time as a member of the Council of Ministers.