I’ve just had a brilliant idea. Just listen to this.

You know all this fuss that’s going on about Brexit, the European Union and that sort of thing? Well when we eventually leave, why don’t we make one of our own?

It would be a proper home-made Union with five members, England, Scotland, Wales Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

And there’s something else. It might prove to be a bit difficult to achieve, but if we played our cards right I’m sure that we could persuade the Republic of Ireland to join into the spirit of the idea and make up the full set of six.

We could be called the United British Islands, or better than that, just the UBI.

I know that we’ve all got our separate identities and separate languages and customs, but does that make any real difference?

We can still sing ’O land of our birth’ on July 5, still have a day off work and enjoy a couple of pints on Tynwald Day.

But why do we need the best part of three dozen members of Parliament, elected or otherwise, to sit on a mound of earth in St John’s on one day each year dressed up in their top hats and best suits?

The way that I see things is that we are only a very small community of about 85,000 folk. So why do we need so many politicians to run the show?

Now before you think that I’m losing the plot, I’d better explain that I’m only posing a rhetorical question when I ask if it is necessary to have thirty-four members of parliament who are each being paid at least a minimum of £45,000 per annum.

I say ’at least’, because if a member becomes a minister or a member of a department, the wages increase accordingly.

But if we were a member of the UBI, because of our relatively small population we would probably only need to have two elected representatives.

I’m not suggesting for one minute that the Isle of Man becomes an independent country.

There are some folk who have advocated breaking away from the UK and going alone, but if Brexit does eventually happen, all this would do would be to create barriers to the outside world that we could never cross.

But if we were part of a new United British Islands, the opportunities and the possibilities would be endless.

The day-to-day operation and management of all of our government departments is already being carried out carried out by perfectly capable and experienced teams who are led by qualified managers and time served professionals and I see no reason for this to change.

But the difficulties lie in other directions.

Let’s begin with Scotland. I don’t understand what their problem is.

They have their own parliament in Edinburgh, they have Scottish MPs in Westminster. They have their own language and they have Billy Connolly.

They also invented whisky.

What more do they want?

I’ll tell you. They want another referendum because they didn’t like the result of the first one.

Well unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.

The Northern Irish have their Assembly.

It’s always closed, though.

And don’t forget there’s the Republic of Ireland and also there’s the Welsh.

So that just leaves England and the Isle of Man.

Well my original idea really hinges on Boris Johnson obtaining a working majority.

However, the direction that things would appear to be heading leads me to believe that this is an outcome that seems most unlikely, to say the least.

So as two other comedians were known to say ’well that’s good night from him and it’s good night from me’.

Good night, and always use your vote.

A decade ago Pullyman - aka Michael Cowin - was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a condition that affects people in different ways. Michael discovered writing and Island Life is featuring some of his musings. Sometimes topical, sometimes nostalgic, read about life as seen through the eyes of Pullyman