CHIEF Minister Allan Bell has defended the decision not to sack Infrastructure Minister David Cretney following revelations that he disclosed confidential information to two constituents.
Mr Cretney tendered his resignation after a Tynwald scrutiny committee was told he handed a confidential Council of Ministers’ paper to pre-school campaigners Amy Burns and Lisa Morris.
Mr Bell said Mr Cretney had made a ‘fundamental error’. CoMin had debated this but they felt prepared to accept his apology, he said. ‘At the moment Mr Cretney remains a Minister for Infrastructure,’ he added.
The Chief Minister accepted there would be a perception of inconsistency in the handling of the issue, given that former Education Minister Peter Karran had been sacked for a lesser breach of CoMin rules - for breaching collective responsibility guidelines by failing to support the government over the Pinewood deal.
But he said there were mitigating circumstances in Mr Cretney’s case in that the contents of the confidential document he released were subsequently made public anyway.