PDM Demands Town Halls Before Immigration and Healthcare Bills Are Passed

News Release

The People’s Democratic Movement calls on the Misick Government to pause final passage of the Immigration Bill 2026 and the proposed Health Services Authority Bill and hold meaningful public consultations across every inhabited island.

The PDM demands that town hall meetings be held across the country and that the proposed regulations accompanying these Bills be published for public review before the Immigration Bill 2026 and Health Services Authority Bill are given final passage.

These laws will change lives. They affect our jobs, businesses, families and healthcare. The people deserve to understand and influence them before they become law.

“Meeting one professional association is not consultation with the country. The patients, parents, workers, small business owners and voters who put this Government in office deserve to be heard,” said Leader of the Opposition Hon. Edwin Astwood.

“A parliamentary majority is not permission to impose your will on the people.”

Online consultation does not replace the public town hall meetings needed on every inhabited island. Ministers and technocrats must meet the people, explain the Bills and accompanying regulations plainly, answer their questions and consider their recommendations before these laws are passed.

On immigration, Government must explain how the proposed changes will protect Islanders’ employment and business opportunities, affect the workforce and address families already established here. What will change, who will be affected and what safeguards will apply?

The proposed Health Services Authority requires equally serious scrutiny. Healthcare receives one of the largest allocations in a national budget exceeding half a billion dollars. What will the Authority cost? What debts, contractual obligations or disputed liabilities would it inherit? What safeguards will protect patients and staff?

“Changing the name on the door does not make liabilities disappear. Our people must not be handed a law today and an unexplained bill tomorrow,” Astwood said.

“We have seen this Government pass laws, only to return with substantial amendments mere months later, before those laws could be properly implemented. Immigration and healthcare are too important for the same PNP pattern of rushed legislation and hurried repairs. Get these laws right before passing them.”

The PDM demands at least three months of structured consultation, extending to six where substantial revisions require further scrutiny. Publish the Bills and their accompanying regulations, hold country wide town halls, allow the public adequate time to review the proposals, and explain which recommendations Government accepts or rejects before final passage.

Laws with consequences lasting years deserve months of meaningful scrutiny.

The PDM also calls on the Governor and UK Government to insist on meaningful public participation. Article 73 of the UN Charter recognises the paramount interests of our people and requires respect for their political aspirations.

“The Governor and UK Government must support the people’s right to be heard. Good governance requires more than counting votes in Parliament,” Astwood said.

“Government’s failure to plan does not give it permission to rush the people. Patients need uninterrupted care. The country needs proper scrutiny. Ministers must deliver both.”

“The people voted for representation. They did not surrender their right to be heard.”