Andrew Rosindell MP asks why the Manx Pound is not legal tender in UK

PLEDGE STATUS: COMPLETE

St.Ninian’s High School, on the Isle of Man, had a Digital Surgery with Andrew Rosindell MP on 28th April 2021. Andrew Rosindell MP is the chairman of the United Kingdom-Isle of Man All-Party Parliamentary Group, whose purpose is to promote and foster good relations and co-operation between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom.

During the surgery, a student asked Andrew Rosindell MP if he knew why the Manx Pound was not accepted as legal tender in the UK.

Andrew offered to submit a parliamentary question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to find out. The following question was asked:

”To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Manx pound has not been approved for use as legal currency in the UK?”

Andrew received this response from the Government, which was passed on to the School:

The Isle of Man is not part of the UK, but is a self-governing dependency of the Crown, and issues its own currency that is governed under Manx law.

It is also not the case that payment between contracting parties in the UK must necessarily be made using a specified method of payment. It is a matter for the prospective parties to a contract to stipulate whatever form of payment they wish

Due to the rather tight definition of what legal currency is in the U.K. it is unlikely that we will be able to push for further answers. Legal tender has a technical meaning where if you offer to fully pay of a debt to someone in legal tender, they either must accept it or have no other legal recourse to get the debt re-payed. There is no requirement for any business to accept the Pound Sterling over any other currency in the U.K., in fact they are able to trade with whatever they see fit.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-05-12/629