Three sixth-form students are back home after attending this year’s United Space School in Houston, Texas.

All pupils at Ballakermeen High School, they were selected to attend the school on a River Advisers scholarship, which this year celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Siobhán Fletcher went to meet this year's cohort - Hollie Patterson-Hannay, Patrick Williams and Guy McGuinness, as well as Chris Stott and Dr Jennifer Stone from the company, to find out more.

An MHK says the way whistleblowers are treated by government is 'appalling', and they should be welcomed rather than ostracised.

Arbory, Castletown and Malew member Tim Glover compiled a dossier in 2023 looking at the findings of a whistleblowing committee, how the topic had been discussed in Tynwald since, and hearing from those going through the whistleblowing process.

The report includes quotes from whistleblowers who describe the system as 'cruel' and 'frightening'.

Mr Glover has recently updated the document, and says a change is still needed.

In response, the Isle of Man Government says ‘Isle of Man Government remains committed to working with its employees across the whole organisation to address any performance issues and any concerns that are raised informally and constructively.

‘There are occasions where this is not possible, or relationships deteriorate, and there are procedures in place to support such situations. Government would always encourage any employees with concerns to raise these and has a range of formal and informal mechanisms in support.

‘It is not Government policy to comment on individual cases and we are unable to comment on remarks made by the Chair of the Employment and Equality Tribunal.

‘The whistleblowing policy sets out a fair and transparent process that fully complies with the Employment Act 2006. Last week the revised corporate whistleblowing policy was approved by the Public Services Commission. The policy was last reviewed and updated in October 2022 and again earlier this year, following legislative changes that took effect from 1 April 2025.

‘All public service staff can access the whistleblowing policy via the Office of Human Resources website and, in addition, staff can report major wrongdoing safely, anonymously and in complete confidence by using the Public Services Integrity Line. The Integrity Line has been in place since 2022 and is operated independently by Crimestoppers. The line has recently been enhanced to provide further options for those who choose to remain anonymous.

‘Training on whistleblowing is mandatory for all employees - for designated managers and reporting officers, this is delivered by OHR and the Attorney General’s Chambers. The whistleblowing policy and related documents are easy to find on an internal website that was launched for government staff in August 2025. If staff have questions, they can quickly get answers using a chatbot that is available 24 hours, seven days a week.’

The chief constable has rebuked suggestions that making armed police officers more visible on the Isle of Man indicates a shift to so-called 'woke' policing.

The comments from Russ Foster come in response to opinions shared by a former MHK on Manx Radio's Perspective programme on Sunday (14 September).

Chris Robertshaw said that Mr Foster had brought 'the UK mindset to the Isle of Man'.

Siobhán Fletcher has this special Newscast.