"Irresponsible and potentially damaging" is how Treasury Minister Allan Bell has described aspects of a broadcast on Channel Four, for its portrayal of the Isle of Man.

The programme considered the recent failure of Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man) and debated whether Island depositors should get their money back.

It also went so far as to consider whether what had happened could signal the end of the finance industry in crown dependencies.

The bank was forced to close when some of its deposits were caught in the United Kingdom Government’s freezing of Icelandic bank assets in the UK.

Mr Bell (pictured) believes some of the programme was unbalanced. He told Manx Radio:

"I understand, particularly the final sting in the tail was a resurrection of the same old tired stereotype journalists drag out time and time again when they can't think of anything better to say, about the Isle of Man being an unregulated tax haven and why on earth aren't we being closed down.

"But it simply highlights the total ignorance of some of these people, an unwillingness to accept the reality of what the Isle of Man, in the modern context, consists of.

"That we are, in fact, a highly regulated, highly respected financial centre. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has only recently considered the quality of our regulation and in the past has shown quite clearly that the Isle of Man complies fully with international standards, which is more than a number of larger jurisdictions can honestly say."

Meanwhile, the three senior officials who went to London for talks on the KSF affair have returned to the Island.

A government spokesman said the talks were at a very early stage and would continue.

On Manx Radio this morning Chief Minister Tony Brown said:

"We are trying to see if we can find a way with the United Kingdom Government, through their Treasury, to free up the money that has been frozen in the United Kingdom, or some way of getting the equivalent, so that money can be fed back to the Kaupthing Bank, or to whoever, so we can overcome the problem the depositors have".